Prince and his Jung playmate
If you should happen to be entertaining over the forthcoming holidays, don’t serve her strawberries – even though she loves them – advises former royal chef
Darren McGrady.
“You can prepare strawberries every day for her during summer at Balmoral and she’ll always eat them. But try including them on the menu in the winter and she’ll tell you off (in the nicest way) for using genetically modified strawberries. She absolutely does eat seasonal.”
Adds Darren: “The Queen is like many elderly ladies in the sense that they like things the way they are, all the time. They don’t like change.”
the Queen
THE Duchess of Abercorn, who died last week aged 72, was a long-standing friend of Prince Philip. But just how close was she to the roving-eyed prince? Whenever there was speculation about whether Philip had extra-marital affairs during his marriage to the Queen, Sacha Abercorn’s name was in the list of his paramours, joining a select group of titled, alluring women.
As royal biographer Sarah Bradford has noted: “Philip was never one for chasing actresses. The women he goes for are always younger than him, usually beautiful and aristocratic.”
Rumours of a relationship between Philip and the duchess (born Alexandra but known as Sacha) began in 1987 with a picture of the prince, towel around his waist, his arm around Sacha in a swimsuit, on holiday in the Bahamas.
When I once sat next to the duchess at a lunch, she herself brought up the subject, saying: “I expect you will be asking me about Philip?” She then
Gary Barlow
proceeded to describe the nature of her friendship with the prince, who was 25 years her senior.
“Our friendship began because of philosophy,” said the fiercely bright Sacha. “Philip has a wonderfully inquiring mind and we had intense conversations about Carl Jung.
“Our relationship was very deep so I can understand why people saw it as more, and yes, it was passionate, but it was never sexual. He is an incredible man, with so many interests, who likes to be challenged intellectually. He liked his playmates.”
Philip’s supposed girlfriends have included Daphne du Maurier, Lady Westmorland, Merle Oberon, Anna Massey, Katie Boyle and, more recently, his carriage-driving companion, Lady Mountbatten, formerly Penny Romsey
Asked whether she thought Philip had enjoyed physical relationships with other women, Sacha replied: “I’m sure he didn’t but he’s a human being, so who knows? Unless you are in the room with a lighted candle, who knows?” Enervating news for fans of Take That:
wants the group, which began life in Manchester 30 years ago, to carry on performing until they are as old as The Rolling Stones.
Gary, 47, tells me: “It’s brilliant The Stones are still doing it. And age doesn’t really matter if you’re able to keep doing what you love and there are still people out there wanting you. Luckily, we’ve had an audience with us for 30 years so I think we’ll be able to just carry on until we’re OAPs.”
Speaking after he had given a surprise performance at a charity night of The Band, the West End musical based on the Take That story, he also revealed that a film based on The Band will begin shooting early next year. He hopes that it will be as successful as Mamma Mia!, another musical which made a lucrative transition to cinema.
“Mamma Mia! took the essence of what the theatre show was about and put it on the big screen,” said Gary. “I think Brad Pitt is down to play me.”