SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Duke of Bedford is forced to flee Woburn Abbey with his family

With 13,000 acres and the sumptuous family seat, Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, at his disposal, the Duke of Bedford would seem very nicely placed to see out the lockdown.

But that, alas, is not so. For I can disclose that Andrew Bedford, the 15th Duke, his wife, Louise, and their children, Alexandra, 18, and Henry, 14, have been obliged to leave the Abbey — and its 24 priceless paintings by Canaletto — after it was discovered that behind some of its walls lurked panels of potentially lethal asbestos.

The highly disquieting development comes two years after the Duke, 58, initiated the most extensive refurbishment of Woburn since his grandfather pulled down more than half the house, including 37 bedrooms, in 1950, after finding they were riddled with dry rot. 

Five years later, his grandfather shocked the aristocracy still more by opening the Abbey to the public — and unveiled a safari park 15 years after that.

‘Most of the work had been done,’ a family friend tells me of the current refurbishment, explaining that the Duke and Duchess (below), who’d temporarily moved out, were so confident about the progress that had been made that they moved back in time for a family Christmas. Since then, however, disaster has struck.

‘There was just one bathroom to be done — and when the builders hacked into it, they found asbestos. It was reported to the authorities, but they had to move out again.’

The Duke and Duchess decline to elaborate on this development. ‘Their Graces’ living arrangements are a private matter,’ I’m told by their office in Bloomsbury, the part of central London which is among the family’s possessions, and which perhaps explains why, as the Duke’s grandfather put it, the family ‘have always thought themselves slightly grander than God’.

Fortunately, there are more than 400 cottages on the estate, so the Duke and Duchess will, with luck, be able to find somewhere to bed down.

They are the most dazzling of acting dynasties, but today the Foxes are in mourning. 

Mary Fox, whose five children include Lewis star Laurence, Jack and Lydia, has died peacefully at home in London. 

Husband James, 80 — brother of Edward and Robert — is too distraught to comment. 

‘They were inseparable,’ his agent tells me. ‘It was a very great love.’ 

Mary stuck by James, when, in midlife, he forsook his career for more than a decade, after becoming an evangelical Christian. 

‘I have a wonderful wife,’ he reflected later. 

Geri’s waving the Union Jack (again) 

Geri Horner is just as patriotic as she was when she donned this Union Jack mini-dress in her Spice Girl days. ‘The Queen is the matriarch we can trust,’ says Geri. 

‘I sat down with my family to watch her address the nation. Our Queen shows up no matter what — and she does it wearing pearls and great lipstick. 

‘She reminds me I can still decide to put a smile on my face, to put on a fabulous dress. 

‘Fashion can generate a sense of optimism, and Her Majesty has always recognised that.’

Bake Off judge Prue Leith is having a house built for her and her husband, fashion designer John Playfair. 

They currently own separate homes. But sharing a bedroom would be a step too far. 

‘I didn’t ever want him to live in my house, because it would mean moving all my stuff out,’ she says. 

‘And he’s so untidy. He’s going to have a separate bedroom so he can litter that floor and that bed with his clothes.’ 

Explorer robin beats virus at 83

Explorer Robin Hanbury-Tenison has staged a remarkable recovery from coronavirus. 

I can reveal that the 83-year-old is out of intensive care after three weeks on a ventilator and ten days on dialysis.

He was given an honour guard by clapping doctors and nurses at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, as he was wheeled into a ward.

‘Over the past five weeks I was rung three times by consultants saying they felt we were close to having a “difficult” conversation, as it looked as if he was not going to make it,’ says his wife, Louella, 68.

‘We are in awe of the doctors and nurses in intensive care who have never given up on him. He has astounded the team with how well he has progressed.’

Gizzi’s always hot stuff in the kitchen

TV chef Gizzi Erskine clearly can stand the heat in the kitchen. In a bid to spice up her culinary routine, the daughter of the 2nd Baron Erskine of Rerrick squeezed herself into a black leather jumpsuit with zips down the middle and across the front.

‘Got dressed up and slid about the kitchen,’ she writes next to a picture she shared online from her East London home. Gizzi, 40, still lives with her former fiance, graphic designer Dean Martin, whom she describes as her best friend.

Good to see she doesn’t allow this unusual domestic arrangement to cramp her style. 

Martha Lane Fox, chair of the Women’s Prize For Fiction jury, is adamant her panel will not follow the pusillanimous decision by the Booker Prize to share last year’s award. 

‘You can take me out and shoot me if we don’t have a single winner,’ the dot com pioneer promises. 

The Baroness says the London ceremony, delayed from June to September, ‘might be of reduced size but we hope the time will be right for a celebration of the power of books’.

Andie’s great escape 

Lockdown, what lockdown? Four Weddings And A Funeral star Andie MacDowell appeared to break the rules in LA recently when she was spotted crawling under an iron fence while sneaking out of a park that has been temporarily closed due to coronavirus. 

She was joined by her daughters, singer Rainey, 30, and actress Margaret, 25, and their dog for her stroll in Debs Park, whose website states its trails are closed until April 30. 

A park spokesman says: ‘She and her family are more than welcome to visit us when we’re open again. We’d love to show her around when it’s safe to do so.’