Ephraim Hardcastle
The happy sound of Brixtonians chanting Meghan Markle’s name is music to the ears of royal wedding planners. They recognise that Prince harry’s marriage in four months will be the last royal occasion for a generation to bring the nation together for a feel-good event (the weddings of Beatrice and eugenie will be minor affairs). There will be no other major royal wedding on the horizon for possibly 20 years, when Prince George strolls down the aisle. For the future popularity of the monarchy, harry and Meghan’s nuptials represents a huge challenge for Team Windsor.
APROPOS Meghan: She may have been listed in the Buckingham Palace diary for the Brixton engagement, but the Queen’s private office isn’t prepared to allow her into the Court Circular. The official record merely notes that Prince Henry of Wales made the visit. As far as the crustier courtiers are concerned, she remains officially invisible until after the wedding.
CHOSEN to succeed Stephen Fry as host of the Bafta awards, Joanna Lumley, 71, pictured, is considered an ideal choice in these sensitive times. But is she as politically correct as they imagine? Unimpressed by opposition to women being admired in the street, the Ab Fab actress insists: ‘how can wolf-whistling be offensive? They’re saying, “Cor, you look all right”.’
PLAYWRIGHT Jez Butterworth, 48, says his hit play Jerusalem as well as forthcoming TV series Britannia were inspired by Scottish singer Donovan’s 1968 hit single, Hurdy Gurdy Man. ‘When I had nothing [to go on for Jerusalem], I had that song on a loop for about a week,’ he tells Radio Times. ‘And when it came to writing Britannia, nothing else fitted so well.’
FRENCH film beauty Catherine Deneuve, 74, who complains men are now the victims of ‘witch-hunts’ by anti-sexual harassment campaigners, famously voiced concern for actresses who fell in love with bisexuals, saying: ‘I am not at all prejudiced about anyone who is different... but one thing I do not want is to fall in love with a homosexual – or even a bisexual. This man, for me, must like women only. Otherwise, I’m not comfortable in bed with him.’ Spare a thought for the chaps, Cath.
EXPLAINING how pay-protesting BBC China editor Carrie Gracie couldn’t be interviewed on Monday’s Radio 4 Today programme – which she was co-presenting – editor Sarah Sands quotes a tweet: ‘BBC rules mean that Carrie Gracie can’t discuss Carrie Gracie if Carrie Gracie is presenting the programme discussing Carrie Gracie.’
The rapier wit of Nationalist MP Pete Wishart was on full display in the Commons yesterday. he asked Theresa May to ‘rank herself between one and ten’ on her Brexit performance. ‘She couldn’t even give a number,’ Mr Wishart gleefully tweeted. ‘I gave her “nul points”.’ It was left to other Twitter users to point out that ‘nul’ is not a number between one and ten. As Speaker John Bercow once said, Mr Wishart ‘is an aspiring statesman’ – but ‘his aspiration may be a little way from fulfilment’.