Ephraim Hardcastle

THE Prime Minister’s newly-appointed small Firms Tsar, the shapely bra tycoon Michelle Mone, 43, offers personal, £10,000a-time mentoring sessions, plus follow-up sessions on skype, at her Thames-side penthouse, elaborating enticingly in promotional material: ‘After lunch we’ll go back into my living room as I go deeper into my business lessons, revealing information I’ve never shared before – some of it may get personal, there may be a few juicy stories and they’ll definitely be some powerful lessons learnt.’ I’d hope so, for £10,000 plus VAT. HAS Stephen Fry been dropped by the Prince of Wales? Although he has said Charles has forgiven him, his story about snorting cocaine in palace loos has curtailed royal access, insists a palace source. Meanwhile, a senior flunkey’s suggestion (in vain) that meeting comedian Russell Brand might improve Charles’s credibility was not acted upon. ‘Astonishingly the idiot responsible is still on the payroll,’ marvels my source. newsCAsTeR Fiona Bruce, 51, and art historian Philip Mould, 55, pictured, work so well together on Fake or Fortune?, the BBC1 series about the authenticity (or otherwise) of fine paintings, that the cerebral show achieved a viewing audience of 5.8million. My source explains: ‘Fiona and Phil have the onscreen chemistry of scully (gillian Anderson) and Mulder (David Duchovny) of The X-Files, or kirstie (Allsopp) and Phil (spencer) from location, location, location.’ steady on! SAYING foreign paparazzi out to snap Prince George might be taken for terrorists by security staff and shot sounds to some cynics like a shrewd royal ruse to keep Her Majesty’s Press at bay, even though the palace praises the restraint of the latter. Armed police from time immemorial have had to decide if ‘photographers’ in the vicinity of royals are friend or foe. So deploying the public-spooking spectre of modern terrorism against them is regarded as rather OTT. FAIleD labour leader ed Miliband says he won’t intervene in the labour leadership contest. Big deal but he’s already done so. After winning his own leadership contest via block union backing, he supported a 2014 rule change meaning his successor would be chosen by a ‘one member one vote’ system. This enabled thousands of new party members to acquire a leadership vote for £3. Many (if not most) back Jeremy Corbyn. FORMER director of the V&A Sir Roy Strong, 80 on Sunday, blames Tony Blair for political correctness, multiculturalism and populism, complaining in a BBC4 interview: ‘Stuff the whole lot…’ Perky interviewer Lucy Worsley protests: ‘But Roy, you invented populism!’ Sir Roy: ‘Yes, but I had it under control.’ The elegant rascal’s never lost for words.