Birds of a Feather don’t f lock together – Pauline Quirke is out after huge row with Linda Robson
They’d been best friends since they were ten more than 50 years ago but...
AS CHILDHOOD best friends, Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson were the perfect choice to play sisters in the hit comedy Birds Of A Feather.
And their realistic portrayal of the joys and frustrations of family life made the show a huge hit.
But the frequent on- screen bickering between their characters Sharon Theodopolopodous and Tracey Stubbs appears to have exploded into the actors’ real lives, prompting fears for the future of the longrunning programme.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that a seemingly irreparable rift has developed between Quirke and Robson, whose friendship of 50 years once helped cement their reputation as among the UK’s most popular double acts.
Insiders say there have been ‘real and tense issues’ which resulted in Quirke refusing to take part in the 30th anniversary show, which aired in 2019.
At the same time, Robson grew closer to co-star Lesley Joseph, who plays man-eating neighbour Dorien Green, and the pair decided not to ask Quirke, 61, to take part in 2020’s Christmas special.
The fall-out seemingly marks an end to Quirke’s much-loved character of Sharon, whose recent absences have been explained by the character heading off on a cruise.
One friend said: ‘Both Linda and Lesley were saddened that Pauline didn’t want to return to make a 30th anniversary episode. Linda and Pauline used to be very close, less so Pauline and Lesley.
‘I think Pauline resented the attention that Lesley got and it was very tense and difficult to navigate at times.
‘Pauline wasn’t approached about the Christmas special. The atmosphere on the set had previously become difficult, there were real and tense issues.’
The trio shot to fame in 1989 when Birds Of A Feather began on BBC1. Following the lives of two sisters who move in together after their husbands are jailed for armed robbery, it ran for nine years.
It was later revived in 2014 on ITV by its original writers and creators Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran.
The Christmas special pulled in an impressive 7.9 million viewers, and it is understood that Robson, 62, and Joseph, 75, are keen to continue with the Essex-set show. But sources say ITV are not convinced they want to make another series.
Claims of Quirke’s allegedly ‘demanding’ and ‘difficult’ behaviour on set were blamed as factors for the original fall out. Others say this was not the case. In a bid to secure the future of the show, a new character called Jordan – dubbed a ‘ mini- me’ of Sharon – was introduced.
The friend added: ‘ It appears that Sharon has been replaced by another character so that the show can go on. It is all very sad. Pauline and Linda have been friends for more than half a century and, of course, Lesley has known the women for at least 30 of those years.’
To complicate matters, Quirke’s son Charlie also stars on the show as Travis Stubbs, Tracey’s youngest son. He appeared in the Christmas special and at the time ITV tried to explain Quirke’s absence. A spokesperson said: ‘ Unfortunately, Pauline Quirke will not be taking part as she’s stepping back from acting to focus on her 200 nationwide performing arts academies.’ In the show, only a photograph of Sharon was seen and the storyline was written to say that she was on a cruise, during which she had met a Costa Rican hunk and married him. Last year, Robson described her long friendship with Ms Quirke, saying: ‘We were friends from ten years of age. ‘ We went to the same primary school and we started taking acting classes together. ‘We were known as the real kids, or the cockney kids off the street. We’ve both been really good friends, and we’re still working 52 years later.’ Robson and Joseph revealed in an interview with bingo company Mecca that they had met up during the pandemic when restrictions allowed, but there was no mention of Quirke. The two women declined to comment. Quirke’s spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.
Claims of ‘difficult’ and ‘demanding’ behaviour
PRINCE Harry did not inform the Queen about the ‘tell-all’ interview he and Meghan are to give to Oprah Winfrey, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Her Majesty was ‘blindsided’ last week when it emerged that the Duchess of Sussex and her husband had agreed to talk to the American chat show host.
She learned of it only when US TV network CBS hurriedly issued a statement on Monday after a producer working for Ms Winfrey mistakenly alerted ITV to the project.
It is usual for members of the Royal Family to run potential TV interviews past the Queen.
But Harry not only kept the deal secret, sources question whether he instigated the discussions with the Queen over the Sussexes’ ‘divorce deal’ in order for it to be settled before the interview, which was recorded last Tuesday.
Harry and Meghan brought forward the announcement of their ‘ wide- ranging interview, covering everything from stepping into life as a Royal, marriage, motherhood [and] philanthropic work’ after ITV were accidentally tipped off about it.
Insiders insist the Oprah interview did not influence the decision by the Queen to strip Harry and Meghan of their royal patronages and honorary military titles. She sent a letter explaining the decision to her grandson after the Oprah interview had been announced, but had written it some days earlier.
In it, she underlined that there could be no ‘half-in, half-out’ role for the Duke and Duchess, including the specific words that ‘in stepping away from the work of the Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service’.
That sentence, which was also included in the official Buckingham Palace statement on Friday, is said to have infuriated Harry and Meghan. In their stinging reply, they insisted they would still live ‘a life of service’ away from the Royal Family, adding: ‘Service is universal.’
Explaining the Queen’s position on what constitutes public service, an informed insider last night said: ‘People need to be able to look you in the eye and know that you are here for them, not filming a Netflix documentary. Being a Royal is all about public service, not serving yourself. If public service is not
‘She has strong views on what public duty entails’
your primary purpose, and making money is, then it’s impossible to represent the Queen.’
And a Royal aide said: ‘ When someone has dedicated their entire life to duty, as she did on her 21st birthday, she understandably has very strong views on what public duty entails.’
Now, as the Royal Family wait anxiously to see what the Duke and Duchess tell Ms Winfrey when the programme is broadcast on March 7, it can also be revealed that:
A joint statement on the Megxit outcome from the Duke and Duchess and the Queen was initially planned, but abandoned when the sides could not agree on wording:
Palace aides were furious at the ‘downright rude’ response to the Queen from the couple which they believe made a ‘mockery of the Queen’s 70 years of service’;
Harry is understood to have called the Queen last week to ask about the health of Prince Philip.
ITV discovered that the Duke and Duchess were to give an interview with Ms Winfrey when a member of t he chat show host’s t eam requested access to news presenter Tom Bradby’s 2019 interview with Meghan in which she expressed unhappiness at her treatment by t he British media. When ITV approached a spokesman for Harry and Meghan for comment, the decision was made to release a statement revealing the interview.
A source said: ‘They had kept the interview totally secret. The Queen was not told, the Palace was not told. It seems clear from the sequence of events t hat t hey wanted and needed to know the final outcome [of the Queen’s decision] before they taped Oprah.’
The interview was reportedly filmed last Tuesday in Montecito, the wealthy enclave north-west of Los Angeles where the Sussexes and Ms Winfrey live. It could be the most explosive royal TV interview since Princess Diana appeared on BBC’s Panorama in 1995. There is frustration on both sides at how Friday’s announcement was handled. Behind- the- scenes discussions had taken place on a joint statement, but neither side could agree ‘a suitable version of words’. In the end, each side issued their own statement at 12 noon.
Harry loses his three military titles – Captain General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington and Commodore-in-Chief, Royal Navy Small
Ships and Diving. His patronages of the Rugby Football League and Rugby Football Union, plus Meghan’s of the Royal National Theatre and the Association of Commonwealth Universities have both been returned. The Duke and Duchess have also stepped down as president and vice- president of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust.
Representatives for the Sussexes did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.