Gardener Alan Titchmarsh will support Charles from home

Never mind Charles’s weakened monarchy, poor old Alan Titchmarsh may also have fallen victim to the king’s dwindling of his friend group.

Asked if he had received an invitation to his close friend’s coronation next month, the 73-year-old presenter replied: ‘No. I want to spend the day at home watching it on TV with my wife Alison.

“We’re watching at home before joining the family for a little party.”

The broadcaster, who played a key role in hosting the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations, has been asked to cover the coronation as a presenter but would rather spend the day with his nearest and dearest.

“I don’t work even though I was asked to. I won’t, but I’m very grateful for the offers.

Why waste money on expensive photo shoots? TV presenter Nick Knowles has a cheeky way of keeping costs to a minimum when trying to acquire professional quality photos of his glamorous girlfriend Katie Dadi.

Appearing on a recent date with the 33-year-old business owner and knowing photographers would “prefer to take a few shots of Katie on her own”, the 60-year-old presenter of the BBC’s DIY SOS asked: “Actually, if any of you have any nice ones her, can you email them to me? Seriously, I could do with a little.

He is already blessed with three children, in addition to being heir to a 7,000-acre estate and ancestral seat in Hampshire, plus a further 2,300 acres in southern Spain – and the magnificent house known as ‘London Number 1’.

Now, however, there was a distinct intimate reason for Arthur Wellesley—formally the Marquis of Douro, elder son of the Duke of Wellington—to be in good spirits. I can reveal that he will be marrying Canadian firecracker Hayley Whitehead.

“Everyone is happy for them,” a friend tells me, adding that the wedding is in early fall.

The happy news comes three years after Arthur, 45, split from his first wife Gemma Kidd, the older sister of model Jodie Kidd, and seven years after he and Hayley joined investment firm Oakley Capital.

In 2021, it became clear that Arthur and Hayley’s relationship went beyond the purely professional when they were photographed together in Ibiza. Haley, 36, then left Oakley to join investment firm CVC.

Traditionally, wedding celebrations are at the home of the bride’s parents, as was the case when Arthur married Gemma in a glamorous 2005 wedding held at Holders, the Kidd family’s estate in Barbados.

But the couple may choose to emulate one of Arthur’s sisters, Lady Charlotte Wellesley, who chose the family’s Dehessa Baja estate in Spain for her wedding to Colombian-American billionaire Alejandro Santo Domingo.

Arthur’s cousin Sophia Wellesley and her husband, super singer James Blunt, were guests for the occasion. So was the then Duchess of Cornwall, who is likely to be more tied down with duties this autumn…

Absolute winner Rose Ayling-Ellis, the first deaf contestant on the show, is glad to have someone on TV that those suffering from the same affliction can relate to.

“It’s so nice that deaf children have someone to look up to nowadays – which I never had when I was a child. I want to keep working on it, but I have to remember that I want to do things for me too,’ she tells me at a party in central London.

“However, I cannot put pressure to represent everyone because it is impossible. I can only do my best,’ adds the 28-year-old former EastEnders star. But she is calling for more disabled people to work on soap scripts.

“Now I’ve joined the Writers’ Access Group, which is run by the BBC, and what we’re trying to do is find more disabled writers because at the moment we can play these roles, but nobody’s writing them.”

She’s known for her boho chic style, but Sienna Miller seems to be choosing Victoria Beckham as a source of inspiration for her outfits.

The 41-year-old Hollywood actress carried a designer bag from the former Spice Girls boutique in Mayfair as she headed out for lunch in London.

Sienna, whose exes include actors Jude Law and Tom Sturridge – with whom she shared a ten-year-old daughter – showed off her stylish fashion credentials in a gray blazer with flared white jeans.

However, she’s unlikely to buy anything skimpy from Beckham’s brand, as she reveals: ‘I’ve never been one to be overtly sexy.

“I don’t think I would wear a Lycra dress that has cut out pieces. I don’t feel the need to show myself that way.

Paul Merton returns to stand-up for the first time in more than a quarter of a century. The Have I Got News For You star has confirmed two gig dates in the works, which will take place at the Comedy Museum in Holborn, London, on May 21 and 28.

“I’m going back to stand-up now because I believe what the world needs at the moment is another stand-up comedian,” says the 65-year-old, who along with satirist Ian Hyslop captained the team on the BBC show in for 33 years.

“A lot of people have no idea that I’ve done stand-up, and I’m one of them. I thought I would go back to standing while I could still stand.

Life has never confined Petra Khashoggi to the straitjacket of convention, as her father was reminded last Sunday night.

Petra, 42, who was 18 when she learned she was the daughter of former cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken and not billionaire arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, dropped in on Aitken at his London flat – quite a surprise as he means that he now lives in New York.

Explaining that Petra had made a “spontaneous” decision to cross the lake — accompanied by her husband, Manhattan man Danny Baker Jr. — Aitken had just enough time to alert Petra’s mother, Soraya, who had joined them for dinner.

“It was a joyous pleasure,” Aitken tells me, “and a particular pleasure to meet Danny for the first time.”

Share a bit about Jools Holland after his European tour was thrown into chaos. He collapsed before taking to the stage in Belgium on Thursday night and was forced to cancel the concert.

Due to her performance at Antwerp’s De Roma concert hall, the Hootananny star collapsed during sound check and had to be rushed to hospital. “I got a bug and wasn’t well all day, and then I had a short, unusual blackout at sound check,” says the 65-year-old ivory rattler. After being taken to a medical facility, doctors told Holland to rest for the night.

For someone who starred in The Shawshank Redemption, Tim Robbins could find himself back in if he continues with the blatant rule-breaking on display here.

The Hollywood heavyweight, dressed in a long blue jacket, jeans and hat, drew a number of ‘tut-tuts’ from passers-by as he cycled through London’s Primrose Hill park, where cycling is banned and carries a fine of up to £60 , if caught.

Double Oscar winner Timm, 64, and his American film director and cinematographer girlfriend Reed Morano, 45, were in the capital filming the upcoming Apple TV+ series Silo, in which he stars.

Don’t bother asking Jeremy Paxman what he thinks about TV programming, despite more than half a century on the air. The 72-year-old, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, says he previously only watched himself on the small screen.

“I’m not really looking at anything,” he tells me. “I was approached by one of these interviewers and they said, ‘What are you watching?’ And I said, ‘I watch University Challenge and Newsnight, but other than that I’m no good for anyone.’ ‘

Don’t bother David Suchet after a performance – well, not before he first shakes off the character he’s playing.

The 76-year-old Bafta nominee recently starred in the one-man show Poirot And More at London’s Hampstead Theater and always asks himself three questions to bring himself back down to earth.

“I remember a psychiatrist friend of mine came backstage and accused me of still being in the image. I was insulted,” Suchet tells me at an event in the capital.

“He said do you mind if I ask you little questions like, ‘What’s your phone number, what’s the date and birth dates of your children?'” I couldn’t get it out and tripped.

“To this day, I will look in the mirror and do this exercise before I let someone into the locker room.”