EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Is Prince Andrew's allowance underestimated?
EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Is Prince Andrew’s £249,000 allowance from Buckingham Palace widely underestimated?
As the reported £249,000 figure for Prince Andrew’s allowance is the amount he first received in 1992, is it now widely underestimated? It dates from when the Queen began funding the working royals from her Duchy of Lancaster income. The subsequent annual amounts were never made public but, although the Queen was frugal, she did review the grants to Andrew and other working royals every year. Coupled with the King’s reassurance that he won’t see his brother penniless, why should he have any desire to force Andrew out of Royal Lodge? It would leave HM with another white elephant along with the 21-room Apartment 1 at Kensington Palace, refurbished for Harry and Meghan before they flounced off in a huff. It now stands empty, not a good look in a cost-of-living crisis.
As the reported £249,000 figure for Prince Andrew’s allowance is the amount he first received in 1992, is it now widely underestimated, EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE asks
Queen Mary’s Crown, currently scaffolded in preparation for Camilla’s coronation, is causing the jewellers a headache with the removal of the contentious Koh-i-Noor centrepiece. It has left an ugly gap requiring more precious stones to be mounted in addition to the three Cullinan diamonds already in place. At least Camilla’s preference would have pleased Queen Mary who commissioned and paid Garrard & Co for the crown. Her wish that it be worn by all future consorts was thwarted when George VI had a new crown made for the Queen Mother. Camilla’s choice restores Mary’s vision.
Queen Mary’s Crown, currently scaffolded in preparation for Camilla’s coronation, is causing the jewellers a headache with the removal of the contentious Koh-i-Noor centrepiece
The late Queen often wore smaller Cullinan diamonds including, for Prince Philip’s 99th birthday, a sparkling diamond brooch with an 18.8-carat heart-shaped stone. She declined, however, to wear a string of the diamonds set in a long platinum chain, complaining that ‘it gets in the soup’.
Fuming about Sir Keir Starmer’s banishment of her former lover Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott rages: ‘Liberals didn’t even expel their former leader Jeremy Thorpe when he was put on trial for conspiracy to murder. But Starmer is set on expelling Jeremy Corbyn – someone he once called a “friend”.’ Deep breaths, Diane!
Commemorating what would be Irish writer Brendan Behan’s 100th birthday, journalist Mary Kenny recalls meeting the late poet aged 12 when, after planting a ‘toothless, blubbery’ kiss on her cheek, he wrote an affectionate message in her autograph book. ‘With the self-consciousness of near-adolescence, I was mortified,’ she remembers. ‘I hated the strong smell of drink off him and I resented the saliva-dripping kiss. I’m sorry to say I tore up the autographed page.’
Commemorating what would be Irish writer Brendan Behan’s 100th birthday, journalist Mary Kenny has recalled meeting the late poet aged 12. Pictured: Behan in Dublin in 1959
Helena Bonham Carter’s TV portrayal of Crossroads matriarch Noele Gordon revives memories of motel housekeeper Amy Turtle appearing in reception crouching, glancing from left to right and swivelling from foot to foot. Because of a script misprint Amy was hovering instead of hoovering.
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