Prince Harry has become somewhat estranged from old friends since falling for Meghan Markle, so this evening will give him the perfect chance to mend fences.
I hear that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to attend a charity Christmas carol service where many of Harry’s old pals will be among the congregation.
It is held in Chelsea by the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund, established in memory of a close friend of Princes William and Harry who was killed in a car crash at the age of 18. ‘Meghan has been asked to give a reading,’ a source tells me.
Some of Harry’s oldest pals were shocked to discover that they were not invited to the evening party after his wedding in May.
Meghan and Harry in Ireland on July 11 (left) and St Luke’s Church in Chelsea, where the wedding will take place (right, undated)
The church will be held for the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund, established in memory of a close friend of Princes William and Harry (pictured in an undated image)
Pippa Middleton’s brother-in-law, former Made In Chelsea lothario Spencer Matthews, is a reformed man.
Not only has he given up his womanising to wed Irish model Vogue Williams, the mother of his two-month-old son, but he now reveals he’s sober.
‘I have not drunk since early June,’ says the 30-year-old Old Etonian, whose brother, James, wed Pippa last year. ‘My life is immeasurably better now I am clean and sober.’
It was simple enough to install a £25,000 shepherd’s hut in the garden, but other improvements to David and Samantha Cameron’s £1.5 million Cotswold retreat are proving more protracted than expected.
Indeed, the couple’s hopes of returning for Christmas have, I hear, been dashed. Instead, they will remain in a nearby property which they rented a while ago as a stop-gap.
‘They’ve extended the rental agreement through to Easter because their works have taken longer than they’d hoped,’ explains a local.
A spokesman at Dave’s office declines to comment on ‘a private matter’.
The £200,000 building work includes development of a 90ft suite of outbuildings and enlargement of the kitchen, with new oak doors that will ‘weather to a silver grey’.
Warring Tolstoy defiant as she faces eviction
Estranged from her oligarch lover Sergei Pugachev — once known as Putin’s Banker — socialite Alexandra Tolstoy faces an anguished Christmas.
For she and their three children are within weeks of being evicted from their £8.9 million house in Chelsea, West London. ‘We have to be out by the end of January and have nowhere to move to,’ she tells me.
The impending eviction is the consequence of High Court action taken against Pugachev by state creditors in Moscow who accuse him of embezzling more than £655 million.
At least Alexandra’s spirit remains unbroken. ‘I’m working as hard as I can to look after my children,’ she says defiantly.
It’s not exactly rock ‘n’ roll, but Queen guitarist Brian May admits he goes to his local nail salon for a super-strong acrylic manicure to protect his hard-worn fingernails.
‘These days I’m dependent on powder gel. My finger nails don’t hold up to the guitar playing. In fact these nail coverings have really changed my life on tour,’ he rhapsodies.
‘I recommend them to any guitarist. They’re hard as iron. When the coverings finally fall off about two months later your nails are in a hopeless state. So back to the salon you go.’
Bowie’s widow Iman rocks glam headscarf
It’s been nearly three years since she lost her husband, David Bowie, to cancer but clearly Iman hasn’t lost her ability to sparkle.
The Somalian-born supermodel, 63, posted this picture of herself wearing a £78 red sequin top and headscarf from her eponymous line.
Earlier this year Iman spoke about how upsetting modern manners can be.
‘People take pictures of me in the street, and say: ‘I am so sorry for your loss.’ I’m like, you just took pictures of me, how can you be sorry?’
The Somalian-born supermodel, 63, posted this picture of herself wearing a £78 red sequin top and headscarf from her eponymous line