Ephraim Hardcastle
SHOULD Prince William have been billeted in a £2,500-a-night suite at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem during his Middle East trip? It was the HQ of the British authorities in Palestine when it was blown up in 1946 by the Zionist movement Irgun, killing 91 guests, including officers and diplomats. Then (Labour) PM Clement Attlee said: ‘Of all the outrages in Palestine this is the worst.’ However, not choosing the King David – the city’s most famous hotel – would have been seen as a criticism of Israel. William said during his visit that he wanted to avoid giving offence to anyone.
NEW Zealand’s PM, Jacinda Ardern, a recent convert to republicanism, has been exposed to the full force of a royal charm offensive since she attended the Commonwealth summit here in April. The Queen wrote congratulating Jacinda after she gave birth to a daughter, Neve Te Aroha. Prince Harry and Meghan hope to admire the baby when they visit NZ in October. So, next year, will William and Kate, who might take all three of their children.
HOLLYWOOD’S celebrity dermatologist Dr Harold Lancer says famous big bottoms like Jennifer Lopez’s, pictured, are out of fashion. Now Kybella injections are popular to remove fat, so is Botoxing the nose for an ‘upward tilt,’ as well as earlobe-filling to plump-up flappy lobes and filler to the angles of the mouth for a ‘happy smile’. Isn’t life grand?
LABOUR MPs Liz Kendall and Caroline Flint appear regularly as pundits on BBC1’s This Week, each collecting £350 for their hourlong contribution. How much is paid to another regular, ex-Tory Cabinet minister Michael Portillo? Far more than £350, I hear, but a broadcasting source says: ‘He’s been on the show for 15 years, and BBC fees used to be higher. Also, other male contributors, such as Alan Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, get £350. So there’s no gender pay gap.’
LANGUID ITV political editor Robert Peston is now advertised as an after-dinner speaker by London agency JLA, costing up to £25,000. Those who take up the offer should insist Robert sits upright, so guests can see who they’re paying.
DAVID Dimbleby’s decision to retire from BBC 1’s Question Time excites wannabes who prize the post. But there’s disappointment over his stated desire to pursue his ‘first love: reporting’. This is taken to mean the best assignments. A source says: ‘The BBC treat the Dimblebys [David, 79, and Jonathan, 73] like the six ravens at the Tower of London, whose departure King Charles II believed would lead to the fall of the kingdom.’
I MENTIONED here in 2016 there might be no more balcony appearances by royals after this month’s Trooping the Colour – a story repeated this week – along with the detail that repairing the masonry would be a £50million job. Now it is said to cost £369million. Do they crank up such figures at will?