EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Earl signals his daughter the Tatler 'It girl' Lady Venetia Baring for digs at Princess Diana

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.