Ephraim Hardcastle

CoULD Geoffrey Boycott be on his way to the Lords? The former cricketer has often been touted for a knighthood but it has never been forthcoming despite Theresa May, when Home Secretary, supporting the idea. At The oval he lobbied London Mayor Sadiq Khan, saying: ‘Send me to the House of Lords. I’ll soon wake them up. They won’t sit there nodding off when I’m there.’ Are the red benches ready for Lord Boycott? PRINCE Philip, visiting Osborne House, Queen Victoria’s Isle of Wight retreat, was impressed by the English Heritage restoration of the Durbar Room, filled with Indian artefacts. Philip, tongue firmly in cheek, wondered if English Heritage might take over Buckingham Palace, where the roof is leaking. The government expects the Queen to fund repairs out of her £42.8million Sovereign Grant. HoPeFULLY Norman Tebbit wasn’t tuned to the BBC’s Test Match Special when Today presenter Mishal Husain, pictured, failed his infamous cricket test. In 1990 Tebbit declared: ‘A large proportion of Britain’s Asian population fail to pass the cricket test. which side do they cheer for?’ Mishal, 43, British born of Pakistani origin, hedged her bets. She dressed one son in an england shirt and another in a Pakistani shirt for Sunday’s match in which england were routed. TIPPED to be joining the likes of Ed Balls as a Strictly… contestant, I’m assured Princess Diana’s one-time ‘Rock’ Paul Burrell, 58, would benefit from the exercise. One eye-witness uncharitably says of the former royal butler, these days running a flower shop in Farndon, Cheshire: ‘The Rock has evolved into a pretty substantial boulder.’ IT wasn’t just wealth and privilege that cemented the friendship of the 6th Duke of westminster and Prince Charles. They bonded over shared stories of awful school days. Gerald Grosvenor was sent to Harrow where he was bullied for both his background and accent having been brought-up in Northern Ireland and left school with just two o-levels. Prince Charles detested Gordonstoun, an austere school attended by his own father where he too was bullied. reminiscing over the port was a cathartic experience for both men. KNIGHTED in David Cameron’s notorious ‘all chums shall have honours’ list, Tory MP Hugo Swire responds peevishly to Lib Dem leader Tim Farron’s jibe that it’s ‘so full of cronies it would embarrass a medieval court’. Old Etonian Swire tweets: ‘Can’t decide who is more tiresome and sanctimonious – Sir Alistair Graham (another critic) or Tim Farron.’ Farron responds unctuously: ‘Well done on your award by the way. Richly deserved.’ Swire replies, cringingly: ‘15 love to Tim!’ GILeS Coren, 47, presenter of ITv’s new quiz show 500 Questions, brags to radio Times about his cleverness. ‘I’ve got a first-class degree from oxford. Not just any old first from oxford, mind, but one of the best awarded by the university that year. I was just re-reading a school report of mine the other day. My english teacher said: ‘He will do well when he realises he is not the only star shining in the firmament.’ But has he?