King Charles III (Aaron Chown/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Television sets in Buckingham Palace will not be tuning in to Harry and Meghan’s new bridge-burning documentary series on Netflix today, according to Gyles Brandreth, a friend of the King and biographer of the late Queen, who says Charles will “rise above it”.
The King is not “obsessing on the latest royal brouhaha,” says Brandreth. “Like his mother, he is good at taking the long view. He knows this too will pass.” This will be made all the easier by the fact that “Charles III watches almost no television.”
“Our new sovereign is a workaholic with a wide variety of private passions. TV is not one of them,” he writes in The Spectator. Camilla, the Queen Consort, has apparently persuaded the King to watch one of Brandreth’s documentaries on canal-boating, “but I think she only said that to indulge me.”
Daisy May Cooper’s new lease of life
This Country creator Daisy May Cooper tells us her divorce has done her good because “we sort of hated each other”. The star of the BBC comedy split from Will Weston in 2021, and laughed that it has done wonders for her looks. Cooper can get backing from fellow female comedy writers including Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Michaela Coel, who are all “very supportive” of each other. She keeps her Bafta by the door so it’s the first thing people see as they walk in. “I even have someone clean it”. Intimidating.
Piers Morgan on his poor viewing figures
Piers Morgan admits that “crap” viewing figures for his new TV show “eat away at his soul like a flesh-eating bug”. Morgan started on the Murdoch-backed Talk TV in spring but ratings are often in the low thousands. He’s had recent success with a viral chat with football star Cristiano Ronaldo. Piers tells the New Statesman he’s “definitely” seeing out his three-year contract, worth a reported £50million.
Matt Hancock’s book battles
Isabel Oakeshott, co-author of Matt Hancock’s new book on the pandemic, reveals that the Cabinet Office asked for almost 300 changes to the tome, which she and Hancock battled. The journalist also says she “disagrees” with the former health secretary over Covid, calling lockdowns an “overreaction”. Given the book claims to be a ‘diary’, Hancock’s use of a co-writer has raised eyebrows.
Last night in town
Actress Salma Hayek and director Alfonso Cuarón battled the cold at a screening of short film Le Pupille in Soho last night. Presenter Maya Jama was at GQ’s Christmas Lunch at Battersea Power Station, while actor Christina Chong and model Ella Richards went to the opening of a new Del Core store on Regent Street. Elsewhere, Baz Luhrmann chatted about his Elvis film with fellow director Richard Curtis, while Sheridan Smith joined Gary Barlow at a party for his wine business at Harvey Nichols. “Now I can smell a wine and tell you what grape it is and how it should taste,” Gary tells us.
