It was a double celebration for Sarah, Duchess of York, on Prince Andrew’s 60th birthday. Earlier in the day she became a great-aunt.
Her niece, Ayesha Makim-Specker, daughter of Fergie’s elder sister, Jane, gave birth to her first child — a daughter called Poppy.
Ayesha, 32, is a model turned health coach who lives in South Africa with her husband, photographer Sacha Specker.
‘She is so special to me,’ the Duchess told the Diary last year. ‘She has done so well with her marathon running and a fabulous husband, Sacha.’
Sarah, Duchess of York’s niece, Ayesha Makim-Specker (left), daughter of Fergie’s elder sister, Jane, gave birth to her first child — a daughter called Poppy
As Ayesha’s mother Jane remarked on social media: ‘Bring on the nappy changing.’
The festivities for Prince Andrew’s 60th were reportedly a rather slimmed-down affair, with rumours that many guests had shunned the event.
The royal has withdrawn from royal duties ever since his ill-fated Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis.
But nothing quite illustrates the Duke of York’s dizzying fall from grace than the manner in which a number of his friends — or those he thought of as friends — shunned the chance to join him on his 60th birthday.
He celebrated the day with a private dinner at Royal Lodge, the Windsor residence he shares with his ex-wife, Fergie.
Indeed, I can disclose such has been the number of guests who have discovered they are ‘unavailable’ that additional invitations to the bash were sent out by Jane Clarke, Fergie’s assistant.
The Royal Family also shared this new formal portrait of the Duke of York to mark the birthday
The royal has withdrawn from royal duties ever since his ill-fated Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis surrounding his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein (pictured)
‘I have been asked by The Duchess of York and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie to invite you to a private dinner at Royal Lodge at 7.30 pm on Wednesday, 19th February,’ she alerts recipients, before emphasising that the event is ‘in celebration of the Duke of York’s 60th birthday’.
Lest any of these second-tier guests felt they may have lacked time to doll themselves up appropriately, Clarke added: ‘The dress code is suits and cocktail dress.’ Clarke asked them to alert her of ‘any dietary requirements’.
It’s all a far cry from Andrew’s 50th. By then, his association with Jeffrey Epstein — the disgraced U.S. financier who was found dead in a New York prison cell last August — was well known, but it failed to deter a string of glamorous women from attending the Duke’s birthday bash, which was held over a weekend at St James’s Palace.
Partygoers included Catrina Skepper, the one-time Pretty Polly and Cadbury’s Flake model, as well as socialite Caroline Stanbury, who subsequently appeared on reality TV show Ladies Of London, and Kazakh-born socialite Goga Ashkenazi.
Oxenberg tells all about Epstein and Maxwell to the FBI
There was a time when Ghislaine Maxwell talked freely and often to Christina Oxenberg, daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia.
But Maxwell, 58, friend and confidante of convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, may come to regret her lack of inhibition. For I can disclose that the spirited Oxenberg has alerted the FBI that she is willing to testify against her old acquaintance.
‘Anything I can do, I want to do because I’m so disgusted by what has happened,’ Christina, 57, tells me from New York, explaining she called an FBI hotline with information about the Epstein case.
There was a time when Ghislaine Maxwell talked freely and often to Christina Oxenberg (left), daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia
Following her approach, she was called by a detective. ‘He said he had reviewed my comments and wanted to follow up,’ says Christina.
The FBI’s interest was understandable. Oxenberg’s information included details of a conversation with Maxwell in 1997 in the latter’s living room.
‘Never forget it. We were alone. She said many things. All creepy. Unorthodox. Strange. I could not believe whatever she was saying was real. Stuff like: ‘Jeffrey and I have everyone on videotape!’
The FBI agent asked if Christina would be willing to testify. ‘I said of course I would.’
The FBI’s interest was understandable. Oxenberg’s information included details of a conversation with Maxwell (pictured with Prince Andrew) in 1997 in the latter’s living room
Oxenberg, sister of Dynasty actress Catherine, explains that she wants to achieve justice for those who were abused by Epstein.
‘Nothing will heal the trauma. These women are affected for their whole lives, but at the very least they should have money.’
The money in question, she adds, is not just the fortune amassed by billionaire Epstein, but also from Maxwell.
‘She definitely has millions,’ says Oxenberg, who is publishing her memoir, Secrets, via the website Patreon. ‘She wanted to marry him. She didn’t, but she got a lot of money. Cash and assets. All blood money.’
Trainspotting star Ewan McGregor, who dropped out of private school in Perth, Scotland, at the age of 16 to pursue acting, admits his past came back to haunt him when his eldest daughter sought to abandon her own education.
Actress Clara, 24, whose mother is Ewan’s estranged wife, Eve Mavrakis, studied at an exclusive Hollywood school at 16, and although her parents reluctantly acquiesced when she wanted to drop out, they were relieved when she changed her mind.
‘My parents let me leave school at 16 — and I was faced with the same challenge,’ admits Ewan (inset). ‘One day Clara wanted to leave to do photography. I was thinking: ‘Oh no, I don’t know if I can let you do this.’
‘Luckily, it didn’t come to that. She went back to school and did very well.’
Actress Clara, 24, (pictured) whose mother is Ewan’s estranged wife, Eve Mavrakis, studied at an exclusive Hollywood school at 16
Stanbury gets a bit steamy on the slopes
Prince Andrew’s former flame Caroline Stanbury, whom he dated in 2000 after his divorce from Sarah Ferguson, is having a ball — just two months after splitting from her husband of 15 years, financier Cem Habib.
The 43-year-old mother-of-three has been luxuriating at a spa in Courchevel in the French Alps, from where she shared a picture of herself in a pink swimsuit and trainers by a hot tub in the snow.
The erstwhile star of TV series Ladies Of London insists she and Cem will remain friends. ‘Why does it have to be such a negative? We’ve had a very successful marriage,’ she says.
Caroline Stanbury, 43, has been luxuriating at a spa in Courchevel in the French Alps, from where she shared a picture of herself in a pink swimsuit
We know that Prince Charles talks to plants. But does he also talk to his chickens? ‘I do love chickens,’ he said this week. ‘They’ve got character. When I go out to see mine, they hear my footsteps in the distance and they all come following me.’
Gallagher’s girl Anais finds romance — with a goatherd
Rocker Noel Gallagher’s model daughter, Anais, is enjoying a blossoming romance with Instagram-famous farmer Julius Roberts, 27, whose passion for animal welfare and sustainability has garnered him a huge following on social media.
Anais, 20, whose mother is animal rights campaigner Meg Mathews, shared a picture of the couple online from Julius’s Stour Valley farm and refers to him adoringly as ‘the boyfriend’.
They were joined by one of his 17 goats, which, along with Mangalitsa pigs, Hebridean sheep and chickens, roam freely on the ten-acre land he acquired after quitting his job as a chef at London restaurant Noble Rot.
Rocker Noel Gallagher’s model daughter, Anais, is enjoying a blossoming romance with Instagram-famous farmer Julius Roberts, 27,