EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Panic as King's pals wait for invitation to the Coronation trends now
There's no doubt about it: Coronation fever is in the air.
No, not at a certain 'Spanish Revival-style', £11 million mansion in Montecito, California, which, by some accounts, boasts nine bedrooms and 19 bathrooms — and at which, according to their spokesman, an email recently arrived from Buckingham Palace, advising Harry and Meghan to 'save the date' for Saturday, May 6.
I refer, instead, to the tension brewing up in lesser dwellings — a stately home or two, as well as mere manor houses — which lack the gym, bar, five-car garage and other amenities of Harry and Meghan's residence.
These houses — some of them in need of almost continuous repair — are the homes of those who are, or have long considered themselves to be, good friends of King Charles and Camilla, but from whom the precious email has, so far, been withheld.
'Some of them are furious, especially those who have made rather a lot about their royal friendships over the years,' an amused grandee tells me. 'They're finding the wait excruciating. And, for some, it's going to end in humiliation.' Indeed it is.
These houses — some of them in need of almost continuous repair — are the homes of those who are, or have long considered themselves to be, good friends of King Charles and Camilla, but from whom the precious email has, so far, been withheld
No fewer than 5,000 were crammed — almost crow-barred — into Westminster Abbey for Queen Elizabeth's Coronation in 1953.
'Scaffolding was specially installed, so that you had row after row more or less sitting on top of each other,' reflects a historian of the Abbey's state occasions.
'But that sort of Heath Robinson arrangement simply isn't possible today because of health and safety.'
In consequence, no more than 2,000 will be able to attend this time. Aware of this, some, I'm told, have resorted to trying to emphasise their links to charities which are likely to be favoured with a handful of invitations.
Camilla is, after all, patron of over 100 such bodies, ranging from Macmillan Cancer Support and Marie Curie to the National Literacy Trust.
But such ploys, of course, offer no guarantee of an invitation, which will be sent by post only after prospective guests have received — and acknowledged — the prized, preliminary email.
I'm told by a royal source that the emails are being sent in batches — periodically. 'It's a practical arrangement,' I'm assured.
Mine must be in among that lot . . .
No fewer than 5,000 were crammed — almost crow-barred — into Westminster Abbey for Queen Elizabeth's Coronation in 1953
Timber! Why Queen Consort Camilla has an axe to grind
While King Charles is evicting Prince Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage, Windsor, his wife, Camilla, is clearing out the dead wood from her own back yard.
I hear the Queen Consort's head gardener, Paul Jellyman, has applied for permission to undertake extensive work on nine huge trees at Raymill House, the Grade II-listed property that she retained as a country retreat after marrying the future King in 2005.
Jellyman had to seek permission from Wiltshire Council because the trees are in a conservation area.
She wants to fell two alders and carry out significant work on three ash trees, with work to be done to four other trees.
The Apprentice star Alan Sugar appears determined to show that Gary Lineker is not the only big BBC name to cause controversy with his social media posts.
The Apprentice star Alan Sugar appears determined to show that Gary Lineker is not the only big BBC name to cause controversy with his social media posts
In this week's edition of his programme, contestants took on the challenge of creating dog food.
And, referring to the reaction of one pet, Lord Sugar remarked on Twitter: 'I think the dog looked a bit sad, as if he was going to appear in North Korea MasterChef.'
The reference to the East Asian taste for dog meat is not the first time the tycoon's joked about a racial stereotype.
In 2018, he was forced to apologise after he shared a snap of the Senegal football team, with a superimposed image of a towel in front of them, laden with sunglasses and handbags for sale.
He commented: 'I recognise some of these guys from the beach in Marbella. Multi-tasking, resourceful chaps.'
Fashion designer Rupert Lycett Green, who was one of the three men who inspired Jilly Cooper's caddish character Rupert Campbell-Black, has shown there's plenty of life in the old dog yet.
The 84-year-old has revealed that he recently completed the Cresta Run, 71 years after he first hurtled down St Moritz's forbidding track.
'Riding the Cresta is sliding down an iced toboggan run at more than 70mph, lying on your
