SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Jeremy Paxman blasts noisy neighbour who uses leaf-blower to clear his garden

When he was the BBC’s most feared inquisitor, Jeremy Paxman was used to dealing with pompous politicians’ hot air.

Now, he’s in a fury over the relentless din made by his neighbour’s leaf-blower.

It appears to be ruining the atmosphere at the love nest he shares with his girlfriend 29 years his junior.

‘There’s a man with a leaf-blower going full blast a couple of doors down the street,’ Paxo complains. 

‘He, of course, is wearing bright yellow ‘ear-defenders’.

‘Odd, isn’t it, how those who inflict noise on the rest of us first look after their own ears? His neighbours have not been issued with them.’

The 69-year-old broadcaster is understoood to live in London’s Notting Hill with books editor Jillian Taylor.

When he was the BBC’s most feared inquisitor, Jeremy Paxman was used to dealing with pompous politicians’ hot air. Now, he’s in a fury over the relentless din made by his neighbour’s leaf-blower [File photo]

The Daily Mail Diary disclosed in 2017 that he had split up with television producer Elizabeth Clough, the mother of his three grown-up children, after more than 35 years.

He adds: ‘It is characteristic of our age that gardening, which used to be the most peaceful of occupations, is now an excuse for any fool with a chainsaw, hedge-trimmer, pneumatic drill, motor-mower, strimmer or leaf-blower to wreck everyone else’s peace and quiet.’

Paxman’s not the first prominent figure to voice his loathing of leaf-blowers. 

Mastermind host John Humphrys called for them to be banned in 2014 after the ‘calm’ of his own corner of West London was regularly shattered.

‘I have already had one showdown with my council,’ he wrote in this newspaper. 

‘A year ago, some town hall genius decided the perfect time to fire up the blowers in my square was 7am on Sunday. My neighbours and I begged to differ.

‘With the help of sympathetic councillors, who also enjoyed their Sunday lie-ins, we won. But it has proved a hollow victory. From the fall of autumn’s first leaf, the blowers have seldom been silent.’ 

Why Guards are up in arms over Andrew

The Grenadier Guards are riven into two factions over the question of whether Prince Andrew should remain its Colonel, I hear.

One side argues that his past friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein means he should step down; the other says he deserves their support in these difficult circumstances.

‘There is an emerging schism,’ says my man in the officers’ mess. 

‘On one side, you have what you might call the old guard who want to get rid of him.’

The Grenadier Guards are riven into two factions over the question of whether Prince Andrew should remain its Colonel, I hear. He is pictured in his Colonel uniform earlier this year

But Andrew continues to enjoy the support of other Grenadiers. 

‘Colonel Eddie Bolitho, who’s Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, is very pro keeping him and is putting up a big fight,’ the source adds. 

‘He’s got the backing of Major Tim Breitmeyer, who’s just stepped down as president of the Country Landowners’ Association. Their argument is that, since he was appointed in 2017, he’s really put his back into the role and been a very good Colonel.’

Diva Helena is a perfect Princess…

Helena Bonham Carter displayed appropriate lèse majesté when The Crown creator Peter Morgan asked her to take over the role of Princess Margaret.

‘I said: “Well, I need to see a script.” And he said: “What do you mean? We’re a massive hit, and also Olivia’s not asked for a script,” ’ referring to the new Queen, Olivia Colman. 

‘And I said: “I’m sorry, I’m not like Olivia.” ’

The actress (left, in the show) admits she also turned up late for her first meeting with Morgan, a very Margaret-style tactic.

‘He said: “Jesus, I’ve chosen the right person.” ’

Helena Bonham Carter displayed appropriate lèse majesté when The Crown creator Peter Morgan asked her to take over the role of Princess Margaret

Style arbiter Susannah Constantine has dramatic plans for 2020. 

‘My New Year’s resolution is to do the Snowman Trek in Bhutan, which is the hardest in the world,’ the former host of What Not To Wear tells me. 

‘People keep saying I’m crazy, but why not? More people climb Everest than do this trek as it’s over 200 miles across the Himalayas at 17,000 ft. I’m hoping to do it in September with my husband, but I don’t want it to be documented on TV just in case it goes horribly wrong.’

Accounts disclose that the company through which he channels his earnings, James Blunt Ltd, helped him trouser a £3.5 million profit for the most recent financial year

Cheesy crooner James Blunt celebrates a £3.5m pay-day

James Blunt is only on stage because he’s ‘not very tall’ and ‘it helps people see me’, he says.

But if the Harrow-educated former Household Cavalry officer is more acclaimed these days for his self-deprecating asides than his crooning, his singer-songwriting career still earns him a shilling or two.

Accounts disclose that the company through which he channels his earnings, James Blunt Ltd, helped him trouser a £3.5 million profit for the most recent financial year.

Enough to enable Blunt, who bought the Fox & Pheasant pub in Chelsea in 2018, to keep his wife Sofia — granddaughter of the 8th Duke of Wellington — in the style to which she is accustomed.