Amid countless tributes to the late Dame Penelope Keith this week, I’m reminded The Good Life star was particularly wounded in her final years by regrettable events over at the Actors’ Benevolent Fund Having succeeded Sir Laurence Oliver as president back in 1989, Penelope’s time in the post came to a controversial end in 2022 when rival members of the charity – first established in the 19th century to support thespians in need – forced her off the board during a bitter coup.
“That was one of the most painful episodes in Penny’s life,” I’m told. “She dedicated so many years to the charity and considered her removal unlawful.” Penelope eventually won a “hard-fought apology” from England’s charity watchdog the Charity Commission in 2024, which admitted to errors when handling the case.
Having made headlines stepping up as a voluntary barman while helping to save local Wiltshire boozer The Swan from closure, actor Rupert Everett takes umbrage at ungrateful punters complaining he “spilt a lot more than went into the beer glass”. Rupert firmly replies: “I think that's not true. I definitely know how to pull a pint.”
With Prince Harry embroiled in a bust-up over British police protection for the Sussexes, Princess Diana biographer Tina Brown reckons he’s more Spencer than Windsor. “The Spencers are a hot-headed clan,” former Vanity Fair editor Tina insists. “You only have to visit the family home of Althorp to see the fluorescent red beards of his ancestors hanging from the walls and read their history of overmighty power grabs to see where Harry’s impetuous temperament originates.”
Reflecting on Andy Burnham's plan to base PM operations partly in Manchester – dubbed “Number 10 North” – veteran broadcaster and Westminster sage Andrew Neil witheringly predicts: “That will have cobwebs in it by Christmas.”
Having brilliantly impersonated Sir Keir Starmer, political comedian Matt Forde wastes no time getting to grips with his successor, explaining: “Andy Burnham’s got a nice north-west accent... he asks himself lots of questions while he's talking, which can sometimes sound a bit unsure. Like he's begging people to come along with him."
Days after revealing he's cheekily named his new cockapoo puppy “Nigel” after former client Nigel Havers, crotchety theatrical agent Michael Whitehall takes uncharitable aim at the old heartthrob. Learning that one of his podcast listeners “lusts” after Havers, 74, Michael, 86, rudely replies: “God, I wonder how long it is since this lady saw Nigel?” Mr Havers’ legions of admirers will wish me to clarify that the silver-haired charmer remains very much in his prime!
No stranger to marital woes herself, when asked about Ruth Langsford’s much-publicised split from Eamonn Holmes, Anthea Turner delicately responds: “Ruth has wings of her own – she doesn't need any help.” Eamonn wasn’t always so diplomatic when it came to Anthea: during famously difficult relations with his GMTV co-host, Holmes disparagingly nicknamed her “Princess Tippy Toes”.
