His description of a predatory young matron at his prep school, Maidwell Hall, has inspired much sympathy. But Earl Spencer’s disclosures may now be eclipsed by those of his contemporaries who attended a much more celebrated establishment — Cheam, the prep school to which Prince Philip and, later, King Charles were sent.
Today, £32,595-a-year Cheam is a co-educational establishment. Back in the 1970s, it was boys-only — which explained its appeal to a French master.
‘He was caught crawling out from under a [boy’s] bed at night,’ remembers a former pupil. ‘All he said was, “I was looking for my torch”. You know what? The police were never called. He went to another school in the Home Counties — and grew a beard.’
The school’s deputy matrons were more popular. One, who was only 17, ‘had all the boys flocking down to her bedroom’ — a practice which ended only after the headmaster spotted a 13-year-old making his exit. ‘He said, “What are you doing?” “Just getting a good-night kiss, Sir”. He was beaten,’ recalls his Cheam contemporary. ‘The deputy matron was fired.’
Perhaps that, in part, is why it continues to inspire the fondest memories. ‘It was a great school — a happy place.’
Romance blooms for Suki’s sister Maddi
While Suki Waterhouse waits to give birth to her first child with her boyfriend, The Batman and Twilight star Robert Pattinson, her family has welcomed a new member into their fold.
I hear that her younger sister, Maddi, 24, is going out with Noah Sapon, also 24 and a fellow model. ‘We met at a friend’s party,’ Maddi tells me. Noah describes himself as a ‘workaholic’.
As well as modelling for the likes of Fendi, he is also a film-maker who has worked with Suki.
A night on the town for Crown royal doubles
I had to do a double-take at a party in London on Thursday evening.
At first glance, I thought I’d spotted the Prince and Princess of Wales, making their their first joint public appearance since Christmas Day.
On closer inspection, the pair turned out to be Ed McVey, 24, and Meg Bellamy, 21, who played younger versions of Prince William and Catherine in Netflix hit The Crown, inset. The actors were enjoying a night out at Ladbroke Hall in West London, celebrating the first issue of British Vogue by new editor, Chioma Nnadi. And I promise I haven’t digitally edited the photo!
Favoured by everyone from the late ‘Seducer of the Valleys’, baronet Sir Dai Llewellyn, to Princess Diana’s one-time lover James Hewitt, London nightclub 151 has been a sorry sight since its closure during the horror of lockdown.
Hopes of its resurrection under its ever urbane founder, Giorgio Burlo, ended when his landlord, Cadogan Estates, owned by Earl Cadogan, decided against renewing 151’s old lease. But I can disclose that the club — in a basement on the south side of the King’s Road in the heart of Chelsea — burst back into life last week, albeit in unexpected fashion.
‘Somebody broke in and hosted a rave there,’ a local tells me. ‘The police were called.’ This appears to have prompted the replacement of 151’s flamboyant red doors. ‘They’ve put steel doors in,’ explains the Chelsea boulevardier, adding that the club, from which a young and carefree Prince Harry once beat a retreat via the fire-escape, remains ‘completely empty’.
It’s almost too much for old stalwarts to bear. ‘It should have stayed in Giorgio’s hands,’ wails one.
Saltburn star Barry Keoghan isn’t the only Irish actor to bare his backside on the big screen. Conor McGregor, the mixed martial artist and professional boxer, made his acting debut in action film Road House, but is nervous about his mum watching his nude scenes.
‘My mother is about to see the movie for the first time and I haven’t told her about the scenes, so I hope she is ok and happy when she sees it,’ the boxer tells me at a special screening at the Curzon in Mayfair.
The thermostat spells trouble at the studios where Countdown is filmed. Wordsmith Susie Dent claims the temperature when she is appearing with her colleague Rachel Riley is always set to make men feel comfortable but is too cold for women.
‘I always have a hot water bottle — Rachel and I have joint custody of this hot water bottle because it’s been proven that any kind of working environment is set to a man’s body temperature and not a woman’s,’ explains Dent, who was a judge at the Nero Gold Prize Book of the Year. And there was me thinking the chill had left the room with icy former host Anne Robinson . . .
Learner Anya is already a mad driver
Peaky Blinders and The Queen’s Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy impressed fellow cast members with her driving skills on the set of forthcoming Hollywood film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
The actress, 27, spent more than ten months training to drive in the desert sand Down Under. Yet Taylor-Joy could not legally get behind the wheel on a public road.
‘I still don’t have my licence — which I find hysterical,’ she says.
‘I can pull some really crazy tricks in a car, and I have yet to be able to parallel park.’
Sir Michael’s latest mini adventure
Sir Michael Caine’s epic Mini Cooper chase in 1960s classic The Italian Job is revered as one of the greatest film car scenes, but as he turned 91 this week he was using a different set of wheels.
The double Oscar winner pushed a wheeled walking frame as he arrived at Arlington, Jeremy King’s new restaurant around the corner from The Ritz in London. Caine dined with his wife, the Guyanese former model Shakira, 77, as they celebrated his 91st birthday.
Caine began using the frame two years ago following a back operation, having been diagnosed with spinal stenosis. At the time Shakira told me: ‘He’s a strong man, he’s a lion, actually.’
Sir Michael said last year that his recipe for a longer life was ‘younger wives, no snacking and wearing trainers all the time.’
How about this for a fashion show with a difference? King Charles is staging an exhibition at Sandringham next month of clothes and accessories created using waste taken from royal gardens in Norfolk and Gloucestershire.
The show, Royal Garden Waste To Fashion’s Future, is by design duo Vin + Omi. They tell me: ‘This exhibition brings together five years of collaborating with His Majesty. We’ve been able to explore the Highgrove and Sandringham estates and experiment with a range of waste materials.’ Well, I’ve heard some rubbish fashion ideas . . .
(Very) modern manners
John Cleese’s daughter Camilla has discovered a new way to wind up her stepmother, Jennifer Wade, who is only 12 years her senior.
‘I like to have a little fun with her in public,’ admits Camilla, 40, a stand-up comedienne. ‘I call her “Mum”, and I bribe my nieces and nephews to call her “Grandma”. They are in their 20s.’ Jewellery designer Jennifer married Cleese, 84, in 2012. He also has an elder daughter, Cynthia, with first wife Connie Booth.
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Richard Eden
