EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: How Princess Anne turned down a £40,000 private jet to fly with BA instead

Gibraltar governor Sir David Steel had to call in all outstanding favours with the Spanish for Princess Anne’s land trip from Malaga to Gibraltar after her British Airways plane was diverted by fog.

But how was Anne, patron of the Rock’s Literary Festival, to get back to London on Saturday? 

‘Sir David had no leverage left with the Spanish to persuade them to allow her to drive across the frontier,’ whispers my source. ‘He had to hire a £40,000 private jet for the Princess Royal and her husband Tim.’ 

Fortuitously, just before her departure, the fog lifted – allowing her incoming British Airways flight to land. 

She told a relieved Sir David: ‘I have a return ticket and I’d prefer to fly BA.’

Princess Anne arrives at Gibraltar’s airport accompanied by her husband Timothy Laurence, in Gibraltar on November 18

Britain’s Anne, Princess Royal accompanied by her husband Timothy Laurence (left), is given farewell by Gibraltar’s Prime Minister Fabian Picardo (right) and by Gibraltar’s governor David Steel (second from right) prior to taking a plane to London on November 18

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol and Britain’s King Charles III arrive in the ceremonial State Carriage at Buckingham Palace in London on Tuesday afternoon

Pictured: The wife of the President of South Korea Kim Keon Hee, President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol, King Charles III, Queen Camilla, the Prince of Wales, and Princess of Wales during the ceremonial welcome for the President and his wife at Horse Guards Parade, central London on Tuesday 

The South Korean president’s state visit surely has Prince Andrew nostalgically recalling the last such visit ten years ago, when he welcomed the president on behalf of the Queen.

In the same week, he gave several audiences, hosted a dinner for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, held a meeting for those working in education, attended a grand lunch in the City, visited a nursery and then flew off to visit the troops in Afghanistan. 

Now kicking his heels, might his ex-missus secure him some useful employment on ITV‘s This Morning twirling the Spin to Win wheel?

Despite descriptions of nipple clamping and other Hunnish practices, Strictly’s Shirley Ballas has given her mum Audrey, 86, an extract of her fruity novel Murder On The Dance Floor to read. 

‘There were oohs and ahhs,’ she says. ‘I could hear all these noises from her room. I was like, “Is she having an orgasm? What is going on?”‘ 

Shouldn’t Esther Rantzen have dispatched a rescue squad from her OAP charity Silver Line?

Strictly’s Shirley Ballas (pictured on November 18) has given her mum Audrey, 86, an extract of her fruity novel Murder On The Dance Floor to read

Confirming her neighbour Clare Balding‘s membership of the Delightfully Daft Sisterhood, Anneka Rice recalls her desire to make Clare’s acquaintance as she frequently walked past her house. 

‘The ice was broken when I caught you on the riverbank walking backwards and I thought, ‘She’s as mad as I am, it’s fine,’ Anneka tells her. 

‘And then you found out that my house was actually on your walk and you started ringing the doorbell just to come in for a pee.’

Confirming her neighbour Clare Balding ‘s membership of the Delightfully Daft Sisterhood, Anneka Rice (pictured on October 16, 2023) recalls her desire to make Clare’s acquaintance as she frequently walked past her house

The Rolling Stones have confirmed their sponsors for the US 2024 tour – the American Association of Retired Persons.

The organisation says its ‘elder members’ will have first dibs on buying tickets from next week before they go on general sale. Rattle those zimmer frames!

The Rolling Stones have confirmed their sponsors for the US 2024 tour – the American Association of Retired Persons. Pictured: Mick Jagger (left) Ronnie Wood (centre) and Keith Richards (right), of The Rolling Stones, perform during the last concert of their Sixty European tour on August 3, 2022 in Berlin, Germany

Jilly Cooper didn’t whinge when her publishers moved a man’s hand from a female jockey’s bottom on the cover of her 1985 bestseller Riders. 

Now she spouts triumphantly about her successful battle to have a wimpish footballer removed by Bantam from the cover of her soccer bonkbuster Tackle! 

‘I had great rows with them,’ she trills. ‘The image they wanted was not nearly good enough. He was not wide enough and I wanted broad shoulders. I think he has got a good body now.’ 

Final score: Jilly 1 Bantam 0.

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