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Here’s a clear sign that the Princess of Wales is really doing better now: I heard Prince William felt able to leave her for a weekend of filming in Spain.
According to my tapas sources, last weekend the heir to the throne stayed at La Garganta, the 37,000-acre estate in Castilla-La Mancha owned by the billionaire Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, 33, godfather to Prince George.
It is said to be the largest private hunting estate in Europe and is known for its wild boar, deer and partridges. William, 42, previously visited Prince Harry in 2014.
Our future king was an usher at Hugh’s wedding last year to Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral.
Kensington Palace and a spokesman for the duke declined to comment.
According to my tapas sources, Prince William spent last weekend at the Duke of Westminster’s 37,000-acre estate in Castile-La Mancha.
The Prince of Wales was an usher at Hugh’s wedding last year to Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral.
The Crown’s new royal murderer drama
ITV’s plans to screen a drama about Jane Andrews, the Duchess of York’s former assistant who was convicted of murder, have sparked horror in royal circles.
Basia Briggs, a friend of Prince Michael of Kent, tells me: “I am shocked because it is inappropriate to use this terrible tragedy to entertain people.”
Andrews, who killed her boyfriend Thomas Cressman, stayed at Basia’s Chelsea home during her trial at the Old Bailey, at the request of her lawyer.
Basia says: “Everyone involved suffered terribly and, as for Jane, she was always a very calm person, but on this occasion she obviously did her own thing. “It was a crime of passion that disturbed the balance of her mind.
Jane Andrews and the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson in Knightsbridge, west London, in 1995
Next year The Lady, a four-part drama, will be filmed. It is being produced by Left Bank Pictures, creators of the Netflix hit The Crown.
Producer Sian McWilliams says: “The Lady deftly explores the tragic series of events and asks the question: who is the real Jane Andrews?” Andrews beat Cressman with a cricket bat and stabbed him in the chest with a kitchen knife at their home in Fulham, west London, in 2000 after he refused to marry her.
He was released from prison in 2015.
The outnumbered star is almost a tattoo artist!
Outnumbered child star Ramona Marquez, who played ruthless and inquisitive schoolgirl Karen in the hit BBC comedy, will return to screens with her TV family for a Christmas special. She’s also forging a new career: as a tattoo artist.
The actress, 23, says: “I’m so grateful that everyone let me practice with them.” I never imagined I could do this because I’m not the best artist and that makes me very happy. You should be able to start accepting reservations soon.’
Ramona Márquez pictured with a dragon tattoo. Now he’s practicing drawing them on other people, he says.
Márquez played the tireless and curious schoolgirl Karen in the hit BBC comedy Outnumbered
The reality of the Katherine comic that leaves you speechless
Let’s hope father-of-six Jacob Rees-Mogg, who now appears on reality show Meet The Rees-Moggs, doesn’t follow Katherine Ryan’s lead.
The comedian, 41, tells me that her own series, At Home With Katherine Ryan, will be so revealing that she has hired an intimacy coach for scenes with her civil partner, Bobby Kootstra.
“We had a Kama Sutra expert who helps a lot of couples with intimacy,” she tells me at the Women in Film and TV Awards at the London Hilton. But I found it terrifying. I was like, “Please get out of my room.”
The Canadian star says the expert, however, has helped bring the couple closer: “Now we have sex like twice a week.” It used to be once a week. Crumbs!
Katherine Ryan attends the Sky Women In Film And Television Awards 2024 on December 6
(Very) modern manners
She endured a lot as the wife of tough football legend George, but Alex Best has discovered that the dating game can be a challenge too.
‘I went on a date and he took me to Go Ape!’ Alex, 52, says, referring to the outdoor adventure center that has treetop ropes courses.
‘I’m terrified of heights and I got stuck. I couldn’t move from this network. Someone had to come and get me down.
Alex Best at Lorraine’s High Street Fashion Awards at Grand Connaught Rooms in May 2015
Chris de Burgh goes on tour next February to celebrate 50 years in the music business, but it’s safe to say that Andy Richards, his keyboardist on hits such as The Lady In Red and Missing You, won’t be accompanying him.
“The last thing I want to do is listen to a Chris (de Burgh) album,” Richards declares. “We definitely fell out and it was a very, very unhappy experience working with him. He thought he was probably better than he was.
About The Lady in Red, he comments: “I’m very happy that Princess Diana liked it so much, but we (the production team) didn’t really like the song. We used to call it Lady In Bed. I’ll leave it to your imagination. and I’ll stop there. It was soft, let’s put it that way.
Chris de Burgh will be on tour starting next February to celebrate his 50 years in music, but it’s fair to say his star keyboardist Andy Richards won’t be joining him.
He made millions with a DIY empire before reinventing himself as the film producer behind 9½ Weeks, the 1986 erotic classic in which Mickey Rourke treated a young Kim Basinger to jalapeno peppers and ice cubes (and much more).
And Richard Northcott evidently intended to do things his way until the end. His will, published 11 months after his death aged 77, leaves the majority of his £39.5million fortune to his three children. But there is also a £3m bequest to Joanna Kurpiers, a former Polish fashion student more than 30 years his junior.
Carole Middleton and her husband, Michael, have decided to reconfigure the entrances to the grounds of the splendid Grade II listed Berkshire manor house they acquired for £4.7 million.
The Princess of Wales’s parents are seeking permission to install new electric gates on both the front and back driveways. Traditionalists like King Charles need not have any qualms: the doors will be carved from premium English oak.