EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: More monkey business as Carrie Johnson charity is handed ban 

First, Carrie Johnson’s charity provoked an international incident over plans to ‘rewild’ a herd of elephants to Kenya.

Now, I can reveal the Prime Minister’s wife and her boss, Damian Aspinall, have been slapped down again over their ambitious and controversial animal projects.

Super-rich casino and wildlife park tycoon Damian, who runs the Aspinall Foundation, tells me he’s been banned from releasing gorillas into the wild.

The all-powerful European Association of Zoos and Aquaria has withdrawn a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ [MoU] which gave its blessing for reintroductions.

This will be a huge blow to the king of ‘rewilding’, who frequently sends gorillas from his Kent wildlife park to Africa. Indeed, his late father, the gambling and society figure John Aspinall, was credited with the reintroduction of the primates to Gabon.

Damian tells me: ‘The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria [EAZA] have cancelled the understanding with the Aspinall Foundation that allows the release of gorillas into the wild.’

He claims: ‘They’ve done this because of my own personal views on zoos. So, because they don’t like what I say about zoos, because I point out a few home truths that they don’t want to hear, they’ve now cancelled an MoU that allows gorillas to be released into the wild.’

A spokesman for the association confirms it’s cancelled this agreement after discovering that Aspinall lobbied Boris Johnson to close down zoos. ‘Through its representations to Government, the Aspinall Foundation has undermined EAZA’s trust in its motivations and made it impossible for us to continue the relationship on the basis of mutual respect,’ the spokesman tells me.

Damian’s daughter Freya, 18, whose mother is actress Donna Air, is likely to be disappointed, as she decided to spend the next year working on conservation, largely with gorillas, instead of going off to university.

After Carrie’s charity announced plans to send 13 elephants to Africa earlier this year, the Kenyan Wildlife Service claimed it had not given permission. However, the parties involved later said it had been a misunderstanding and the relocation would go ahead.

The Charity Commission also recently launched a probe into the Aspinall Foundation after investigations by this newspaper raised issues around the use of its funds.

Aspinall has vowed to fight the EAZA and does not mince his words about his fellow zookeepers. He tells me: ‘I find these people disgusting.’

Jumpin’ Jack splash! Jagger girl’s lippy lilo  

While Sir Mick Jagger is on tour in Los Angeles this week with the Rolling Stones, his cheeky girlfriend, Melanie Hamrick, also hopes to make a splash.

The 34-year-old ballerina — and mother of the singer’s four-year-old son, Deveraux — is accompanying Jagger, 78, on the band’s No Filter Tour.

As well as cheering him on at many of the Stones’ shows, Mel’s support for the indefatigable rock star extends even to the swimming pool. The American-born brunette has shared a picture of herself luxuriating in her hotel pool on a £50 Hot Lips logo float that was created in collaboration with the Stones.

Happy to support father-of-eight Mick with his busy work schedule, Mel gushes he’s ‘the most wonderful man in the world’.

Earl's family feud hits rock bottom

Writer Lady Lucinda Lambton is on a mission to quash rumours that she’s made up with her brother, Ned, after an explosive row broke out after their father’s death in 2006.

Ned inherited the family’s £35 million estate as well as the Earl of Durham title, bypassing his sisters as the sole heir under English male primogeniture rights. However, Lady Lucinda and two of her sisters claimed they were entitled to an equal share under Italian law, as their father, the Tory minister Tony Lambton, had lived there. A reconciliation was later reported, with Ned giving each sister £1.5million.

But Lady Lucinda — whose late husband was newspaper editor Sir Peregrine Worsthorne — tells me at a party: ‘He is a s***.’ She adds: ‘You can quote me on that. He is a s***, s***, s***.’

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