Ephraim Hardcastle
AWKWARD times for the king at tomorrow’s State Opening of Parliament. His speech will outline Labour’s plans to make peers retire at 80, something that may rankle. Queen Camilla will sit alongside the king on what will be her 77th birthday. His Majesty will be 76 in November and he may want reassurance that a retirement age won’t be imposed during his reign. He served the longest apprenticeship in history and won’t want to be handed his P45 just yet.
THE Honours Unit in Whitehall has been thrown a curveball after England finished runners-up in the Euros. A victory would probably have meant a knighthood for Gareth Southgate, an upgrade to a CBE for captain Harry Kane and at least MBEs for the rest of the team. That’s more generous than when England won the World Cup in 1966 and only manager Alf Ramsey got a knighthood and captain Bobby Moore an OBE. The rest of the team got nothing until many years later.
SAT next to his FA president father in Berlin to watch England’s loss to Spain, Prince George is sadly no stranger to footballing disappointment. Turning 11 next week, he’s been present for two England Euros defeats, having also watched them lose to Italy at wembley in 2021. Thankfully, he has been able to celebrate his beloved Aston Villa qualifying for the Champions League.
WITH his play about Gareth Southgate due to return to the National Theatre next year and being turned into a BBC drama, James Graham says he’s working on a new ending following Sunday’s disappointing result. Discussing his plans for Dear England, in which Joseph Fiennes, pictured, plays Southgate, Graham tells Radio 4’s Today: ‘There’s a great tradition in English theatre of tragedy, they’re quite popular actually. I’m going to embrace the tragic ending!’
FOLLOWING the assassination attempt across the Atlantic, Nigel Farage says: ‘I will fly out to America this week to support my friend donald Trump at the RNC [Republican National Convention].’ Had Nigel mentioned this to his employers at GB News beforehand? Following his election campaign, Farage’s evening show is due back on screens from tonight.
WITH Keir Starmer’s cat Jojo moving into Downing Street, will we learn how the PM calls the beloved puss home? Jeremy Corbyn never got to bring his feline El Gato to No 10 but he admits to luring her indoors by whistling Tie A Yellow Ribbon. Unlike Corbyn, who whistles because he can’t sing, Starmer has a decent voice. Or he might entice Jojo with his violin.
SEX therapist dr ruth westheimer, who has died aged 96, was coquettish about her own bedroom antics with third husband Fred. ‘She’s all talk,’ he once wailed. ‘remember, the shoemaker’s children don’t get any shoes.’