EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Downton Abbey star Jim Carter in bitter battle with girls' ... trends now
His wife, Imelda Staunton, has been lavished with plaudits for her unerring portrayal of the Queen in the latest series of The Crown.
But never assume that Jim Carter — best known as Carson the butler in Downton Abbey — is content to remain meek, still less mute, when at the £3.25 million townhouse he and Staunton (pictured) share in genteel North-West London.
Indeed, I can reveal that Carter, 74, has just launched an extraordinary attack against a proposal to facilitate what he demonises as 'an aggressive game with associated aggressive levels of sound from players and equipment' on a small patch of ground at nearby Hampstead Cricket Club.
His wife, Imelda Staunton, has been lavished with plaudits for her unerring portrayal of the Queen in the latest series of The Crown. But never assume that Jim Carter — best known as Carson the butler in Downton Abbey — is content to remain meek
So what has prompted the outburst? A proposal to build a boxing ring, or a rugby club gym?
No, It's a plea to the local council by the Girls' Day School Trust, which wants pupils at private South Hampstead High School to have the chance to play padel — a mixture of tennis and squash — on a new, purpose-built court.
'Noise level assessments for tennis bear little relationship to the explosive noise associated with padel,' Carter howls in an anguished letter to the council.
'A brief visit to the public padel courts at Regent's Park or Hyde Park reveals that the heavy sound of a padel ball on bat and ball on side panels drowns out the sounds of tennis.'
Perhaps Carter is as hostile to change as Carson was at Downton? Or perhaps he has especially acute hearing? The proposed court is a hundred yards from his and Staunton's house — and screened from it by Hampstead Cricket club's clubhouse and its changing rooms.
So what has prompted the outburst? A proposal to build a boxing ring, or a rugby club gym? No, It's a plea to the local council by the Girls' Day School Trust, which wants pupils at private South Hampstead High School to have the chance to play padel — a mixture of tennis and squash — on a new, purpose-built court
Has David Walliams been 'cancelled' by the BBC? Speaking at the Beeb's Somerset House Christmas launch, TV boss Charlotte Moore reeled off a list of festive highlights, from Mrs Brown's Boys to the Strictly Christmas special. Sadly, Moore didn't include Gangsta Granny Strikes Again!, the new adaptation of Walliams's book, starring the comedian who was forced to apologise for making derogatory comments about Britain's Got Talent contestants. Perhaps Gangsta Granny has made her final strike for the BBC?
Is that what not to wear, Trinny?While some of us are putting up Christmas decorations, Trinny Woodall seems to have used most of the glitter on her coat.
The beauty entrepreneur, 58, half of the acerbic posh pair who counselled ‘fashion disasters’ on BBC makeover show What Not To Wear, caught the eye of passers-by in Chelsea, West London, wearing this £2,085 Hologram trench coat by Belgian designer Dries Van Noten. She paired the coat with a £740 metallic polyester top, by the same designer, an oversized grey suit, and Russell & Bromley platform trainers.
‘The coat looks like one of those foil blankets thrown over exhausted marathon runners,’ remarks one observer.
While some of us are putting up Christmas decorations, Trinny Woodall seems to have
