EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Will Prince Andrew’s attempts to clear his name rattle the King? 

Andrew’s determination to get Virginia Giuffre to clear his name threatens his shakey truce with the King, who has allowed him to resume some business activities in return for keeping his head down pre-Coronation. Charles might feel that allowing ‘friends’ to spread stories about him wanting to overthrow the reported £12million settlement and threatening to sue if Giuffre repeats allegations about him in her memoir doesn’t fit the bill. Prince William is taking a harder line. Irked by the public regurgitation of the Epstein entanglement prompted by Andrew’s manoeuvring, he is said to be vehemently opposed to reaching any compromise with his disgraced uncle.

Andrew’s determination to get Virginia Giuffre to clear his name threatens his shakey truce with the King, who has allowed him to resume some business activities in return for keeping his head down pre-Coronation

Gabby tartan entertainer Alan Cumming might think he’s ditched his OBE but he remains an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire until the King annuls it. He probably won’t notice. After Butterflies writer Carla Lane returned her OBE in 2002 protesting against animal cruelty, mourners at her funeral in 2016 were surprised to see her named ‘Carla Lane OBE’ on the order of service.

When John Lennon returned his MBE in 1969, the gong and his accompanying letter to the Queen were stuffed at the back of a cupboard in St James’s Palace and retrieved in 2009 to be offered to Yoko Ono. She declined. The letter, now part of the Royal Archives, could be worth a small fortune. When a draft of Lennon’s letter, signed ‘With Love’, was discovered at a car boot sale in 2016, it was valued at £60,000.

The Banshees of Inisherin star Kerry Condon, pictured, who has been Oscar nominated for playing Colin Farrell’s spinster sister Siobhan, recalls her Hollywood breakthrough playing Octavia in HBO’s Rome. ‘It was the first time I took off my clothes in front of everybody. Honestly by the end of the season, I could have queued for lunch naked.’ In Banshees, the Tipperary-born star doesn’t even expose a well turned ankle. Might it have startled Jenny the donkey?

The Banshees of Inisherin star Kerry Condon, pictured, who has been Oscar nominated for playing Colin Farrell’s spinster sister Siobhan, recalls her Hollywood breakthrough playing Octavia in HBO’s Rome

Blissfully unaware of Noele Gordon’s colourful career, Helena Bonham Carter swotted up on the Crossroads matriarch before playing her in tonight’s ITV drama Nolly. She did the same with Princess Margaret in The Crown. What did she learn about the Queen’s sister? ‘She was so paranoid about being just 5ft tall that she had her car seat raised,’ says Helena, a towering 5ft 2ins.

The late Queen’s closest chum Lady Rupert Nevill, who has died aged 97, was annoyed when distant relation Julian Fellowes parodied her in his debut novel Snobs. She was also his inspiration for Dame Maggie Smith’s characters in both Gosford Park and Downton Abbey. Did Julian make matters worse having Dame Maggie use his cousin’s infamous putdown: ‘Oh, shop-bought marmalade.’