Fashion tycoon John Robinson, who employed Kate Middleton before she wed Prince William, has won a three-year battle to host weddings at his Cotswolds estate.
The multi-millionaire founder of fashion chain Jigsaw had to overcome objections from locals about noise pollution and congested roads. He was given four months' notice in 2022 to stop hosting events at his £12 million property, Euridge Manor.
But, after a nine-day public inquiry, Robinson, 77, has been granted permission to continue hosting events on the sprawling 450-acre estate, where Poldark star Eleanor Tomlinson exchanged vows with rugby player Will Owen.
'Euridge Manor Weddings is delighted at the grant of planning permission,' a spokesman says.
When Robinson bought Euridge Manor Farm in 1980, it covered 200 acres, with a five-bedroom farmhouse, outbuildings and three cottages. But the tycoon extended the estate, purchasing 250 acres of surrounding land, and building an orangery with two bedrooms and an indoor swimming pool.
He married now ex-wife Belle at Euridge in 2004. After their divorce in 2014, Robinson registered company Euridge Manor Weddings Incorporated and began hosting ceremonies.
The multi-millionaire founder of fashion chain Jigsaw had to overcome objections from locals about noise pollution and congested roads. He was given four months' notice in 2022 to stop hosting events at his £12 million property, Euridge Manor.
The fashion tycoon employed Kate Middleton before she wed Prince William.
Neighbours complained about traffic, music and firework displays lasting into the small hours and said the estate did not have permission for 'change of use' in order to host weddings.
After two planning applications and an appeal, planning permission has now been granted subject to a range of conditions to control noise and address highway safety concerns.
You might think the name McCartney would open doors and curry favours - especially for a relation of Sir Paul.
But comedienne Sophie McCartney, a cousin of the former Beatle, says it doesn't cut any ice with Sir Paul's daughter, fashion designer Stella.
'When I was younger, my Nana took me to Paris because I wanted to be a fashion designer as I was doing textiles GCSE,' says Sophie.
'We went to go and see Stella. She was at Chloe at the time. I did get some sunglasses and a Chloe [bag]. But that’s it.
'But no I’ve never had any Stella McCartney discount.
'I’d take 25 (per cent).'
Comedienne Sophie McCartney, a cousin of the former Beatle, says it doesn’t cut any ice with Sir Paul’s daughter, fashion designer Stella.
Anyone receiving unexpected FaceTime calls from Lily Allen for catch-up chats perhaps shouldn’t feel too honoured or excited - until they’ve worked out its duration and the interval since the last one.
‘I create lists of people who I like in order of how much I like them,’ the pop singer, 40, reveals. ‘I send that list to my assistant and ask her to schedule the time for me to have FaceTimes with them.’
In March, I revealed that Lily’s husband, Stranger Things star David Harbour, had been having an affair with a colleague. ‘David cheated on Lily,’ an associate told me. ‘They met on a movie they did together.’
Having been a pop star herself in the 1980s and ’90s, Cathy Dennis went on to compose hits for Kylie Minogue, with Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, Britney Spears (Toxic) and Katy Perry (I Kissed a Girl).
Now, however, she’s fed up with writing for others. ‘I am done with that,’ says Dennis, 56.
‘There have been many [recording] sessions where I’ve been asked to get into a box and one day I just think, “No, no more”. I will continue to write, but I am not writing music in the same way.’
She knocked Hugh Grant’s character flat out after being jilted in Four Weddings And A Funeral, and ‘duckface’ Anna Chancellor is almost as pugnacious in real life.
The actress, 60, admits she lost her cool at Arizona’s Grand Canyon. ‘I behaved quite badly,’ she tells Travel Secrets podcast.
‘I booked a “1930s cabin” - when I got in there I was like “This is s*”. I said “You need to relocate me”. I’m capable of kicking up a fuss.’
The Ritz played a key role in King Charles’s life when he and Camilla Parker Bowles were pictured leaving the London hotel in 1999 in their first public appearance together as a couple.
And His Majesty was, I hear, quick to get in touch earlier this year when The Ritz was awarded fine dining’s coveted accolade.
‘I got a nice little letter from King Charles, congratulating me on getting two Michelin stars,’ John Williams, executive chef at The Ritz, tells me at the National Restaurant Awards, where The Ritz was crowned best in the UK.
Opera singer Lesley Garrett was a panellist on ITV’s Loose Women for four years, but her husband, retired GP Peter Christian, intervened.
‘[It’s] the only time he’s ever asked me to stop doing something,’ she reveals. ‘He said, “At the surgery I’ve got ten minutes with each patient. And eight minutes is taken up with what you’ve said the day before. I’m worried I’m going to misdiagnose somebody, so please could you stop?”
Former 'It-girl' Tamara Beckwith's wild partying days aren't completely behind her if this picture is anything to go by.
Tamara, 55, attended the fancy dress tenth wedding anniversary party of Sofia Barattieri Weinstein, co-chair of the London Air Ambulance, and her husband, Brian Weinstein, in Sicily at the weekend.
Beckwith can be seen surrounded by fellow partygoers dressed as priests and nuns in these pictures she shared online.
'It was a spectacular example of when friends show how much they love their hosts,' says Tamara, who is married to Italian businessman Giorgio Veroni. 'Incredible dresses, head-dresses, naughty lace, brocades and enchanted gardens filled with candlelight.'