SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Princess Anne’s animal care charity is put out to pasture 

Prince Philip famously quipped of his daughter ‘if it doesn’t fart or eat hay, she isn’t interested’. However not even the dedicated equestrian Princess Royal could come to the rescue of the Animal Health Trust, of which she has been president since 1991.

I can reveal the much lauded veterinary charity, which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2017, is to close after failing to secure enough money to safeguard its future. 

The charity employs 257 people, many of them veterinarians and scientists, and was founded to care for sick cats, dogs and horses. In the financial year ending December 2018, its income was £15.6 million while expenditure was £17.5 million.

However not even the dedicated equestrian Princess Royal could come to the rescue of the Animal Health Trust, of which she has been president since 1991

When the charity first flagged up its ongoing financial woes in March, the Princess Royal dutifully rode to the rescue.

So devoted was she to the cause, I am told she participated in numerous video conferences with the charity’s trustees to discuss ways of staving off disaster and raising more funds.

She is not usually one to back down, but alas her lockdown efforts were in vain. It will be a tremendous disappointment for Princess Anne, who turns 70 next month. She inherited her love of horses from her mother and was crowned the European Eventing Champion in 1971 and selected to compete in the 1976 Olympics, representing team GB.

So devoted was she to the cause, I am told she participated in numerous video conferences with the charity’s trustees to discuss ways of staving off disaster and raising more funds

So devoted was she to the cause, I am told she participated in numerous video conferences with the charity’s trustees to discuss ways of staving off disaster and raising more funds

The charity was awarded a Royal charter in 1963 and The Queen was patron from 1959 to 2016. Only last year Princess Anne opened the charity ‘s new building.

Also in 2019, it was pivotal in helping racing through the equine flu outbreak which threatened to wipe out the Cheltenham Festival. It carried out more tests in ten days than it would in a normal year.

 Diana Ross’s surprising love Supreme – Somerset!

Motown legend Diana Ross may have missed out on Glastonbury this year, but she hopes to be invited back to cider country.

‘The thought of being at Glastonbury and having a chance to re-visit Somerset was — and still is — just so great,’ she says.

‘I’ve been in the area before when on tour, and I remember how breathtaking Bath is — and also I like Bristol, and I remember Taunton and Wells. When you’re touring you’re driven everywhere, and it gives you a chance to look at the countryside as you travel.

‘Somerset is lovely — we don’t really have places like that in the United States. There are beautiful places — but not like in Britain, especially when there’s so much history in the area, too.’

As if things couldn’t get any stranger now that rapper Kanye West has announced he is standing in the U.S. presidential election this year, F. Scott Fitzgerald biographer Sarah Churchwell says she thinks the creator of The Great Gatsby and the maverick musician would have been kindred spirits when it came to expressing themselves online.

‘They would be all over social media,’ Churchwell says when asked whether Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda would have embraced the brave new world of communication.

‘They would be drunk tweeting all the time. They would basically be the literary Kanye of the 20s because they would be saying crazy stuff that would be hilarious.’

The rapper and the flapper…

 Loving mum Anna shares her Frielings 

Actress Anna Friel was overcome with pride this week when her daughter with Harry Potter star, David Thewlis, turned 15.

The 43-year-old shared a charming picture of herself and Gracie — who was just five when she and David ended their decade-long romance — to mark the occasion.

Actress Anna Friel was overcome with pride this week when her daughter with Harry Potter star, David Thewlis, turned 15

Actress Anna Friel was overcome with pride this week when her daughter with Harry Potter star, David Thewlis, turned 15

‘Without doubt she is the light of my life. My favourite person,’ she writes.

‘I am so very proud of you. You are an inspiration. The earth is a better place because you are on it.

Monster actress Charlize Theron confesses she doesn’t often watch the movies that she stars in.

‘If I catch one on television, I’ll watch a bit of it,’ the South African-born Oscar winner says.

‘But I’m never like, “OK — tonight I’m going to sit down and watch myself.”’

 Welsh warbler reveals highs and lows of lockdown 

Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins says life stuck at home in London with her husband, New York artist and filmmaker Andrew Levitas, daughter Aaliyah, four, and son Xander, two, has had its upsides.

‘I’m thankful my children are on the younger side, so I’m not being asked to teach them maths I don’t understand,’ she says. 

‘And I don’t think my husband and I have ever been in the same house for 12 weeks together. Either I’m touring or he’s away on a movie or something. So the children have really thrived, having us all together.

Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins says life stuck at home in London with her husband, New York artist and filmmaker Andrew Levitas, daughter Aaliyah, four, and son Xander, two, has had its upsides

Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins says life stuck at home in London with her husband, New York artist and filmmaker Andrew Levitas, daughter Aaliyah, four, and son Xander, two, has had its upsides

‘But of course there are times when it’s trying, and you feel stressed. And we’ve probably had an extra glass of wine, like everybody else.’

Bottle, surely.

Lorraine Heggessey, the first female BBC1 Controller, who commissioned Strictly Come Dancing, says the job had its downsides. ‘Everyone has got an opinion on BBC1. When we went on holiday, I used to beg my husband and children, “Please don’t tell anybody I run BBC1.” ’ However, she needn’t have worried. ‘People asked my husband what he did. But they never asked me, I think they just assumed I was a housewife 

 Clare jockeys for realistic racing

Horse racing could learn a lot from football when it comes to lockdown broadcasting, says Clare Balding.

‘I think racing may need to take a leaf out of football’s book in creating more of an atmosphere for the television audience.

‘There are often soundtracks of galloping hooves used as a base track and the sound of horses brushing through steeplechase fences for jump races, but they’ve held back so far on crowd noise.

‘I also think it’s a good time to experiment again with jockey microphones.

‘I would love to feel closer to the action — as we can with Formula One, cricket and golf.’

Don’t count on bumping into radio presenter Eddie Mair next time you go to the cinema. He says he won’t be rushing back as his last experience went wrong from the start ‘with five giggling people shuffling into the row in front, spilling wine and popcorn in equal measure. You could almost be at home. And the trouble is, some people have been lulled into believing they are at home — and at liberty to gasbag their way through the film.’

 Will seclusion prove a hit for Carla Bruni? 

Lockdown has proved the perfect time to make a comeback for model and singer, Carla Bruni.

The wife of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy reveals she has recorded her first album in seven years during the pandemic in a private studio near her home in Paris. ‘We had the best time with a bunch of crazy and super talented people,’ says Vogue cover star Carla, nearly 11 years to the day since singing for Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday in New York.

‘We took great pleasure in recording it.’