EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Do Rachel Reeves and King Charles have different ideas for Buckingham Palace?
With opinion polls confirming that a majority oppose spending £369 million refurbishing Buckingham Palace, many of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ boffins at the Treasury have been nodding their heads in agreement.
The original deal, brokered by Theresa May in 2016, assumed Buck House would remain the official residence of the monarch in London.
But the late Queen moved out during Covid and never returned.
King Charles has shown no inclination to move in, preferring to stay at Clarence House down the road.
The King is keen for the refurbished palace to be opened more to the public with profits going to the Royal Collection, but Reeves has other ideas.
One of three Royal Trustees, she apparently wants to ring-fence any profits to offset against the £86.3 million Sovereign Grant which funds the King’s office.
Beware of black holes Charles!
With opinion polls confirming that a majority oppose spending £369 million refurbishing Buckingham Palace , many of Chancellor Rachel Reeves ’ boffins at the Treasury have been nodding their heads in agreement
King Charles has shown no inclination to move in, preferring to stay at Clarence House down the road
The King is keen for the refurbished palace to be opened more to the public with profits going to the Royal Collection, but Reeves has other ideas
Samuel West, playing Malvolio in Twelfth Night at Stratford-upon-Avon, reveals that his parents Timothy and Prunella were driving him home from Shakespeare’s birthplace when they made a diversion.
‘They spun the car around and drove down a road towards Tredington’, recalls Sam.
‘They pointed to a little house, the middle window of three on the first floor, and said, “You were conceived in there”. It was hilarious.’
Samuel West on stage playing his character Malvolio in Twelfth Night at Stratford-upon-Avon
Johnny Depp’s daughter Lily-Rose clarifies why she was traumatised by her dad’s depiction of Edward Scissorhands.
‘Not because I thought he was scary,’ she tells Harper’s Bazaar.
‘But because everyone was so mean to him and I got really upset.’
She found the ending, where townsfolk turn on benign Edward – who has blades instead of fingers – distressing. ‘I’ve refused to watch it ever since.’
Johnny Depp’s daughter Lily-Rose (pictured) clarifies why she was traumatised by her dad’s depiction of Edward Scissorhands
Getting WFH staff to go back into the office post-Covid is as much of an issue in France as it is in Blighty.
But a new survey reminds workers of a potential perk: a quarter of French forty and fifty-somethings admit they have had carnal relations at work.
Favoured spots were 1) the office 2) the lift and 3) the stairwell. Certainly beats Luncheon Vouchers.
Historian Simon Schama braces himself for an onslaught from Beatles fans after claiming they didn’t start their career in Hamburg in 1960, but in the calypso Jacaranda Club in Liverpool beforehand.
‘In my documentary The Story of Us, we have John Lennon saying that listening to the steel drums was a new musical experience for them, and the Jacaranda was where they started to perform,’ he tells Radio Times.
Historian Simon Schama braces himself for an onslaught from Beatles fans after claiming they didn’t start their career in Hamburg in 1960, but in the calypso Jacaranda Club in Liverpool beforehand
‘They’ll say he’s rewritten the Beatles’ story in order to make it more ethnically friendly. But this is an unknown corner of the Beatles’ origin story, and it’s factually correct.’
Comedy legend Peter Cook, who died 30 years ago today, was once invited by Sir David Frost to have dinner with ‘big fans’ the Duke and Duchess of York.
After supposedly consulting his diary, Cook cuttingly replied on the phone: ‘Oh dear... I find I’m watching television that night.’
What would he say about the disgraced ‘Andrew Inverness’ today?
Christians furious as Trump appoints 'heretic' preacher to lead White House Faith Office
