RICHARD EDEN: Bear Grylls to step down as Chief Scout – weeks after helping to baptise Russell Brand in the Thames as the comic converted to Christianity

At the age of 50 he’s already notched up a giddying list of accomplishments, from becoming one of the youngest people to climb Everest — just 18 months after breaking his back in three places — to crossing the Atlantic in an inflatable boat and setting a world record for the longest indoor free-fall.

But little, if anything — certainly not the numerous acclaimed survival programmes he’s presented, nor even his close friendship with the Prince and Princess of Wales — has given Bear Grylls the same satisfaction as his role as Chief Scout.

So I’m intrigued to hear that Grylls, who was the youngest ever Chief Scout when appointed in 2009, is to step down imminently.

It’s a poignant moment for the robust Old Etonian whose time as Chief Scout has coincided with what’s been described as ‘the biggest surge in popularity’ for scouting since the end of World War II.

That’s because his tenure ends just weeks after he took a leading part in the baptism in the Thames of Russell Brand, once described as a comedian though now far better known for messianic utterances in his guise as a ‘thought leader’ — and for being the subject of lurid accusations, which he vehemently denies, of historic sexual misconduct, currently being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.

Some of Grylls’s friends are bewildered by his very public embrace of Brand — as are some at the Scout Association. ‘There was real alarm at Bear’s friendship with Brand,’ one tells me, before referring to ‘the potential implications’ that relationship could have ‘for the Scouts’ public image’.

A spokesman for the Scouting Association tells me: ‘Bear Grylls inspired the movement through a period of unprecedented growth. he’s helped thousands of young people to gain new skills, try new things, and look to the future with optimism. More information will be available later in the year about Bear’s next steps.’

The unlikely friendship seemingly began when Brand appeared last year on Running Wild, filmed in the Hebrides.

Grylls, a devout Christian who has three sons with his wife, Shara, is now in Costa Rica, filming Bear Hunt, presented by Holly Willoughby, in which he will pursue celebrities through the rainforest.

Who’s to say that, if cleared of all accusations by the Met, Brand will not one day be his quarry?

Danielle’s new aria of expertise 

Danielle de Niese, who staged a triumphant return to Glyndebourne this week, has set her heart on a new challenge.

The opera star reveals she is to perform the leading role in Bizet’s Carmen, which she had always assumed would be beyond her.

‘I thought I would never sing it because I’m a soprano, and Carmen is mainly sung by the lower-voice mezzo-soprano,’ she tells me at the first night of The Merry Widow at Glyndebourne opera house in East Sussex.

‘Now, I will get two fantastic shots at it — one on the other side of the world and one in the UK, though I can’t say yet where.’

She adds: ‘I’m so excited to finally play Carmen because my fans around the world have been asking me for years to do it.’

De Niese, 45, was due to perform last year at Glyndebourne, of which her husband, Gus Christie, is executive director. However, she pulled out to star in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End musical Aspects Of Love instead.

End of an era as The Lady’s magazine matriarch dies 

Julia Budworth, the matriarch who condemned her son Ben as a ‘little monster’ and accused journalist Rachel Johnson of being obsessed with sex, has died at the age of 92.

She was appalled when Ben sold the splendid Covent Garden HQ of The Lady magazine, which had been owned by her family since 1885, for £12.4 million.

‘It’s scandalous,’ she told me in 2019. ‘It’s a story good enough for Dickens — the very worst type of family disaster.’

Some estate agents claim the building could have fetched twice the price.

Julia handed control of the magazine, whose illustrious past contributors included Nancy Mitford and Lewis Carroll, to Ben in 2008. ‘Ben’s three brothers are shattered — disgusted and traumatised,’ said Julia, whose grandfather founded the magazine. ‘The family has owned the building since 1891. It’s a terrible thing he’s done. We’re desperately angry.’

The Lady was the subject of a memorable TV documentary when Boris Johnson’s sister Rachel was editor. It laid bare the tension between her and Mrs Budworth.

Ben was unrepentant, telling me at the time that his family ‘only have themselves to blame, and that’s it’.

He said: ‘The magazine has been there for a few years, but the building has never been owned by The Lady; it’s been owned by family members.’

Konnie: Posh parents thought I was a nanny  

Known for her ‘here’s one I made earlier’ demonstrations when she was a Blue Peter presenter, Konnie Huq says people refused to believe that she had produced her own children.

Konnie, 48, whose parents emigrated from Pakistan, has two sons with Black Mirror producer Charlie Brooker. 

‘Both mine came out completely white,’ she says. ‘In Clapham — we lived in this posh area, but we lived at the back of a shop – there would be all these people milling these kids around, and I’d just chat to them, but I’m sure they thought I was the nanny, and sometimes I’d just go along with them.’

The smart set’s talking about…Dame Emma and Tilda’s nepo babies  

If the faces of these two girls-about-town look vaguely familiar, there’s a reason why.

They are the daughters of Oscar winners Dame Emma Thompson and Tilda Swinton — and they’re making a splash on the London social scene. 

Gaia Wise, 24, daughter of Dame Emma and Greg Wise, joined her friend and fellow actress Honor Swinton Byrne, 26, whose father is the late playwright John Byrne, at a party at Flannels LDN.

Neither is concerned about the row over so-called ‘nepo babies’ — children of celebrities deemed to have used their family connections to succeed in careers similar to those of their parents. 

‘I feel like it’s very important to own it [nepotism],’ Honor has said. ‘But at the same time, I continue to act and get jobs because I have skill. I’m still doing it.’

Jilly Cooper’s very revealing plot twist  

Renowned for her raunchy novels, Dame Jilly Cooper likes to write while starkers. ‘For years, in summer I liked to type naked on the terrace of my home in the Cotswolds,’ says the author, 87.

‘I remember there was a very sweet man who had a stroke that stopped him talking. He came to borrow some of my husband’s books. When there was no answer, he wandered on to the terrace and discovered me starkers. “Good God!” he shouted.

‘At least it got him talking.’

Who rocker Pete speaks volumes 

Pete Townshend has swapped The Who’s guitar-smashing antics for a background role with The Bookshop Band, a Scottish folk duo who tour bookstores, performing songs inspired by famous authors. ‘I play a bit of guitar, a bit of bass. It’s one of the most fun times I’ve had,’ says Townshend, who produced the band’s new album.

The duo cheekily asked if they could stay at Townshend’s countryside studio.

Rather than emulate The Who drummer Keith Moon’s notorious room-trashing behaviour, the musicians lived up to their bookish name.

‘It was lovely to have the band in among the family,’ Townshend told the pair at Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath. ‘You are very tidy guests.’

King Charles needs somebody with driving ambition.

He’s advertising for a head chauffeur on an annual salary of up to £45,000 per year.

‘As head chauffeur, you’ll lead an exceptional team of professional chauffeurs and oversee vehicle operations in support of events and day-to-day operations,’ explains the advert on the royal website.

‘With exceptional customer service and interpersonal skills, you will provide an unparalleled chauffeur experience tailored to the needs of your guests.’

And the chance to hear some interesting gossip!

It’s the fashionable private members’ club where Prince Harry courted Meghan Markle, but Soho Farmhouse appears to have lost a royal guest.

I hear that Princess Beatrice has instead been seen at a rival Oxfordshire venue: Estelle Manor, a country house hotel and spa.

Described as the Cotswolds ‘hippest new hangout’, it’s set in 85 acres near Witney and accommodation can cost up to £2,200 per night. Bea was spotted with her two-year-old daughter, Sienna.

A fellow guest notes: ‘Within five minutes of arriving I was exchanging pleasantries with a friendly, very stylish and vaguely familiar young mother carrying her exhausted child.

‘She turned out to be Princess Beatrice.

‘Of course she did — it’s that kind of place.’

Newsnight’s former presenter Peter Snow is unimpressed by the reduced-length version, shorn of its reporting team, now on BBC 2. 

‘What’s happening to Newsnight is extraordinary,’ he tells the Beeb Watch podcast. ‘It’s a disgrace for the BBC, because we launched it in order to give a day’s news in-depth. The BBC reduces that great news in-depth programme from 45 minutes to 30. It’s an absolute tragedy. I know the BBC is pushed for cash, but it is a disgrace.’ 

When she married Damian Aspinall in 2016, Burberry executive Victoria Fisher acquired one of the most famous names in society.

Now estranged from the casino and wildlife park heir, she is to keep using the Aspinall name.

‘I love my identity,’ she tells me at the Bold Woman Award by Veuve Clicquot ceremony at the Royal Opera House. ‘I’ve earned everything I’ve worked very hard for in my life.’

She adds: ‘I’ve had many wonderful chapters. There’s always struggles, but you keep going and you have to keep positive.’

Victoria, 37, who married Aspinall, 64, has now moved into the wellness industry.

‘I’ve had a couple of career changes, and now is a very good time to reset,’ she says. ‘When the times get tough, it’s an opportunity to grow.’

The Savile Club, the august Mayfair institution whose members include Stephen Fry and Andrew Lloyd Webber, still bars women from becoming members.

Yet it allowed a member to stay after undergoing a sex change.

And socialite Amanda Eliasch is not happy.

‘We’re slowly infiltrating, but then it turns on us because the women are only getting here if they are transgender women,’ she tells me at the Mumble Charity lunch in aid of Teens Unite at the Savile, where her late grandfather was a member.

‘I don’t mind what people do, but I don’t want to be usurped.’

Earlier this year the club began a tentative consultation among members over the possibility of opening up the membership to women.