Ephraim Hardcastle
THE Duchess of Cornwall’s confession – ‘one of my favourite foods is baked beans on toast, always Heinz’ – sounds modestly down to earth. But Heinz tycoon Jack and his wife Drue were friends of the Royal Family. Both the Queen and Princess Margaret attended the grand ball Drue held to celebrate her husband’s 75th birthday in 1983 when guests were instructed not to bring presents over 57p – a nod to the 57 varieties that had contributed to the immense Heinz fortune. Drue was seated in Prince Charles’s Garter stall for the service of blessing following his marriage to Camilla in 2005. She also attended the funeral of Camilla’s father, Bruce Shand.
THESE are trying times for the members of the Royal Windsor Horse Show Club, one of them says. ‘Membership packs for the event, which opens tomorrow, have been slow to arrive. In return for their subscription of £110, members should receive vouchers for free parking and a show programme, as well as admission to the club enclosure. This year, even those members who have received their packs are disappointed to find some items missing, leaving the possibility of having to pay twice. The members’ cocktail party has also been cancelled.’
ITV’s new ‘celebrity’ reality TV show, The Games, is going out before News at Ten every night this week. On Monday, it pushed News at Ten back to 10.30pm. Last night it was expected to be 10.16pm. ITV news presenter Lucrezia Millarini, one of the alleged celebs (pictured), sent colleagues a note saying: ‘Apologies in advance.’ They wondered if this was for appearing as a celebrity or delaying News at Ten.
SIMPERINGLY supportive of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s alleged Covid transgressions – ‘he won’t stoop to lies to brazen things out’ – The Guardian takes a sterner line with the Prime Minister, whom it describes as ‘the Convict who has never taken responsibility for anything, not even his children’. A little over the top?
THE British musical, Six, has picked up eight Tony nominations in New York. Its barmy-sounding premise – that the six wives of Henry VIII form a pop group and take turns singing about their miserable treatment by Henry to see who should become lead singer – certainly won’t rehabilitate the notorious king’s reputation with the woke generation. Earlier generations saw Charles Laughton portray him in The Private Life Of Henry VIII as, according to one critic, ‘a cruel lecherous slob who tosses away wives as carelessly as turkey legs’.
BEWIGGED Tory MP Michael Fabricant, after a visit to Lisbon, tweets: ‘They have had electric trams in Lisbon since 1901. Unlike Birmingham, they work! Perhaps Andy Street should buy them!’ Street is mayor of the West Midlands and ‘life partner’ of cheeky monkey Fabricant.