Meghan Markle cut short her acting career when she married Prince Harry, but the Suits star clearly never abandoned her showbiz dreams.
I can reveal that the Duchess of Sussex, who is currently living with Harry in a £15 million Los Angeles mansion owned by entertainment tycoon Tyler Perry, has spelt out her plans to return to the screen.
This week, Harry and Meghan applied to trademark the name of their planned foundation, Archewell, for ‘television shows’ and ‘motion picture films’.
Meghan Markle (pictured) who cut short her successful acting career to marry Prince Harry has announced plans to return to the screen
The couple have listed a vast range of potential ventures in their application to the Intellectual Property Office in London, from ‘digital entertainment content’ to ‘providing a website featuring information in the field of physical fitness’ and a site ‘featuring information in the field of nutrition, general health and mental health’.
A source close to the Sussexes tells me: ‘Archewell is going to be huge. Harry and Meghan will use it to support lots of causes that they feel passionately about.
It will be a global organisation with international ambitions.’
The name Archewell originates from the Greek word arche, meaning sources of action, which inspired the name of their 14-month-old son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.
The couple had set up a similar ‘not-for-profit’ organisation, Sussex Royal, but were banned from using the word ‘royal’ when they quit official duties in January.
Harry and Meghan (both pictured) applied to trademark the name of their planned foundation, Archewell, for ‘television shows’ and ‘motion picture films’
They declared that they planned to become ‘financially independent’ of the Royal Family.
Let’s hope they haven’t made any mistakes in their paperwork.
When they filed documents to trademark the name in America last month, officials said the plans were ‘too vague’ and sent them back.
In a further blunder, the application form to the United States Patent and Trademark Office had not even been signed.
The Sussexes have delayed Archewell’s launch until at least next year, as they focus their efforts on the Black Lives Matter movement and fighting coronavirus.
They said: ‘We look forward to launching Archewell when the time is right.’
Guinness is good for Hollywood star Bette Midler, whose actress daughter, Sophie von Haselberg, has just married the brewing dynasty’s Harry Guinness.
‘It was a pandemic wedding — very small,’ reveals Midler.
Sophie von Haselberg, the daughter of Hollywood star Bette Midler (pictured main) has just married the brewing dynasty’s Harry Guinness
‘Her fiance hadn’t had a haircut in three months, so she looked online on how to cut hair.’
Sophie says of the New York ceremony: ‘I could not recommend getting married in Covid enough, because it means you don’t have to invite anybody you don’t want to invite.’
New romance blossoms for Edo’s ex Dara
Princess Beatrice succeeded glamorous architect Dara Huang in the affections of property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, but now Dara has found a new man of her own.
I can disclose that Dara, 37, who was engaged to Edo until the year he began courting the Queen’s granddaughter, has fallen for a London-based financier, Filippos Kodellas de la Morena, 37.
An investment fund manager, he’s the son of a Greek diplomat and a well-connected Spanish mother.
Architect Dara Huang (pictured) has found a new romance London-based financier Filippos Kodellas de la Morena following an engagement to property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, who is now married to Princess Beatrice
‘Dara is very happy,’ a source reveals. ‘She met Filippos through mutual friends. He’s just as handsome and successful as Edo.’
Miss Huang has a three-year-old son, Christopher, with Edo. The lad was due to become the youngest-ever best man at a royal wedding.
But Edo and Bea’s nuptials in May were put on hold because of the coronavirus restrictions.
Filippos should be able to keep Dara in fancy frillies: he’s a director of expensive lingerie firm La Perla.
Crumbs… Racy Lady Lola’s triple birthday celebrations
It’s ‘Super Saturday’, but spirited socialite Lady Lola Bute couldn’t wait to begin the revelling.
Socialite Lady Lola Bute (pictured by the pool of her family home) celebrated her 21st birthday this week
The daughter of the Marquess of Bute enjoyed three birthday celebrations which included a party with her friends (pictured)
The daughter of the Marquess of Bute — former racing driver Johnny Dumfries — hosted not one, not two, but three celebrations to mark her 21st birthday.
At the first, she tucked into Victoria sponge with her family by the pool, right.
At the second, she enjoyed a floral cake, and at the third party for friends, she was treated to a pink three-tiered creation.
The Queen counts £1.5million Balmoral bill
The Queen is known for her frugality, whether storing corn flakes in Tupperware containers, turning on just one bar of her electric fire, or patrolling Buckingham Palace to switch lights off.
But I can disclose that she may be about to take what could be called the ‘£1.5 million holiday’ — if, as is now expected, she heads to Balmoral later this summer.
Usually, the 50,000-acre estate would have been open to the public since April — and would be welcoming visitors until the end of July, with Her Majesty arriving shortly thereafter.
In that time, about 70,000 tourists would visit, generating approximately half the private estate’s £3 million annual running costs.
But the coronavirus pandemic has put paid to that.
And if Her Majesty, who pays for the estate’s upkeep out of her own pocket, arrives in August, there will be no chance of recouping some income with a ‘late opening’.
Thank goodness for the Tupperware.
Dawn’s highway to hell
What would the vicar of Dibley say?
Dawn French has admitted to being caught speeding twice in her Range Rover on the same stretch of road driving between London and her Cornwall home.
The comedienne was hit with a double fine in the same section of roadworks because the offence crossed two counties and each police force sent her a ticket.
Dawn French (pictured) has admitted to being caught speeding twice in her Range Rover on the same stretch of road driving between London and her Cornwall home
‘I have had to do a driver safety course,’ Dawn says.
‘With roadworks, with nobody working in them, I drove at 55mph in a 50mph zone and I went over the border between Somerset and Devon and I was done in both counties.
That’s not fair, is it?’
Thursdays’ ‘clap for carers’ are over, but publicist and novelist Simon Astaire is still applauding the NHS in private.
This week, staff at St Mary’s Hospital in London saved the life of his wife, art gallery owner Pilar Ordovas, after she had their first baby at the age of 46.
‘She started to haemorrhage, losing more than 14 pints of blood,’ Astaire tells me. ‘But she is safe now and we have been so moved by the outpouring of love.’
Astaire, 58, whose former girlfriends include Ulrika Jonsson, had a son with model Saffron Aldridge in 1993.
When he married Pilar, a legend of the high-end art world, in 2018, Sting was best man. They’ve called their baby girl Paloma.
The smart set’s talking about… Magic man Max’s wedding
When socialite John Rendall bought a lion from Harrods pet department in the Swinging Sixties and called it Christian, the big cat became a regular sight in Chelsea as it was taken for walks along King’s Road.
Now, John’s son, Maximillian, is planning a spectacle of his own.
He’s a magician who has just got engaged — and he plans to conjure up some tricks at his wedding.
Magician Maximillian Rendall (pictured) has just got engaged to fiancee Tallulla Barrow and he plans to conjure up some tricks at his wedding.
His fiancee is Talulla Barrow a private equity whizz, and he tells me: ‘We’re actually meeting with a consultant, who is going to help us discuss what sort of magic we can do as a bride and groom together throughout the ceremony.’
Max adds: ‘We moved in together last year and lockdown could have been quite a divider, but it has brought us closer together.’
Talulla says of the wedding: ‘We’re going to get a couple of tricks in there — it’s going to be a wild one.’
Christian the lion won’t be there, though. He was sent to Kenya to be re-introduced to the wild.
(Very) modern manners
Elegance in the era of coronavirus is a daunting challenge, so the Queen’s glove-makers are happy to give us a hand.
Cornelia James is to launch a range of anti-viral ladies’ gloves designed ‘to appeal to the stylish, safety-conscious woman’.
The company, which has been making gloves by royal appointment since 1978, is launching them next week at £90 a pair.
The washable cotton gloves are treated with an antiviral compound which has been shown to reduce the presence of coronavirus on fabric by 99.9 per cent.
Its founder’s daughter, Genevieve James, tells me: ‘Our new gloves, which are designed for everyday use, will allow women to wear stylish hand wear and, crucially, stop the spread of coronavirus.’