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Of all the snubs Prince Andrew has had to endure since he stepped back from royal duties in 2019, the latest might hurt the most.
I can disclose that King Charles’s brother wasn’t invited to a dinner in honour of his alma mater at Windsor Castle, even though he lives just a few miles away on the royal estate.
His sister, Princess Anne, held the dinner at Windsor last Thursday in her role as Warden for Gordonstoun school, which the Duke of York attended along with his brothers, the King and Prince Edward.
Anne did not attend the £61,440-a-year school, near Elgin in Moray, because it did not become co-educational until 1972. But she and her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, sent their children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, there.
Last night, a royal source confirmed that Andrew was not at the get-together.
‘I’m sure the duke would have loved to have attended the dinner if he had been invited,’ a friend of Andrew’s tells me.
It comes as Gordonstoun, like all private schools, has had to cope with the impact of Labour’s tax raid. The Government ended the VAT exemption for private schools at the start of this month, adding 20 per cent to many parents’ bills.
Andrew gave up royal duties following his disastrous Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis in 2019, in which he was asked about his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Prince Andrew wasn’t even invited to a dinner in honour of his alma mater just a few miles away from his home at Windsor Castle
A royal source confirmed that Andrew was not at the get-together in honour of Gordonstoun School (pictured)
Princess Anne (pictured at Gordonstoun School in February last year) held the dinner at Windsor last Thursday in her role as Warden for the school
A 13-year-old Prince Andrew with his father Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh at Gordonstoun School on his first day there
The duke became mired in controversy again last month after it was reported that he invited Chinese businessman Chris Yang to events at royal residences. Yang was given permission by a royal aide, Dominic Hampshire, to act on the duke’s behalf when dealing with potential investors in China.
However, Yang was barred from entry to Britain in 2023 due to alleged engagement in ‘covert and deceptive activity’ on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. Andrew ceased all contact with Yang following government concerns.
Yang was pivotal in developing campuses in China for Gordonstoun. The school cut ties with a firm owned by him after his identity was made public.
A spokesman for the school tells me: ‘In her role as Warden for Gordonstoun, Her Royal Highness held an intimate evening dinner attended by a small number of guests.’
At 38, I’m not ready to ship my oars yet, says rower Helen
This could be the crowning glory of an epic sporting career – rower Helen Glover, who has won gold at two Olympics and took silver in Paris last year, says she may compete at the Los Angeles games in 2028 when she will be 42.
‘Another Olympics is not off the cards for me – I’m in the best shape of my life,’ she explains.
Referring to Paris, she adds: ‘I was performing some of the best rowing I have done.’
Team GB rower Helen Glower says she may compete at the Los Angeles games in 2028 when she will be 42
Glover, who has three children with TV wildlife presenter Steve Backshall, adds: ‘It’s not my physicality that will stop me, but the balance of lifestyle and what’s best for the children.’
She adds: ‘In so many sports, people keep performing past the age that they’re expected to. We’ve got to stop being surprised by that and see it as more of the norm.’
Love’s labours lost for Hayley and Hiddleston
Sir Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 film version of Much Ado About Nothing featured nude appearances from his then wife, Dame Emma Thompson, and Kate Beckinsale.
Now, a forthcoming West End production of Shakespeare’s comedy sounds like it may be even racier.
I can reveal that director Jamie Lloyd has felt the need to hire intimacy coach Ingrid Mackinnon for the play at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, to help Hayley Atwell and Tom Hiddleston – as lovers Beatrice and Benedick – to choreograph their bedroom scenes.
Hayley Atwell and Tom Hiddleston at the West End opening of The Tempest at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane last month
‘Intimacy co-ordinators are increasingly sought after for the stage because actors must feel safe with co-stars,’ a theatre source tells me. In the past, boundaries have been broken, so the intimacy co-ordinator helps to build trust.’
No cardinal sins in Fiennes’ film
Having dismayed his mother when he announced at the age of 13 that he no longer wished to attend Mass, Ralph Fiennes admits her sister put him under pressure after learning he’d been cast as Cardinal Lawrence in the papal thriller Conclave.
‘My mother is no longer here, but I told my aunt about the film,’ he says. ‘She said, “Oh, that will be very interesting, but everyone will be watching” – meaning that in the Catholic community, they’ll all know if you’re holding the Crucifix correctly, so you’d better get it right.’
Fiennes, 62, duly insisted on a religious adviser being present at all times on the film set to ensure he didn’t slip up.
Ralph Fiennes pictured at the 2025 National Board of Review Gala in New York on January 7
Mary’s itsy-bitsy bikini fits girl, 3
Having urged her social media followers to try the occasional 24-hour fast, she then hit back at trolls who’d said she was too skinny.
Now, Mary Charteris has gone a step further by dressing her three-year-old girl, Wilde, in her bikini.
The Earl of Wemyss’s daughter, 37, who works as a model and DJ, shared footage online with the caption: ‘You know your bikini is outrageously tiny when you can share it with your three-year-old daughter.’
Mary Charteris shared a picture of her tiny bikini, having previously hit back at trolls who said she was too skinny
Lady Mary, who is married to rock musician Robbie Furze, responded defiantly to criticism of her slender body last summer, saying that her love for Wilde ‘shields me from anything negative people have to say about my appearance’.
Rev Richard reflects on catapult to fame
Has his transformation from minor pop star with The Communards to celebrity vicar gone to the Rev Richard Coles’s head?
‘I’ve sort of been nudged towards national treasure, or borderline national trinket. I sometimes think I could burn down my own church and people would go, “Oh, what a lovely blaze”. It’s as if you can’t do any wrong, and I think, “If people knew what I was really like…”.’
The 62-year-old adds: ‘I suppose disappointment will come and I’ll never work again, live in the street and die a lonely death in a warehouse.’
Reverend Richard Coles says he has been ‘nudged towards national treasure’ as a celebrity vicar
Kiki’s parents went breaking her heart
Kiki Dee reveals that when she invited her parents to see her perform in New York with Sir Elton John after they reached No1 with Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, they initially declined.
The singer, 77, tells an audience at the Half Moon in Putney, south-west London, with a chuckle: ‘My mum said, “We’d love to, but we’ve booked our caravan holiday”.’
Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the release of the million-selling 1976 hit, which topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
Elton John with Kiki Dee. The pair had a number one hit with Don’t Go Breaking My Hart
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