Ephraim Hardcastle
NOW Season 4 of House of Cards is being shown (on Netflix) – and Season 5 has been commissioned – how will this dramatic story about a ruthless US president (played by Kevin Spacey) end? The British author of the original story, Michael Dobbs – an executive producer on the US version – says one possibility is that President Frank Underwood will have himself assassinated ‘so that he dies a national hero…’ Might ‘President Trump’ devise such a finale?
RONALD Reagan, devoted to second wife Nancy, who has died aged 94, was in thrall earlier to British actress Patricia Roc, pictured. Frisky Ms Roc – also known as Bed Roc – had a passionate r el ati onship with Reagan after meeting him in 1945. She is said to have lifted him from a deep depression following the collapse of his first marriage to Jane Wyman. Ms Roc declined his marriage proposal in 1948 but they remained in touch until her death in 2003. A framed picture of them gazing into each other’s eyes was displayed prominently in the drawing- room of her Swiss home overlooking Lake Maggiore.
PRIVATE Eye founder Richard Ingrams adds detail to my item about The Oldie’s Agony Aunt, writer Mary Kenny, and a one-legged African with whom she ‘discussed Uganda’ – the magazine’s euphemism for love-making. He recalls: ‘He was the head of the Ugandan Electricity Board. When he died 108 women turned up for his funeral.’
THE on- screen flirting between Sky News presenters Jayne Secker and Colin Brazier, pictured, must pique the interest of regular viewers. Is that the intention? Yesterday, on air, Ms Secker, 43, inquired of Brazier, 47: ‘Did the earth move for you last night?’ Ms Secker was referring to a slight earth tremor in the Home Counties. On another occasion, smiling at him, she remarked: ‘Well, we all like to have fun at work.’ Grinning, Brazier responded: ‘Often inappropriately.’ The pair, both happily-married – she’s a mother of two, he’s a father of six – were paired up by Sky in 2014. At the time, Ms Secker seemed aloof alongside larky Brazier. When he informed her once on air (apropos an item about M&S) ‘Now we know where you get your knickers from,’ she shook her head disapprovingly.
EX-TELEGRAPH proprietor (and staunch Roman Catholic) Conrad Black, 71, criticises Pope Francis for saying Donald Trump isn’t a Christian because he wants to build a wall to keep Mexican migrants out of America. ‘The Pope’s comments were completely gratuitous,’ he says in the Catholic Herald, of which he’s a shareholder. Perhaps if Trump becomes president he’ll pardon ex-convict Conrad, which would allow the Canadian felon to visit America again. President Bill Clinton pardoned no fewer than 450 crooks, including a long-time supporter and fraudster Mark Rich.