I was told last week by the Duke of Norfolk that his 34-year-old marriage had ended. However, he has not needed to wait to find new love.
I can disclose that the Duke, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, whose role is to organise Prince Charles’s Coronation, is courting the ex-wife of one of the Queen’s confidants.
‘I am going out with Chica Herbert,’ the Duke confirms.
Vivacious Francesca, or Chica, as she’s known to pals, is the former wife of Harry Herbert, son of the 7th Earl of Carnavon who was the Queen’s racing manager and a close friend.
Left: The Duke of Norfolk with his wife, 2016. He told me last week that his 34 year marriage had ended. However, he hasn’t needed to wait too long to fall in love. I can disclose that the Duke, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, whose role is to organise Prince Charles’s Coronation, is courting the ex-wife of one of the Queen’s confidants
Vivacious Francesca, or Chica (left), as she’s known to pals, is the former wife of Harry Herbert, son of the 7th Earl of Carnavon who was the Queen’s racing manager and a close friend
When Chica Bevan married Herbert in 1992, Princess Diana as well as the Queen attended the wedding at Highclere Castle, the Carnarvons’ ancestral home where Downton Abbey was filmed.
Friends say the Duke’s relationship with Chica, 58, is serious, but it remains to be seen whether he divorces his wife, Georgina. Because he is the highest ranking lay member of Roman Catholic Church Britain, divorce is not common.
Herbert, now 62, split from Chica in 2017. He married Clodagh McKenna (46), earlier in the year. The ceremony was attended by former Chancellor George Osborne. Herbert’s three children with Chica include top model Frankie Herbert.
Friday was the day that I revealed to him that the Duke (65-years-old) and Georgina (59 years-old), had abandoned any hope of saving their union. ‘I want to make it clear our marriage is over,’ he told me.
Pink: Chica Herbert with her daughter Frankie, top model
After the trial separation, when the Duchess left their beautiful family seat at Arundel Castle (West Sussex), in which they had lived for many years, friends rejoiced that the two were reunited.
Jeannie Lopes was Lord Roborough’s ex-wife during that period.
Perhaps to avoid embarrassment for the Royals, the Duke and Duchess Of Norfolk had not attended the 2011 wedding of Prince William (and Kate Middleton)
He currently lives in Burpham’s 19th-century Peppering Farmhouse while his yoga-loving wife, the Duchess, has relocated to a different property on his estate of 24,000 acres.
Meghan has managed to keep Prince Harry away from his guns, but his foreign kinsmen are less ‘woke’. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, who’s married to Australian former advertising manager Mary Donaldson, has just returned from a shooting trip with 50 friends in which they killed deer, foxes and raccoons in Lindet and Lovrup Forest. ‘It is important to regulate, so that there are not too many animals out in the woods,’ the Danish heir to the throne explains.
Sam squirms to Pop the big question
England’s rugby union star Sam Underhill is more accustomed to getting his opponents down to their knees through his hard tackling.
The 25-year-old flanker proposed to his girlfriend Josie Jennings, later joking to friends: ‘Got my knee a bit muddy.’
Josie, who graduated from Bath University last summer, showed off her sparkler to pals, telling them: ‘Best weekend ever — could not be happier.’
Underhill is a graduate of Grammar school and plays now for Bath.
The 25-year-old flanker proposed to his girlfriend Josie Jennings, later joking to friends: ‘Got my knee a bit muddy’
Boris Johnson, confusedly, has advised that we work remotely but continue to attend Christmas parties. According to me, Universities Minister Michelle Donelan will continue with her wedding tomorrow.
Tory MP Chippenham in Wiltshire will be exchanging vows with Tom Turner during a church ceremony that is followed by an extravagant reception.
The Good Law Project brought Donelan (37) and her groom under scrutiny after Stronghold Global’s lucrative PPE (personal protection equipment) contracts were awarded during the pandemic.
I bet that won’t be mentioned in the speeches.
Many stately homes contain a multitude of ancient relics — and not just the old relations roaming the halls. But something rather special has been found at Althorp House, Northamptonshire, ancestral home of Princess Diana’s family. Her brother, Earl Spencer, reveals: ‘Lovely Roman coin found by detectorists in the grounds of Althorp House today. It’s from the reign of the Emperor Antoninus, Hadrian’s successor. Remarkably good condition for a coin that’s nearly 1,900 years old.’
Does that make sense? dog, Tess?
Tess Daly tries to find her inner Zen as tension mounts before the Strictly Dancing final on Saturday.
The BBC1 show’s co-host shared this selfie of her with her ‘yoga pal’ Mickey, her Maltese Shih Tzu.
Tess, 52, who wore blue leggings and a matching sports bra for her session, says yoga helps with her mental health: ‘It’s great for putting you in a really good headspace so you feel like you’re in control of your day.’
Tess Daly, who is trying to find her inner Zen as tension mounts in the lead up to Saturday’s Strictly Come Dancing final, says that there are many things she can do.
Open the Door on Elba’s film fortune
IdrisElba has seen his bank balance increase by a few dollars. I can disclose the 48-year-old Luther star made more than £2.4 million in the past year, despite lockdown.
Newly released accounts for his businesses, Green Door Pictures and IE7, show their net worth climbed £2.4 million.
Green Door Pictures, which he founded in 2013, is a content producer for television, film and digital. IE7 was his performing arts venture and it is currently the most profitable of both companies. Its net worth is £5.4 million, compared with £2.8 million for Green Door Pictures.
Elba was able to continue making movies The Suicide Squad, and The Harder They Fall in 2020. This year is covered by the accounts.
Row beers at Earl’s ex-mansion
Are all things associated with the Earls of Cardigan necessarily tense? His two kids, The Voice’s star Bo Bruce, and his older brother Tom Viscount Savernake, are estranged.
Tottenham House, now the new owner, has struck a dispute over six housing plans on the Wiltshire property.
Hedge fund manager Chris Rokos bought the Grade I-listed pile for about £16 million from its trustees in 2019. Now, the Tory donor wants permission to construct two houses for his family and four cottages on an estate.
But irate neighbour John French complains: ‘One would have thought visitors could be accommodated within Tottenham House itself.’