Royal biographer Andrew Lownie has predicted that Sarah Ferguson's planned comeback will prove successful, more than a year after the release of his explosive book on Prince Andrew and Ferguson.
With Ferguson reportedly hoping to secure a "tell-all" television interview, Lownie remarked: "With good reputation management... Sarah Ferguson's hoping to play the victimhood again and she'll be back. She's done it twice before, so it is possible to change public perceptions."
Changing Public Perceptions
Noting how others have been "rehabilitated" in recent years, Lownie added: "People do change their minds. You can still feel Diana was wronged, but Camilla has worked her passage back."
In other celebrity news, Nigella Lawson, the newly installed Bake Off judge, addressed misconceptions about her "iconic voice," complaining: "It's difficult because I have a slight slur, people always think I've been drinking!" She also clarified her vocal limitations, saying: "I'm really not allowed to sing, ever... I sound like a toad in the middle of death throes."
Legal Action and Final Novels
Piers Morgan has insisted he still intends to take legal action against Charles Spencer over inaccuracies in the Earl's Diana biography. Morgan reports that Dame Joan Collins is among friends suggesting he should be handed a knighthood for his efforts. He wrote in The Spectator: "I'm reliably informed our senior royals are as giddy as Lottery winners at seeing Spencer's vindictive, disingenuous, King-bashing book causing him global humiliation for getting basic facts wrong. My pleasure to serve, Your Majesty."
Interviewing author Jeffrey Archer, 86, about his "final novel" Adam & Eve, BBC Breakfast host Jon Kay suggested Archer might return to novel writing. Archer responded: "No sir!" before adding: "But you can interview me when I do!"
Celebrity Anecdotes
Sir Ringo Starr's granddaughter Tatia Starkey recalled Thomas the Tank Engine toys being abundant during her childhood, courtesy of the former Beatle narrating the children's series. She remarked: "As lovely as they were, I'm sure I just wanted a Barbie."
Sir Michael Palin, while swimming with sardines during his travel series in the Philippines, recalled: "I had a glam instructor called Gladys, who was very good at calming me down, and the underwater camerawoman was called Beyoncé." He admitted: "I'm so sad it wasn't the real Beyoncé, but I suppose she was busy."
The late Dame Esther Rantzen, known for hosting showbiz garden parties, delighted in recounting how one "very celebrated lady" was caught in flagrante with a male admirer "behind the Portaloo." That's Life! co-presenter Adrian Mills never forgot gaining an amorous admirer in comedy legend Frankie Howerd, who chased him around Esther's swimming pool.
