Forbidden from exploiting the ‘Sussex Royal’ trademark around the world, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex should take a leaf out of Fergie’s book.
For I can disclose that the irrepressible Sarah, Duchess of York, has alighted on a new way to bring home the bacon — by forging a commercial partnership with one of the most illustrious Italian manufacturers of luxury goods, Montegrappa.
Fergie has teamed up with the company to bring out a new range of fountain pens, inspired by the colours of nature.
Fergie’s spokesman hastens to explain that the Duchess does not lay claim to the lion’s share of the takings. ‘She gets a small royalty,’ he tells me
‘I’m old-fashioned and almost always work in long hand,’ says the 60-year-old children’s author on social media, explaining that all her words flow onto the page from Montegrappa nibs.
‘I use one of these pens to write my books.’
The 18-carat gold nib on every pen is engraved with Fergie’s personal monogram ‘S’.
The price? A snip at £2,000 apiece.
Fergie’s spokesman hastens to explain that the Duchess does not lay claim to the lion’s share of the takings.
‘She gets a small royalty,’ he tells me.
‘She gives a percentage of that to the charity Street Child.’
Fergie has teamed up with the company to bring out a new range of fountain pens, inspired by the colours of nature
There appears, though, to be a fly in Fergie’s inkwell, as Matt Wilson, media and public affairs manager for the Advertising Standards Agency, explains.
‘If the Duchess has entered into a commercial relationship with the fountain pen brand,’ he tells me, ‘that is an ad and it should be disclosed as an ad.
‘As members of the public, we should all know when what we see and hear and interact with is advertising. When it comes to social media, that means full disclosure.’
Fergie’s spokesman insists she has done nothing wrong.
‘It’s very clear on all the social media postings by the Duchess that it is a commercial venture,’ says a spokesman.
The 18-carat gold nib on every pen is engraved with Fergie’s personal monogram ‘S’. The price? A snip at £2,000 apiece
Ewan and lover seal it with a kiss
Trainspotting star Ewan McGregor put on a very public display of affection with his younger girlfriend, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, in Manhattan at the weekend.
Ewan, 48, shared a smooch with Fargo actress Mary, 35, while walking through Hudson River Park.
After McGregor left his wife of 22 years, Eve Mavrakis, for Mary, his daughter Clara dubbed the other woman ‘a piece of trash’ and called her father an ‘a******e’.
Ewan, 48, shared a smooch with Fargo actress Mary, 35, while walking through Hudson River Park, left, while the couple are pictured together right
Maureen Lipman (pictured above) was insulted to be mistaken for the mother of Rula Lenska, who is just one year her junior
Maureen Lipman was insulted to be mistaken for the mother of Rula Lenska, who is just one year her junior.
Lipman had lost her bag while travelling to London with Lenska and thought she might have left it in Sainsbury’s.
When she rang the shop, they asked her: ‘Were you the lady in the hat?’
She replied: ‘Yes! I may have put my bag down…’
‘Oh yes,’ he said, ‘and you were with your daughter.’ Pause.
‘My daughter?’
‘Yes, with the red . . .’
‘Yes, my 72-year-old daughter, Rula Lenska.’
Bishop and wife take up splendid self-isolation
The new Bishop of Hereford, Richard Jackson, styles himself Rick the Vic.
So let’s hope it is not a case of Rick the Vic is Sick, as I discover he has gone into self-imposed quarantine at the Bishop’s Palace in Hereford having just returned from a holiday in Venice.
‘He’s taken the very precautionary measure of self-isolating,’ Sarah Whitelock, communications director for the diocese of Hereford, tells me.
‘He didn’t visit any of the towns in northern Italy affected by the [Covid-19] virus, but decided to remain in self-imposed isolation for the recommended 14-day period to avoid any risk.’
He does, though, have the consolation of companionship: his wife, Deborah, was on holiday with him and has joined him in palatial quarantine.
£700,000 Tom plays a Blinder
Peaky Blinders star Tom Hardy knows how to make a killing. I can reveal the 42-year-old, who plays a mob boss in the BBC drama, made a staggering £700,000 profit last year for his production company, 33 1/3rd.
The figures are reported in new accounts for the year ended May 31, 2019, and takes the net worth of his company — the nature of which is listed on Companies House as performing arts — to £1,830,749.
I can reveal the 42-year-old, who plays a mob boss in the BBC drama, made a staggering £700,000 profit last year for his production company, 33 1/3rd
Treasury minister Jesse Norman is doing his bit for the planet by frequently forgoing the ministerial limo.
Such is his devotion to green policy that Norman even cycled to Buckingham Palace the other day for his swearing in, by the Queen, as a member of the Privy Council.
Zeta’s boy rocks out in Big Apple
Dylan, 19, posted a video on social media of him performing as the singer for a band in New York
His parents may be Oscar-winning actors, but it seems the son of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas is determined to put the ‘rock’ into Hollywood royalty.
Dylan, 19, posted a video on social media of him performing as the singer for a band in New York where he is studying at the private Brown University.
Strutting about the stage and screeching into the microphone, young Dylan described the evening as: ‘My kind of Friday night.’
For his next adventure, former Today programme host James Naughtie is taking inspiration from the Beat writers.
‘I’ve got a book coming out soon called On The Road. Jack Kerouac’s dead so I can call it that,’ he tells me at a party to celebrate Baroness Kennedy’s time as chair of the Booker Prize Foundation.
‘It’s 50 years of me going to America. It’s quite a fun book, actually. I first went when I was a student and it covers my American adventures, from Nixon to Trump.’