When Sarah Lancashire finished playing Britain’s favorite fictional heroine Sergeant Catherine Cawood after three critically acclaimed series of Happy Valley, she made a decision.

She had exhausted herself in the highly emotional role that culminated in a harrowing confrontation with Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton), the man who raped Cawood’s daughter.

But while it cemented her as a national treasure, it may have proven to be her acting swan song.

After filming on the BBC1 drama wrapped, Ms Lancashire decided it was time to try something different: working behind the camera.

For the star, who found fame as much-loved barmaid Raquel Wolstenhulme in Coronation Street in 1991, it was something she had wanted to do for a number of years. But as work flowed in, she struggled to find the time.

“Sarah loves acting, but the idea of ​​producing bothered her,” says a friend. “Once Happy Valley was over, she decided it was a good time to get started. She’s so excited.

‘It was so exciting for her that even when she won her Outstanding Achievement Award at the National Television Awards last year, she had to run home because she was getting up early the next day and telling everyone she was now producing.

‘She may have found a new passion, but Sarah never liked the spotlight anyway.’

Before she leaves the stage for good, there’s good news for Ms Lancashire, 59, today[Wed] she is shortlisted for lead actress at this year’s TV Baftas for her role in Happy Valley, Sally Wainwright’s gritty drama.

While she faces stiff competition – Anjana Vasan for Black Mirror, Anne Reid in The Sixth Commandment, Bella Ramsey for The Last Of Us, Helena Bonham Carter for Nolly and Sharon Horgan for her role in Best Interests – she’s already been tipped to win. If she does, it will be her fifth time in that category, after winning in 2015 and 2017 for Happy Valley and last year for her U.S. debut in Julia.

In 2014, she won Best Supporting Actress for another Wainwright hit series, Last Tango In Halifax.

Happy Valley is also shortlisted not only for best drama, but also for ‘memorable moment’ for Cawood and Royce’s kitchen showdown and best supporting actor, with Amit Shah getting a nod for his role as murderer Faisal Bhatti.

There will be many screenwriters who will mourn Ms. Lancashire’s decision to scale back her acting commitments. Her award-winning ability to play feminist icons across all genres is legendary. Not that she particularly enjoys it, friends say.

There is no ego, no social media profile, no publicity machine. She appears on the red carpet – but only when absolutely necessary.

Even when she destroyed America, albeit unintentionally, it came as a surprise to even her. At the age of 58, after a glittering 35-year career, she was pursued by Hollywood agents to take on more roles. Unfortunately, they will now likely be politely declined.

Shortly before the lockdown, the British star was approached to play Julia Child, the pioneering American television chef who made a name for herself by bringing French cuisine to the United States in the 1960s.

She had little idea who Child was, other than that Meryl Streep had played her in a 2009 biopic, Julie & Julia – a role that earned the Hollywood A-lister an Oscar nomination. And she knew that Child was a sociable, successful middle-aged woman, even though it wasn’t easy to be one.

The call came in late 2019, just as Ms Lancashire, a mother of three, had decided she wanted to take a year off from acting. Days after her sabbatical, her agent contacted her and asked her to read a pilot script for a new HBO production.

A dozen pages later and Mrs. Lancashire was convinced. She flew to Los Angeles on her very first business trip there to audition, even though she didn’t expect to get the part.

“This is not greatness. “I never got the job as a young actor because I was so hopeless at auditions,” she said.

She decided to take her youngest son Joseph, now 18, and make a vacation of it. “We flew home and I forgot about it,” Mrs Lancashire added. But soon after, her agent called. America had arrived – finally – and her career break was put on hold.

But then the pandemic struck, halting filming after just three days. Production did not resume until the summer of 2021 – and Covid restrictions then meant she could no longer see her family in Britain. However, every cloud has a silver lining.

“It’s not an experience I want to repeat, in terms of being isolated from family,” Ms Lancashire told Vanity Fair magazine in her only US interview. “To be completely honest, I think I was saved a little bit when we first got shut down. I don’t think I was ready for it.’

Today, despite the show being canceled after two series, Lancashire is widely recognized and has a loyal fan base in the US, while Tinseltown insiders are seemingly desperate for more of her.

One said: ‘Hollywood loves a Brit, especially one who, like Sarah, is a British national treasure. There are so many opportunities for her here.”

The actress may need some convincing as she is more than happy with her lot.

Although she is from Oldham, where she grew up with her three brothers, her father Geoffrey, Coronation Street screenwriter, and her mother, his PA Mrs Lancashire, now live in London.

She lives in a £3 million, five-bedroom house on a quiet road in the south-west London enclave of Twickenham with her husband Peter Salmon, the former controller of BBC1, who famously refused to move into the BBC’s headquarters in Salford, despite being head of it. of the company’s North division.

Locals occasionally see her in her nearby Tesco, as well as on a walk with Salmon and their son. Lancashire also enjoys walks along the Thames, which is just a stone’s throw from her home.

Home is definitely where the heart is for the star. She says being a mother is her most important role. She has two older sons – Tom, 34, and Matthew, 32 – from her ten-year marriage to musician Gary Hargreaves, and Joseph with Salmon.

She said: ‘The older I get, the harder it is to be away from home. I like being home. When I go home, I’m really a mother; the mothers among us know that it is a full-time job.’

Of all her roles – even Raquel in Corrie – it was Sergeant Cawood who struck a chord with women juggling their careers with the trials of family life. It was created especially for her by Wainwright, who was so impressed by the actress’s Bafta-winning performance as lesbian headmistress Caroline in Last Tango In Halifax that she knew she wanted to work with her again.

Ms Lancashire’s personal life has been tough at times despite her success and it is perhaps the channeling of such experiences that has given her characters such authenticity. Accolades for her five years in Coronation Street (she left in 1996) and dramas such as Where The Heart Is, Clocking Off and The Paradise, came even as she secretly battled depression and even contemplated suicide.

She even spent part of what should have been her best years in the 1990s without getting out of bed. She described her breakdown as a “time bomb waiting to go off” and “absolutely debilitating.”

“I definitely didn’t tell anyone at the studios and I didn’t take any time off,” she said. ‘I was terrified of being judged and misunderstood. I just fought along. It was the worst thing I could have done. When you’re in the public eye, you’re afraid to talk about things openly – and that’s exactly why you should. You can really make a difference and address taboo topics.’

She later revealed that she had been diagnosed with clinical depression at the age of 18: “I never knew what it felt like to wake up in the morning full of spring joy and wander through the day feeling like I could handle it.”

A few years ago, Ms Lancashire described herself as “a little more together”, joking that she was “just about ready to take the bus alone”, keeping her depression at bay with therapy and medication.

“I have my good spots and my bad spots, my great spots and my debilitating spots,” she added.

But for now, the future looks bright, but instead of in front of the camera, she will be behind it.

Strictly Come Dancing winner Ellie Leach has revealed she still talks to her professional dance partner Vito Coppola every day.

The pair took home the coveted glitter ball in December and went on tour across the country with the rest of the 2023 line-up.

Ellie has now returned to acting and appears on stage in the production of Cluedo 2.

The former Coronation Street star, 23, appeared on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday and revealed she is in touch with Vito, 31, every day, even though their Strictly journey has come to an end.

Ellie also laughed off the idea that they were ever more than friends after host Ed Balls said: “We all thought there was a love interest?”

“I think when you dance with someone you’re together pretty much 24/7 and we’re just the best of friends. I’m so lucky to have him as my dance partner. We just really understood each other,” Ellie said.

‘He was even more emotional than me, especially during the final. I thought, ‘You’re spending too much time with me now.’

Susanna Reid asked, “Is it true that you speak to Vito every day?”, to which Ellie replied, “Yes, I have spoken to Vito every day since September.”

Ellie also revealed that she keeps the glitter ball in the kitchen of her parents’ home, while her dad takes a selfie with it whenever anyone comes over.

The actress revealed her romance with EastEnders actor Bobby Brazier, 20, earlier this month, which began during the live Strictly tour, and has now moved to London.

Last week, Ellie hit back at trolls asking ‘where is Vito Coppola’ on her social media, amid her blossoming romance with Bobby.

The actress shared a sweet selfie with Bobby after he saw her make her stage debut in Cluedo 2 at the Richmond Theater last week.

But some of Ellie’s fans didn’t seem to support her new romance with Bobby, as some asked: “Where’s Vito?” under the Instagram post.

Ellie hit back by sharing a photo of Vito on her page and saying: ‘I love this man very much. Men and women can be friends and love each other as FRIENDS…just say x’

The Coronation Street actress added: ‘@vitocoppola you have the cutest face.’

It comes after it was revealed Ellie has ‘moved to London’ amid her blossoming new relationship.

The former Coronation Street actress lives in the capital where Bobby lives with his father after rekindling a romance during the Strictly Come Dancing live tour.

Ellie’s cousin, actress Brooke Vincent, said she plans to meet her in London on Thursday during an appearance on This Morning.

She said: ‘I’m seeing her tonight and she’s moved to London.’

Brooke added: “I could never do Strictly again since she won, she did a great job. You get tired of saying how proud you are.”

Coronation Street has cast Absolutely Fabulous actress Helen Lederer in a guest role as the love interest of the show’s oldest character, Ken Barlow.

Known as once the greatest lothario (Bill Roache) and desperate to prove he can still conquer the ladies at the age of 91, Ken takes up speed dating.

After being single for almost a decade following the death of his beloved wife Deirdre in 2015, he catches the eye of fellow dater Elspeth (played by comedian Helen, 69).

Ken attends the speed dating event with ex-son-in-law Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) and leaves the taxi company owner devastated when, despite his advanced age, he manages to outdo him in the romance department.

Speaking about the role, Helen, who will be released on Wednesday, March 27, described her character as ‘progressive and sassy’.

She also admitted that one of the biggest benefits of playing the role was the opportunity to act opposite Bill, who has appeared on the soap since the first episode in 1960.

Saying: ‘I had met him once before when I was sitting next to him at an event and I thought what a lovely man he was and so handsome. So it was a joy for me to be offered this short role.”

And despite only appearing briefly, Helen teased that Ken had taken Elspeth’s number during their scenes and that she could very well return to the soap if he called.

As well as playing Catriona in Ab Fab, the actress has also appeared in Hollyoaks, Celebrity Big Brother and Agatha Christie’s Marple.

It comes after the actor was given a three-month deadline to pay off his huge tax debt, making ‘property sales’ possible on Monday.

William reportedly earns £250,000 a year playing Ken Barlow in the long-running soap, but has racked up half a million in debt to the tax authorities.

He struck a deal to settle the £588,015.18 bill in 2018, but according to reports last month he has only paid £41,666.65 so far.

Bill wants to sell some property to pay off debts The sun reported in February that a potential buyer had pulled out of a deal.

The High Court has now granted him a twelve-week extension to ‘enable the sale of property’.

Bill failed to appear at a specialist hearing, where HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) lawyers said the amount the actor owes – which was not disclosed in court – has been reduced as a result of payments made.

Jacquille Jarrett, for HMRC, said Bill had requested a twelve-week adjournment, which was unopposed, to ‘allow the sale of property’.

Retired Insolvency and Companies Court judge Stephen Baister approved the adjournment and said Bill’s case will return in June.

“Wonderful,” Dr Baister said at the end of the hearing, which lasted less than a minute, at the High Court in London.

Bill is best known for his portrayal of Ken Barlow in the ITV soap for more than 60 years after making his debut in the first episode in 1960.

He has been married three times during his sex decades on the show, with Deirdre (Anne Kirbride) being the most memorable.

They first married in 1981 and their relationship was rocky, to say the least.

Shortly after first tying the knot, Deirdre had an affair with Mike Baldwin (played by Johnny Briggs) after finding Ken boring.

And although the relationship miraculously survived, it soon came to a devastating end when Ken had an affair with his secretary Wendy Cozier (Roberta Kerr) in 1989.

They divorced in the 1980s but remarried in 2005, which ended tragically after her off-screen death in 2015, in the wake of actress Anne Kirkbride’s death.

Before Deirdre, Ken was briefly married to Janet (Judith Barker) in 1973.

After the death of his first wife, Ken married Janet shortly thereafter so that his twins would have a loving mother.

But the pair were often at odds, with Janet not keen on having the children at home and also disappointed by Ken’s lack of ambition.

In 1977, Janet showed up on Ken’s doorstep and asked him to take her back, but he refused, leading to her committing suicide.

Valerie (Anne Reid) was Ken’s first wife and mother of Peter (Chris Gascoyne) and Susan (Joanna Foster).

They married in 1962 and were in love until her devastating accidental death in 1971.

Ken then agreed to teach in Jamaica and the family prepared to emigrate.

While getting ready for her own going away party, Valerie was electrified by a faulty hairdryer.

Bill, who holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s longest-serving TV soap star, was inducted into the Queen’s New Year Honors list in December 2021 for his services to drama and charity.

A royal expert has said William ‘doesn’t want to be associated with Harry at all’ after they both appeared separately at their mother’s estate awards.

Duncan Larcombe, former royal editor at The Sun, told Good Morning Britain today that he believes their rift has deepened rather than healed in recent months.

The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex made a rare joint appearance for the Diana Legacy Awards at the Science Museum in London.

But neither was in the room at the same time, even virtually, for the 25th anniversary of the event.

Harry appeared via video link, but William was long gone by then, having left the event at 8.15pm.

‘It was one of the most special royal assignments [I’ve] ever encountered,” Duncan said.

‘Harry not only came in via video link, but only after William had left the ceremony, that’s how much William doesn’t want to be associated with Harry.

‘Unfortunately, this gap appears to have deepened rather than improved.

‘Things can change in the royal family, but it is difficult. The death of their grandfather [and] grandmother didn’t bring them together, the coronation didn’t bring them together and now even their mother’s inheritance can’t bring them together.

Royal expert Ingrid Seward was also on the show and said she thinks Meghan has upset the balance within the royal family.

She said: ‘I think it matters because of Diana’s memory. She famously said to her boys, ‘Please, no matter what happens in life, always be good friends with each other,’ and that’s exactly where things went wrong.”

‘Harry, William and Kate were previously a trio and then someone comes in and it upsets the balance.

‘[With] It worked with other friends of Harry, but it didn’t work with Meghan and that upset the balance and I think that’s when things went wrong.

‘Since then they have gotten progressively worse, culminating in Harry’s very unpleasant comments when he published his book.

Ingrid said that when the couple meets in person again, she thinks they won’t “snap” at each other, but equally won’t talk out their problems.

“Of course it has to happen and it hasn’t happened,” she added.

Speaking about last night’s event, Ingrid said: ‘William does the serious part and Harry does the cheerful part. But the story we’re clinging to is that they can’t even be together via video link.’

The pair then went on to talk about Kate’s Mother’s Day photo blunder.

The royal family has released a photo of herself and her children, Prince Louis, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

Bizarre and outrageous theories about the princess’s health and whereabouts circulated on social media during her absence, only fueled by the editorial blunder.

Top photo agencies pulled the photo from their threads over concerns the image had been ‘manipulated’ by the source – with Kate later admitting she had ‘edited’ the photo.

Duncan believes the public will be “quite forgiving” of the Princess of Wales because she is a popular royal.

Ingrid added that the error in the image was the Palace’s fault for not double-checking with the future queen what changes she had made to the image.

“I blame them and I think she would probably blame them too if she wasn’t so nice.” I’m sure William isn’t very happy with his office,” she said.

He has been friends with King Charles for years, but interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has said he has been ignored by the monarch since his coronation.

Speaking about the My dirty laundry podcastLaurence, 58, said he didn’t like the ‘purple pajamas’ Charles wore on his big day in May last year and believes he made Westminster Abbey look like an ‘old people’s home’.

He said: ‘I haven’t seen Charles since the coronation. I think he might be shooting me in the back cold. I was a bit rude about his purple pajamas and I’m not sure, I think I just lost the knighthood.

“But you know what, I think the purple pajama cheer was justified. I stand by it.’

When asked what the problem was with the ensemble, Laurence said: ‘They had the wrong shade of purple. Only now would I say that.’

“They were Pantone 739. They must be Pantone in 742. No, I just think the crown was great. You know, the whole thing. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.’

‘Let’s see what happens around Christmas. When we get the Christmas card, I know I’ll be back on track again.’

To make matters worse, he said: ‘My biggest thing at the moment about all these big royal events is that Westminster Abbey is just very overlit. I think it looks like a retirement home.

‘It looks like the cleaners have left the fluorescent lighting on and actually it’s supposed to be beautiful and romantic, a kind of candlelight, powerful, timeless and timeless.

“And right now, you know, it’s kind of like a mall. You know, it just looks a little too retail park.”

He continued: “If I’m still here for the next royal engagement, can we please turn the lights down a bit? As the creative curator of the Blackpool Illuminations I think I should be involved.

‘I think we need a bit more Blackpool at the coronation, don’t we? I can imagine the Palace coming on the phone and saying, ‘You were right. We’re going for more Blackpool.’

Laurence once bought a 10,000 sq ft barn conversion from Charles and he owns a £1.6 million country house in Gloucestershire and a holiday home in Cornwall.

He said the King used to write to him at his home in Gloucestershire, but not all his relatives were so impressed.

‘We received a letter from him years ago. I showed my young grandson Albion… from when King Charles was Prince of Wales.

‘And he was very impressed with his handwriting. I like that. You know, you know, forget all the kind of seal and the flunkie-dom and the you know, the real thing, this is a historical document, he didn’t like his handwriting, it was very messy.

“Look, I think if it wasn’t for King Charles, King Charles probably would have been a general practitioner. Because as far as I’m concerned, that letter could say 50 grams of diazepam, I don’t know, it could be anything and an enema.’

In 2022, Laurence appeared on This Morning and recalled designing the floors of Buckingham Palace in his early career, which the late Prince Philip ‘hated’.

He said: “I helped create this floor and it was a wonderfully beautiful moment and when I was involved with the Cutty Stark Trust ten or fifteen years later I met Prince Philip.

‘I said to him [Prince Philip]“the floor we stand on, I designed it,” and he rocked back and forth on his feet and said, “I never enjoyed it,” the designer laughed.

In 2018, Laurence told The Daily Telegraph that his neighbours, Charles and Camilla, were ‘forever coming over to borrow more gin’.

And it seems the connections go back a long way. Laurence’s wife Jackie organized parties for Princess Diana.

Laurence regularly met Prince Harry and his daughters went to the same school – Marlborough – as Kate Middleton.

My Dirty Laundry Podcast is out now. Visit @mydirtylaundrypodcast for more information.

Sue Cleaver has revealed she has ‘come out of hiding’ after revealing her incredible transformation, as she shared insight into her three stone weight loss to Lorraine on Wednesday.

The Coronation Street star, 60, showed off her slimmer body as a result of being ‘seriously ill’ last year and quitting alcohol.

Sue told Lorraine that after turning 60, she has decided that this decade ‘is for her’, and she wants to embrace ‘going out and having fun’.

She sad: ‘I feel very much on a journey. I raised my son and my priority was always my son. And then I thought: once he’s gone, it’s my time. This is my decade. So he’s gone, he’s 28 now. I love you Elliott, but don’t come back.’

‘So now I have decided: I have turned sixty, this decade is for me.

‘And I’m going to have fun. I’m going to do what I want to do and I’m going to emerge from hiding and just being a mom who was very much like, ‘This is my number one priority,’ and I just want to do things that are fun. It started with me going into the jungle.’

Sue is set to star in the touring stage production of Sister Act, and has taken a short break from Corrie to appear in the show.

When asked if she would return to the soap, she said: ‘I have a few months’ grace from Corrie to do this show and then I will get right back into it. I think George and Eileen should have a big Corrie wedding.’

Sue previously shared that after completing Dry January she decided to give up booze altogether.

She said, “I lost 18 pounds [in I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here]. I had already lost a stone and a half that year because I had given up drinking. I did Dry January and then I decided to continue.

‘I know it sounds ridiculous at my age, but I never really thought about how many calories I was consuming if I drank a glass of red wine while cooking and then a few more while eating it.

“If you do that four or five nights a week, that’s a lot of calories.”

Last year, Sue admitted she had been drinking ‘too much red wine’ during the pandemic and had piled on the pounds, which inspired her to quit.

Despite her Corrie character Eileen Grimshaw spending a lot of time in The Rovers, she admitted pubs are her ‘idea of ​​hell’.

Speaking to Kaye Adams on her How to be 60 podcast, Sue said: ‘During the pandemic we’ve all been doing too many things. I spent a lot of it drinking a lot of delicious red wine and I gained a lot of weight doing it.

‘Then I did January dry and I thought. “I wonder what life would be like if I quit completely?”

The actress added her husband Brian Owen, shares different views and ‘love pub culture’.

“It was my idea of ​​hell when I drank, and especially now that I don’t drink,” she said.

In January, Sue revealed she felt ‘ashamed and judged’ before losing three stone.

The soap star appeared as a guest panelist on Loose Women and revealed she was treated differently while being at different weights.

She explained: ‘My weight has gone up all over and most of it was helped by red wine.

‘At the moment I’m a lot thinner, but I’ve been ill this year and for some reason my metabolism seems to have changed and because I don’t drink. But I’ve been the other way and may be going the other way.”

Sue continued, “What I hate about it is the shame that comes with being bigger. The judgments that were made often came from other women.

‘I find it very difficult to accept. We are not stupid, we know we are big, we know we have a problem, we know we have an addiction, don’t treat us like we are idiots.

‘Other women are shocked by it. It’s so ingrained in us. Examples of this are when I’ve lost weight, I go into a room and someone says ‘oh my god, you look great, you’ve lost weight’. All I hear is ‘you looked like an absolute dog when you grew up’.

“It’s the way we talk about it that makes a big difference.”

Last year, Sue insisted she is ‘not obsessed with diets’ as she reflected on the unfair expectations placed on women while reporting on the March issue of Prima magazine.

She stated that she would never promote weight-related products because women “have enough problems as it is.”

Speaking about not being caught up in diet culture, Sue told the publication: ‘I lost some weight in the jungle, but I’m not obsessed with dieting – life is hard enough!

‘There will always be external pressure and unfair expectations for women, but I refuse to get caught up in that.

“That’s why I will never advertise anything related to weight, and that’s why I’d always rather compliment someone on their smile or their outfit than on their weight.”

She continued: ‘Let’s just let women be women – we have enough difficulties and struggles already.’

It comes after Sue warned her followers after diet companies used her image without consent while claiming she had lost weight using their gummies.

She warned her 148,000 Instagram followers about the scam and apologized to anyone who thought she was promoting it.

In the clip, she shared, “I’m really sad that I actually have to make this video. But I’ve had quite a few messages over the past few weeks asking about…keto dummies.

“There’s clearly a scam going around saying I lost weight with keto gummies. Dummies? Don’t know. Well, it’s c**p. It’s a scam. And if it caught you off guard, I’m so, so sorry.”

‘It’s outrageous. And I want you to know that I would never, ever advocate anything like that. I am absolutely outraged.

‘Yes, I lost some weight last year. I gave up drinking and went into the jungle. Yes, I lost weight this year. But not from any diet.’

Sue went on to reveal that she had ‘female health issues’ that contributed to the weight loss, concluding: ‘Life is too short to worry about dieting and finding quick fixes. Just be happy with yourself.’

Watch Lorraine weekdays from 9am on ITV1 and ITVX.

She was relegated to the sidelines for years after her high-profile divorce from Prince Andrew in 1996, but now Sarah Ferguson appears to be firmly back in the royal circle.

The 64-year-old Duchess of York, still affectionately known to most as Fergie, was invited to the King’s Coronation Concert in May and spent Christmas at Sandringham, where she walked to church with members of the royal family.

As if that wasn’t enough to prove that the mother of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie has been brought in from the cold, she took center stage at the memorial service for the late King Constantine of Greece at Windsor Castle yesterday.

In an extraordinary turnaround after being barred from royal duties by his mother, the late Queen, and stripped of his HRH and military titles just two years ago, 64-year-old Andrew led the Firm to St. George’s Chapel – and his ex-wife was right. his side.

“Prince Andrew and the Yorks are firmly back in the fold,” a royal watcher told MailOnline after the Duke and Duchess’ joint appearance at the service.

The extraordinary reversal of fortune for Sarah – which would have been unthinkable if Prince Philip were still alive – is attributed to the King rewarding her loyalty and the Duchess finding a powerful advocate in Queen Camilla.

A source told The Mail On Sunday earlier this month: ‘There is a feeling that whatever Sarah’s personal faults – and she can be like Marmite in that respect – she has been a good mother to the girls and loyal to Andrew. ‘

A friend of Charles echoed this sentiment, telling The Daily Mail’s Richard Kay in December: “[The King] has always valued loyalty and he appreciates everything Fergie has done for his brother.

“It may be an exaggeration to say she kept him alive, but she certainly kept him healthy. Imagine what Andrew would be like without Sarah, who despite everything is one of life’s optimists?’

In the four years since Andrew fell from grace due to his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, no one has been more supportive of him than his ex-wife, who has not shied away from publicly defending him.

The king – who softened his approach to Sarah last year – also admires the way the duchess has restored her own reputation while keeping her family together.

The royal family is unlikely to have forgotten the ‘toe-sucking’ photos of Fergie, taken while she was on holiday with her Texan tycoon lover, nor the way she offered Andrew access in return for cash and got caught in a newspaper sting.

But in recent times the Duchess – who still lives with Andrew at the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park in Berkshire – has found a powerful advocate in the King’s wife, who “likes Sarah,” a source said.

The insider told Mail On Sunday earlier this month: ‘They are both royalty. They share a love of horses and Fergie will be smart enough to play the game with Camilla and realize that she is the power behind the king. That she should be nice to them and support them.’

In December, the Duke and Duchess of York walked behind seniors as crowds lined the road outside St Mary Magdalene Church for the traditional Christmas Day service at the Norfolk estate.

It was the first time in 32 years that Fergie had joined the royals for the walk, after Prince Philip banned him from attending.

According to his biographer Gyles Brandreth, she was ‘out of bounds’ as far as Philip was concerned, and ‘vulgar, vulgar, vulgar’ as one courtier memorably said.

For years, her ex-husband took their daughters to royal family celebrations without Sarah. She wasn’t even on the guest list for Prince William and Kate’s wedding in 2011, with the rest of her immediate family attending the glittering occasion.

In a 2021 interview with Town & Country, the Duchess revealed that she herself felt she was not “worthy” of attending the event and left the country.

‘I didn’t think I was worth going to their wedding. I actually took myself to Thailand to get away from it so I could try to heal,” she said.

But the attitude towards Fergie softened somewhat in 2018, when she was invited to Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle.

Sarah was then invited to the coronation concert as a ‘VIP visitor’ in May 2023, according to reports from The Sun. Although she was not allowed to attend the coronation itself; her daughters and Prince Andrew attended the historic Westminster Abbey event.

Meanwhile, Camilla was the highest-ranking royal at the event for the late King Constantine of Greece yesterday, while her husband King Charles was absent as his cancer treatment continued.

But after Prince William pulled out of the service at St George’s Chapel at the last minute for unspecified ‘personal reasons’, Prince Andrew was left as the second-highest royal gift, leaving others including Princess Anne, Zara and Mike Tindall, led on foot. .

Phil Dampier told MailOnline: ‘It’s very special that Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson were front and center as they walked into the chapel, almost like old times.

‘Yes, it was a private family event, but it was a big turnout of royals that was seen by the public.’

It is understood that the Duke of York attended the service as a member of the British Royal Family and was invited by the Greek Royal Family, and as such yesterday’s appearance was not an official royal engagement.

The service marked the first public event the Duke has attended since the Christmas Day service at Sandringham – and came almost two years after he settled the sexual assault case brought against him by Virginia Giuffre, a sex slave victim of Andrew’s friend. Jeffrey Epstein.

The settlement was never disclosed but was estimated to be worth approximately £12 million ($16.3 million).

It spared him the need to testify under oath at any trial in the US, and it was claimed the Queen helped him pay for that. Andrew has vehemently and repeatedly denied all allegations against him.

The Duchess has consistently defended her ex-husband, branding him a “thoroughly good, very gentle man” who “shines” as a grandfather during an appearance on Lorraine in August 2021.

“Prince Andrew is such a good man, he really is a very good man,” she said during the TV interview.

“He is a very gentle man, he is a very good father and we have done very well with co-parenting, hence our girls are very solid and down to earth.

‘But now he is really good as a grandfather, he can talk for hours about football and the like. It’s a pleasure to see him really shine as a grandfather.’

In 2018, Sarah told the Daily Mail: ‘We are the happiest divorced couple in the world. We are separated from each other, not from each other […] It is my duty to him. I am so proud of him. I support him and always will. The way we are is our fairy tale.’

Recently, speculation has arisen that the Duke and Duchess of York are thinking about getting married again.

The rumors came after Sarah revealed she was diagnosed with malignant melanoma just months after undergoing a second round of reconstructive surgery following a breast cancer diagnosis.

Despite a double health blow, the Duchess has maintained a business-as-usual approach, including posting to Instagram and attending events like yesterday’s.

By Richard Eden for The Daily Mail

Published: 5:01 PM EST, February 23, 2024 | Updated: 5:25 PM EST, February 23, 2024

By Sean O’grady for Mailonline

Published: 06:27 EST, February 23, 2024 | Updated: 06:39 EST, February 23, 2024

The King’s handsome equerry, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Thompson, has been moved to a ‘less public role’ after reportedly not enjoying the public attention he has received.

Lieutenant Colonel Thompson, dubbed ‘the hot equerry’ on social media, was once one of the late Queen’s most senior bodyguards and now serves His Majesty.

He first won admirers at the Queen’s funeral and gained a legion of fans thanks to his brooding appearance, but inadvertently rose to fame during Charles’s coronation.

The so-called ‘Major Eye Candy’ has since regularly accompanied the King and Royal Family and even joined their procession to church at Sandringham on Christmas Day last year.

But Lieutenant Colonel Thompson, 40, was conspicuously absent on Tuesday when Charles met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

A Palace source has now said this The times that while he remains ‘senior equerry to the King and Queen’, Lieutenant Colonel Thompson will take on a ‘more executive and less public role’.

Lieutenant Colonel Thompson’s role as Equerry – an officer of the Royal Household who assists members of the Royal Family – involved assisting the King with his daily duties, standing by his side at public events and looking after the carriages, carriages and Rolls -Royces of the monarch took care of it. used in state ceremonies.

But insiders suggest his role has changed because he did not enjoy the public attention he received after attending several high-profile events with Charles.

Instead, he will now help the monarch with his private affairs and “carry out his duties away from the public eye.”

MailOnline has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.

Lieutenant Colonel Thompson has had a relationship with the Royal Family for several years. He has been part of the 5th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland since 2006 and was previously the late Queen.

The officer became the object of the affection of royal guards last year after taking center stage at historic royal events following the Queen’s death.

He was captured on camera calmly and coolly removing a pencil tray that was cluttering the king’s desk as Charles signed the proclamation appointing him as the new monarch.

He was also seen in the procession as the Queen’s coffin was escorted from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall for the four days he lay in state.

He greeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his trip to Britain in February last year and accompanied then Prime Minister Liz Truss to a meeting with the king at Buckingham Palace in October 2022.

He was also seen standing behind Harry and Meghan at the Platinum Jubilee National Service of Thanksgiving celebrations at St Paul’s Cathedral in June 2022.

Contrary to popular belief that he is Scottish, Lieutenant Colonel Thompson was actually born in Morpeth, Northumberland, and now lives with his family in Surrey.

He joined the Army in 2006 and is a platoon commander, according to his LinkedIn. It is believed he has worked as an equerry for Charles for the past two years.

His profile also shows how he attended Aberystwyth University, graduating in 2004 with a degree in economics and politics with international studies.

He listed his hobbies and interests as rugby and mountaineering and he was also a member of the Undergraduate Officer Training Corps.

Earlier this month it was reported that Lieutenant Colonel Thompson, who split from his wife two years ago, has found ‘new love’ with 33-year-old PR manager Olivia Lewis.

The pair are said to have met while Mrs Lewis worked for the King and Queen Camilla.