Brad Pitt’s girlfriend Ines De Ramon cut a stylish figure while running errands in Santa Monica on Tuesday, following his legal victory over ex Angelina Jolie.

The 31-year-old jewelry designer wore a casual, cool charcoal gray sweater and faded vintage-style jeans during her outing.

The brunette beauty – who has helped him navigate his bitter divorce from Angelina, 48 – paired the outfit with brown suede boots and a gray crossbody bag.

She shielded her eyes with sunglasses and had a cup of coffee and her cell phone in her hands.

Ines – who recently finalized her divorce from actor Paul Wesley, 40, – has been linked to the Oscar winner, 60, since November 2022.

Ines and Wesley finalized their divorce more than a year and a half after announcing their divorce at the end of 2022.

In court documents obtained by People Wesley “waived future spousal support payments” and “requested that her former name be reinstated.”

The former couple, who cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their split, married in 2019 and have no children.

Meanwhile, Brad has secured the latest victory in the battle for control of the French vineyard he owned with ex-wife Angelina in the latest twist in the so-called ‘War of the Rosés’.

The Chateau Miraval estate, which produces an award-winning sparkling rosé, is at the center of a protracted court battle between the pair.

Jolie sought to overturn a preliminary ruling from the LA Supreme Court that accepted her ex-husband’s claim that she sold her share of their beautiful vineyard to Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler without his consent in 2021.

But in another victory for the Fight Club star, the court rejected allegations that his lawsuit was “frivolous, malicious and part of a problematic pattern.”

It now means Pitt’s legal team has the green light to take the lawsuit to court, in which the A-lister is suing Jolie for breaching an agreement that they would refuse each other first.

DailyMail.com’s court filings show that on March 8, the Hollywood star was given the green light to amend a rejected claim alleging breach of an “implied covenant” of fair dealing and good faith.

Judge Lia Martin rejected Jolie’s lawyers’ attempts to dismiss the lawsuit for breach of implied contract and quasi-contract, in the latest blow to Jolie and Shefler.

Last month the Mail revealed that Stoli had been stripped of a number of shares by a court in Luxembourg, making Pitt the majority shareholder.

The battle for the future of Chateau Miraval has so far been waged in courtrooms in France, Luxembourg and Los Angeles.

Pitt was shocked when his ex-wife sold her half of their beautiful Chateau Miraval estate to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler in 2021 without his consent.

After their bitter divorce in 2016, Jolie sold her stake in the company to Yuri Shefler’s Stoli Group. Pitt claimed she violated an agreement that they would give each other first refusal.

Financial documents seen by DailyMail.com in February showed that the ultimate owner of the shares is a shadowy trust on the island of Jersey, controlled by a company in which Shefler is not a shareholder.

The baffling business arrangements make it impossible to know who is pulling the strings, but friends of Hollywood star Pitt say he is determined to get to the bottom of the matter.

A source close to the actor said: “Brad wants Jersey to start giving answers. He should have the right to know who bought his company.

‘He has put his heart and soul into Chateau Miraval and feels like the rug is being pulled out from under him. He’s not sure who he’s doing business with.’

In an earlier filing, Pitt alleged that Shefler tried to “bully” and “threaten” him with defamation, arguing that the Russian tried to bully him into submission by issuing a press release announcing their “partnership” the day after Jolie’s deal was completed.

Shefler then demanded the pair meet for talks after “personally insisting” that the release “emphasize” they were partners with Pitt – despite the A-Lister only learning of the deal through the announcement.

The filings are part of the Oscar winners’ bid to reverse Angelina Jolie’s $64 million sale of her share of the Chateau Miraval estate to Shefler.

He says the 2021 deal violated Jolie’s previous promise to offer him first refusal if she ever sold.

Shefler is accused of contacting Jolie’s divorce lawyers after reports of a “heated custody dispute” in 2021.

Pitt’s team also says representatives from Stoli – Shefler’s international drinks conglomerate – made an “unsolicited” offer for Miravel following news of the couples’ split.

Shefler insists that the US courts do not have jurisdiction to hear a full trial on this case.

But the momentum in the legal battle appears to be with Pitt, after a court in Luxembourg stripped Shefler of 10 percent of his shares, effectively making Pitt the majority shareholder again.

His legal team secured victory by arguing that the shares were given in 2013 with the understanding that Jolie would not resell them.

Judge Carole Kerschen ruled that it was necessary to end the ‘blocking of decision-making’ and save the company. A merits hearing in about two years is likely to decide that Pitt regains full control of the shares, which were transferred to Jolie’s company for one euro.

A source close to the actor previously said that the ruling leaves Shefler with “virtually no control” over the multibillion-dollar business in Provence.

Pitt and Jolie purchased the 1,300-acre Miraval estate in 2008 as 60-40 partners, with Pitt as the majority shareholder.

Five years later, he donated an extra 10 percent to Jolie’s company Nouvel for one euro, making them equal.

But after their acrimonious split in 2016, the estate found itself at the center of a $350 million divorce battle.

In 2021, Jolie sold Nouvel to a group controlled by Shefler. Pitt’s attorneys alleged that she “knew and intended that Shefler and its subsidiaries would attempt to control the company.”

By Jo Tweedy for Mailonline

Published: 06:51 EST, March 5, 2024 | Updated: 08:03 EST, March 5, 2024

INSTAGRAM has added a secret game to your private messages – and only an emoji can unlock it.

Fans of the app are excited about the new feature, which appears to have been quietly added in a recent update.

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On Instagram, you can now play a special game where you hold up an emoji by bouncing it against a paddle at the bottom of the screen, as discovered by The US Sun’s Patricia Rogers.

It’s a bit like a vertical solo game of Pong or Breakout for arcades – and you earn points for successful bounces on the paddle.

The emoji moves faster as you progress through the game, making it harder to stay in the air.

Send an emoji in a DM on Instagram to find the game.

Then simply tap the emoji and you will be transported to the hidden game.

A small number of Instagram fans enjoyed the discovery in a Reddit thread posted two days ago.

One user wrote: “It’s happened to me now too. I guess it’s an update.”

Another said: “It just happened to me!! So cool!”

TIP TIP

Users boasted about their high scores, with one Instagram fan claiming they had reached an impressive 58.

But some users complained that they could not see the game.

“It’s not working for me,” moaned one frustrated user, while another said: “It worked yesterday too, but today when I wanted to show it to one of my friends, it stopped working.”

It’s unclear how widely the game has been rolled out, but The US Sun has gotten the game working on several devices.

If you don’t have access to it, it’s worth checking to see if there are any updates available for Instagram in the Apple App Store for iOS at iPhoneand the Google Play Store on Android.

If it still doesn’t work for you, unfortunately it’s unclear how exactly you can unlock it.

We’ve reached out to Instagram for comment and will update this story if there is any response.

GAME ON

There are some other hidden app games that you should check out.

If you have the official Google app, go to the tabs panel and quickly swipe up on the screen.

This will bring up a hidden pinball game that you would otherwise very easily miss.

If you have Google Chrome, turn off your Wi-Fi and mobile internet and then try to load a website.

You will get an error page with a small dinosaur icon.

Tap the dinosaur and you will play an infinite runner game.

You have to clear obstacles by tapping the screen, and you earn a higher score the longer you can run.

AN inked woman said she regrets it.

Although she has gotten nine tattoos over the years, she no longer has a relationship with them.

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Make-up artist Samantha (@smoneyyz) said that while she knows it’s unusual for people with so many tattoos to express their regrets, she will be honest about her life.

“I have nine tattoos, most of them on my arms and hands, which are very visible places,” she began in the newspaper clamp.

“But regret of tattoos is becoming increasingly popular, and I think more should be discussed.”

Although she knows it all comes down to better decision making and thinking about something permanent, she was young and lost when she started getting inked.

“I’ve been through a lot. I had just gotten through a breakup, had some family stuff going on, and I just felt like the world was against me.

Becoming numb to everything that hit her, she wanted to feel something – so she got a tattoo in the name of therapy.

She was also inspired by the successful professionals around her in the makeup industry who looked sharp with their sleeves.

“I felt like I was a girl from the suburbs of New Jersey who didn’t stand out and I felt like I had something to prove.”

She started getting tattoos impulsively without doing much research or thinking too deeply about it.

But she warned others in a similar boat.

“If you’re going through something, going through a phase, don’t get tattoos.”

Another reason she regrets it is because, as a Jewish person, she feels judged by people in her community – because tattoos are frowned upon.

Plus, she’s jealous of their stylish looks when she sees all the ink-free brides whose makeup she puts into their sleeveless dresses.

Although she knows she can have them removed because she has so many large, dark ones, it will be too expensive.

“They quoted me $1,000 per session, and it probably lasts 12 to 20 sessions.”

It will also be painful, and because she is an active person who spends a lot of time outdoors, she is concerned that she will be limited in her activities because of the rules about sun exposure.

Still, she’s over it.

“I no longer resonate with the person I was or the style I had when I got the tattoos, and that sucks.

“I feel so self-conscious with all those big, black, dark tattoos.”

Even when people compliment how hardcore she looks, she doesn’t take it well.

“I don’t want to look bad**, I don’t want to look cool, that’s just not my style and not the person I’m trying to evolve into.”

“Go to therapy, talk to your friends, play with your dog, don’t get a tattoo… Treat your body like a temple.”

Viewers supported her claim.

‘This is the reason I never get them. I know my tastes will change,” one person wrote.

“I regret all my tattoos. I mean I like them but I just don’t feel like they’re me anymore,” another added.

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did not appear affected by the latest Sussex.com row as they make their first public appearance as a couple since King Charles’s cancer diagnosis.

The couple are in the picturesque ski resort of Whistler, in British Columbia, Canada, for a two-day program to highlight next year’s winter Invictus Games which are taking place in the city.

Meghan was glamorous in skinny white jeans and a sweater topped with a beige quilted coat while Harry was dressed down in jeans and a black anorak as he arrived for a training session with athletes planning to take part in the 2025 games. 

The pair were spotted bending down to talk to athletes competing at the games, while Harry tried out one of the competitors’ sit-skis, all while being followed close behind by a camera crew.   

Harry and Meghan made their way out of the gondola on Whistler’s Blackcomb Mountain shortly after 2.30pm and were introduced to three groups of adaptive skiers: one Alpine sit-ski, one standing ski and one group of visually impaired athletes.

Their trip to Canada comes as the couple are embroiled in a series of controversies – one over their new Sussex.com website and another over Harry’s flying visit to London last week to see King Charles following his cancer diagnosis.

Alex Cairns, a sit-skier from Canada, was the first to meet the Sussexes and gave a demonstration of the sport – arriving at the base of the slope to cheers from Harry.

The Whistler games will be the first time that Invictus has featured winter sports.

The couple arrived in Canada on Tuesday and were pictured by DailyMail.com touching down in Vancouver just after noon Pacific time following a two-hour flight from Santa Barbara – the closest airport to their home in Montecito.

Their arrival came on the same day that Meghan announced she had signed a new podcast deal with Lemonada Media after she and Harry parted ways with Spotify .

A convoy of cars collected the famous duo and whisked them away to Whistler where they are due to be on Wednesday and Thursday before they return to Vancouver for an event in the City of Glass on Friday.

The pair are then expected to travel home to California on Friday afternoon to be reunited with their children Archie, five, and Lilibet, two.

The Duke and Dutchess are currently embroiled in an ongoing rowover their rebranded ‘royal’ website Sussex.com – complete with Meghan’s coat of arms – which critics claim is a breach of their promise to the late Queen when they acrimoniously quit front-line royal duties.

On Wednesday Meghan, 42, was forced to put out a statement defending the graphic design company that created the couple’s new website. 
Harry has also faced criticism over the short amount of time he spent in the UK following his father’s cancer diagnosis. 

Harry’s dash to Britain began with an overnight British Airways flight from LAX that touched down in London just after 2pm on February 6.

Once there, he was taken to Clarence House for a meeting with his cancer-stricken father that lasted just 30 minutes and didn’t include his stepmother Queen Camilla.

The 39-year-old then spent the night in a hotel before catching a Delta flight back to LA – less than 24 hours after arriving.

It was claimed last week that Prince Harry ‘would have gladly accepted’ a reunion with his brother, William, but opted instead to stay in his hotel. 

It’s believed William, 41, is remaining focused on tending to his wife, Kate, who is recovering from her abdominal surgery and is taking extended leave from public duties until after Easter

Harry popped up next in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Friday where he was a presenter at the NFL Honors Awards – a televised gala held at Sin City’s vast Resorts World hotel.

Presenting the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award to the Pittsburgh Steeler’s Cameron Heyward, he cracked a joke about rugby – telling the crowd: ‘I really love how you stole rugby from us and made it your own.

‘Instead of passing it backwards, just pass it forwards. Why not wear pads and helmets? Of course.

‘Have an offense and a defense – that makes sense. Why not take a breather every 15 seconds? And you know what? Instead of a 10-month season, let’s make it 18 weeks. Genius.’

Despite his chipper demeanor onstage, Harry was later pictured looking glum in the hotel’s underground parking lot and didn’t stick around to see the Kansas City Chief’s beat the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.

On Monday came the couple’s relaunched website with Harry’s 358-word biography emphasizing his environmental credentials – despite his penchant for using private jets.

Meghan’s longer bio played up her credentials as a philanthropist but made only one mention of her acting past and none of the Royal family.

Critics said the website is an attempt to monetize the couple’s royal connections leading to a new round of calls for the duo to have their titles removed, including from Meghan’s biographer Tom Bower.

Their ‘About’ page reads: ‘The Office of Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex is shaping the future through business and philanthropy.

‘This includes: The Archewell Foundation, Archewell Productions, patronages, ventures, and organizations which receive the support of the couple, individually and/or together.’

The new-look Sussex.com also made much of Harry’s Invictus Games initiative which returns next year with a snow sports edition in Whistler.

During the trip, the couple will meet competitors from the US, Canada, France, Ukraine and Nigeria, among others, at a training camp in the resort.

Mail columnists Sarah Vine and Andrew Pierce believe the couple should be stripped of their titles to stop them shamelessly profiting off the Royal family.

Without the Royal family, Ms Vine said, Harry would simply be a ‘slightly thick, balding ex-soldier’ while Meghan would be a ‘moderately attractive, not very successful ex-actress’. 

My 18-year-old sister texted last week with a question I thought she would never ask.

'Where can I buy a knitted cardigan similar to Queen Camilla's???'

Eh?!

Yes, it's official. Queen Camilla is a Gen Z style icon.

This sweater vest was spotted on the Queen last week as she drove to meet the King at the London Clinic hospital.

Khaki green, a white shirt with a Peter Pan collar peeked out from the top. Casual, comfortable, yet smart and interesting.

It looked great on her at 76 and would look just as great on my five-year-old mother and my teenage sister.

Therein lies the key to Camilla's style: it is always appropriate for the occasion, but also shows a touch of daring.

Look at the details of her seemingly safe appearance and you'll discover an unexpected element of cool.

This is not surprising as her husband is, in my opinion and that of many others, possibly the most stylish man in the world.

Royal protocol dictates a certain style of dress (Camilla's favorite coat dresses strike the perfect balance between tradition and modern elegance), but accessories are an area in which she can express her individuality.

The way she uses them shows that she knows fashion.

The Heinz bag of baked beans she carried in 2015 is an early example. It added a contemporary, playful touch to an otherwise classic Camilla ensemble of blue dress, white jacket and pearls.

Fashion crowd favorite Demellier London is one of Camilla's favorite bag brands (also loved by the Duchess of Sussex and Princess of Wales).

Demellier's quality is comparable to designer names, but at a much more accessible price point of under £400.

Camilla wore their £355 midi Venice bag in October last year, alongside slim-fit jeans and a blue blazer.

How many other 76-year-olds wear slim-fit jeans?

Then there's that Bottega Veneta bag she wore to Wimbledon last year.

Paired with a white dress from favorite designer Fiona Clare, the look exuded quiet luxury.

It was a rare move for Camilla to choose such a clearly designer piece (Bottega's 'intrecciato' method of weaving makes their bags instantly recognizable – fans of royal style quickly found the bag online for £2,200).

But designer or not, the bag isn't dripping with logos or hardware. It remained elegant enough for a queen.

Bottega has a cult following among twenty-somethings – and the Millennials applauded.

Jewelry is another way Camilla shows that her approach to fashion is decidedly modern. It also suggests that she is more into luxury fashion than we might think given her boots and jeans image.

She stacks thin bracelets from Parisian jeweler (and yes, you guessed it) Van Cleef & Arpels as if they were from Accessorize.

Only these come closer to the £4,000 mark.

Like Bottega's woven bags, the iconic Alhambra symbol (inspired by a four-leaf clover) is instantly recognizable — and a favorite of Gen Z, by the way (that is, those born between the mid-nineties and 2012 or 13).

But again, it's about the hi-low combination, combining a current brand with classic clothing.

Just enough courage for Camilla to say: 'Don't underestimate me, I know fashion'.

There was another unexpected style triumph earlier this month when Camilla stepped out to visit a jeweler wearing mismatched earrings.

I'm still not sure if this was a deliberate move or an accident.

(She has to have someone check her appearance before she leaves, so I find it hard to believe it was an accident).

Anyway, she took it. The mismatched earrings added an element of playfulness to a classic Anna Valentine camel coat that she has worn several times before.

There have been a few times lately where Camilla has shown us what an underrated royal fashionista she really is, not just through accessories, but through some knockout looks from head to toe.

The Dior couture cape dress she wore to a state banquet in Paris last September was, in my opinion, her best style moment ever. Dramatic, modern, yet classic.

There is a place for Dubarry and a place for Dior.

Camilla knows this and navigates both with ease, injecting seemingly classic looks with just enough modernity to keep them interesting.

Put it this way: there are few people who can beat Bottega as well as Barbour. Camille is one of them.

‘Welcome to the capital of the world!’ exclaimed our taxi driver as we crossed the Potomac into Washington DC.

My teenagers’ eyes shone with excitement.

Given that eight hours earlier they’d barely been speaking to me as I informed the British Airways stewardess I was a nervous flyer and therefore quite keen for a gin and tonic, things were looking up.

‘Look left and you’ll see the White House,’ continued the driver, and we peered through the dark to see the famous building lit up like a wedding cake, before he segued into the best sneaker (trainer) stores in the city and where to go for ‘half smoke’ hot dogs, a local delicacy.

Thus began our week in DC, and the sheer cheerful brilliance of the American capital never let up. 

Culture, sport, trainers and chili dogs: Washington DC promised it all.

It turns out the city is compact and easy to navigate, whether on foot, via the cheap (and architecturally stunning) Metro, buses, or via the plentiful Ubers, whose drivers were all huge fans of their city and full of advice. 

They said we’d be safe in tourist areas, but that there were areas in the south-east of the city they wouldn’t go to for fear of being car-jacked or accidentally shot in crossfire. (‘OMG, GTA’, whispered my 16-year-old.)

But we were here for culture, not computer games, so we stayed firmly in the tourist areas and never felt unsafe for a second as we tackled what we were really there to see: the American capital’s world-famous museums, monuments and galleries, most of which are contained within, or bordered by, the landscaped National Mall.

Whatever you’re interested in, there’s a museum dedicated to it in DC, from harmonicas to the Bible to spying. 

Thanks to a rich Englishman named James Smithson, who left his fortune to the cause of furthering education in the United States (bizarrely without ever setting foot in the country), the mighty Smithsonian Institution now runs 17 museums and galleries in DC, all of them free, and they are the best of the best. 

Even the surliest of teens will come alive when they see the treasures in DC, as I discovered.

So, at the National Air and Space Museum we saw Neil Armstrong’s NASA spacesuit from his 1969 moon landing, as well as the Spirit of St Louis, the actual (tiny) plane flown solo across the Atlantic in 1927 by 25-year-old Charles Lindbergh (it took him 33 and a half hours).

At the National Museum of American History we enjoyed seeing the very first Kermit, made out of Jim Henson’s jeans and his mum’s old coat, the original Star-Spangled Banner, and Dorothy’s actual ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz. 

The National Museum of African American History & Culture houses the coffin of Emmett Till Jnr, whose story shocked us to tears: lynched aged just 14, accused of offending a white woman in a shop. 

We wanted to see American art, and were spoilt for choice with an array of world-class galleries. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is stuffed with unmissable works by Edward Hopper, Albert Bierstadt, and Agnes Tait, while the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) next door captivated us with its presidential portraits. 

In fact so enthralled were my sons by the cultural jewels of DC that not once all week did they whip out their phones in any of the museums or galleries other than to photograph things – an incredible feat that parents of teenagers will understand.

‘Watch out for the Presidential cavalcade,’ our Uber driver warned us as we headed to the very cool Planet Word museum. ‘If you don’t get out the way soon enough, the Secret Service won’t hesitate to shoot.’ 

We never got the chance to test this. Or see the inside of where the President works. For security reasons, Brits (and other foreign nationals) can’t go inside the White House at the moment, but the Capitol Building more than makes up for it with an informative and gripping guided tour.

Inside the Rotunda, we stood, rapt, as our enthusiastic female guide described how the 70-something Italian artist Constantino Brumidi fell in 1879 while painting the 48ft-high frieze, grabbing onto scaffolding and dangling for several minutes before he was rescued. The old man, who spent 25 years of his life painting the Capitol, was so shaken by the incident he gave up the next day.

Washington DC is also packed with monuments and memorials to former presidents, war veterans and key characters from the nation’s history. 

The best way to see them all without spending all day trekking up and down the National Mall is on a guided bike tour (unlimitedbiking.com/tours/monuments-and-memorials-bike-tour), which takes three (leisurely) hours and is led by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide. 

We also loved hiring Lime electric scooters, ubiquitous on DC’s wide and empty streets, to zip around the city.  

No visit to DC is complete without a trip to the enormous Capital One Arena, home to the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals, who were playing the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs (n.b not ‘leaves’) when we visited.

The ice hockey was addictive to watch: fast and furious, aggressive yet balletic. And it was impossible not to join in with the home crowd hollering for their team. For sheer full-on American good fun, this was hard to beat.

Earlier, browsing the gift shop, a charming older American man had approached us, and his female companion asked if we wanted our photo taken with him. Given that everyone in DC is incredibly friendly and polite, we accepted graciously.

Only later did we discover the man was in fact Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Caps, the Washington Wizards, and the arena we were in. A billionaire twice over.

In contrast to the din of the ice hockey game, a peaceful cruise along the Potomac to Georgetown showed the fall colours in all their tranquil glory against a bright blue sky. 

DC’s oldest and most charming neighbourhood, Georgetown has upmarket boutiques, pretty painted townhouses, and smart bars and restaurants along the waterfront. Bring your credit card – the locals have deep pockets, and there are prices in the shops to match.

We had dinner at Sequoia, a super-friendly American restaurant with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the river, on which Georgetown University rowers sculled. 

The boys are still talking about the pudding we shared: a ‘skillet chocolate cookie’ served hot in the pan with white chocolate chips and vanilla ice cream. 

Which brings me on to the only downside to our trip: you will not return home feeling slimmer than you left. You may, like us, only have eaten vegetables twice all week.

But the food was fabulous – a glory of all the American favourites we’d hoped for, and a teenage boy’s dream. 

At Founding Farmers & Distillers (on Massachusetts Avenue), fried chicken came with a freshly-cooked hot cinnamon sugar waffle – sounds weird, it worked – and mac n cheese. While for brunch on our last day we feasted on spicy breakfast tacos with Mexican cotija cheese.

Ben’s Chili Bowl, best known for its ‘original half-smoke’ hot dog with chili sauce and original 1950s decor, is a must-visit (Obama and the Pope have also beaten a track to this DC institution on U Street), and we all loved the ‘puffy eggs’ for breakfast at Piccolina da Centrolina. 

Waldorf Astoria Washington DC: Impossibly glamorous old-school luxe

Donald Trump once ran this town and his presence is still very much felt, from the schoolchildren wearing orange Trump wigs as they tour the sights, and the occasional ‘Wanted for President 2024’ T-shirt bearing the former President’s mugshot, to the ‘Roving Anti-Trumpism Bandwagon’ outside the Lincoln Memorial selling $4 badges saying, ‘He’s indicted and it feels so good.’

One place you won’t find a trace of Trump, however, is the legendary hotel that once bore his name – the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, formerly the Trump International Hotel. 

Opened in its new guise in 2022, this glorious building, the Old Post Office, boasts fairytale turrets, a famous clock tower, and an unbeatable location on Pennsylvania Avenue, aka ‘America’s Main Street’, which links the White House to the United States Capitol. 

Staying here feels like the very essence of the American capital. 

Bought from Trump for $375million, it is one of the grandest and most luxurious hotels in the U.S, and the ultimate place to stay in DC. 

The huge, soaring atrium takes your breath away, with an enormous Stars and Stripes flag hanging at one end, sharp-suited DC power brokers murmuring over $18 bowls of granola beneath it, and the beautiful Bazaar restaurant at the other.     

The opulent rooms are next level in terms of luxe and glamour: beds are enormous and incredibly comfortable, marble bathrooms boast goodies by Aesop, and many of the rooms have fantastic views – my boys were thrilled to see the FBI headquarters from theirs. You can see even further from the 270ft-tall deck of the Old Post Office Tower, which is free to enter for residents and non-residents alike.

The current President, sadly, is nowhere to be seen, while a staff member admitted to me that he missed the last one, saying Trump and his chums ‘spent a lot of money’ and tipped well. But the money doesn’t appear to disappeared entirely, judging by the enormous luxury SUVs we saw parked outside.

The Bazaar by José Andrés is one of the hottest restaurant tickets in DC right now – and was one of the most memorable aspects of our stay.

Featuring tapas with a nod to American history and a large dose of theatrics, from cocktails that arrive in a puff of nitrogen to tiny ‘Crab Louie Cones’ and jamon Iberico carved at your table by a ‘jamonero’, our dinner here was the foodie highlight of our trip.

If you possibly can get a table here (book well in advance), it’s worth it. The food and service were phenomenal. 

The hotel was the icing on the cake for this break.

Washington DC as a tourist destination? It got the thumbs up from my boys, who said it was the ‘best trip ever’. 

But it deserves a presidential seal of approval. 

What kind of vile creature lurks behind their laptop writing horrible things about a woman who has just been dealt the worst possible hand that any of us can imagine?

The nasty, insulting trolls are out to target Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York – affectionately known as Fergie – who is recovering from breast cancer and announced this week that she has also been diagnosed with malignant melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer. It's especially hard for her because it's the form of cancer her father was diagnosed with months before his death.

Her friends say she is cheerful and resilient, which doesn't surprise me at all. It's what I noticed in 1989 when I went to interview her in her surprisingly small flat in Buckingham Palace. My Woman's Hour team and I were a bit startled when she burst into the sitting room where we were waiting.

We wondered if maybe she was the cleaning lady and not a princess. The glorious mass of red hair was tied up under a mop cap. A favorite T-shirt was worn over stretchy jeans and she wore slippers. No attempt was made to impress and her welcome was warm and friendly. I liked her immediately.

A year after the birth of her first child, Beatrice, we talked about her new children's book, Budgie, The Little Helicopter. The inspiration for her character was, of course, her husband. Prince Andrew was hugely admired for his efforts as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot during the Falklands War. At age thirty, she clearly adored and admired the man she called “My Handsome Prince.”

Even this early in the marriage, it became clear that things might not go as well as she had hoped. She was criticized for traveling to Australia in 1988 and leaving a young Bea at home. She clearly wanted to spend as much uninterrupted time with her husband as possible. “After all,” she said, “we only get to spend about forty days a year together because of his naval duties. I like to spend as much time with him as possible and keep an eye on what he's up to.'

Back then, long before stories of his friendships with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell surfaced, I couldn't help but think, “I bet she does.” We talked about Princess Diana, then 28, and how the two of them dealt with being at the forefront of the royal family and constantly in the public eye.

The only way they could make it work, she told me, was to become good friends. They loved to dress up and go into town together, sometimes a little naughty, but generally well behaved. It was not good to attract bad publicity that would discredit the Crown.

She recognized that Diana was number 1 with the public and was beautiful and popular. She hinted at her disappointment at not being able to keep up, but there was no sign of pain from the insults she sometimes received about her weight and behavior.

She certainly received more than her share of criticism.

During a visit to California she was described as brash, vulgar and outrageous. At home in the late 1980s she was 'the Duchess of Pork' and 'Fat Fergie', insults she was well aware of but did her best to laugh at. I thought she was extremely charming, friendly, unpretentious, funny and cool – and, oh my god, she should have been.

By 1992, she and her husband had separated. They divorced in 1996 – just ten years after the big wedding at Westminster Abbey. I am sure that the behavioral requirements for a 20th century royal were simply too restrictive for young women like Diana and Sarah.

In 1997, Diana's life ended tragically and too soon. Sarah had to learn how to live a new life on her own and there were times when the devoted mother, loyal ex-wife and duchess who stayed on the fringes of the royal family messed up.

There was Texas billionaire Steve Wyatt, who she reportedly fell in love with while still married to Andrew. Then came American financial advisor John Bryan and the infamous toe-sucking incident when Sarah was sunbathing topless in 1992. More than a decade later, she claimed she was tricked by an undercover reporter into offering her husband access in exchange for huge sums and money. managed to rack up enormous debts despite her attempts to make money as a writer, film producer, and TV and radio personality. And in 2012, she apologized for taking money from Epstein, calling it “a gigantic error in judgment.”

But despite all the difficulties her former husband continues to face, she has remained faithful to him and has often shared his Windsor residence. She has raised two daughters who, like her, have been victims of insults and trolls, but both appear to be happily married and Sarah is now a grandmother of three.

At Christmas, when she was invited to Sandringham for the first time in years, there were indications that she was being welcomed back. She should be. All I remember of her was a warm, friendly average Joe who had caught the eye of the second son of the royal family. Sarah fell in love, didn't fit in, but did her best to be charitable, do good work and earn a living.

I admire her, hope she gets the best treatment for the sudden health diagnosis and can recover. So fire Fergie – and good luck to her.

How to ruin your daughter's 18th

It was Amanda Holden's daughter Lexi's 18th birthday party, but who was dancing around doing some ostentatious mom dancing? Amanda of course. No mother should try to outdo her daughter on her special day. It's all about her, Amanda, not you.

Schiaparelli is still shocking

As a child, I would sneak into my mother's bedroom to smell her favorite perfume: Shocking by Schiaparelli. I loved it. Now I see that the fashion house can still attract attention. J-Lo wore a white jacket made entirely of real white rose petals: Shocking! Unlike my mother's perfume, I doubt it will last long.

• I am finally home. No more recovering from a broken vertebra and pneumonia in a nursing home, while talking to amazing women in their 90s. Now my companion is the wildly excited and affectionate Suu, the cat. We took the dogs home on Saturday and life seems complete again.

Abortion legislation is not fit for purpose

It is often said that abortion was legalized in 1967, but that is not entirely true. The general ban on terminating a pregnancy was relaxed and it became legal for a woman to have an abortion up to 28 weeks' gestation with the consent of two doctors – but that is not the same as legalized.

Numerous attempts have been made to lower the time limit. This is now at 24 weeks. Although the numbers are small, more and more women are being prosecuted.

Last year, Carla Foster, who suffered a stillbirth after taking abortion pills at home late in her pregnancy, was sentenced to more than two years in prison – later successfully appealed – under the Offenses Against the Person Act 1861 completely separate law. of the Abortion Act, which makes it a criminal offense for a woman to 'cause a miscarriage'.

This month, Bethany Cox, 22, was found not guilty of using drugs to procure an illegal abortion. This year, three more women accused of illegal abortions will appear in court.

This has led to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists telling its members not to report women to the police if they believe they have illegally terminated their pregnancies. This is not enough.

The laws of 1861 and 1967 must be repealed. A fetus develops inside a woman. It should be her choice, and not that of two doctors, to decide to quit.

It is she who will be left to care for an unwanted child. The law must change.