EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Prince Andrew should brace himself for more reputational damage after A Very Royal Scandal is aired

Prince Andrew, set for a further fall in public esteem with tomorrow’s screening of A Very Royal Scandal, should brace himself for more reputational damage. 

Ben Macintyre’s account of the 1980SAS storming of the Iranian Embassy recounts 20-year-old Andrew’s excitement at the TV coverage of the siege. 

Then second in line to the throne, he ordered his protection unit officer to contact siege police commander John Dellow, adding that HRH ‘would like to visit for lunch’. 

Macintyre writes: ‘The last thing Dellow needed, at this delicate moment, was a princeling and his entourage in the building standing around asking questions and eating sandwiches… The young royal wished to be where the action was. And he was used to getting what he wanted.’ 

Not this time. His request was denied.

Ben Macintyre (pictured)’s account of the 1980SAS storming of the Iranian Embassy recounts 20-year-old Andrew’s excitement at the TV coverage of the siege.

Royal Al fresco eating standards have slipped

Kate’s ‘I’m getting better’ video, featuring a flunkey free picnic, indicates how royal al fresco eating standards have slipped. 

Kate’s ‘I’m getting better’ video shows how royal al fresco eating standards have slipped

Princess Margaret, recalling one Hampton Court picnic, with liveried staff serving salmon mousse, salads, cold meats and cheeses with a Niagara of alcohol from fine china, cutlery and glassware, sighed: ‘In my opinion, picnics should always be eaten up at table, sitting on a chair.’

Tracey’s cat assists with painting 

Tracey Emin, set to launch her latest show at London’s White Cube gallery, says she lets her cat Pancake assist with painting. 

‘He watches every brushstroke and some of my paintings have his pawmarks on them,’ explains Tracey, pictured, whose work Like A Cloud Of Blood fetched £2.3million at auction. She recalls one purchaser querying Pancake’s contribution. 

‘I told him the pawmark shows it is authentic and he is very lucky to have it there.’ Jumbo Whiskas for Pancake!

Hancock’s removal woes 

Bespoke removal man Anthony Ward Thomas describes former MP Matt Hancock as his worst customer, booking his third furniture shift at the last minute. 

‘[Normally] you book a parking suspension with the council,’ Ward Thomas recalls. 

‘We didn’t have time so duly we got a parking ticket. We paid for it and sent it to him.’ 

Later it transpired that Hancock had claimed for the £78 fine on his parliamentary expenses. Surely hell hath no fury like a disgruntled relocation operative!

Former minister Matt Hancock was described by removal man Anthony Ward Thompson as his worst customer

Harris’s dedicated Savoy suite slammed by his son

Almost 22 years since Richard Harris left his adopted home – London’s Savoy hotel – his actor son Jared takes exception to the suite dedicated to him. 

‘It was a lovely room when he was there… now it just looks like… anything. I’m sorry, but that painting of him on the wall is awful.’ 

Richard Harris in London in August 1973. His son has criticised the suite dedicated to the actor in the Savoy hotel

As awful as his dying dad’s quip while being carried out on a stretcher? He sat up, telling startled guests in the lobby: ‘It’s the food.’

Jilly Cooper’s ‘raunchiness’ recreated on screen

Dominic Treadwell-Collins, screenwriter for Disney’s adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals, was determined to recreate the author’s raunchiness. 

‘We’ve been equal opportunities in our nudity,’ he says. ‘There’s a willy for every pair of tits.’