Table of Contents
Anyone who doubts the depth of the Duke of Sussex’s rift with some of his oldest and closest friends need look no further than the new Clarkson’s Farm series.
Jeremy Clarkson, you may remember, was condemned by Prince Harry last year after he wrote a famous article in The Sun, noting that he hated the Duchess of Sussex “on a cellular level” and adding that he wanted to see Meghan parade through the streets. , naked, while people threw excrement at her.
The Grand Tour star later apologized, but Harry’s spokesperson stated: “What remains to be addressed is his long-standing pattern of writing articles that spread hateful rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories and misogyny.”
However, who should appear in episode seven of Clarkson’s Farm than one of the Duke’s oldest and closest friends? Described in the show by Clarkson simply as ‘Hugh’, he is Hugh van Cutsem, who is seen stalking deer with the star of the hit Amazon Prime show.
Jeremy Clarkson, you may remember, was condemned by Prince Harry last year after he wrote a notorious article in The Sun.
Who should appear in episode seven of Clarkson’s Farm than one of the Duke’s oldest and closest friends?
After Clarkson’s comments about Meghan, Hugh appearing alongside him would have been unthinkable if they were still friends.
Hugh, 49, whose late father, also Hugh, was one of King Charles’s oldest friends, has known Harry and Prince William all his life. William was the head usher at Hugh’s wedding when he married Rose Astor in 2005, and is godfather to his daughter Grace.
Grace was a bridesmaid at William and Catherine’s wedding six years later and almost stole the show when she covered her ears on the balcony of Buckingham Palace due to the noise of the cheering crowd as the newlyweds kissed.
Hugh and Rose did their part to make Meghan feel at home after moving here, inviting her and Harry to dinner at their home in west London. They also attended Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018.
The first hint that all may not be well between the Van Cutsems and the Sussexes came in 2020, after the dramatic announcement that Harry and Meghan intended to “step back” as senior members of the Royal family.
Hugh’s wife, Rose, publicly mocked the dramatic announcement. “I stay out of the lead on my tax return,” she joked on social media, “because I’d rather drink coffee, see my friends, love my family and do yoga.”
Rose, 44, explained that these activities were infinitely preferable to keeping receipts and “doing[ing] mathematics that I swear is bad for my health.
Hugh, 49, whose late father, also Hugh, was one of King Charles’s oldest friends, has known Harry and Prince William all his life.
He later declined to comment on his comments, explaining: “I’m so sorry, I can’t say anything.” I’m sure you understand. I’m going to have a lot of problems.’
Rose headed the membership committee at Soho Farmhouse, the exclusive Oxfordshire club where Meghan held her bridal shower and where she and Harry periodically escaped during the early months of their marriage.
Harry confirmed his split from the Van Cutsems in his 2023 memoir, Spare, and revealed that Hugh’s mother, Emilie, and one of his four children had contacted him to express their fury after his explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The duke wrote: “Several close companions and beloved figures in my life, including one of Hugh and Emilie’s children, Emilie herself and even Tiggy [Pettifer, his former nanny], had scolded me for Oprah. How could you reveal such things? About your family?’
It is evident that this gap has not healed.
When Noel Edmonds presented Deal Or No Deal, contestants could win up to £250,000 – but caterers at the presenter’s New Zealand vineyard may be closing in on the 1p Club.
Edmonds venue River Haven, which includes a pub, cafe and restaurant, closed and its 17 employees were given just 24 hours’ notice.
“We lost our jobs without warning,” complains one worker. “I cried,” says another. Edmonds tells me: ‘The team always knew it would close for the winter. October 1 is the planned opening date for next summer.
Queen of the jungle on the reality of being a mother
Giovanna, 39 (pictured), has three children with her husband, McFly singer Tom Fletcher.
I’m a Celebrity Winner Giovanna Fletcher says the rich and famous are dishonest about the realities of being a parent.
“When people, especially people who are in the public eye, are in those hours [television] “The sofas talk about parenthood, they are there to promote something,” he says at an Advertising Week Europe event in London.
Giovanna, 39, who has three children with her husband, McFly singer Tom Fletcher, adds: “All you say on those sofas is: ‘It’s amazing, it’s fantastic, it’s the best thing ever.'”
When the Princess of Wales appeared on Giovanna’s parenting podcast Happy Mum, Happy Baby in 2020, Catherine admitted she often suffered from “mommy guilt” while juggling family life, which could leave her feeling full of insecurity.
Defense Secretary Grant Shapps says that on the morning he found out the Treasury was going to spend another £75bn on defence, he saw that the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, was running a sponsored campaign.
Shapps messaged him to say that, as a thank you, he would send him £100 towards the charity initiative. Hunt responded: “I’m pretty sure you came out ahead on this financial deal.”
The Baroness’s broadside against her “evil” companion
I can reveal that Labor peer Helena Kennedy (pictured) has been named the “subject of an investigation”.
Just a few weeks ago, King Charles appointed her to the Order of the Thistle, Scotland’s highest order of chivalry, but now Baroness Kennedy is enjoying a less pleasant period in the spotlight.
I can reveal that Labor colleague Helena Kennedy has been named a “subject of an investigation” by one of the House of Lords Standards Commissioners after allegedly failing to register an interest.
Kennedy storms to her own defense, telling me that she was denounced by “a politically motivated and totally evil conservative peer” after failing to declare that she had become a trustee of the Sigrid Rausing Trust.
“I don’t receive any remuneration,” adds Kennedy. “It was a total oversight that has now been rectified.”
Why Poppy still needs a protagonist…
Poppy Delevingne, 38, (pictured) has been cast in US film The Gun On Second Street.
Poppy Delevingne is enjoying a passionate romance with Archie Keswick, scion of the billionaire Jardine Matheson empire, as I revealed on Saturday.
On screen, however, the daughter of a Chelsea property developer, pictured in London this week, has yet to find her leading lady. Although the model and actress, 38, has been cast in the American film The Gun On Second Street, its director, Rohit Karn Batra, is still looking for an actor to star alongside her.
“He’ll play the role with an American accent,” Batra tells me at the DDA cocktail party on Carlton Beach at the Cannes Film Festival. “I wanted to choose someone who was elegant but with a West Virginia feel.”
