In a scene that wouldn't be out of place in Eighties soap opera Dynasty, Dame Joan Collins had a bread roll viciously lobbed at her at a swanky private members' club.
The 'frightening' confrontation led to the roll-thrower being banned for life — and the man she was a guest of (who also happens to be a lord) having his membership of Chelsea Arts Club suspended.
Dame Joan, 88, tells me of the incident, which occurred when she was out celebrating with a friend earlier this year.
In a scene that wouldn't be out of place in Eighties soap opera Dynasty, Dame Joan Collins (pictured with Percy Gibson) had a bread roll viciously lobbed at her
She says: 'A drunken diner who inappropriately wanted to sit with us got upset and threw a hard bread roll at me, and she didn't even have the decency to follow it up with the butter.
'It was a private dinner for a friend's birthday, my once PR Stella Wilson.'
Nobody in their small party knew the bread roll-thrower.
Joan's long-term friend Stella, who is now retired, tells me: 'Joan understandably was upset. Nobody likes to have something thrown at them.
Stella Wilson and Dame Joan Collins in 2018. Dame Joan, 88, tells me of the incident, which occurred when she was out celebrating with a friend earlier this year
She and [her husband] Percy left. I was disappointed she had to miss the rest of my birthday but I completely understood why she left. I would have walked out too. Thank goodness it was only a bread roll. That was the frightening part of it.'
Stella says the woman came over to their table and was 'swaying around and not making any sense'.
'She knew who Joan was because she told her, "I have always admired you."'
The woman was then persuaded to return to her table, at which point she took the bread roll and threw it directly at Dame Joan.
A temporary painted and printed mural by artist Morganico on the Old Church Street façade of the Chelsea Arts Club in London in 2015. Chelsea Arts Club is frequented by many famous faces
The woman was then persuaded to return to her table, at which point she took the bread roll and threw it directly at Dame Joan. Stock photo used
'None of us could understand why she threw it,' Stella says. 'It was an upsetting incident for everybody.'
Chelsea Arts Club is frequented by many famous faces, from Bake Off judge Dame Prue Leith to Hollywood star Harrison Ford.
It operates under strict rules, with the use of phones or computers not permitted and photography 'strictly forbidden'.
The Club told me it 'absolutely' can't comment on the story due to the nature of a private members' club.
In his new book, Queen Of Our Times, my colleague Robert Hardman reveals that having given up his ministerial car to cut costs, then Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt decided to walk to the Palace for his first audience with the Queen.
Arriving at the wrong gate, the bewildered MP was blocked by the Changing of the Guard. 'Sweating profusely,' he says, 'I finally arrived with 30 seconds to spare. The courtiers were all in a bit of state.'
Hardman will be chewing over the whole reign on March 28, along with fellow royal biographer Dame Joanna Lumley, at a 'celebration of the Queen' at London club 5 Hertford Street.
Ouch! Ski trip goes downhill for Jemima
Screenwriter Jemima, 48, took a tumble while skiing which left her with a black eye and a bruised hooter
She's negotiated her way through a few bumpy relationships, but Jemima Goldsmith clearly hit the slopes a lot harder than she would have liked.
Screenwriter Jemima, 48, took a tumble while skiing which left her with a black eye and a bruised hooter.
However, it did not stop the ex-wife of Imran Khan, who previously dated Hugh Grant, and Russell Brand, on Thursday night as I bumped into her at a birthday bash at Notting Hill's Walmer Castle pub.
Why it definitely wasn't love at first sight for Pattie and George
Pattie first met George in 1964 when she had a tiny role as a schoolgirl in the Beatles' film debut, A Hard Day's Night, in a scene filmed on a train
She eventually married Beatle George Harrison, but model Pattie Boyd recalls their relationship nearly didn't happen as she flatly turned the mop-top down when he first asked her for a date.
Pattie first met George in 1964 when she had a tiny role as a schoolgirl in the Beatles' film debut, A Hard Day's Night, in a scene filmed on a train.
'I had a one-day shoot. The train went down to Cornwall and back, so it took eight hours all together. And then at the end when we got near Waterloo station, George asked me if I'd go out with him that night. And I said no, I couldn't, because I was seeing my boyfriend,' she says.
'And then I told my girlfriends and they said, "You're completely mad! How could you turn him down?" And I said, "What I was thinking?"'
National PE teacher-turned-cookbook writer Joe Wicks believes the Queen is a woman of simple tastes.
The 36-year-old 'Body
