HardcastleEphraim
JEREMY Corbyn’s decision to accept an invitation to join HM’s Privy Council will amuse the royals. Especially since he will be told: ‘You do swear by Almighty God to be a true and faithful Servant unto the Queen’s Majesty, as one of Her Majesty’s Privy Council. You will not know or understand of any manner of thing to be attempted, done or spoken against Her Majesty’s Person, Honour, Crown or Dignity royal...’ They noticed he wore a scarlet jacket when the Commons marked the death of the Queen Mother, asked Tony Blair to kick the royals out of Buckingham Palace and avoided parliamentary tributes to the Queen last week. And that’s just his known indiscretions.
RE Corbyn, he might see more of the Prince of Wales than he does of the Queen. Charles often has to humour Leaders of the Opposition on behalf of his mother. Ed Miliband had tea at Clarence House at least twice and was favoured with ‘black spider’ memos from the prince. Jeremy and Charles both love cheese and like to bake bread. They might suspect they have another thing in common – HM doesn’t let them see state papers.
PRINCE Harry, 31 today, will support the rugby World Cup and do voluntary work helping wounded soldiers. What’s the long-term plan? His relationship with Zimbabwean socialite Chelsy Davy is back on track, although she says marrying Harry is ‘not a life for me’. (Maybe she’ll change her mind if the prospect of becoming Duchess of Clarence is on the cards and Harry – with his father’s help – secures his own property, instead of lodging in the 21room apartment at Kensington Palace occupied by William and Kate.) Courtiers say they prefer his friend, Doctor Who actress Jenna Coleman, 29, pictured. ‘Her charming Blackpool twang would bring the first accent into the House of Windsor since they suppressed German members of the family,’ says my source.
VICE president Joe Biden, 72, will toss his hat in the ring for the US presidency, say he’ll only serve one term and pick Senator Elizabeth Warren as his vice presidential candidate, predicts my Washington DC source, adding: ‘This would solve his age problem, neutralise the women’s issue and open up the wallets of those sitting on the sidelines who won’t commit to Hillary Clinton. He’s also had a secret meeting with one of Obama’s financial backers in New York.’
HEART-THROB German tenor Jonas Kaufmann exceeded all expectations at the Last night of the Proms. Sporting a smoking jacket avec a Union Flag badge and belting out rule, Britannia!, he roared: ‘Still more majestic shalt thou rise, More dreadful from each foreign stroke, As the loud blast that tears the skies, Serves but to root thy native oak.’ Then he threw a pair of Union Flag boxer shorts (unworn) onto the stage. I hope he has his story straight if he has to see Frau Merkel.
LABOUR rejected an application from an enterprising trader to sell Halloween masks in the likeness of Jeremy Corbyn at the party’s September 27-30 conference in Brighton – a surprisingly shrewd decision in an otherwise chaotic political landscape.