01-08-2025
EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Joan's tirade against acting legend all in the name of art, dahling...
Why did Sir Keir Starmer opt for dinner with Trump rather than welcoming the victorious Lionesses to No 10? My source whispers that the reception on Monday could have been held on Tuesday morning, when the Prime Minister was back from Scotland. It wasn't the only issue. When planning the ride down The Mall, the FA thought a royal would be at the Palace to greet the team. Alas, William had returned to his holiday after attending the final, the King (no football fan) wouldn't fly down from his annual fortnight at the Castle of Mey and Anne was also in Scotland. Other working royals were 'unavailable'. What about Princess Beatrice? She had to watch proceedings kerbside with the masses. Letting Bea and other young royals invite the Lionesses to the Palace for drinks could have been a PR triumph.
Is the forthcoming Buck House exhibition of the late monarch's dresses, Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life In Style, final confirmation of the banishment of HM's beloved dresser Angela Kelly? Having styled her for the last 20 years of her life, Angela was swiftly evicted from her grace-and-favour Windsor home despite claims that she was allowed to stay there after the monarch's death. The King isn't a fan. He put the exhibition in the hands of Caroline de Guitaut, Surveyor of the King's Works of Art since 2023, who is more used to Fabergé than fashion.
Evergreen Joan Collins portrays Wallis Simpson opposite Isabella Rossellini as the Duchess of Windsor's secretary Suzanne Blum in The Bitter End. 'Isabella and I had to film the denouement – a furious, angry scene in which I berated her,' recalls Joan, pictured as Simpson in the movie. 'Staring intently into her eyes as I delivered venomous vituperations, I was suddenly disturbed by the realisation that I was telling Ingrid Bergman's daughter to bugger off.'
When Fake Or Fortune? co-host Fiona Bruce last examined a painting purportedly by Winston Churchill, in 2015, she drew a blank. Despite overwhelming evidence, the compiler of the official catalogue of the ex-PM's art, David Coombs, refused to authenticate it. Five years later, proof from the Churchill Archive overturned that decision. Last week, Fiona and art dealer Philip Mould returned with another Churchill gem, which again failed to pass muster – because there was no one willing to verify it. Coombs has retired, the Churchill Art Committee wouldn't get its hands dirty and suggested auction houses could authenticate it. Auctioneers said it wasn't their job. That left owner Barry James losing a possible £600,000. He'd bought it for £140 at an open-air art sale.
Celebrity farmer Jeremy Clarkson announces cheekily: 'If you're flying the Apache gunships over Diddly Squat today, can you hover over the wheat for a bit. It still needs drying.' The Army Air Corps tweeted: 'Hi Jeremy, that was us. Wheat drying wasn't in the mission brief, but if Diddly Squat ever needs close air support from the world's most advanced gunship you know where to find us.'
