EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Prince William's equerry and those feathers

2022-10-28

EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Prince William’s equerry and those plumes of feathers

Suddenly transformed from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge into the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate are not alone in adjusting to their elevated role.

So, too, is Rob Dixon (pictured with William), the Royal Navy officer who’s been their equerry for the past two years.

‘I knew the Plumes were incoming,’ says Dixon, referring to the Prince of Wales’s feathers which he will now wear — although not on his cuffs, contrary to the impression given by the snap he’s posted online.

Traditional courtiers compare Dixon with the King’s equerry, Major Johnny Thompson.

‘Thompson has effectively disappeared from social media — and rightly so,’ one tells me.

Suddenly transformed from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge into the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate are not alone in adjusting to their elevated role. So, too, is Rob Dixon (pictured with William), the Royal Navy officer who’s been their equerry for the past two years

‘Cad’ Hewitt on a mission to rescue Ukrainians

He’s destined to be forever remembered as ‘The Cad’ — the man who went into print to profit from his five-year affair with Princess Diana when he was a young Household Cavalry officer.

But James Hewitt, now 64, may have found a path to redemption. Five years after suffering both a heart attack and stroke, he has, I can disclose, been putting his life on the line — in Ukraine, rescuing beleaguered locals and taking them to safety.

‘He’s doing something useful,’ one of Hewitt’s contemporaries tells me. ‘He’s working in tandem with Scrubber’s boy, Mikey Stewart-Richardson,’ he adds, referencing the late Brigadier Peter ‘Scrubber’ Stewart-Richardson, OBE, Croix de Guerre, and his son, Michael, 65, who briefly followed his father into the Coldstream Guards.

He’s destined to be forever remembered as ‘The Cad’ — the man who went into print to profit from his five-year affair with Princess Diana when he was a young Household Cavalry officer

Stewart-Richardson and Hewitt have established HOP — Humanitarian Online Payments — which they describe as a ‘not for profit’ organisation.

‘We go to all parts of Ukraine, including close to the Front, to find, help and assist in collecting the young, old and infirm Ukrainians, who wish to flee Putin,’ say the duo on their website.

‘It’s essential work and we’re humbled to play a small part in the incredible story of the charity, Operation SafeDrop.’

Hewitt (pictured) declines to comment, but I’m told that he has made two ‘very successful’ rescue trips. ‘He’s finding the missions very fulfilling,’ a friend tells me, adding that a third ‘is planned very shortly’.

Leaving the Army in 1994, after failing his major’s exams three times, Hewitt collaborated with Anna Pasternak, author of Princess In Love, reputedly being paid £300,000 for doing so.

Less than a decade later, he said he was willing to sell Diana’s letters, hoping to raise £10 million. But accusations of betraying Diana followed and the letters remain unsold.

Last year, I disclosed that Hewitt, by then living with his mother in her two-bedroom flat in Devon, was trawling the dating app Tinder.

Five years after suffering both a heart attack and stroke, he has, I can disclose, been putting his life on the line — in Ukraine, rescuing beleaguered locals and taking them to safety

Jemma’s latest love rolls up on the red carpet — in trainers

They went Instagram official with their relationship earlier this year, posting a holiday snap together in St Moritz, but Jemma Kidd and Arpad Busson have managed to keep a fairly low profile — until now.

The couple happily posed for the cameras during their first red carpet appearance together at the Fashion Trust Arabia Prize Awards in Qatar this week.

Jemma brought the glamour with her shiny red evening dress while her French financier billionaire boyfriend went for smart casual in the extreme, by pairing black tie with Nike Air trainers.

Make-up artist Kidd, 48, split with her husband, the Marquess of Douro in 2020. Luckily, the former model seems to have found love again with Arpad, 59, who appears to have a penchant for leggy blondes.

He was previously with Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson — known as ‘The Body’.

Heston Blumenthal, the snail porridge and bacon-and-egg ice cream-making chef, has revealed he enjoys eating airline food.

‘A while back, I took a plane journey during which I was served an airline meal,’ says Heston, 56.

‘A tray with something savoury, something sweet, plastic cutlery, sachets of salt and pepper . . . it was utterly absorbing’!

Designer Nicky Haslam has released the latest instalment of his annual ‘things he finds common’ tea towel — Yet More Things Nicky Haslam Finds Common, which can be yours for £40 signed.

The arbitrator of style deems side plates, blush wine and craft gins all rather sub-par, as well as Ed Sheeran, gilets, wood-burning stoves, cockapoos, Bond Street, hydrangeas, divorce and Vogue magazine. One other who fails to escape the 83-year-old’s wrath is Stanley Johnson, whom Haslam chooses to spell as Johnston.

Suddenly transformed from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge into the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate are not alone in adjusting to their elevated role.

So, too, is Rob Dixon (pictured with William), the Royal Navy officer who’s been their equerry for the past two years.

Traditional courtiers compare Dixon with the King’s equerry, Major Johnny Thompson. ‘Thompson has effectively disappeared from social media — and rightly so,’ one tells me.

Deadpan Walliams

Some might say David Walliams has an unusual sense of humour.

It’s a theory which seems to be supported by his revelation that he likes to wind people up by telling them his Britain’s Got Talent co-star Simon Cowell is no longer with us.

‘People come up to me in the street because they recognise me from Britain’s Got Talent and they go: ‘Oh Simon, where’s Simon?’, and I go: ‘He died,’ says the 51-year-old comedian about media mogul Cowell whom he sits alongside on the BGT judging panel.

Before adding that he makes clear he’s joking: ‘So they go, ‘Oh really’ and I say, ‘Yes, he died inside many years ago.’ ‘

To a crescendo of laughter, I assume.

It’s a new life of Riley

Countdown star Rachel Riley wishes she could say becoming a mum quashed her daredevil tendencies, but in fact she was never one for reckless abandon even when she was single.

‘I’m not one of these people who was about to jump out of a plane before I became a parent,’ the 36-year-old maths whizz tells me.

Countdown star Rachel Riley wishes she could say becoming a mum quashed her daredevil tendencies, but in fact she was never one for reckless abandon even when she was single

She is mother to daughters Maven, two, and 11-month-old Noa.

But one thing it has taught her is to live for the day. ‘Motherhood makes you live in the moment a lot more. You’re just enjoying it day by day — especially when they’re little.’

Following the long-awaited confirmation of Prince Harry’s memoir title and release date — Spare, and January next year if you were wondering — I couldn’t help noticing one person isn’t mentioned on the press release which landed in my inbox.

He is none other than J.R Moehringer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, who was tasked with ghost writing Harry’s tome.

Publishers Transworld Books are obviously expecting a lot of interest in the book, which is set to be available in 16 languages.

However, bookseller Waterstones seems to be hedging its bets. The hardback copy will be available in the UK at £28, but Waterstones Instagram page is already displaying it with a half-price logo on the cover.

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