Ephraim Hardcastle
IN the quest to replace DG Tony Hall, the BBC hires expensive headhunters odgers Berndtson (chairman Virginia Bottomley) for an estimated fee of £110,000 – 25 per cent of the DG’s £450,000 salary. Shouldn’t they know better? In 2012 they paid recruiter Egon Zehnder £180,000 to find a new directorgeneral and then promoted existing BBC executive, George Entwistle. Gormless George trousered a £450,000 pay-off for 54 days after quitting over the Lord McAlpine scandal.
MIGHT Royal National Theatre director Rufus Norris be on the verge of achieving his ambition to get rid of the regal epithet? Last year the Queen relinquished her 45-year patronage of the theatre, passing the role on to Meghan. Now, with her emigration to Canada sans her HRH title, Norris may have got his wish for his theatre to become unroyal by default.
LET it not be said the Royal Family never travel on the cheap. Yesterday the Prince of Wales paid £66.50 for his return from London to Leicester. Not that he was carrying cash to buy the rail ticket!
TESSA Dahl’s daughter Sophie, pictured, pays a heartfelt tribute to her troubled mother in a podcast complaining about people focusing on her traumatic childhood. ‘Yeah, there were s ***** bits and there were great bits,’ she says. ‘I had a parent who was mentally ill but when she was at her best she was wonderful, charismatic and funny.’ She added: ‘It is the shading – that is the part which is important to me. I would like someone to say “Tell me about the good bits” rather than “Let’s talk about your childhood”.’ Precisely.
AUSTRALIAN PM Scott Morrison is poised to issue a formal invitation to William and Kate to visit the areas ravaged by bushfires. on January 7 we noted that both Charles and William had made themselves available for a visit ‘to show royal solidarity’. With Camilla a very reluctant traveller, it seems William and Kate were the logical choice.
WILL Autumn Phillips’ exit from her marriage prompt a resumption of her once burgeoning acting career? Prior to her wedding, she – Meghan-like – landed a role in US-Canadian crime show Sirens. And in the 1996 Bob Hoskins-directed turkey Rainbow she played Tigrette Number 3. It did prep her for the £500,000 pre-nuptial photoshoot with Hello! – involving 17 changes of clothes between herself and Pedro.
ToRY MP Michael Fabricant’s close friend, West Midlands mayor Andy Street, is keen on HS2 while Michael is sharply opposed. Wig-wearing Fabricant told the Commons yesterday that he and Charles Hawtrey-lookalike Street avoid talking about HS2 and tend to discuss ‘soft furnishings’ instead.