The 84th birthday of one of the world’s most celebrated ballerinas, Lynn Seymour, was in the papers yesterday. Unfortunately I hear she had passed away the previous night.
“It’s the most horrible shock,” one of her friends tells me. ‘She had a festive lunch at Brasserie Zedel.’
Born in Canada, Seymour joined the Royal Ballet in 1957.
Infamously, the first night of Romeo and Juliet, conceived for her and Christopher Gable by choreographer Sir Kenneth MacMillan, was danced by Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev.
“I didn’t blame her,” Seymour later said of Fonteyn. “She didn’t want me to get hurt.”
The 84th birthday of one of the world’s most celebrated ballerinas, Lynn Seymour, was mentioned in the papers yesterday, but unfortunately she passed away the day before
Born in Canada, Seymour (pictured) joined the Royal Ballet in 1957
She was married three times, including to Colin Jones, known as the “George Orwell of photojournalism”
She was married three times, including to Colin Jones, known as the “George Orwell of photojournalism.”
Kevin O’Hare, director of the Royal Ballet, says: ‘Lynn was an extraordinary force in the ballet world and the Royal Ballet will forever be indebted to her.’
Eton provost retires after controversial student comment
Lady Susan Hussey, the late Queen’s lady-in-waiting, has barely been out of the news since she was forced to ‘step down’ from royal duties after accidentally offending domestic violence campaigner Ngozi Fulani at a reception at Buckingham Palace.
Now, however, the spotlight has shifted to her younger brother, former Tory minister Lord Waldegrave. Yesterday he announced that he will be stepping down as Provost of Eton College, just a week after I revealed that at a reunion dinner for those who left Eton in 1983, he commented that the school was planning to admit girls.
He told the guests, ‘I’ll let you in on a secret. Each year the governors of Eton consider whether Eton should become co-ed. And we’re not quite there. But eventually we will of course go co-ed.’
Eton College (pictured) insists Waldegrave’s announcement has nothing to do with his controversial comments
Eton insists Waldegrave’s announcement has nothing to do with his controversial comments. “The provost has been planning to announce his retirement for several months,” I was told.
But Waldegrave’s claim would have alarmed traditionalists. One critic has argued that Waldegrave’s tenure coincided with “one of the most controversial periods in Eton’s 580-year history” – a period initiated by Waldegrave’s appointment of Simon Henderson as Eton’s head master in 2015.
An “Inclusion Education Director” was introduced under “Trendy Hendy,” who expressed hope that the school would fly a Black Lives Matter banner. Eton also invited a speaker from the Stonewall charity to talk about gender transition.
But the outcry reached a crescendo following the firing of Will Knowland, a popular master, who posted a lecture online featuring a woman’s comment that she longed to be overwhelmed by “her husband’s masculinity in the bedroom.”
Waldegrave will leave next year.
Strictly speaking, Claudia Winkleman, who claims to be disorganized and lazy, offers her skills as a mentor. “There are so many girls who don’t know that [certain] industries are open to them,” she tells me at The Cat’s Mother Network party in London. “I ask my friends to guide me and I’m ready to give back.”
Jeremy Clarkson says he never made a joke about women parking badly on Top Gear, but Anne Robinson thinks the petrolhead should have.
“Women suck at parking,” claims the former Countdown and The Weakest Link host.
Jeremy Clarkson (L) says he never joked about women parking badly on Top Gear, but Anne Robinson (R) thinks the petrolhead should have
‘I once saw four masons leaving a building site in Gray’s Inn Road [in London]each take a corner of a VW Golf and lift it into a space suitable for several carriages and horses, so that the owner can give up her fight.’
Writing in The Oldie, Robinson likes to add, “But I am not one of these women.
Denis Thatcher was made a baronet. Theresa May’s husband, Philip, was knighted. Will former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s husband, Hugh O’Leary, get some kind of consolation prize on the roll of honor? In a recent interview, Truss said he was a better economic forecaster than the Treasury experts. Arise, Lord Hugh?
Pay homage to the king, Fergie?
One performs ruthlessly in America, trading on faded glory and known for their struggle with junk food… the other is Elvis Presley.
Sarah, the Duchess of York, left her admirers shocked this week when she sparked comparisons to The King by wearing a studded white leather jacket to an event in New York to promote her latest novel, A Most Intriguing Lady. .
Sarah, Duchess of York, left her admirers shocked this week when she sparked comparisons to The King by wearing a studded white leather jacket at an event in New York
In January, she spoke at the funeral of her friend Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’ daughter, at Graceland in Memphis.
It’s heartwarming to discover that Prince Harry and Meghan don’t despise all journalists. I learn that the Bishop of Los Angeles, who baptized their daughter, Princess Lilibet, is a former newspaper reporter.
Rt Rev John Harvey Taylor worked for Chula Vista Star News in the 1970s before becoming Chief of Staff to disgraced former US President Richard Nixon. He was even co-executor of Nixon’s estate.
Harry devotes much of his memoir, Spare, to attacking the press.
