By Richard Eden for The Daily Mail

Published: 7:19 PM EDT, March 22, 2024 | Updated: 7:25 PM EDT, March 22, 2024

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were so protective of their children’s “privacy” that they refused to even name the godparents of their son, Prince Archie.

So it’s fascinating to discover that Archie and his sister, Princess Lilibet, have been the subject of a very glamorous photo shoot by one of Meghan’s favorite photographers.

I hear New York-based Jake Rosenberg flew to California earlier this month, where he took a series of photos of Meghan alone, cooking, and of her with the kids.

The photo shoot at Prince Harry and Meghan’s Montecito mansion coincided with the launch of Meghan’s lifestyle and cooking brand, American Riviera Orchard.

The venture was unveiled last week in a glitzy Instagram video, which showed Meghan busying herself in a rustic-looking kitchen. The video was posted a day after I contacted Meghan’s office for comment on her plans. American Riviera Orchard will focus on home, garden, food and lifestyle items.

Rosenberg, who is from Toronto, Canada, where Meghan spent six years while filming the television legal drama Suits, has photographed the duchess many times. On his website, he says that “his lens has captured the radiance of talent like Meghan Markle, Oprah Winfrey, Priyanka Chopra, Cindy Crawford, David Beckham and Michael B. Jordan, revealing their authentic personas through his vivid images.”

Very few photos of Archie, who turns five in May, and Lily, two, have been released by their parents. They did. however, appear in Netflix’s tasteless documentary series about the couple.

A friend of Meghan’s confirmed the photoshoot took place, but insisted they were “portraits for the family.” The friend tells me, “I wouldn’t associate that with the company.”

Rosenberg could not be reached for comment.

King’s goddaughter parties with her Argentinian boyfriend

Princess Maria Olympia of Greece and Denmark, the goddaughter of King Charles, surprised friends and family when she split from Peregrine Pearson, the son and heir of Viscount Cowdray, last year.

He has since entered into a new relationship with Game Of Thrones star Sophie Turner, who is currently in a divorce battle with American pop singer Joe Jonas.

Meanwhile, it seems Olympia, 27, has no shortage of male admirers.

At a party in London this week she was joined by Argentinian businessman Martin Pacanowski.

The couple was photographed together arm in arm on the red carpet.

“Martin and Olympia have known each other for a long time and get along very well,” a friend tells me.

She was the queen of the Brits and scooped a record six awards at this year’s ceremony, but pop star Raye clearly wants to keep her feet on the ground.

Figures from the performing arts company she uses to channel her income show that the 26-year-old singer enjoyed a relatively modest pay package of £50,000 last year.

Hello Rat Ltd accounts report that a dividend of £50,000 was paid to Raye, real name Rachel Keen, in the 12 months to the end of March last year. The company had assets of over £100,000.

Liz Truss is making modest progress

Tony Blair reportedly received a £4.6 million advance for his memoirs, but it’s a different story for some other former prime ministers.

Liz Truss has just reported to the MPs’ Register of Financial Interests that Biteback Publishing has received her an advance of £1,512 for her book Ten Years To Save The West, due out next month.

Regnery, the conservative publisher who is publishing her book in the US, is slightly more confident about the prospects and gives her an advance of £6,000.

King Charles has had a challenging first year as monarch, but he is determined to still celebrate the first anniversary of his coronation.

I hear his Gloucestershire retreat, Highgrove, is hosting a ‘red, white and blue ball’ next month.

An advertisement promises a ‘sophisticated evening of elegance, glamor and excitement’, including canapés followed by a candlelit dinner with a ‘luxurious three-course meal, expertly paired with Highgrove’s finest organic wines and live music all night long’.

Tickets cost a suitably princely £200 each.

Rose at 40 has lost none of her prime

Although its patroness, the Princess of Wales, was conspicuous by her absence, the National Portrait Gallery still attracted an impressive number of guests to the Portrait Gala on Tuesday evening.

The Marquess of Cholmondeley and his wife Rose were among the guests, including Princess Alexandra’s granddaughter, Flora Ogilvy.

Rose, who celebrated her milestone 40th birthday this weekend, hopes her friend Princess Catherine will be dancing again soon. Last summer I revealed that Catherine had attended her first ‘rave’ at the Houghton Festival on the Cholmondeleys’ estate in Norfolk.

The late Earl leaves £500,000 to Eton

Remarkably, considering he was 6ft tall, his shoes were a small size 6. But the 8th Earl Cadogan, who died last year aged 86, remained nimble on his feet to the end – proverbially at least .

His just-published will shows that Charles Cadogan, who succeeded to the earldom after his father’s death in 1997, left £6.5 million. That’s just a fraction of the family fortune, which, based on its ownership of 93 hectares of land in London’s Chelsea, is conservatively estimated at £5.5 billion.

The thrice-married Cadogan, who spoke nobly in favor of women who liked to sunbathe topless in the gardens owned by his Cadogan Estates, donated £500,000 to his old school, Eton.

The Princess of Wales has been ‘thrown under a bus’ – and her husband was ‘unkind’ in putting the ‘burden’ on her to take the blame for the Mother’s Day photo blunder – a royal expert has said.

This was told by Richard Eden, diary editor of the Daily Mail Palace confidential that Kensington officials behaved “disgracefully” after Kate Middleton shared a statement on social media apologizing “for any confusion” the photo posted Sunday caused.

“I’m just so sad and a little frustrated about the whole thing because I feel so sorry for Catherine,” he told Jo Elvin and Richard Kay.

‘Basically she’s under so much pressure from people saying, ‘we want a picture, we want to know how she’s doing, tell us how she’s doing’, things like that.

‘And she ends up giving out this photo, which was taken by Prince William – they make that clear when they give out the photo.

“It’s not anything personal, it was released by Kensington Palace communications people and then she was thrown under a bus.”

Richard said Kate was obliged or agreed to publish the personally signed statement.

“I think it’s a shame,” he continued. ‘It is very rude of Prince William to put the responsibility on her. For heaven’s sake, he’s the one who took the photo.

“And the officials made it public. They spread it, it’s their job. I think it’s absolutely disgraceful that they told her, “Go and explain what you did.” No, it’s your job.

“Take some responsibility.”

Richard also criticized the advisers surrounding the Prince and Princess of Wales, saying they needed “good and strong” people around them.

“You don’t want any pathetic ‘yes men,'” he said. “They would certainly benefit from stronger officials here and I wouldn’t be surprised if heads roll over this, if not now… then eventually.”

However, Richard Kay said later in the show that the extent of the internal fallout would be unclear at this stage.

“Heads may roll, heads have rolled for the smaller offenses I’ve seen over the years,” he added.

“Poor, hapless press officers have been given their marching orders, but it seems a bit unfair to blame the clerks if you like.”

Richard Eden also said he isn’t convinced Kate was behind the photo editing blunder, admitting the whole situation felt ‘weird’.

“I think maybe on this occasion they could have invited a photographer instead of asking her husband,” he continued.

“I mean, it looks like maybe someone came over to help do hair and makeup and stuff… so maybe a hairdresser came over so one of the very talented photographers could have come in.”

It comes as – in a stunning twist – the royal family admitted on Monday that she ‘edited’ an image of her celebrating Mother’s Sunday with her children.

The princess said in a rare personal message on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she ‘occasionally experimented’ as an ‘amateur photographer’.

She apologized for the “confusion” the photo had caused after six global photo agencies sensationally withdrew the image from their cell towers and libraries – an unprecedented response to an official royal photo – amid fears that “the source manipulated the image ‘.

The agencies’ murder announcements added fuel to the fire, as a litany of conspiracy theories about Kate’s health continue to swirl.

There were questions about everything from why Princess Charlotte’s wrist didn’t match the sleeve of her cardigan, to Prince Louis’ strange fingers.

The photo of Kate and her children, which Prince William took at the parental home in Windsor on Friday, was the first to be published since her abdominal surgery in January.

While the couple has regularly released something personal to mark Mother’s Day, it was hoped the photo would also quell cruel speculation on social media about the nature of the princess’s condition.

Instead, the royal blunder resulted in another public explosion of conspiracy theories.

The princess publicly took the blame for the uproar, writing: ‘Like many amateur photographers, I occasionally experiment with editing.

“I wanted to apologize for any confusion the family photo we shared yesterday caused.

‘I hope everyone who celebrated had a happy Mother’s Day. C.’

Kensington Palace said it would not reissue the unedited photo of Kate and her children, which in itself sparked further debate.

Earlier this week, the Palace faced mounting pressure over the debacle, with claims it has damaged public confidence. The row overshadowed Monday’s coronation service at Westminster Abbey, which was led for the first time by Queen Camilla – accompanied by Prince William – in the king’s absence while he undergoes cancer treatment. His Majesty instead recorded a video message for the first time.

Kate was also seen in the backseat of a car with her husband that day as he left Windsor to travel to London for two public engagements. It is understood she was on her way to a ‘private appointment’ and was not accompanying William in public.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline that her ‘sudden appearance is not a dignified response’ to what happened.

He said: ‘When journalists said they wanted to ‘see’ Catherine, no one, as I understand it, meant it this way. A sudden appearance, which she has just made, is a knee-jerk reaction that lacks what royals should have, which is dignity.

“This case has also overshadowed Commonwealth Day. There should never have been two and a half months where she seemed to disappear; we should have felt like we were in touch at times, while what was important was that she felt she had kept her privacy.

‘William and Catherine are under enormous pressure, which is especially devastating when someone has been as seriously ill as they have. However, the photo editing mistake, while extremely embarrassing, is not a major disaster.

‘It shows that she is looking good again and that her children look very happy. However, their current handling of public relations is potentially dangerous.

“What the small but growing number of Republicans want is to mock the monarchy.

‘While Queen Elizabeth was alive this was virtually impossible. The ill health and crises faced by the Sussexes and Yorks have given them good opportunities. Public relations in the palaces must be responsive and disciplined, which is clearly not the case. William and Catherine are the world’s most glamorous and high-profile royal couple.

‘They need dignity to continue to do good for their charities and project soft power in a way no one else can do for Britain.

“They need to put this embarrassing episode behind them and appear confident in public. It will take time and common sense to keep in touch, people will respond…’

When Inigo Philbrick was sentenced to seven years behind bars in May 2022, for masterminding an £80 million art swindle, his fiancee, former Made In Chelsea star Victoria Baker-Harber, vowed to stand by him.

I can disclose that Victoria has not had to wait too long, as the art dealer has now been released from prison in New York after serving less than two years of his sentence. He can now embrace their daughter, Gaia-Grace, whom he has never met.

‘It’s a real surprise that he’s out so soon,’ one of her friends tells me. ‘Everyone thought he would be in jail for much longer.’

The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirms that Philbrick was released last month.

A protege of top art dealer Jay Jopling, Philbrick, 36, who was born in Hackney, East London, bought and sold paintings by artists including David Hockney. 

He wore a £48,000 watch, £5,000 suits, a belt with a diamond lodged in the pin and he drank £5,000 bottles of wine.

His business, run from an art gallery in Mayfair, was, however, a Ponzi-like scheme, in which he used money from some customers to buy artworks and pay off others. 

And he was sentenced in a Manhattan court and ordered to forfeit the £80 million he had swindled.

There is no suggestion that Victoria, 35, daughter of Olympic sailor Michael Baker-Harber, knew of Philbrick’s fraudulent scheme.

His house of cards collapsed in 2019 when he sold a painting by Picasso at an auction in London.

The £5 million price tag was not enough to pay off all the people who thought they owned it, so Philbrick went on the run for six months. 

The FBI tracked him down on the remote Pacific Island of Vanuatu. Philbrick told a New York judge he ‘did it for the money’ and said his victims could afford it.

However, one investor, Daniel Trumpel, a German art dealer, said: ‘This is money my wife and I had worked hard for and which Philbrick embezzled to finance his luxurious lifestyle.’

We can expect to hear all about Philbrick’s time doing porridge. Last year, Victoria told me she was making a television programme about him. ‘I’m doing a documentary. It’s about my fiance and his time in prison,’ the socialite said. ‘It’s wild.’

Philbrick was fully behind the project: ‘He’s all for it. It was his idea.’

She added: ‘He didn’t murder anyone. He put his hands up and admitted what he did do, and takes full responsibility and accountability, but everyone makes mistakes.’

Succession creator Jesse Armstrong will soon be as rich as one of the characters in his hit television drama which chronicled the machinations of media magnate Logan Roy and his toxic, feuding family.

Figures published this week reveal that his production company, Jebentus, raked in £10.7 million last year.

It returned a £9.2 million profit in the year to May 2023, so Shropshire-born Armstrong, 53, paid himself £1 million and has now accumulated a staggering £21.6 million in his business.

The scriptwriter, who previously helped create Peep Show and The Thick Of It, still lives modestly with his wife, Millie, an NHS worker, and their two children in the same South-East London terrace house that has been his home for the past 20 years.

Sir Rod Stewart once said that being on the cover of Railway Modeller magazine was a bigger thrill than being on the front of Rolling Stone. 

But the singer, 79, claims the rock bible didn’t take his comments well. 

‘That’s true,’ he says of Railway Modeller. ‘I’ve been on the front cover four times now. And I’ve not been on the cover of Rolling Stone since I said that.’

If only his pal Donald Trump was content with such mild thrills. ‘He’s not the guy I met 20 years ago,’ he says of the ex president. 

I used to go to his house every Christmas and do concerts. He was a good guy. But he’s turned into somewhat of a monster.’

How do you drive in those shoes, Daphne? 

Fashion icon Daphne Guinness can make even pumping petrol look glamorous.

The heiress, 56, was spotted wearing black Mary Jane heel-less platform shoes as she filled up her car.

Asked if she wears those in her car, Lord Moyne’s daughter replies: ‘I drive in bare feet.’ Having made her mark in the fashion world with her outlandish taste in clothes, Guinness wants to be remembered for her music.

Her album, Sleep, will be released next month. Renowned American photographer David LaChapelle directed the video for her catchy song, Volcano.

Oti cha-cha-chats with the Queen 

Queen Camilla retains an encyclopaedic knowledge of Strictly Come Dancing, her favourite show, Oti Mabuse tells me. 

Returning to the Palace as a celebrity reader for the BBC’s 500 Words children’s creative writing competition, the dance star says: ‘I came here when we did the Strictly Christmas special in 2017 and I met now Queen Camilla.

‘We reminisced and I got to ask her some questions because she is a lover of dance.

She actually remembers individual dances from before I left the show three years ago.’ Plans to film a live episode of Strictly at the Palace ballroom have yet to come to fruition.

 Not just a pretty face: Lila banks £360,000

While her schoolfriends are graduating from university with thousands in debts, Lila Moss is sitting pretty.

I hear the model, 21, has almost tripled her earnings in a year.

Newly filed accounts for her company, Grace Grove, which she set up in 2021 to channel her earnings as a model, disclose that her assets climbed to £360,000 in the 12 months to May last year, from £129,000 in 2022. The profits were £135,000, up £77,000.

At 5ft 6in, Lila is shorter than the average model, but she managed to win roles in advertising campaigns for brands including Miu Miu, Pepe Jeans and Marc Jacobs Beauty.

The daughter of supermodel Kate Moss and magazine editor Jefferson Hack, Lila is signed to her mother’s agency. 

Having begun modelling at the age of 14, her career has been plagued by accusations of nepotism and she recently faced criticism for appearing on Edward Enninful’s last cover of British Vogue as editor-in-chief.

Brenda Blethyn was too convincing as a Geordie in Vera. 

The actress says she was asked to tone down her accent as DCI Stanhope so overseas viewers could understand her in the hit ITV1 drama.

‘I don’t think I have cracked it, but a lot of the locals say that I have,’ says Blethyn, 78, who is from Ramsgate, Kent. 

‘But I don’t really think so. It was quite broad when I started but they said, ‘No, you’ve got to tone it back a bit’ — probably because of foreign, overseas sales — and so it has mellowed somewhat.’

(Very) modern manners

Greta Scacchi,  who became known as ‘Scorchy Scacchi’ because of the number of nude scenes in which she appeared, has discovered one advantage of growing older — avoiding railway penalty fares.

‘If you’ve run to catch a train and you don’t have a ticket on you, if you sit in first class and the ticket inspector comes along, he’ll believe you’ve ‘lost’ it,’ explains the 64-year-old star of films including White Mischief. 

‘So you can just buy one. I relish the fact that people believe your stories.’

Her acclaimed BBC1 dramas, such as Happy Valley, Last Tango In Halifax and Gentleman Jack, are set in Yorkshire, where she grew up, but Sally Wainwright now lives in the Cotswolds with her husband, Austin Sherlaw-Johnson, an antiquarian sheet music dealer. 

And the couple are keen to splash out on some home improvements. I hear that the scriptwriter has applied for planning permission to dig an indoor swimming pool in the grounds of their Oxfordshire home, which lies in a conservation area.

The couple were refused a certificate of lawful development last November because of the location of the proposed pool building.

Better luck this time!

 Charlotte’s language lessons for Wolfie…

By the tender age of two, Princess Charlotte was already speaking some Spanish phrases, thanks to her Iberian nanny.

But Dara Huang, the mother of Princess Beatrice’s stepson, is struggling to convince her child of the benefit of learning a foreign tongue.

‘Is anybody else experiencing their children not wanting to speak a second language any more,’ wails the architect and television presenter, who was encouraging her son, Christopher, known as Wolfie, to learn Mandarin.

He will turn eight this month.

Dara, 41, who was previously engaged to Beatrice’s husband, the property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, was born and grew up in America.

Her maternal grandfather had emigrated from Taiwan to the U.S. She was granted British citizenship in 2022.

Why Britannia may not rule at the Proms under Labour

Rule Britannia could be consigned to history if Sir Keir Starmer wins the General Election.

Acclaimed cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason set the cat among the pigeons recently when he said the tradition of Rule Britannia on the Last Night Of The Proms makes people feel uncomfortable and could be dropped in favour of English folk music.

Now shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire, who is an acclaimed cellist herself, has made clear she’s in tune with the ‘woke’ crowd.

‘It’s not my favourite bit of music,’ she tells the Women With Balls podcast. ‘It’s just fantastic how they’ve diversified the programming.’ 

Although she says it’s a decision for the organisers rather than politicians, she adds: ‘For a lot of people, as Sheku Kanneh-Mason said, it will feel alienating. 

I want the Proms, I want culture, to be accessible to everyone and it’s a good debate for us to be having.’

Lady Helen Taylor was a paid ambassador and muse of Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani for almost twenty years. Now her youngest son has been hired to help transform the image of a very different clothing label.

I can announce that Cassius Taylor has been recruited by Stone Island, the brand loved by football hooligans.

“I’ve been working with Stone Island on a rebrand for the label,” he tells me at a party in Mayfair.

It’s a fascinating collaboration. Founded in Ravarino in 1982, Stone Island developed a cult-like following among British football supporters who saw its clothing on rival fans when their teams played Italian teams.

The associations with hooliganism were reinforced on the big screen when the outfits were worn by characters in violent films such as Green Street and The Football Factory. More recently, it has become fashionable among American rappers, including Jay-Z and Drake.

Cassius, 27, educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, and Goldsmiths, University of London, is a son of Lady Helen and her husband, the art dealer Timothy Taylor. His grandfather is the Duke of Kent, a first cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth, and his great-great-grandfather was George V.

Cassius came to know Stone Island through his work as a DJ. He tells me: ‘I gave their team input on the British music scene.’

In the past he has said: ‘I always knew that, because of my upbringing, I would somehow end up in the creative industry, just like everyone else in my family.’

Cassius’ mother admitted that she grew tired of wearing only Armani’s muted designs to public events. “There is a limit to the number of navy blue jackets and white shirts you can wear in a year,” she once noted.

Maybe he can give his grandmother, the Duchess of Kent, some Stone Island stuff? The 91-year-old music teacher once revealed that she loved rap music, especially American star Eminem.

Queen of Mean has been laughed at!

The Weakest Link’s former Queen of Mean, Anne Robinson, has set her sights on visitors to the Cotswolds, where she lives.

“I’ve never seen a tourist do anything other than browse – they never buy,” says 79-year-old Robinson, who says her way was blocked by “three very large Germans” at her local delicatessen in Burford, Oxfordshire. ‘I walked past one daughter and the mother, while the other daughter leaned over the cheese display and took pictures.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you bought some cheese instead of just photographing it,” I asked. “I already bought it,” she said. ‘Bought, bought,’ I replied.’ That job in tourism PR can wait, Anne…

Formula 1 heiress Petra Ecclestone was criticized for allowing her 11-year-old daughter, Lavinia, to compete in the Ideal Miss California & West Coast beauty pageant.

Her husband, Sam Palmer, a real estate agent, insists the competition was a sophisticated affair.

“I expected a lot of idiots who couldn’t really talk, and it was the exact opposite,” he says. ‘One of them, who was 17, told me how she enjoyed debating at school. It was lovely to have a conversation.’

Mother pride for Freya and orphan cub

Model Freya Aspinall calls herself a ‘Lion mama’ and she’s clearly not afraid to give her cubs some motherly affection.

Freya, 20, shared a video of herself cuddling Zemo, a lion cub, at her father Damian’s wildlife park in Kent.

“Zemo’s mother died in our shelter when he was just three days old, so we have to hand-raise him and his sister Zala,” she says.

‘I was able to develop a beautiful, completely natural bond with him.’

Meanwhile, Freya’s mother, actress Donna Air, isn’t concerned about her close relationship with wild animals. “They’re more afraid of her,” she tells me.

The £1.2million murder of disco star Sophie

Life, the old saying goes, begins at age 40. And then, at the age of 44, it goes into joyful, crazy overdrive – that is, if you’re Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who gave a breathtaking performance at the Baftas this week.

And why wouldn’t she? The singer reprized Murder On The Dancefloor, her 2001 hit that is now delighting a new generation of fans, thanks to its use in the climactic scenes of Saltburn, the second film directed by Oscar winner Emerald Fennell.

Sophie can afford to keep the party going: newly published figures show her live music company DV Touring raked in £1.2 million last year and made a profit of £342,000 – a figure likely to be dwarfed by 2024.

He has to survive on £144,649 a year as Leader of the Opposition, but Sir Keir Starmer didn’t have to part with a penny when he scored a pair of tickets to see his beloved Arsenal play at West Ham a few weeks ago. .

Not only were the tickets free – courtesy of West Ham, whose main shareholders include publisher David Sullivan and Vanessa Gold, head of the Ann Summers sex shop chain – but so was the ‘pre-match hospitality’ in the Chairman’s Lounge .

Starmer estimates in the membership register of financial interests that the prank would have cost him £2,000 if he had had to cough up. A victory by any reckoning.

The fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, which currently houses the statue of an African revolutionary who urged his followers to kill whites, should instead be used to honor the late actor Lord Olivier, says Hollywood villain Steven Berkoff.

“I imagine a statue of Laurence Oliver sitting on his prancing horse, as he did in his brilliant film of Henry V,” says Berkoff. ‘Olivier was not only praised for his acting, but taught many generations of young people the meaning and value of Shakespeare’s language. Moreover, his energy and bravado eventually convinced a reluctant government to build a national theater.’

She has readily acknowledged that she was overjoyed at being awarded the CBE, which was presented to her by the late Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace. But fashion designer Katharine Hamnett, who had previously stated that she “aspired to be a duchess – with a castle”, is apparently tired of being a mere commander of the British Empire and has left her insignia forgotten – or worse , fallen into oblivion. from her garbage cans.

Hamnett has been organizing the kind of protest that has been her trademark since 1984, when she met Margaret Thatcher at a Downing Street reception wearing a T-shirt with an anti-nuclear slogan on it, and has posted her latest news on social media.

A video clip shows her descending the stairs of her home wearing a black T-shirt with the words: 'Disgusted to be British'.

In case anyone is in any doubt, Hamnett, a former student of the £45,000 Cheltenham Ladies College, says: 'I am disgusted at being British because of our role in the genocide in Gaza.'

She then lifts the lid of a black bin with her left hand and holds the light red ribbon of the CBE in her right hand, adding: 'This is my CBE. It belongs in the bin, with Sunak and Starmer.'

With a deft wave, the 76-year-old throws the ribbon – and the cross to which it is attached – into the waste bin.

Hamnett closes the lid and turns to the camera once again. “Go to this site,” she instructs admirers, directing them to a website where the uninitiated can find out who their MP is. “Tell them you will never vote for them again unless they support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.”

Finally, in a demonstration of the business instincts that have driven her to enormous commercial success, she says, “Go to this website and buy the T-shirt.”

The designer is best known for her oversized T-shirts printed with slogans worn by pop bands such as Wham! and Queen. George Michael wore his white 'Choose Life' shirt in the pop video for Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.

Hamnett has deftly aligned himself with the metropolitan style for decades. “I had to soften my accent a bit,” she recalled of her time at art school in London in the 1960s, describing the era as “the first time the working class mixed with the upper class.”

In 2008, she said she was “ashamed to be British” because the brother of then Prime Minister Gordon Brown worked for the French energy company EDF, which generated much of its energy from nuclear power.

I wonder what her father's advice would have been to Israel in its quest to free its hostages? He had been a prisoner of war of the Japanese.

Emma reveals the key to romance

How did former BBC newsreader Simon McCoy win the heart of Dynasty pin-up Emma Samms? You're acting like a gentleman, it seems.

“I don't think good manners are old-fashioned,” Samms, 63, said.

Saying 'please' and 'thank you' is a matter of respect for others. Some people get very light-hearted when a door is held open for them. I don't see it as a judgment on my abilities: I like it.

“And the fact that my husband opens the car door for me and stands up when I leave or return to a formal dining table is nothing but a joy.”

DJ 'DIDDY' David Hamilton is just hitting the sweet spot at the age of 85. But he doesn't want to be recreated as an AI voice like his new Boom Radio colleague, the late Tommy Vance.

“I worry about AI because in the hands of the wrong people it can be a very dangerous weapon,” he tells me.

Hamilton instead records a series called Million Sellers, about pop's biggest hits. “There'll be plenty left in the can. Boom can make it run if I open my clogs.'

Prue's moving tribute to brother

Great British Bake Off star Dame Prue Leith will pay a touching tribute to her late brother Jamie in her new ITV1 series by cooking one of his recipes for viewers this weekend.

Restaurateur Jamie Leith died last year and Dame Prue, 84, rustles up vegan dish Jamie's Red Dragon Pie in the opening episode of Prue Leith's Cotswold Kitchen.

“I love how the taste and smell of food is a wonderful trigger for memories,” she says. 'When I cook this dish, I definitely think of Jamie. I was very close to him. He was my younger brother and he cooked this dish for his children when they came home from school.'

Cruz takes a trip with Mossie's friends

THE OPPORTUNITY: Perfect Magazine and AMI Paris's LFW party in Dovetale, Mayfair.

DOUBLE TAKE: Kate Moss' girlfriend Rosemary Ferguson, 49, isn't just partying with her daughter, Elfie, 22; they even wear the same dress. Rosemary (left) opted for the black JW Anderson twisted mini, while model Elfie opted for the £550 silver version.

BECKS DRESSED: David and Victoria Beckham's youngest son Cruz, who turned 19 yesterday, wore a striking lime green shirt with a pinstripe suit.

DRIVING AMBITION: Heiress India Rose James, 32, could not have escaped quickly if she had tried. “I can't drive,” she tells me. 'I have lessons, but I'm curious to see how I will do on the test.

As the Prince and Princess of Wales consider whether to send Prince George to Oundle, the £45,435-a-year boarding school in Northamptonshire, they can consult the unlikely figure of Bruce Dickinson, frontman of heavy metal rockers Iron Maiden.

“If you can handle Oundle, you can handle life in Iron Maiden,” says Dickinson. 'But I'm not sure if you can get along well with people at a boarding school. People at boarding schools are not – how can I put this? – normal people.'

De favoriete tennisclub van de Prinses van Wales is geschokt door twee gevallen van ‘ongepast gedrag’, kan ik verklappen.

Catherine, die momenteel herstellende is van een buikoperatie, neemt Prins George mee voor tennislessen bij het £ 1.400 per jaar kostende Hurlingham, gelegen op 42 groene hectare aan de noordelijke oever van de Theems, nabij Fulham.

Het eerste incident, zo kan ik u vertellen, vond plaats in de sauna van de club, grenzend aan het binnenzwembad.

Autoriteiten die, zoals ik vorige week onthulde, een 'gedragscommissie' hebben opgericht om talloze gevallen van 'onaanvaardbaar' gedrag tegen te gaan, reageerden onmiddellijk door een grimmige memo naar de leden te e-mailen en deze ook prominent op een mededelingenbord te hangen.

Onder de titel 'Formele berisping – Regel 22' staat het volgende: 'Een hooggeplaatst lid heeft een formele berisping gekregen voor gedrag dat in diskrediet wordt gebracht, zoals uiteengezet in Regel 22 IV B.'

Het artikel onthoudt zich ervan de onverlaat bij naam te noemen en voegt eraan toe: 'Het lid maakte ongepaste opmerkingen van seksuele aard tegen een medelid terwijl hij in de sauna was.'

Het is niet het soort fatsoenlijk gedrag waar Hurlingham ooit synoniem voor was – en dat de prinses van Wales zeker en begrijpelijkerwijs als vanzelfsprekend moet hebben beschouwd, zoals een ander clublid uitlegt.

'De sauna is altijd gemengd geweest en van alle leeftijden', vertelt hij me, eraan toevoegend dat deze nooit is aangetast door de louche connotaties van ongeremde Californische badhuizen of zelfs maar door de verkwikkende authenticiteit van de thermale baden van Boedapest.

‘Het is altijd erg tam geweest’, zegt de trouwe club, die suggereert dat dat misschien nog steeds zo is, maar misschien in strijd is geraakt met de verschillen in generatieopvatting, waarbij senior leden op een zorgeloze manier spreken waar hun jongere, meer puriteinse tegenhangers moeite mee hebben. met.

'Mijn gevoel is dat het onwaarschijnlijk is dat het zo grimmig zal zijn als het klonk in de e-mail.

'Ik zie iemand tegen een lekkere mama zeggen: 'Is dat niet een mooi badpak?' of zoiets. Waarschijnlijk iets wat ik zou hebben gezegd.'

Een tweede – schijnbaar niet-gerelateerd – incident zou een ander lid in heet water hebben doen belanden. 'Iemand heeft een ban gekregen vanwege ongepast gedrag', krijg ik te horen.

De Hurlingham-club weigert commentaar te geven op beide afleveringen.

Komiek Katherine kan geen stand-up doen zonder uit te slapen!

Kinderen opvoeden is geen grap, zoals comedienne Katherine Ryan heeft ontdekt.

De Canadese ster zegt dat ze de energie probeert te verzamelen om weer live op te treden – en haar wazige optreden tijdens de TV Choice Awards van maandagavond in Mayfair laat zien dat ze misschien nog een lange weg te gaan heeft.

De moeder van drie kinderen en teamcaptain van de populaire Channel 4-panelshow 8 Out Of 10 Cats werd na de ceremonie, die ze samen met haar partner Bobby Kootstra bijwoonde, in een taxi gestruikeld.

'Ik sta elke dag om vijf uur op om voor mijn kinderen te zorgen', vertelt Katherine en legt uit: 'Ik moet ze wat langer laten slapen, zodat ik weer kan staan.

'Als iemand daar het geheim van heeft, laat het me dan weten.'

Moira valt flauw op Angela's feestje

Angela Rippon kon een laatste wals met Strictly-partner Kai Widdrington niet weerstaan ​​na terugkomst van de slopende Live Tour.

De 79-jarige en de 28-jarige dansprofessional dansten de hele nacht door in London Hilton in de Revery-bar van Park Lane om haar succes op de show te vieren.

'Ik hoop dat mijn ervaring oudere mensen zal aanmoedigen om met dansen te beginnen', vertelt ze me op het feest en voegt eraan toe: 'Ik wil graag Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty ontmoeten om het belang van dansen voor een goede gezondheid te bespreken.'

De vrolijke vieringen werden echter stopgezet toen omroepster Moira Stuart flauwviel. Gelukkig werd ze betrapt door BBC-presentator Samira Ahmed, 55.

Een woordvoerder van de 74-jarige Stuart, de eerste vrouwelijke Afro-Caribische nieuwslezeres op de Britse televisie, zegt dat het nu 'absoluut goed met haar gaat'.

Heeft de doorgaans bruisende Geri Halliwell, getrouwd met onder vuur liggend Red Bull F1-teambaas Christian Horner, een pitstop nodig?

Want te midden van de controverse over het vermeende ‘ongepaste gedrag’ van haar man, kan ik onthullen dat de voormalige Spice Girl financiële verliezen heeft geleden in twee van haar bedrijven.

Wonderful Productions Limited boekte vorig jaar een verlies van £77.994, terwijl haar kinderboekenbedrijf, Falcon Queen Productions, nog niet van de markt is verdwenen, waardoor het een tekort van £276.076 heeft.

Onnodig te zeggen dat alleen een dwaas zou wedden tegen Geri, 51, die Christian, 50, bijstaat, die de beschuldigingen ontkent.

Strijd van de verslaafde zoon van de chef-kok

Restaurateur Marco Pierre White heeft onthuld dat zijn zoon, Marco, nog steeds worstelt met een heroïneverslaving, ondanks dat hij zich vorig jaar tot de islam heeft bekeerd en meer dan £ 1 miljoen heeft uitgegeven aan een afkickkliniek.

Tijdens een lezing bij de Cambridge Union, waar hij de cultuur van het drugsgebruik in zijn branche aan de kaak stelde, zei de chef-kok met een Michelin-ster: 'Ik heb een zoon die heroïneverslaafd is. Waarom? Ik kan het onmogelijk beantwoorden, maar het is in elke sector van de samenleving geïnfiltreerd. Ik denk dat het heel destructief is.'

White Jr, 28, een model en reality-tv-ster, kreeg in 2020 een voorwaardelijke straf voor twee overtredingen van het bezit van klasse A-medicijnen, twee van weggaan zonder betaling, vier overtredingen van de openbare orde en zes overtredingen van diefstal.

Ondertussen zegt zijn vader, 62, die ooit het enfant verschrikkelijke van de restaurantwereld was, dat verslaving in zijn genen zit.

'Mijn werk was een verslaving; de uren die ik deed waren niet gezond. Iedereen met een verslavende persoonlijkheid is kwetsbaar voor drank en drugs.'

De vrome boekenwurm Dame Joanna Lumley is er trots op dat haar huis in Zuid-Londen bezaaid is met literatuur.

'Ik heb het gevoel dat een kamer ongemeubileerd is zonder boeken, net zoals een trap zonder boekenplank', zegt ze.

De Absolutely Fabulous-ster, 77, voegt eraan toe: 'Een toilet is een trieste plek om te zijn als je niets te lezen hebt: een tijdschrift, boeken of iets aan de muur.'

Het was een aangename verrassing toen de trouwjurkontwerpster van prinses Diana vorig jaar onthulde dat ze een back-up had gemaakt voor het geval er iets met het origineel zou gebeuren.

En nu heeft ontwerper Elizabeth Emanuel, 70, het reserveonderdeel opnieuw gemaakt, zodat het zijn plaats in de geschiedenis kan veiligstellen.

'We wisten niet dat het een belangrijke jurk was, omdat we hem nooit gebruikten', vertelt ze. 'Dus het is ergens op een monsterrail beland of uit elkaar gehaald, ik heb geen idee.

'Maar ik dacht: “Het is zo belangrijk dat ik het opnieuw ga creëren.” Elk element erop is hetzelfde.'

De spectaculaire bruidsjurk die Diana in 1981 droeg, had een sleep van 7 meter en 10.000 parels.

He is suddenly confronted with a future that is much less certain than seemed imaginable a few weeks ago.

But the Prince of Wales, beset by concerns about the well-being of both his wife, Catherine, and, more acutely, King Charles, has just received a timely boost to his morale.

This award is thanks to the Earthshot Prize, initiated by William in 2019 and first awarded two years later, when five winners, in separate categories, received £1 million each for devising solutions to what William described as 'some of the world's biggest environmental problems'.

At the time, Earthshot was managed by the Royal Foundation, set up by Princes William and Harry in 2009 to further their various charitable ambitions.

But in 2022 the prize was divested and run as a completely separate charity.

If there were any doubts that it could flourish, they have now been banished for good.

I can reveal that the new charity – now called the Earthshot Prize – has raised a whopping £22.4 million in revenue in its first nine months alone.

While the Royal Foundation transferred £8.6 million, the rest came from various sources, as just published by the Charity Commission shows.

Donations totaled £7 million, while 'gifts in kind' amounted to just over £3 million, and a grant from the American Friends of the Royal Foundation amounted to a further £2.7 million.

The remaining five percent – ​​​​£1.1 million – came from sponsorship and licensing income.

It's quite a contrast to the achievements of the Archewell Foundation, set up by Harry and Meghan after they resigned from the Royal Foundation.

Figures published by the Internal Revenue Service just before Christmas show that the couple saw donations plummet by £8.7 million, from £10.3 million to just under £1.6 million in one year.

Livia and mom are having some clothing problems

Colin Firth's estranged wife Livia Giuggioli clearly shares her taste in clothes with her mother Paola.

“When I meet my mom for dinner and we're both wearing the same old leopard print coat,” says the film producer turned eco-activist, who shared this photo online from her native Italy.

Livia, 54, has two sons with Bridget Jones star Firth, 63, who she divorced in 2019.

She was reportedly stalked by her childhood friend Marco Brancaccia after they ended their year-long affair in 2016.

She is now dating Scottish climate crusader Callum Grieve, 46, who she calls her 'Master Chef'.

Mixed messages from Marylebone Cricket Club, once a bastion of British taste but better known in recent years for its attempts to appear woke and 'accessible'.

The club has sent members details of a special edition MCC wristwatch made by chic Swiss company Oris.

There has long been speculation about how both MCC and Oris are “aligned with the United Nations' seventeen Sustainable Development Goals.”

And the price of this little timepiece? A not exactly accessible £2,700.

Trump's net loss

He regularly finds himself 'loving Scotland', just like his late mother, who grew up in a Gaelic-speaking household in the Outer Hebrides.

But could Donald Trump, who plans to build a new golf course on his 1,400-acre estate in Aberdeenshire, soon choose that over the US?

I ask because Trump, 77, just lost a bid to gain control of “maralago.com” — a domain name for his Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, which doubles as a luxury private members club.

A panel of the World Intellectual Property Organization ruled there was “insufficient evidence” to rule in Trump's favor. Enough to send The Donald shooting straight into a bunker.

Miriam Cates is struggling to win over some fellow Tory MPs to her campaign on the dangers of young people being exposed to extreme porn on the internet.

“They don't really believe it's happening,” she explains.

The MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge describes attempts to talk to colleagues in the House of Commons tea rooms: 'Hi, I hope you're enjoying your eggs on toast, I want to talk to you about porn.'

Cates adds, “It's not very social, is it?”

Why Kevin's Grand Design is top secret

Grand Designs host Kevin McCloud has helped hundreds of homeowners create their dream homes, but he won't invite the cameras into Casa McCloud.

“My own house is close to the Welsh border,” he says. “It's a nice, safe place to be so far away that no one wants to try to get here.

If you put it on television, it would mean there's nothing left.

If there was ever any mystery or intrigue about my home life, it would be blown out of the water and everyone would say, 'Oh, I didn't know it would be so boring.'

McCloud makes one caveat: “I could be convinced otherwise if [the producers] bought my house first. And then I would put it on television.'

Can cash-strapped Channel 4 save the money?

She graces the cover of Tatler, with the society magazine declaring her 'The new It-Girl' and praising her for her uninhibited, chain-smoking style and scarlet hair.

But the enormous attention paid to Lady Venetia Baring, 25, has come at a terrible price: it has earned her a brutal outcry from her father, Evelyn, 4th Earl of Cromer.

In a scathing letter to The Times, Lord Cromer opens fire on an excerpt from Tatler that the newspaper has faithfully reprinted.

'Lady Venetia Baring claims that my late mother, the Dowager Countess of Cromer, said: 'She really didn't like it [Princess] Diana” and that “Diana needs to get a grip,” he notes.

The Old Etonian colleague, 77, then makes it clear that in his opinion it is inconceivable that his mother would ever have uttered such words, noting that she “served the late Queen for seventeen years and was rewarded for her loyalty, work and dedication'. affection by a CVO'.

“During her long service, my mother was the soul of discretion,” he adds, noting that his mother would “undoubtedly” have learned the need for such discretion while married to his father, who was successively governor of the Bank of England and then British Ambassador in Washington.

“It would be completely out of character for my mother to make a comment about a member of the Royal Family to anyone, especially one of her grandchildren,” Lord Cromer concludes, “and especially to Lady Venetia Baring, my daughter, those born after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.'

It is possible that the peer, now divorced from Venetia's mother, Shelley Hu Cheng-Yu, and living in Thailand with his third wife, Jiraporn Buengman, felt this was the only way to convey his disapproval to Venetia, who, says Tatler, “blocked most of her family on Instagram.”

She now lives in south London with her boyfriend Sasha Zhovtobryukh, with whom, she says, she “bought a tattoo gun.”

It has been used extensively since then. Her father, she adds, knows about “some” of her tattoos. “He's one of those parents who always said, 'If you ever get a tattoo, you'll be disowned.'

It seems it's not just tattoos that can ensure that fate…

It's a bad birthday for Trinny

Trinny Woodall clearly has a spring in her step as she turns 60 today.

The former What Not To Wear presenter brandished her large bag as she strolled around South West London in a pair of £1,000 Prada loafers.

The beauty entrepreneur wore an elegant hat and also wore a £225 Loewe brooch.

Last month I revealed that Woodall was celebrating some impressive figures at her makeup brand Trinny London.

Newly published accounts revealed the company made more than £153,000 a day last year – £56 million on cosmetics during the year.

We must give the royal family space, says Labor MP

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting – who had a kidney removed in 2021 following a cancer diagnosis – has called for the royal family to be given space to come to terms with King Charles' health struggles.

“I commend him for being as open as he has been, for being there,” Streeting tells me at the Parliamentary Book Awards in Westminster.

“People need to remember that he is human, just like everyone else.

'[They] we have to respect the fact that this will be a shock.”

The Labor MP, 41, who attended the King's coronation last year, added: 'His family will go through an emotional rollercoaster – often it is worse for the family than for the patient. We have to give them time and space.'

Kate's sports club on hiatus due to yobs

This is worrying: the Hurlingham Club, Britain's most snooty sporting enclave, where the Princess of Wales takes her children for tennis lessons, is beset by bullshit.

Simon Duffy, chairman of the Thames club in Fulham, has written to members announcing the formation of a 'conduct committee'.

He says there have been 'a growing number of cases of unacceptable behaviour' and warns: 'If a complaint is made and upheld, sanctions can range from a written warning and demand for an apology to suspension from the club for a specific period of time. term or even permanent deportation.'

Chat show host Alan Carr has one of the most recognizable voices in the country, but he is often mistaken for a woman when talking to strangers.

“Sometimes when I'm on the phone and they hear my voice, I've been Mrs. Carr. [They’ll say] “Very good, ma'am.”

Sometimes he sets them straight by saying that “it's Alan,” but he admits, “When I'm embarrassed, I just pretend to be a woman.”

Is Freddie Fox taking drastic measures to distance himself from his controversial cousin Laurence Fox?

I only ask because Freddie, 34, seems to have a radical new image. He showed up at an event in London with a spiky haircut, resembling '80s punk rocker Billy Idol.

Well-fed musical theater star Michael Ball regrets that his 60th birthday – he's 61 – has wreaked havoc on his lifelong weight-control efforts.

“Your metabolism is broken,” he says about turning 60. 'Whatever happened to the days where I could say, 'If I don't eat for three days I could lose a stone?' Not anymore. It sucks.'

If that was Ball's idea of ​​sensible dieting, it's no wonder his metabolism is now broken.