A relationship expert has said that people who are attracted to their coworkers are often not in love with them, but rather have “office glasses.”

Similar to beer glasses – used to refer to the effect alcohol has on a person’s visual perception – work glasses are for when you’re attracted to someone just because they’re your co-worker.

Molly, from London, spoke on her podcast 2 Girls 1 Puppy about liking people you work with – and warned people not to fall into the trap.

She wondered if there was something “in the water coolers” or if the “fluorescent lighting” made colleagues more attractive.

‘You’ve heard of beer glasses, but let’s talk about office glasses. [There’s] One person in the office who you would never look twice at if you met under normal circumstances,” she said on TikTok.

‘But for some reason they’re a sex bomb in the office, they’re everything you’ve ever wanted in a partner and more.

“Maybe it’s just the fact that you have to spend 38 hours a week with that person.”

Dipti Tait, a relationship therapist from the Cotswolds, told MailOnline that in some cases colleagues who spend more time together than with their partners or families feel more connected as a result.

“When individuals spend a lot of time together in a professional environment, the brain undergoes a fascinating process of neurochemical bonding,” she said.

‘Just as oxytocin promotes connection and trust in romantic relationships, the brain releases this ‘bonding hormone’ during collaborative tasks and moments of shared achievement at work.

‘Through repeated exposure and shared experiences, the brain begins to associate positive feelings and rewards with the coworker’s presence.

‘This can overturn first impressions and preferences, leading to renewed attraction.

‘Spending many hours together undeniably plays a role. The brain’s familiarity bias sets in, where repeated exposure to a stimulus – in this case a colleague – produces comfort and sometimes attraction.’

Dipti said workplace relationships carry inherent risks, including “potential conflicts of interest,” adding that attraction in a professional setting can cause awkwardness.

She added that anyone experiencing “office glasses” should prioritize professionalism and clear communication.

“When feelings are mutual, setting boundaries and considering possible consequences becomes imperative,” the relationship expert added.

“Seek support from trusted confidantes or, if necessary, professional guidance to navigate the complexities of workplace romance with finesse.”

But TikTokker Molly warned listeners about romantic relationships with coworkers, saying it’s not worth the stress.

She said, “The next time you have drinks at the office on a Thursday evening, [and are] down a few glasses of cheap wine, and you start to think to yourself [that] Jack from the technology development team could be the love of my life, I’m begging you, I’m begging you, just take 30 seconds and step back and think to yourself, “If I saw him on the street, would I really like it? Or is it just the work glasses?”

“I promise it feels like a sexy affair at the time, but it’s not worth the anxiety.”

Users watched the video, which has almost 200,000 views, to share their thoughts.

One wrote: ‘No one falls in love faster than two married colleagues.’

Another wrote: “I always remind myself that he’s your coworker and you’re bored.”

A third said: ‘I met my partner at work, been together for 21 years and let me tell you, it was office glasses.’

A third commented: ‘From someone who has had two work relationships (both sitting at the same desk), you don’t need that heat in your life, mates. I left a trail of carnage. ‘

Variety magazine joked in 2022 that Ozempic deserved its own thank-you speech at the Emmys, because so many stars on the podium had obviously been taking it. 

Hype around the drug hit the general public last year, but as with most trends it had already been doing the rounds in Hollywood, with celebrity fans including Kelly Osbourne, 39, Oprah Winfrey, 70, Amy Schumer, 42 and Boy George, 62, all admitting to using it. 

However while many raved about the new weight loss jab, other celebrities have spoken out to warn others of the grim after-effects.

Sharon Osbourne, 71, has voiced both the benefits and negative effects of using the drug, telling ITV’s Loose Women she stood by using it but she did regret continuing to take the jabs after her weight dropped below seven stone, saying ‘Be careful what you wish for’.

While Stephen Fry, 66, said his ‘astonishing’ weight loss came at a price, after Ozempic caused him to vomit up to five times a day.

Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry has become the latest big name star to warn of the dangers of the drug, The Mirror reported.

He attributes his obsession with food to his childhood in Norfolk, and the cook Mrs Riseborough employed by his parents Marianne and Alan who was a ‘good English plain cook’. 

After years of battling with his weight as a result, Fry said he was pleasantly surprised by the drug’s effectiveness and found it stopped all of his cravings for food and alcohol.

He said: ‘The first week or so, I was thinking, “This is astonishing. Not only do I not want to eat, I don’t want any alcohol of any kind. This is going to be brilliant.

‘Then I started feeling sick, and I started getting sicker and sicker and sicker. I was throwing up four, five times a day and I thought, “I can’t do this”. So that’s it. The new variant, Tirzepatide Mounjaro, makes it even worse apparently.’

Fry, who is married to comedian Elliott Spencer, says he was at his heaviest in April 2019 when his weight came to nearly 21st.

But by August of that year, he had lost five and a half stone after taking the drug.

Kelly Osbourne 

Kelly Osbourne is a vocal fan of Ozempic even calling the drug ‘amazing’ while speaking to E! News in February.

Part of the appeal to Kelly was that she found it less ‘boring’ than changing one’s diet and increasing exercise to lose weight.

‘There are a million ways to lose weight, why not do it through something that isn’t as boring as working out?’ she said. 

The daughter of Ozzy Osbourne went further, accusing critics of the medication and similar drugs of being jealous or deceitful. 

‘People hate on it because they want to do it. And the people who hate on it the most are the people who are secretly doing it or pissed off that they can’t afford it. Unfortunately, right now, it’s something that is very expensive, but it eventually won’t be because it actually works.’

Oprah Winfrey

The television host finally admitted to using the weight-loss drug in December — after previously vowing she would never use Ozempic or a similar drug because they were the ‘easy way out’.

The 70-year-old had lost more than 18kg over recent months, which led to speculation that she used the weight loss medication to help.

Oprah previously revealed she weighed 107.5kg at her heaviest, however she did not say what her current weight was. 

She revealed in an interview with People that she ‘now [uses] it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing’.

‘The fact that there’s a medically-approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for.’ 

She did not reveal which weight loss drug she used, although many speculated that she had got a prescription for Ozempic.

Oprah said she took the medication before Thanksgiving, and credited it with ensuring she only gained half a pound rather than eight.

Speaking in An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution, she fought back tears as she revealed how the drugs had meant she was no longer ‘constantly thinking about what the next meal is going to be’.

She said ‘for 25 years, making fun of my weight was national sport’ and that over the years she had ‘lost some weight’ and ‘put back on some weight’ but since starting to take medication she had stopped ‘obsessing’ about food. 

Along with messages of support online, some viewers slammed Oprah, accusing her of ‘promoting big pharma and pushing Ozempic’ and criticizing her for taking the drugs after spending nine years promoting Weight Watchers.

The show was released days after Oprah quit her Weight Watchers board role, citing a potential ‘conflict of interest’ with the show, which heavily featured weight loss drug brands.

During the show, Oprah pushed back at people she said wanted to ‘shame’ her for her weight and for taking the drugs.

She said: ‘I come to this conversation in the hope that we can start releasing the stigma and the shame and the judgment… to stop shaming other people for being overweight or how they chose to lose and not lose weight.’

She added: ‘All these years, I thought all of the people who never had to diet were just using their willpower and they were for some reason stronger than me.

‘But now I realize y’all weren’t even thinking about the food. It’s not that you had the willpower. You weren’t even thinking about it. You weren’t obsessing about it.’

Now, she said: ‘I use it as a tool, combined with hiking three or five miles a day or running. It’s not just one thing, it’s multiple things for me.’

Sharon Osbourne 

Sharon Osbourne has also revealed she took Ozempic — but said she lost so many pounds on the drug that she ‘needed to put weight back on’.

The 71-year-old started taking the drug in 2023 when she weighed 142lbs (64.4kg).

She shed more than 45lbs (20kg) on the medication, but then her weight fell down to 97lbs (43kg).

‘I can’t afford to lose anymore,’ she said. My weight has stabilized. I went down to about 97lb (43kg) and it was like, ‘oh no!’. I needed to put some weight back on, which I have.’

She added while speaking to Women magazine: ‘You can lose so much weight and it’s easy to become addicted to that, which is very dangerous.

‘I couldn’t stop losing weight and now I’ve lost 42lbs — and I can’t afford to lose anymore.’

She added that when she first went on the drug she felt ‘very nauseous’ and was vomiting regularly. It took about two weeks for this to subside.

She urged people to keep the drug away from teenagers, saying it was just ‘too easy’ to become addicted.

She recently revealed doctors ‘can’t figure out’ why she hasn’t been able to gain weight back after she stopped using Ozempic months ago.

Asked about her weight loss in an interview with Woman Magazine released on Tuesday, Sharon said that even medics are stumped by her inability to gain the weight back.

The doctors can’t figure it out,’ she said. ‘But I think it’s just because I’m getting older and as you get older you lose weight anyway and shrink and shrivel off.’

Sharon started taking Ozempic in December 2022 and in November 2023 she told Mail On Sunday: ‘I’ve been off it a while now.’

Boy George

Boy George opened up about his fluctuating weight in his memoir Karma, which was released last year.

‘I know I don’t enjoy being overweight and it’s something I really want to deal with,’ he wrote. 

‘I have struggled with my weight most of my life and being under public and media scrutiny doesn’t help.’  

The Karma Chameleon singer, 62, wrote that he started out with Ozempic and then switched to Mounjaro.

Mounjaro uses the active ingredient tirzepatide, which targets GLP-1 and the hormone glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP). Mounjaro is only FDA-approved for type 2 diabetes.  

George wrote: ‘I love food, and I can’t control my appetite, but I think I have finally got it under control.’ 

‘Well, I’m on Mounjaro. Isn’t everyone? Trust me, anyone who was fat last year and is not skinny is on the wonder drug.’

The singer also got a tummy tuck several years ago ‘to get rid of excess skin’ after losing 100 pounds. 

Heather Gay

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star announced that she has been taking Ozempic to lose weight.

At Variety’s Women of Reality TV event, she said that while she uses the drug, she has yet to see a big difference.

‘I’ve been on it for a long time, but hadn’t really seen much results,’ she told People. 

She also said that people around her started acting differently when they learned she was on Ozempic, which she found ‘discouraging.’ 

‘You lose five pounds, people are nicer to you,’ the 49-year-old said. ‘I don’t know why. It’s just the way the world works, and that makes me sad for women.’

‘But I’m happy that I’m down five.’ 

Tracy Morgan 

The comedian has also revealed he was taking Ozempic, saying the drug ‘cuts my appetite in half.’

The 55-year-old said he had lost several pounds on the drug and that he ‘ain’t letting it go.’

Speaking on the Today show, the star said he injected himself with the drug every Thursday to help with weight loss.

When told he had been working on his body and health a lot on the show, he said: ‘No, that’s Ozempic.

‘That’s how this weight got lost. I went and got a prescription and I got Ozempic. And I ain’t letting it go! It cuts my appetite in half. Now I only eat half a bag of Doritos.’

Elon Musk  

One of the world’s richest men said Ozempic made him ‘fit, ripped and healthy’, Elon Musk said he lost almost 30lbs (13.6kg) while taking the drug.

He revealed that he was using it in October 2022 when a fan asked what the secret was to his new slimmed-down appearance. Musk, 53, replied ‘Fasting’, before adding: ‘And Wegovy’.

He has also said his transformation was down to: ‘Fasting + Ozempic/Wegovy + no tasty food for me.’  

He said his weight-loss journey was prompted after seeing unflattering images of himself on a yacht. The 53-year-old’s weight loss formula prompted admiration from fans.

He also admitted to suffering a side effect from the drug. A Twitter user asked: ‘Does it give you those nasty burps? Taste like rotten eggs lol ugh.’ He replied: ‘Yeah, next-level.’

Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams said that he’s on ‘something like Ozempic’ to keep the pounds off.  After overcoming addictions to drugs and alcohol, the hitmaker has revealed that he’s on a mission to better his health.

‘Babe, I’m on Ozempic,’ he told The Times. ‘Well, something like Ozempic. It’s like a Christmas miracle.’

The 50-year-old, who did not reveal exactly what drug or regimen he’s on, said that he has lost 25 pounds so far. 

Williams has also said that he struggles with body dysmorphia, a mental health condition that causes a person to obsess over flaws in their appearance, such as weight.

‘And I need it, medically. I’ve been diagnosed with type 2 self-loathing,’ he said. It’s shockingly catastrophic to my mental health to be bigger.’

Amy Schumer

The comedian and actress revealed that she had tried the medication — but quickly gave it up.

The 42-year-old said on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen: ‘Like a year ago, I tried it.

‘I was one of those people that felt so sick and couldn’t play with my son. I was so skinny and he’s throwing a ball at me and [I couldn’t].’

She said she quickly gave up the medication, realizing it was not for her. She said: ‘And you’re like, ‘OK, this isn’t livable for me’. But I immediately invested [in it] because I knew everyone was going to try it.’

Schumer revealed that she had opted for liposuction, however, to help lose weight.

She said: ‘I just wanted to say that because if anybody sees me in pictures or anything and they’re like, she looks thinner, and whatever: It’s because I had a surgery.’

Emily Simpson

Real Housewives of Orange County star Emily Simpson started taking Ozempic after a doctor suggested she may be prediabetic. 

‘So I did. I did that in December,’ she said last year. For one month and you know, that was a great kickstart for me.’

She said that Ozempic helped her kick habits like ‘grazing’ and ‘not really paying attention’ to what she was eating.

She lost about seven pounds on the drug but stopped taking it due to exhaustion.

‘I didn’t like the way it made me feel lethargic and it made me just not have a lot of energy, which was hard with three little kids, but it does make you feel full and it does make you, for me, it was like a refresh,’ she said. 

Handing back the clementine tart to my dinner party hostess, I tell her I want a bigger slice. Hardly polite behaviour, especially as I’ve just told her that when we first met, I thought she was a b***h. But after six glasses of wine, I don’t care.

Alcohol has freed me from my responsibilities as a friend, mother, daughter and wife so that I’m guffawing at my own wisecracks, impervious to the feelings of others. In my drunken parallel world, I am attractive, I am witty, I am charming… but my husband Chris looks confused as I make heart shapes across the table at him with my fingers like a teenager.

Six hours later, I am staring into my bloodshot eyes as I rest my forehead against the cool glass of my bathroom mirror. Reminded of the last time I had a hangover of this magnitude, back in December 2021, I am overcome with a familiar sense of shame and nausea.

For more than two years, not so much as a drop of alcohol touched my lips. After nearly three decades of regular, enthusiastic and at times heavy drinking, I credited sobriety with newfound clarity, increased confidence and a stable mood.

The more I learned about the damage alcohol does physically, psychologically and societally, the more determined I was to avoid it. And I’d found it easier than I’d thought.

Having embarked on a new sober life at the start of 2022, I lasted until January 20 this year, when, after 750 alcohol-free days, I became a drinker again. I have drunk six times since then, to varying degrees, of which last weekend’s display was by far the most extreme — a deliberate, if destructive, attempt to see if I still enjoyed the sensation of getting drunk.

I didn’t make the decision to drink again lightly. Most of us are aware of the dangers of alcohol, but I’d reached the disappointing conclusion that it seemed integral to my social life and sense of belonging. Unlike so many other sober people I admire, in a society still obsessed with alcohol, I am too weak to go against the grain.

On top of that, increasingly sobriety had come to feel like another form of perfectionism, a way of proving my worth, a stick to beat myself with — less an achievement than a millstone around my neck. The longer I abstained, the further I had to fall from the pedestal on which I’d put myself. I knew drinking again would trigger complex feelings of guilt and relief, shame and liberation, but I was intrigued to see whether it would prove worth it in the long run.

For much of my adult life, alcohol has been part of my identity, turning me into ‘fun Toni’ at parties and helping me switch off after a stressful day.

Two pregnancies and five Dry Januarys notwithstanding, I had drunk alcohol every week since I was a teenager. I could stop at one glass, but usually wanted more.

As a mother of two children, now aged 13 and 11, I saw wine as an essential antidote to the hard graft of parenting — often drinking half a bottle after a hard day. During lockdown, my drinking increased to the extent that I even taught my then 11-year-old daughter how to make my daiquiris.

I drank more than the recommended 14 units a week, but, I reassured myself, no more than many fortysomething women. Though aspects of my drinking were problematic I did not, as far as every popular metric around drinking was concerned, have a problem.

Increasingly, however, hangovers left me racked with anxiety over what I might have said or done wrong. After a particularly boozy Christmas in 2021, I wondered if life would feel easier without alcohol.

Halfway through Dry January 2022, I decided to quit for longer, signing up to Monument, an online sobriety school. Unlike AA, which maintains alcoholism is a disease that can never be cured, Monument believes alcohol abuse is a spectrum and that alcohol — addictive to everyone — is the culprit, rather than the person drinking it.

As months passed, I saw alcohol in an increasingly sinister light. Yes, much of my drinking had seemed harmless, but it had also been behind every traumatic event in my life: from fracturing my wrist as a student to getting sacked from my first job during work drinks. It had also stopped me developing healthy coping strategies for difficult situations. Meeting new friends or dating? The easy, instant solution became drink.

Yet stopping was easier than I expected, even at events — birthdays, a wedding, two funerals — where our instinctive reaction is often to drink.

Sober, I read voraciously, my productivity soared and my skin glowed. I felt braver, kinder, capable of making small talk at parties without the social lubrication of alcohol.

My husband, who has always been a moderate drinker who can take or leave alcohol, was pleased — he’d always thought I was happier not drinking — and my children happy they had more of my attention.

Yet privately, a part of me also felt embarrassed. I hadn’t hit rock bottom, crashed my car or streaked naked while drunk. I was just a midlife mum who liked wine a bit too much. Was stopping drinking entirely a tad melodramatic? An attention-seeking ploy?

My friends, most of them enthusiastic drinkers, were supportive but surprised by my all-or-nothing drinking strategy. Yet as an all-or-nothing person, I was convinced if I had one glass, I’d want another — and I’d soon be back to a life where weekends without wine seemed inconceivable.

I marked a year alcohol-free with mixed emotions — making a big deal out of it felt fraudulent.

To stay motivated, I knew I needed further goals to aspire to. Yet, slowly, my good intentions unravelled.

I signed up to a novel-writing course but dropped out halfway through. I couldn’t conquer the wine-avoiding chocolate habit that had seen me gain half a stone. Meanwhile, my social media use soared as I tried to get the missing dopamine hit from likes and comments. Instead, constantly comparing myself to others made me feel anxious and depleted.

In short, sobriety no longer seemed transformational — after gaining in confidence during the first year, the benefits had plateaued and I began to feel bored.

Towards the end of last year, I admitted to myself I missed drinking. Not for its stress-relieving properties — I’d learned that if you simply sit with difficult emotions, they will pass. What I lacked was alcohol’s licence for stupidity and relief in a serious adult world.

Nobody had treated me like an outsider but, increasingly, I felt like one.

Sobriety influencers suggest we ditch heavy-drinking friends and seek support networks among non-drinkers. But I loved my friends, and at 45 had neither the time nor energy to find new ones.

I struggled to shake a gnawing sense of otherness: on the sidelines of my son’s football match as parents anticipated their lunchtime pint; at the mulled wine table outside the school Christingle service; and when a friend’s face dropped when she realised the bottle of Prosecco I’d turned up with was non-alcoholic.

So in early January, ahead of a reunion, I told my three university friends that I would be drinking. They said they loved me drunk or sober but jumped to get a second bottle of Prosecco when I arrived.

Chris was apprehensive. He had supported me more than anyone in my decision not to drink. But my heart hammered with excitement and trepidation.

I expected the Prosecco to taste disgusting — as alcohol does to a teenager — but the bubbles sparkled deliciously on my tongue. I felt overwhelmed and tearful that, at least, I had finally made my decision.

A few sips later and I felt a familiar sense of giddiness. I had planned to stop after one glass — a new ground rule, along with not drinking at home or in response to stress. But the detachment from being slightly drunk, and delight at being with friends, rendered rules ridiculous. I drank another glass and a half of white wine over lunch.

For a few hours, I felt blissfully removed from the outside world. It was only as the effects wore off that I wondered what alcohol actually contributed to the occasion. An illusion of joy, undoubtedly. But were my conversations more meaningful as a result? Was my laughter more heartfelt?

I wasn’t sure.

My husband was relieved I seemed lucid on my return. But I woke at 5am with a dry mouth and sense of unidentified panic — a reaction to the alcohol, undoubtedly, but perhaps guilt at starting drinking again, too.

I’d forgotten how deeply unpleasant I am with a hangover. Groggy and irritated, I snapped at my daughter for making a mess icing cakes and couldn’t muster enthusiasm for my son’s football match. The children didn’t say anything, but I felt a terrible mother.

Alcohol can be detected on the breath for up to 14 hours after a drink, but I believe it affected me for the rest of the week.

Seven days later, friends were incredulous when I said I was still too hungover to drink again. While the effects may have been psychological, research shows that after a long period of abstinence, our functional tolerance (the ability to withstand impairments such as slurred speech) and metabolic tolerance (the rate at which the liver eliminates alcohol from the body) reduces.

My children had been so proud of me for not drinking that I was too ashamed to tell them I’d started again. They found out a fortnight later, through my daughter’s friend, after I wrote about it on Instagram. Yet I was surprised by their mostly sympathetic reaction.

‘I just don’t think after two years you’re going to get drunk any more,’ my daughter reassured me — and I realised she might be right. It was the permission I had given myself to drink, more than the drink itself, that I had found liberating.

It was nearly a month before I drank again at a pub with friends. As soon as the Sauvignon Blanc hit my empty stomach, my inhibitions were lowered, conversations seemed less guarded, more intimate… and, in truth, more fun. When my glass was finished (we were all driving), I felt a tangible sense of loss.

One glass, I realised, would probably never feel enough. Yet it was enough to make me wake at 5am, feeling miserable. I also believe alcohol made me more emotional and less resilient that week. I flew off the handle when Chris forgot to get the firewood and cried during an episode of Friends.

I wondered if, for moderate drinkers, a long period of abstinence could act as a circuit-breaker — rewiring the brain to consume less. If so, it was a huge relief I appeared to be one of them.

Yet even drinking a glass or two sporadically over a period of weeks, I noticed my skin looked more lined, spots appeared around my nose and chin, and my sleep, even on nights I wasn’t drinking, was disrupted. To assuage my guilt, I exercised harder, braved howling gales to run when injury allowed and spent 45 minutes instead of 30 on my exercise bike. I turned down crisps to compensate for the calories in wine and ate less chocolate. I lost 5lb, but it was a pyrrhic victory.

But I was also curious to know if the sense of abandon being drunk once provided, and that I used to crave, still held the same appeal. Hence this weekend’s dinner party. ‘I might start swearing,’ I warned the other guests.

‘I haven’t seen drunk Toni for so long,’ one friend said excitedly; another told me I was ‘sparkling’. Though I wanted my sober self to be enough, I was quietly thrilled by the compliment.

My memories began to blur after four glasses of champagne, and by 9pm, when I had moved on to Sancerre, I was slurring my words. My husband says I’m more interesting sober, ‘because you’re repeating yourself endlessly when drunk’. Nevertheless, I was overcome with affection for him — hence the out-of-character hearts across the table.

The freedom from the pandemonium of my midlife thoughts — work, children, chores, repeat — is welcome.

Of course, it comes at a cost. By the taxi ride home I was hiccupping, and I woke with a jolt at 4.27am, with a sense of self-loathing that lingered 48 hours on.

As I type, I’m wondering whether my behaviour towards my hostess warrants an apology, and vow not to get that drunk again.

‘So, was it worth it?’ a fellow guest WhatsApps me.

To which I say, I just don’t know. While I don’t think I’ll ever get that drunk again, an all-out ban isn’t on the cards either. A life of total sobriety no longer appeals.

Natasha Richardson’s son Daniel Neeson has posted a heartfelt tribute to his mother to mark the 15th anniversary of her death.

Daniel – the son of Natasha and actor Liam Neeson – was 12 when his mother died following a skiing accident in Quebec, Canada on March 18, 2009.

The 27-year-old now runs a successful tequila brand called DE-NADA, making him one of the few in his family not to pursue a career in the arts – his older brother Micheál Richardson is also an actor, as are his aunt Joely and cousin Daisy Bevan.

Daniel wrote an emotional tribute to Natasha on Instagram on Tuesday, alongside a beautiful black and white photo of her from 1998.

He wrote: ‘Fifteen years since you left this plane forever. I look forward to reuniting one day, but for now I find comfort in knowing you are by my side every step of the way.”

Daniel said he hoped he would “make her proud” with his alcohol brand and referenced a sweet story from his childhood in which he called Natasha the “OG Margarita mama!”

He continued, “Hopefully I make you proud. I think you would definitely be proud of my margarita skills. She was the OG Margarita mom!

“As a child, I would always ask her for a sip of hers, and she would say softly, ‘Not until you’re older.’ Little did she know that one day I would start my own tequila brand and have way too many margaritas at my fingertips.”

He concluded his message by talking about his close relationship with his aunt, Natasha’s sister Joely: ‘My aunt, @joelyrichardsonsinsta, who always brightens my day, said to me this week that sometimes we forget that we are on an eternally spinning planet located.

‘Change is inevitable and we must embrace it with open arms. Whether or not you believe in quantum physics, the past, future and present coexist. We are all connected here and there by love. The greatest life force. choose it above all else.”

Daniel was home in New York at the time of his mother’s accident, but his brother was by her side when the 2009 Tony Award winner fell and hit her head while skiing on the slopes. Their father Liam was in Toronto filming.

Natasha, who has appeared in Hollywood films such as The Parent Trap and Maid In Manhattan, was taking a beginners ski lesson when the accident happened.

She was not wearing a helmet and had initially said she felt fine before her condition worsened an hour later at her hotel.

Liam rushed to her side and was then flown to New York under intensive care, where she died in hospital two days later at the age of 45, with her family, including her mother Vanessa and sister Joely, at her bedside.

A post-mortem revealed that Richardson died of haemorrhage in her skull caused by the fall on a ski slope in Mont Tremblant.

In 2018, her other son Michel changed his last name to Richardson to honor his late mother and “keep her close.”

Joely posted her own tribute on Instagram, with a photo of a young Natasha with Ethan Hawke, which she said showed her sister’s “fun” and “naughty” side.

She also revealed that Natasha once told her she would like to ‘go’ while she was still ‘at her peak’ – words that came true in terrifying fashion.

Joely said: ‘Richard Eyre said at her memorial ‘it’s so hard to understand why she’s suddenly gone, because she was the most alive person I’d ever met’.

‘Tash widely celebrated other people’s achievements – got so excited and happy for them – and had created a mini Oscar for Ethan when he was nominated. We went to see ‘Moulin Rouge’ (film by Baz Luhrmann) in Ziegfeld in New York.

‘When we came out, she said to me, ‘If I had to go, I would want it to be like this – at my peak.’ Well, Tash, you did, 15 years ago today – loved to pieces .”

Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen also paid tribute to his late girlfriend Natasha, praising the “perfectly amazing” actress.

He gave a glimpse into their friendship with photos of them dancing together, vacationing and attending red carpet events.

The images also featured Richardson’s widower Liam Neeson and friends Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Ralph Fiennes and Kristen Johnson.

Speaking to the New York Post Previously, Daniel said his mother always urged him to follow his dreams.

He said: “She was one of my biggest role models. She always intended to “never feel like you have to be forced through a tunnel to fit in.” Do what you want to do, but do it your best and be generous with it.”

Daniel, who lives in Manhattan, said he “always loved being outdoors” and enjoyed hobbies such as fishing, hiking and hockey.

He studied theater and digital media in college, but never acted professionally. Instead, he used his education to develop his business talents.

Daniel admitted: “I love that I caught the bug as a kid to do something different [than acting].

“You have an idea, you work on the basics of it and then you present it,” he explained of his entrepreneurial skills. “And when you present it, you [make sure it] relate to people.’

He has been working with his professional marketing girlfriend Natalie Ackerman for about six years.

The couple have enjoyed countless trips to the ‘motherland’, Liam’s native Northern Ireland, as well as glamorous holidays to St. Tropez, Prague and the Czech Republic.

Rock icon Jimmy Barnes walked his daughter Eliza-Jane down the aisle last month to marry her longtime partner Jimmy Metherell.

The 67-year-old Working Class Man hitmaker looked every bit the proud dad in a series of stunning photos from the wedding.

Just a few months earlier, the Scottish-born Australian was in intensive care and feared for his life as he underwent open-heart surgery.

But he was the picture of wholesomeness on his daughter’s big day, which was held at The Stables on Berrima’s Bendooley Estate on February 28.

Eliza-Jane, 39, broke down in tears as she clung to her famous dad ahead of the wedding.

She was a classic beauty on her big day, donning a vintage wedding dress with a nude base and white lace overlay, designed by Collette Dinnigan.

The performer enhanced her flawless features with a no-makeup makeup look and accessorized her luscious dark curls with a matching white floral crown.

“It was just an amazing celebration of love, and we were so happy that Dad was in such good shape for our wedding,” the singer-songwriter shared. women’s Day last Monday.

‘My father also had health problems at the end of last year, just before Christmas. So it was even more special to have both of our fathers there.”

Barnes admitted that he became “very emotional” during the day, saying: “I even shed a tear during rehearsal. Just the whole thing, you know.”

Sharing several photos on his Instagram, Barnes wrote, “We sang together as I walked EJ down the aisle to give her away, and nothing could have made me prouder.

“EJ sang her vows in a love song she wrote for her Jim. Jim joined our family and we joined the Metherell clan.

‘What more could a man ask for than the blessing of all these special loved ones around me.’

The bride’s father wore an all-black traditional Scottish outfit, including a kilt and boots.

EJ and Metherell, 36, welcomed 140 guests to their union at the estate, which is not far from Barnes and his wife Jane’s home in the Southern Highlands.

Guests included Crowded House star Neil Finn and Mark ‘Diesel’ Lizotte, who performed Otis Redding’s I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.

Additional co-host and Eliza-Jane’s cousin David Campbell also made good use of his pipes, singing the Elvis classic Love Me Tender during the bridal waltz.

Her siblings Mahalia, Jackie and Ella-May were also in attendance, along with Metherell’s very musical family.

The bride and groom, who have been together for almost a decade, welcomed their two-year-old son Teddy as the ring bearer.

After a traditional honeymoon, the family of three will fly back to their Auckland home to celebrate and start the next chapter of their lives.

Despite the happiness that radiated from their love ceremony, there was a real fear that Barnes would not make it to his daughter’s wedding.

The Australian rock legend spoke a few months ago about his close encounter with death and the serious fear that he would not wake up after heart surgery.

Barnes has survived his fair share of health issues during his many years of life, along with his drug and alcohol addiction.

But two months ago he became fearful for his health after being struck by a life-threatening infection that affected his heart.

At one point, while in St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, a seriously ill Barnes told his wife Jane, “I don’t think I’m going to make it.”

‘I just had a terribly sick feeling, because I’ve never felt so sick before. I thought I was gone,” he said 60 minutes amid his recovery.

Hours before going to the hospital, an unwell Barnes took the stage at a memorial concert for his late friend and promoter, Michael Gudinski.

If you’re looking forward to a big party this weekend but are wary of the negative side effects of your skin care, don’t worry.

A beauty expert revealed that drinking a type of beer can promote aging and youthful skin, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.

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SpaSeekers.com Director Jason Goldberg shared a helpful tip about a popular alcoholic drink with a slew of skincare benefits.

This weekend, many people around the world will head to their local pub to grab a beer or two for the holidays.

If you’re wondering whether to drink a beer with various skincare benefits, grab a fresh pint of Guinness.

According to Jason, one of the key ingredients in a pint of Guinness is barley, which contains several antioxidants, including polyphenols.

They can help ‘repair and rejuvenate’, as well as ‘minimize skin aging’ and damage.

“Barley is also a source of several vitamins and minerals, including vitamin B3, iron and zinc, which are also known to promote healthy skin,” he explained.

The expert added that the hops in a pint of Guinness can also help maintain a healthy skin barrier.

The notable hops in the beer contain antioxidant properties that can help protect the skin from oxidative stress and environmental damage.

Before you get too excited, Jason warned that the drying effects of the alcohol content in a pint of Guinness counteract some of the positive effects, especially if you drink a lot of it in a short period of time.

“While these ingredients may offer some potential skin benefits, it is critical to consider the overall context of your pint consumption,” he said.

Not only can alcohol dry out the skin, but he added that excessive alcohol consumption has also been linked to inflammation and other effects on skin health.

While some of the ingredients in Guinness may offer skin benefits, Jason emphasized the importance of a well-balanced diet and a nourishing skincare routine.

Even if you enjoy regular libations, he called this “a much more reliable and effective way to support skin health.”

If you’re heading to the pub this weekend to mingle with the Irish crowd, enjoy the festivities, but consider drinking a glass of water every other drink to minimize the drying effects.

This also reduces the risk of possible hangovers, which are the worst.

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A POPULAR lager has been pulled from store shelves, leaving fans furious.

Drinkers are campaigning to get Carling Premier back in supermarkets after manufacturer Molson Coors said it was no longer viable to produce in cans.

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Punters can still buy it, but only on tap in selected pubs – a decision that has gone down badly with the army of loyal fans.

Due to their scarcity, cans are now being sold on Amazon for an eye-watering £62.99 for a pack of 24.

Multipacks have been spotted in Iceland, Spar, Premier stores and various convenience stores in recent weeks, but many fans are now saying they can’t find one.

One fan asked Molson Coors on X: “Please tell me it’s not true that you stopped making Carling Premier in cans?”

A second asked: ‘Can you tell me why I can’t find Carling Premier lager in the shops lately? I’ve been everywhere, but no luck so far.’

A third wrote: “Very sad to hear this. I think it’s much better than the standard Carling.”

One supporter, John Henrick, has even launched a petition on Change.org.

He wrote: “Carling Premier, a beloved lager known for its smooth, creamy texture and rich flavor, is no longer available in cans from Molson Coors.

“This decision has disappointed countless fans and loyal customers and left them longing for the unique taste that only Carling Premier can provide.

“It’s not just a drink; it’s part of our social fabric that brings people together.”

A Facebook group called “Carling Premier WE LOVE IT So bring it back to Pubs” includes discussions about which pubs serve the public as many do not, as well as stock levels in stores.

Carling Premier was originally introduced to celebrate Carling’s sponsorship of the FA Premier League in 1992.

It is known as a super smooth pint because it is activated by nitrogen.

The addition of nitrogen forms smaller, more abundant bubbles that give the beer a smoother taste and texture than if it were made with carbon dioxide.

Premier’s alcohol content is also higher at 4.7%, compared to Carling Original’s 4%.

A spokesperson for Molson Coors Beverage Company confirmed that production had stopped in November.

He added: “It’s great to see the latent love for Carling Premier!

“Unfortunately, demand in stores had fallen so it was no longer viable to produce it in cans, but it is still available on tap in the on-trade in over 300 pubs, clubs and social venues across the UK.

“The pub is a great place to enjoy a Carling Premier, which has always been a super smooth pint because it is activated by nitrogen.

You can also find the nearest catering suppliers by sending us a message at consumerhelpline@molsoncoors.com.”

It’s not the only change in beer in recent months.

At the beginning of this year, Heineken reduced the alcohol content of John Smith’s Extra Smooth from 3.6% to 3.4%.

The drinks company said the decision to make the bitter weaker was to promote healthy drinking.

Last year, Carlsberg reduced its lager from 3.8% to 3.4%.

Both now fall under the new, lower tax rate on drinks of less than 3.5% following a government change in alcohol excise duty.

Meanwhile, an investigation by The Sun found that the alcohol content in popular supermarket wines has been reduced, but prices have not followed suit.

They say they are doing this to keep prices low following the UK government’s alcohol duty reforms, which means higher taxes on stronger drinks.

Heineken also reduced Fosters’ ABV from 4% to 3.7% in early 2023.

Do you have a money problem that needs to be solved? Get in touch by emailing money@the-sun.co.uk.

Moreover, you can join us Sun Money chats and tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories.

A ‘paid to party’ influencer has had one of her TikTok videos banned by advertising watchdogs – after drinking four cocktails in less than 90 seconds.

Danielle Walsh, from Belfast in Northern Ireland, had made the video as a paid advertisement for drinks company VK.

However, she failed to identify it as an advertisement and it subsequently broke Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) rules about encouraging excessive drinking.

The party animal, who has more than 400,000 followers on TikTok, regularly posts videos of herself consuming alcoholic drinks and describing what she drinks before a night out.

Despite drinking a lot, Danielle says she never gets a hangover thanks to eating pickled onion chips and Diet Coke.

The social media star was seen in the video making four cocktails for ‘pres’ by pouring a variety of alcohol for free, including vodka, peach schnapps, Amaretto and a whiskey liqueur.

After making them by mixing VK alcopops with various spirits, the 36-year-old aid worker announced her intention to ‘do four in one’ and downed all four drinks in less than a minute and a half.

The ASA has now banned the video because it encourages excessive drinking and is not clearly identifiable as an advertisement.

The regulator explained that the video showed Ms Walsh – who has her own line of metal straws that allow drinkers to “sip pints like an exhaust pipe” – standing behind a bar with a row of glasses in front of her as music played in the background. .

She turned to the camera and said, “So for the pres tonight I want to show you what we’re drinking.

“We’re going to do four in one because we’re going to get relief tonight.”

Mrs. Walsh then made four cocktails and said, “Let’s try it,” after making them all and drinking them quickly.

The cocktails combined different flavors of VK alcopops with vodka, peach schnapps, Amaretto and whiskey liqueur that were poured into the glasses ‘free’.

As they were being made, images appeared on the screen showing the ingredients of each cocktail, the name and the VK logo.

The text at the bottom of the video, which was posted in October 2023, read: ‘Lets make some drinkssss.’

ASA regulators complained that the video was ‘irresponsible’ because it encouraged excessive alcohol consumption, and was not clearly identifiable as an advertisement.

The ASA ruling stated that Global Brands Ltd, the company that owns VK, confirmed that they had provided Ms Walsh with the alcoholic drinks used in the advert in return for her promoting their brand on her TikTok channel.

They explained that they had asked Ms Walsh to create a series of videos showing the creation of each cocktail, rather than “one video showing four cocktails being made and consumed.”

They also claimed to have stipulated that their products would be promoted in a ‘responsible manner’ and had asked to approve the videos before they were posted.

On this occasion the company said this had not happened and that Ms Walsh had posted the videos without their final approval.

VK also accepted that the video should have been clearly labeled as an advertisement and said they had asked Ms Walsh’s agent several times to remove the video, although their requests had not been acknowledged.

Ms Walsh said VK had not paid her for the post and agreed to remove the video while it was investigated.

TikTok said alcohol advertising was banned on its platform and the ad had been removed by its creator.

In another recent video, she mixed blue WKD with rose wine while loud music played in the background.

The ASA ruling states that the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code) states that advertisements must be ‘socially responsible’ and must not contain anything that could encourage people to adopt ‘unwise’ drinking styles .

The ruling added: ‘The ASA understood that ‘pres’ was a reference to ‘pre-drinking’ or ‘pre-drinking’, the practice of consuming alcohol at home before going to a pub, bar or club, where still more alcohol would be consumed. be consumed.

‘We understood that pre-drinking was often intended to achieve intoxication before visiting a licensed premises, and as such we considered that the reference to ‘pres’ in the advertisement implied that alcohol would be consumed in excessive quantities.

‘We understood that the word ‘lit’ has a long history as a slang term for being drunk.

‘We felt that consumers were likely to associate the phrase ‘we’re getting lit tonight’ with excessive alcohol consumption and getting drunk.

‘We also felt that the comment ‘We’re going to do four in one’ expressed Ms Walsh’s intention to drink four cocktails in one video, which further implied the excessive consumption of alcohol.

‘[Ms Walsh] did not measure any of the ingredients in the drinks; pouring the alcohol everywhere for free.

‘We noticed that the volume of “mixer” in each cocktail was minimal.

‘In addition, Ms Walsh drank each cocktail quickly after making it, consuming all four drinks in less than 90 seconds, demonstrating that excessive amounts of alcohol had been consumed in a short period of time.

‘Because the advertisement encouraged excessive drinking and indicated that alcohol was being handled and served irresponsibly, we concluded that this was irresponsible and therefore contrary to the Code.’

Subsequently, ASA also enforced a second breach of the CAP Code, stating that marketing communications must be ‘clearly identified as such’.

Regulators noted that while Ms. Walsh said she had not been paid by VK to make the video, VK had confirmed that they had “provided her with the products for free in exchange for her promoting their brand,” which she viewed as “as payment ‘.

“We therefore considered that VK had editorial control over the post, despite some of their requests being ignored by Ms Walsh,” the ASA ruling said.

‘We did not find that the recipe images made it clear that there was a commercial relationship between Ms Walsh and the VK brand.

‘Although Ms Walsh made frequent references to the VK brand in the video… the post was not clearly identifiable as a marketing communication and did not make its commercial intent clear.

The ASA concluded that the advert should not appear again in the same form and warned Global Brands Ltd and Ms Walsh against encouraging excessive alcohol consumption in future videos, and that these were clearly identifiable as advertisements.

PUNTERS at Britain’s ‘cheapest’ pub have told how they can enjoy a cool pint without spending a lot of money.

Revelers flock to The Adrwick in Blackpool, where they can get their hands on a pint of lager or cider for less than £2 each.

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While tight-fisted Brits think twice before taking out their wallets due to rising booze prices, the Lancashire watering hole prides itself on its affordable price list.

“When I took over in 2010, a pint cost £1.49, and I’m pleased that fourteen years later my customers are paying just 31p more,” says landlady Lynn Haworth.

“I manage to keep prices so low because of the volume I sell.

‘I didn’t design the pub to be the cheapest in Britain, it just turned out that way.

“When you go out you need a lot of money, but not here, so I’m proud to be the cheapest pub in Britain.

“I worked in another pub in Blackpool in 1997 so not much has changed.”

Lynn, 64, employs seven staff and first started in the pub industry at the age of 23.

Visitors can have a pint of John Smiths, Fosters or Strongbow cider for just £1.80.

While the cafe attracts punters in droves at the weekend, the pub has also built up a steady stream of loyal local customers and holidaymakers throughout the week.

“I get people in here year after year, and they love the price of the drinks,” Lynn continued.

“Sometimes when a group comes in and they’re buying rounds, you hear them say to their friends, ‘Hurry up and drink them, we’re undercharged,’ but that’s not the case.

“It’s kind of funny to see how people think they can get away with paying too little.”

Holidaymaker Mark, 35, paid tribute to the pub for its warm atmosphere.

“I love it here. The drinks are affordable and the atmosphere is fantastic.

“I’ve been here six or seven times since January, I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

“I was born in 1988, so I was nine in 1997, and obviously I didn’t drink, but in Stoke I now pay £3.50 a pint, so this is a real affordable holiday.

“I’m actually upgrading from last night. I stopped by for a haircut or the dog, but I’ll probably stay a little longer.

“I’ve been to other pubs in Blackpool but this is by far the best. Cheap and friendly. You really can’t complain.”

Barmaid Emma Berry, 28, has been working at The Ardwick for two years, since moving to the seaside resort from Birmingham two years ago.

“I was born in 1996 so I was only one when the price of a pint was so cheap,” said Emma.

“I love working here and I love seeing the shock on people’s faces when they hear how much the drinks cost.

‘They sometimes think that I only charge them one pint if they order a few.

Sometimes when a group comes in and they buy rounds, you can hear them say to their friends, “Hurry up and drink them, we underpaid,” but they didn’t.

Lynn HaworthLandlady

“I wouldn’t want to do any other job anywhere else.”

Retired lorry driver Michael Cain, 75, is known in the pub as ‘Mike Two Pints’ because he always buys a pair of John Smiths.

Dumfries-born Michael has been drinking at The Ardwick seven days a week since moving to Blackpool five years ago.

“I found this place when I moved to Blackpool from Malta and wouldn’t go anywhere else now,” said Michael.

“The prices here are magical. Before the corona crisis, the price of a pint was £1.70, but now you really can’t ignore £1.80.

“In another local pub they sell John Smiths for £2.60 a pint, and I can come in here and get pints for another two – I always buy a few beers at a time, that’s why they call me ‘Mike Two’. Pints.” .

“The nickname stuck and I even have an Ardwick t-shirt with ‘Mike Two Pints’ written on it.

“I come here every day around 11 o’clock, drink four beers and then I go out.”

Retired builder Neville Terry, 72, was also on the John Smiths.

He said: “I would say this place is 100 percent very good.

“You can’t buy bread for these prices. It’s great that it’s so cheap.

“I come here four to five times a week. On Tuesday I was here for bingo.

“You can come in here with £20, spend a few hours chatting and watching sport on the telly and still walk out with money in your pocket – where else can you do that?

“I’m looking forward to St. Patrick’s Day because that’s what I’ll be here for.”

Regular Lesley Graves, 56, works at a local bingo hall and is at The Ardwick most days.

Lesley said: “I always come over after work. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

“The prices are fantastic and unbeatable.

“Long live 1997.”

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The photo will cause a lump in the throat of hundreds of thousands of Britons who received a ‘privileged’ education at boarding school. The young boy, stiff and unsmiling, in a uniform tie and an oversized suit, stands by the family car, about to leave for his first day. Sister and babysitter look on proudly.

The brand new suitcase bears the name C. Spencer, the sister is Diana, later Princess of Wales. It’s 1972 and Charles is only eight.

If he looks rather grim for a child going on a Harry Potter-style adventure, it is because, as he writes, he is very scared: ‘I had only been away from home for one night and before that I had been sleepless for six months. to go.’

He was right to be nervous. Spencer attended Maidwell Hall, an elite all-boys school that would set him on the path of becoming the eldest male child of a grand and aristocratic family: Eton, Oxford and later, after his father’s death, the House of Lords. .

But that day in 1972 was the beginning of a five-year horror, a “hellish experience” that, Spencer writes in his new book, would destroy two of his marriages and predispose him to lifelong depression.

The main stories from Spencer’s brave and furious memoir A Very Private School – exclusive extracts of which were published yesterday in the Mail on Sunday – are of course about the sexual abuse he and other boys experienced at Maidwell Hall.

There was the assistant matron who kissed and sexually abused him in his bed from the age of 11. The woman, twenty, was a serial predator.

Other boys, none older than thirteen, were brought to her bed and forced to have sex with her. Spencer says she emotionally manipulated them all – to the point where he cut his arm with a pocket knife to get more of her attention.

Boys were vulnerable to such a monster because, sent away from their families, they were a textbook example of neglect: children in desperate need of love. The man in charge at Maidwell – the director John ‘Jack’ Porch – was in loco parentis, the surrogate father. But he was a sadist who derived sexual pleasure from his brutal abuse of Spencer and the other children.

There is more. Spencer writes about the “anxious despair” he felt every day at school, about shooting himself in the foot so he wouldn’t have to return at the end of the holidays, about feeling abandoned by his parents to be because he wasn’t good enough. And the lifelong emotional damage that resulted from it.

This should give pause to all the parents who still pay to send their children away from home to be cared for by those who don’t love them – more than 70,000, even today.

“Some things died for me between my eighth and thirteenth birthdays, when I was in the care of Jack Porch. . .’ writes Spencer. “Innocence, trust, joy – all were trampled and diminished.”

These words stand out to me because very similar things happened at my Eton-feeder prep school, Ashdown House, in the 1970s. I started at the small boarding school on the same day as Viscount Linley, Queen Elizabeth’s cousin; Three years later, Boris Johnson showed up.

Sexual violence by the teachers was common. One of them is now in prison and another is being extradited from South Africa to face multiple charges of child abuse in Ashdown and elsewhere. I was sexually fondled by two others: the math teacher and the French teacher. So did the journalist Sir Nicholas Coleridge, who would soon become the next provost of Eton College.

The two great headmasters who presided over Ashdown in those years very quickly resorted to violence; stupidity in class or talking after lights out could lead to being viciously beaten with a bamboo stick. That was legal, of course.

Even more culpable, they looked away even when faced with complaints from parents about the sexual predators on their staff. David Linley, who was deeply miserable at school, was withdrawn by his parents mid-year. But Ashdown and Maidwell Hall are not exceptional.

What happened there, the total failure of child protection, the cover-up of abusers, was ridiculously common. In 2014 I wrote in a newspaper about Ashdown and the culture that tolerated sexual abuse, neglect and cruelty in private schools.

My email inbox was then flooded for months with stories from others about sexual abuse and violence at boarding schools, both state and private. Many had never talked about their shame and pain before.

In a book, and on radio and TV, I have since investigated some of these allegations, most recently at Scotland’s Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College. Broadcaster Nicky Campbell subsequently made public the violence and sexual attacks on him and his friends at the Academy by staff in the 1970s.

I have registered every credible and serious complaint. There are now almost 1,200 allegations in my database, with 490 schools and more than 300 staff members named. Most complaints concern male predators, but there are a significant number of women who have physically and psychologically abused students in both boys’ and girls’ schools.

Maidwell Hall appears in the spreadsheet. Former poet laureate Andrew Motion, who was at Maidwell a decade before Spencer, has told how he was sexually abused by an English teacher there.

I have received more stories from former students about the ‘sadism’ of principal Jack Porch, and about sexual relations between the boys at school, including rape.

That’s no surprise either. One of the disturbing consequences of sexual abuse of young children is that they can become ‘hypersexual’ and in their confusion seek more experiences. In the book, Spencer describes how he lost his virginity at the age of 12 to an Italian prostitute whom he paid with his pocket money.

When I went to Eton after high school, like Spencer, it was in a sexually charged environment, with a culture where younger boys were exploited by older boys – and not without their own predatory teachers.

What is clear is that this was all an open secret in the upper class from the 19th century onwards. That the schools were harsh and cruel was accepted as necessary – the reinforcement that children need. It had worked for generations to produce Britain’s leaders.

The schools were also known to attract and tolerate predators. Evelyn Waugh wrote a novel, Decline And Fall, in which one is a comic character. “Pederasts are actually very good teachers,” was the wisdom.

Spencer has a lot in common with others who suffered at school. Like many, shame kept him silent; it was thirty years before he told others what happened to him. The matron is now said to be in her late sixties. She has not been prosecuted.

The complex PTSD that can result from neglect and abuse over an extended period of time in childhood is well studied; There is a recognized specialty in psychology called the boarding school syndrome. After all, almost a million living British people went to boarding school, and my research shows that a third were unhappy, or worse.

‘Emotional dysregulation’, feelings of guilt and shame and periods of extreme depression, drug or alcohol use are common symptoms. In addition to the former residents are the survivors of state care.

Many of the bordals and orphanages were deliberately run along the lines of ‘public schools’. And abuse and cover-up were common there, just as managers at the NHS and the BBC concealed or ignored suspicions about Jimmy Savile.

This is all ancient history, say today’s schools. Maidwell Hall – it still stands and now costs more than £30,000 a year – told the Mail: ‘School life has evolved considerably since the 1970s. At the heart of the changes is the protection of children and the promotion of their well-being.’

But these days I get reports from parents of children in private schools talking about security protocols that haven’t worked, and that abuses and staff failures have been ignored or covered up. There are still 70,000 boarders in fee-paying schools. Our failing state care and detention systems house more than 100,000 more children. Are we sure they are safe?

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), funded by the government, completed seven years of work (at a cost of £180 million) and published its recommendations in October 2022. It concluded that institutions caring for children needed to do much more their safety.

Incredibly, in Britain there is still no legal requirement to report an adult suspected of abusing a child. Last month, the government finally announced legislative changes in response to IICSA. “We are working hard to get mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse into law,” said Home Secretary James Cleverly.

Cleverly’s proposals are being watered down. Campaigners say they will not even bring UK child protection rules up to the standards of most other countries. Therefore, what Charles Spencer writes is not just history; it is an urgent message for parents and anyone who cares about children today.

Alex Renton is a journalist and presenter. His book Stiff Upper Lip: Secrets, Crimes And The Schooling Of A Ruling Class is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.