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EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: 'Spoilt' Duke relents on bid to axe 65-year-old landmark cafe By RICHARD EDEN Published: 01:30 GMT, 9 November 2024 | Updated: 01:34 GMT, 9 November 2024 e-mail View comments He orchestrated King Charles 's Coronation, but that triumph has not insulated the Duke of Norfolk from facing a latter-day peasants' revolt on his ancestral doorstep. Indeed, I can disclose that 'Eddie' Norfolk has been on the receiving end of some very raw language, with one critic denouncing him as a 'spoilt rich prat who wants to take all joy from normal people'. The outcry follows a decision which would close a much-loved West Sussex landmark, the Waterside Cafe, just yards from the gatehouse at Arundel Castle.
Taking to social media this week, Sharyn Towers, 66, who runs the cafe with her husband, Rich, 67, outlines the ultimatum. 'The Duke of Norfolk will not renew our lease. As you can imagine, we are extremely gutted.
' But, summoning up the spirit of Wat Tyler, Sharyn issued a call to action. 'We have recently started a petition,' she added, explaining that visitors from around the world had signed it, as well as locals 'just as upset as us..
.Please help us make the Duke realise the Waterside Cafe will be missed'. I can disclose that 'Eddie' Norfolk has been on the receiving end of some very raw language.
(Duke of Norfolk pictured with senior officers during the British Army's 'Military Musical Spectacular) There was no reply when I asked the Duke, 67, what had persuaded him to line the cafe up for the chop Pictured, a much-loved West Sussex landmark, the Waterside Cafe, just yards from the gatehouse at Arundel Castle Read More EXCLUSIVE RICHARD EDEN: Harry and Meghan's 'desperate' attempts to return - as Duke fears deportation by Trump Closing the cafe, said one local, would be 'a tragic loss' which would do 'incalculable' harm to 'the morale and spirit of Arundel'. Another warned: 'The Duke should not be closing down a local business of 65 years like this.' There was no reply when I asked the Duke, 67, what had persuaded him to line the cafe up for the chop.
But the chorus of unrest was evidently heard inside the castle walls, with Sharyn and Rich invited for a meeting with the Duke's son Henry yesterday. 'It all went very well,' Rich tells me last night. 'This is the first time Henry had been involved.
He's resolved the situation. He's happy for us to have a new lease.' Coronets aloft! Boney M Liz's royal quandary Pictured, Boney M band members: Bobby Farrell, Liz Mitchell and Maizie Williams Known for her OTT outfits with disco band Boney M, Liz Mitchell can't decide what to put on when she collects her MBE at Windsor Castle next week.
'Ever since learning in June that I'd be getting the award, I've been wondering, 'What does one wear?' she tells me. The 72-year-old lead singer, whose hits included Rasputin and Rivers Of Babylon, says: 'I want to look good on the big day but at the same time I don't want to look over the top.' Royal relation Lady Tatiana Mountbatten is sick of strangers mistaking her 13-month-old daughter, Elodie, for a son.
'I've given up correcting people when they say, 'What a sweet little boy' or 'What's his name?'' says the Marquess of Milford Haven's daughter. She admits that it may be because she likes to dress Elodie in blue. 'The lack of hair doesn't help,' she adds.
Uh-oh. Another Strictly spat Nancy Xu (pictured) and pop singer Shayne Ward are the bookies' favourite to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing this weekend Nancy, 33, fell out with fellow Strictly professional Carlos Gu, 31, (pictured) on the show and the pair unfollowed each other on social media Nancy Xu and pop singer Shayne Ward are the bookies' favourite to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing this weekend, but the real drama is off stage. Nancy, 33, fell out with fellow Strictly professional Carlos Gu, 31, on the show and the pair, who grew up together in China, unfollowed each other on social media.
Speaking for the first time since their row, Carlos tells me: 'We're fine. We've been friends since childhood, and friends argue, we're too close and are like brother and sister to completely fall out.' Sir Rod's lad cosies up with Tess Daly's Phoebe Bright young things: Phoebe Kay and Alistair Stewart pictured together at Tatler's Little Black Book Party THE OCCASION: Tatler's Little Black Book party at the newly revamped Tramp in St James's, London.
DO YA THINK I'M SEXY: Alistair Stewart, 19, appears to have inherited his rock star father Sir Rod's touch with the ladies. Alistair, whose mother is Penny Lancaster, enjoyed cosying up in a booth with Phoebe Kay, 20-year-old daughter of Strictly Come Dancing host Tess Daly and TV presenter Vernon Kay. Esme Bertelsen, 23, (pictured) the daughter of What Not To Wear presenter Susannah Constantine, was in fighting form Becky Tong, 32, (pictured) daughter of superstar DJ Pete was joined on the decks by Woody Cook, 23, son of Fatboy Slim star Norman Cook and Radio 2's Zoe Ball LET'S TALK ABOUT DECKS: Guests at the party, for society's most eligible singletons, danced to music played by Becky Tong, 32, daughter of superstar DJ Pete.
She was joined on the decks by Woody Cook, 23, son of Fatboy Slim star Norman Cook and Radio 2's Zoe Ball. IT'S A KNOCKOUT: Esme Bertelsen, 23, the daughter of What Not To Wear presenter Susannah Constantine, was in fighting form. She took part in a charity boxing bout at Belvoir Castle this year and found it therapeutic.
'I box mainly due to mental health reasons,' she tells me. 'It really reduced my anxiety. My problems with ADHD also improved.
' Esme plans to return to the ring next year in aid of Victoria Falls Boxing Academy. Lord of the Dance Michael Flatley has a stately home in Ireland, a mansion in Belgravia, as well as properties in the West Indies, New York, Beverly Hills, France and Italy. Now, he also has a child at Eton.
'I'm not sure he'll be going into showbusiness,' Flatley, 66, says of his son, Michael. 'He's doing physics, double maths and computer science.' Flatley, whose father was a plumber from County Sligo, misses his son during term-time.
'It is hard,' he tells me at The Irish Post Awards at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House hotel in Mayfair. 'He's applied to Oxford, but I'm trying to convince him to go to an Irish university. It would be great if we were closer.
' Star Wars: John feels the force...
of HMRC John Boyega fought against the evil First Order but now he is in a battle with the taxman In the Star Wars films, John Boyega fought against Emperor Palpatine's evil First Order. In real life, the actor's in a battle with the taxman. I can reveal HMRC has filed a winding-up petition to close down the company he uses to channel his earnings, Upperroom Entertainment.
He set up the firm in 2016 after rising to fame. New accounts disclose the company had accumulated earnings of £9.6 million.
A spokesman for HMRC declines to comment on individual cases, but tells me: 'We take a supportive approach to dealing with customers who have tax debts, working with them to find the best possible solution based on their financial circumstances.' Boyega's spokesman tells me: 'We are actively working with HMRC. We have developed a clear plan to settle all outstanding debt.
' Kirstie's dad leaves £6million to family Lord Hindlip, who died in June aged 83, was amused that he became widely known not as an acclaimed chairman of Christie's but as the father of Location, Location, Location presenter Kirstie. And newly published probate documents show that Kirstie is due to inherit £1.5million of his fortune.
Known to friends as Charlie Allsopp, his memorial service at Grosvenor Chapel in Mayfair was attended by Queen Camilla. The documents state that he left an estate of £6million, which will be shared among his four children. (Very) modern manners Society jeweller Stephen Webster has pearls of wisdom on keeping your marriage fresh.
Webster, who is married to his second wife Assia, says absence makes the heart grow fonder. 'We're still together after 27 years, so there's a bit of romance left, but it takes a lot of patience,' he tells me. 'I find spending time apart helps.
It's important you have your own space, and not be in each other's pockets.' I can disclose that the 27-year-old pop singer has become a multi-millionaire She was the queen of the Brits, scooping a record six awards at this year's ceremony – and pop star Raye now has the fortune to match. I can disclose that the 27-year-old pop singer has become a multi-millionaire.
Assets in her touring and performing arts firms have soared to £2.2 million. Last year, her assets in the two companies – used to handle her touring and sales revenues – stood at £460,000.
However, newly published accounts reveal that assets in Raisins Touring have since increased by more than £1.5million, from £360,000 to £1.9million.
Raye's remaining revenues came into her performing arts firm, Hello Rat. Now 84, comedian Jimmy Tarbuck is beginning to think he may never achieve his last remaining ambition – a knighthood. 'I have had a fantastic life and a wonderful career,' he tells me.
'But it would be nice to cap it all off with the top honour.' The Liverpudlian, who went to school with John Lennon and later partied with the likes of Elvis and Frank Sinatra, was awarded an OBE for his contribution to the world of entertainment and charity in 1994. 'I was pleased to get that– Jimmy Tarbuck OBE has a nice ring to it – but to be SIR Jimmy would be brilliant.
I don't know if that will ever happen, but I could die a happy man if it did. 'Maybe you could mention it to the King next time you see him.' Why Playboy legend is bugged by hugs Her husband, Victor Lownes, was the Playboy executive whose hedonism shocked and entertained 1970s Britain, but Marilyn Cole is astonished at the decline of standards in today's society.
'Everywhere you go, within seconds of being introduced to somebody, strangers just hug you, or even kiss each cheek, Continental-style – it's so weird,' Marilyn, a former Playmate of the Year, tells me. 'I can't stand it. This would never have happened during the Playboy era.
' Lownes, who died in 2017 aged 88, ran its lucrative British ventures from the mid-1960s until 1981. His lifestyle at Stocks, a 42-room Georgian pile in Hertfordshire where he ran a 'training school' for Playboy bunnies, was the stuff of legend, fitted out with erotic Mogul miniatures, a private disco and, reputedly, the largest Jacuzzi in the world. Visitors included Sir Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty and Roman Polanski.
'OK, we lived in what was then called the permissive society but we had standards,' Marilyn adds. 'You don't just hug people you don't know.' Share or comment on this article: EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: 'Spoilt' Duke relents on bid to axe 65-year-old landmark cafe e-mail Add comment.
