OYEZ, OYEZ, OYEZ! I bring news of a new arrival at Nottingham Cottage, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s love nest at Kensington Palace.
Not a baby — that can wait — but a four-legged creature. I hear that Harry and Meghan have acquired a labrador. ‘The dog is already happily ensconced at their cottage,’ reveals my man with the monogrammed pooper-scooper.
‘Like the Sussexes, the dog will divide its time between the palace and their country home in the Cotswolds.’
Meghan is said to have had a soft spot for animals since she was a child and rescued Guy and Bogart (pictured) from a dog rescue centre in Los Angeles
A Kensington Palace spokesman declines to comment on the new addition to the Royal Household, so we don’t yet know its name or colour.
But let’s hope that it provides an adequate replacement for Bogart, the labrador-Shepherd mix that Meghan left behind in Toronto when she moved in with Harry.
She deemed Bogart too old to make the journey from Canada and he’s reportedly now being looked after by friends. As well as Bogart, the former actress has a second rescue dog, a beagle called Guy, who was flown over last November.
Guy — who has his own Union flag coat and eats only organic food — is said to have settled in well and can be seen being taken for walks in the palace grounds when its owners are in London. Before Meghan moved to this country, she regularly shared pictures of Bogart and Guy, describing them as ‘my loves’.
It’s not known if their new pooch is another rescue dog, but Harry’s stepmother, the Duchess of Cornwall, could certainly have helped them acquire one as she is Royal Patron of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.
Meghan is said to have had a soft spot for animals since she was a child and rescued Guy and Bogart from a dog rescue centre in Los Angeles while she was with her first husband, film producer Trevor Engelson.
He let her take the dogs with her to Canada when she won a role in the hit legal drama Suits and she would take them for long walks in the snowbound local park, returning to cook herself supper.
Two years later, she dumped Engelson, but kept the dogs.
Setting up a charity can be a daunting challenge, but Formula 1 heiress Petra Ecclestone has no problem raising funds.
Billionaire Bernie Ecclestone’s 29-year-old daughter raised £1.86 million in a year for the Petra Ecclestone Foundation, which aims to help those suffering from autism.
Newly published accounts disclose that her mother, Slavica, donated £57,000, while £1.5 million came from two unnamed trustees. A note in the accounts reports: ‘Funds were raised from the Ecclestone family and a launch dinner attended by friends and contacts.’
Tiresome comic John Cleese, who is quitting this country for the Caribbean tax haven Nevis, will leave with his pockets full of cash after paying himself and his daughter, Camilla, more than £250,000.
Their TV company, Waterfall Productions, shelled out that sum in dividends to them last year, new accounts reveal.
The company is so flush it was able to plough £100,000 into another of the Fawlty Towers star’s enterprises, Farces Galore.
Ex-model Camilla, 32, who once courted Mr Selfridge star Jeremy Piven, has taken to stand-up comedy and is starring in an Edinburgh Fringe show called Produced By John Cleese, about her father.
Duchess hits the roof
They do things differently at Belvoir (pronounced Beaver), which the Duke of Rutland shares with his Brazilian-born mistress, Andrea Webb, his estranged wife, Emma, and her lover, Phil Burtt. Perhaps that’s why the Duchess, 54, escaped to the roof with her youngest daughter
They do things differently at Belvoir (pronounced Beaver), the Leicestershire castle which the Duke of Rutland shares with his Brazilian-born mistress, Andrea Webb, his estranged wife, Emma, and her lover, Phil Burtt. Perhaps that’s why the Duchess, 54, escaped to the roof with her youngest daughter, Lady Eliza Manners, 21.
Keep it to yourself but…
A well-known socialite with close ties to the Royal Family was overheard boasting at a Chelsea restaurant that he would be handed envelopes containing £3,000 in cash in return for publicly endorsing projects.