By Richard Eden for The Daily Mail

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

With King Charles undergoing treatment for an unspecified form of cancer and the Princess of Wales still recovering from abdominal surgery, half of the eldest members of the royal family are out of action.

So what better time for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to launch the latest phase of their apparent plan to become the new, more glamorous royal family across the pond?

In a slick Instagram video, Meghan unveiled her new lifestyle and cooking brand, American Riviera Orchard. The former actress was busy in a rustic-looking kitchen in the video, which was posted online a day after I contacted her office for comment on her plans. American Riviera Orchard will focus on home, garden, food and lifestyle items.

Meghan and her team decided to post the video even though the coverage it would generate would likely overshadow a major appearance by Prince Harry that same evening.

Via video link from the US, he spoke at an awards ceremony for the Diana Trust, an esteemed charity dedicated to promoting his late mother’s legacy. Prince William attended the event in person, although he made a point of leaving before his brother’s face appeared on a video screen.

Although American Riviera Orchard is primarily Meghan’s venture, Harry, I’m told, will join his wife for a series of “royal” public appearances in the coming days and weeks.

But when the Duchess was seen arranging flowers and whipping something in a mixing bowl in her promotional video, Harry caused trouble with an intriguing new friend. I revealed on Saturday in my social diary, Eden Confidential, that the Duke, 39, enjoyed a ski holiday last week with Corey Gamble, 43, a businessman who happens to be the partner of Kris Jenner, the 68-year-old mother of reality TV stars. US royalty, Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian. She also has two daughters, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, who have become super-rich stars with the help of their mother as a manager, or “momanger,” as she is known.

On the slopes with Harry and Corey at Aspen, America’s fanciest ski resort, were other friends, including Whitney Wolfe Herd, 34, who became the world’s youngest female billionaire when she took her online dating company Bumble public in 2021, and Whitney’s husband, Michael, whom she first met during a ski trip to the resort.

Michael Herd, a Texas oil heir, owns the private jet that flew Harry and Meghan to Las Vegas last November to see their Californian neighbor, pop star Katy Perry, in concert.

Harry’s previously unknown friendship with Kris Jenner’s boyfriend is fascinating. Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, is known to be pals with Jenner. I’m told Harry and Gamble “really hit it off.” They can certainly compare notes on having ambitious other halves.

And while the Kardashian clan can’t give tips on royal behavior, there’s no doubt they can give advice on making money.

However, before Gamble had time to give a full debrief about his holiday with the King’s youngest son, Kim Kardashian poked fun at the Princess of Wales.

Amid speculation about Kate’s whereabouts, Kim posted a series of photos of herself on Instagram to her 364 million followers, along with the caption, “On our way to find Kate.” The post added fuel to the fire of often bizarre and cruel conspiracy theories about the princess and her current condition.

While Harry and Meghan’s new show business friends may help them make a fortune, they could spell trouble for the real royal family.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rosenberg could not be reached for comment.

King’s goddaughter parties with her Argentinian boyfriend

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Liz Truss is making modest progress

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tickets cost a suitably princely £200 each.

Rose at 40 has lost none of her prime

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

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

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

The late Earl leaves £500,000 to Eton

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

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

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

As heir to the throne, the Prince of Wales has always had to surround himself with wise courtiers. And King Charles’ cancer diagnosis has made that need even more urgent.

The completely unnecessary controversy over Prince William’s Mothering Sunday photo of his wife, the Princess of Wales, and their three children was a clear demonstration that he is not receiving sensible advice.

After some of the world’s biggest photo agencies were forced to ‘kill’ the image over fears it had been digitally manipulated, sources at Kensington Palace quickly suggested it was not the officials who had edited it.

Catherine then felt the need to post a personal apology on social media the next morning, taking all the blame herself.

“Like many amateur photographers, I occasionally experiment with montage,” she explains. “I wanted to apologize for any confusion the family photo we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone who celebrated had a very happy Mother’s Day.’

To make it clear that the apology came from her alone, she signed the statement with a ‘C’ for Catherine.”

As I made clear on Monday in our special edition of the Daily Mail’s hit series Palace Confidential, it was wrong for Catherine to be ‘thrown under a bus’ in this way.

The couple’s highly paid communications experts are responsible for photos released by Kensington Palace, whoever happens to be holding the camera. They should have taken the blame.

Their communications secretary Lee Thompson, who was appointed to much fanfare in 2022, must become a public relations expert. Why did this so-called PR expert, who previously worked for the American NBC television group, allow Catherine to make a personal mea culpa instead of issuing a statement from Kensington Palace?

To me, it seems that he and other high-ranking officials would rather not tarnish their own reputations than protect our future queen while she recovers from major surgery.

Even if we accept that Catherine altered the photo when it was handed to her officials, who would no doubt have encouraged her to share such a cheerful photo, they should have examined it closely. In his senior position, Thompson would have known that media organizations are increasingly concerned about digital manipulation of images. British newspapers will not publish news photos altered in this way.

“Did you change anything in the photo?” Thompson may have asked his boss. Or indeed, “Are you sure you don’t want to wear your wedding rings, given the ridiculous speculation online?”

So why does this royal couple have such a strong instinct to protect their staff from public criticism?

Instead, it was Catherine, with typical generosity and kindness, who took full responsibility.

I’m told she and William are still ‘haunted’ by the tragic death of a nurse at a hospital where Catherine was treated in 2012. Jacintha Saldanha, who worked at King Edward VII’s Hospital in Marylebone, London, took her own life three times. days after he fell for a prank by two Australian radio DJs posing as the Queen and Prince Charles.

She had transferred the call to a colleague who was caring for Catherine.

The conversation that the two DJs then had with the second nurse about the Duchess’s medical condition was broadcast by the channel.

Ms Saldanha, who was from India, left three handwritten notes, one of which blamed the radio stunt for her death.

In an email to her colleague, she wrote: “It’s all my fault and I’m really sorry I got you involved. Please accept my apology.

Prince William subsequently wrote a moving letter to her family, saying: ‘Jacintha and her colleagues have looked after us exceptionally well and I am so sorry that someone who cared so much for others found themselves in such a desperate situation.’

Friends of William and Catherine tell me that Mrs. Saldanha’s death left a deep impression on them. The tragedy made the couple even more determined that no one who worked for them should ever be publicly humiliated.

I hope William makes sure he appoints officials who are willing to ask tough questions and give him unwanted advice.

There should be no room in the palace for yes-men.

Zijn vrolijke portret van koningin Elizabeth, stralend naar de camera en met felroze lippenstift, bovenop de Union Flag, werd een van de bepalende beelden van onze zo gemiste monarch.

Fotograaf Rankin is echter diep bedroefd door de ophef over de foto van de prinses van Wales en haar drie kinderen die op Mothering Sunday is gepubliceerd.

Catherine voelde de behoefte zich te verontschuldigen voor het ‘bewerken’ van de foto die haar man, prins William, had gemaakt, nadat enkele van ‘s werelds grootste fotobureaus gedwongen waren het beeld te ‘vermoorden’ uit angst dat het digitaal was ‘gemanipuleerd’.

Rankin zegt dat Catherine niet mag worden bekritiseerd omdat ze met het portret heeft geknoeid. ‘Geef haar verdomde pauze,’ zegt hij tegen mij. ‘Twee maanden geleden lag ze in het ziekenhuis [undergoing planned abdominal surgery].’

Haar verontschuldiging was ‘niet nodig’, benadrukt hij, omdat haar portret ‘een persoonlijke foto was die ze voor Moederdag heeft verspreid’. Hij zegt: ‘Het is alleen omdat mensen denken dat wij haar bezitten, dat we deze kritiek op haar hebben.’

De veranderingen die ze aanbracht waren, zo vermoedt hij, om de kinderen van het echtpaar, prins George, prinses Charlotte en prins Louis, in het best mogelijke licht te presenteren.

Sprekend over de privébezichtiging van zijn portretten, Rankin: Sound Off-collectie, in de Tin Man Art-galerie in South Kensington, West-Londen, zegt hij: ‘Vanuit mijn persoonlijke perspectief leek het erop dat ze gewoon foto’s bij elkaar hadden gezet, want als je kinderen krijgt , het is heel moeilijk – ze bewegen veel.

‘Als je kinderen fotografeert, moet je het leuk voor ze maken, ze erbij betrekken en het snel doen. Als je geen professional bent, doe je dat allemaal niet.’

Nadat hij de overleden koningin in 2002 had gevangengenomen ter gelegenheid van haar gouden jubileum, toen ze 75 was, werd Rankin vorig jaar door koning Charles naar Clarence House geroepen omdat hij zich voorbereidde om zelf 75 te worden.

De zwart-wit close-up, die hem met een twinkeling in zijn ogen liet zien, verscheen op de cover van het tijdschrift Big Issue.

Paul Merton van Have I Got News For You ontvangt geen bulletins via zijn smartphone.

‘Ik heb geen mobiel’, zegt de cabaretier. ‘Mensen kunnen mij mailen. Ik ben geen 24-uurs loodgieter, dus ik krijg geen dringende telefoontjes met de vraag: ‘Ik sta tot aan mijn nek in het water – kun je binnen 40 minuten bij Tunbridge Wells zijn?’

Savannah verwerpt de bewering van Lily dat ‘de kinderen mijn carrière hebben verpest’

De opmerking van popzangeres Lily Allen dat het hebben van kinderen haar carrière ‘verpestte’, heeft modeontwerpster Savannah Miller van streek gemaakt.

‘Ik vind het absoluut weerzinwekkend dat iemand kan suggereren dat het zo binair is als: je kunt een carrière hebben of je kunt kinderen krijgen’, zegt ze woedend.

‘Eerlijk gezegd is die berichtgeving schadelijk voor onze zonen, voor onze dochters en voor iedereen.’

Savannah, 45, die drie kinderen heeft met ex-man Nick Skinner, voegt eraan toe: ‘Er moeten offers worden gebracht, maar ik was erbij, ik las verhalen en veegde zwervers af.

‘Ik geef mijn kinderen absoluut alles wat ik heb en dat zal ik blijven doen tot mijn sterfdag, omdat zij mijn reden van bestaan ​​zijn.’

Past bij jou… Trinny’s klassieke Cindy-stijl

Trinny Woodall heeft naam gemaakt als co-host van de populaire BBC-televisieshow What Not To Wear en weet het een en ander over dramatische make-overs.

En de styliste die schoonheidsondernemer is geworden, is bijna onherkenbaar met haar nieuwe androgyne uiterlijk.

De 60-jarige Woodall toonde in een online video haar zwarte Valentino-pak en stropdas-outfit, met haar haar glad naar achteren. Ze legt uit dat het een eerbetoon is aan een van de gedenkwaardige looks van supermodel Cindy Crawford uit de jaren negentig.

‘We hebben allemaal onze favoriete stijlmomenten uit de jaren negentig, en voor mij behoort dit gestructureerde, door Cindy Crawford geïnspireerde pakmoment tot de beste’, zegt ze.

Hoge mannelijke ambtenaren kleedden zich ooit sober en gaven de voorkeur aan sobere witte overhemden om aan te geven hoe betrouwbaar ze waren. Niet meer.

Een modegruwel werd deze week opgemerkt toen George Shirley, de nieuwe directeur asieloperaties bij het ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken, op een parlementaire hoorzitting verscheen.

Shirley zat naast zijn formeel geklede minister en droeg een blauw gebloemd overhemd dat beter geschikt was voor een avondje uit in een nachtclub.

Cocaïne-zoektocht naar een hertogin

De hertogin van Northumberland heeft een cocaïneprobleem. Jane Percy, zoals ze bekend staat, is niet verslaafd aan de drug, maar heeft moeite om cocazaden te bemachtigen voor haar speciaal gelicentieerde Poison Garden in Alnwick, de voorouderlijke zetel van haar man.

Maar het vinden van exemplaren is een grotere uitdaging gebleken dan verwacht.

Na voortdurend contact te hebben opgenomen met de Britse ambassades in Peru, Bolivia, Chili en Columbia, zijn de pogingen om de zaden te verkrijgen tot nu toe zinloos gebleken.

‘We voeren een drugsvoorlichtingsprogramma uit dat een unieke gelegenheid biedt om na te denken over de planten waar medicijnen vandaan komen en de gevaren die deze medicijnen met zich meebrengen.

‘Helaas missen we het deel van het verhaal dat de pijn en het lijden verklaart in de landen waar coca wordt verbouwd en cocaïne wordt verwerkt.’

Ik suggereer niet dat BBC-radio saai is, maar zelfs een van de presentatoren geeft toe dat ze in slaap viel – midden in een live-uitzending.

Lisa McCormick van BBC Radio 5 Live zegt: ‘Ik ben tussen 01.00 en 05.00 uur aan en ik viel in slaap tijdens de uitzending. Ik sliep goed en was niet alleen maar een beetje aan het dutten. Ik snurkte waarschijnlijk, het was erg.’

Ze voegt eraan toe: ‘Ik werd wakker doordat iemand naast mij mijn naam riep. Er speelde een stukje audio af, dus dat was in orde.’

Vergeet de ruzie over de cricketwedstrijd Eton tegen Harrow, wiens toekomst bij Lord’s het onderwerp is van heftige discussies.

De leerlingen van Harrow hebben dat zeker gedaan – tenminste voor vandaag. Ik kan je vertellen dat ze allemaal in Twickenham zullen zijn – 15 op het veld en de rest schreeuwende steun vanaf de tribunes.

‘De school is voor vandaag afgelast’, legt rugbymeester James Melville uit. ‘Iedereen is aan het bruisen. We hebben 850 jongens met volle stem.’

Tegenover hen in de finale van de Continental Tires Schools Cup staat de Kirkham Grammar School uit Lancashire, onder wie onder meer de voormalige Engelse scrumhalf Richard Wigglesworth.

Sacre blauw! Fred wappert de vlag

Ooh La La! Fred Sirieix, de charmante maitre d’ op Channel 4-show First Dates, heeft zijn liefde voor zijn vaderland getoond tijdens een vakantie in West-Indië.

Op onlinefoto’s uit Jamaica poseerde de Fransman, 52, in een koffer met de driekleurige vlag erop.

Hij zegt dat hij voor een dilemma stond of hij deze moest dragen of een paar met de Jamaicaanse vlag. ‘Welke zou jij dragen?’ vraagt ​​hij zijn fans.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Take some responsibility.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How do you drive in those shoes, Daphne? 

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

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

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

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

Oti cha-cha-chats with the Queen 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brenda Blethyn was too convincing as a Geordie in Vera. 

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

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

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

(Very) modern manners

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

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

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

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

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

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

Better luck this time!

 Charlotte’s language lessons for Wolfie…

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

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

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

He will turn eight this month.

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

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

Why Britannia may not rule at the Proms under Labour

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

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

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

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

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

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

By MailOnline Reporter

Published: 12:28 EST, February 29, 2024 | Updated: 12:30 EST, February 29, 2024

By Richard Eden for The Daily Mail

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

By MailOnline Reporter

Published: 12:30 EST, February 22, 2024 | Updated: 12:43 EST, February 22, 2024