In the carefree days of yesteryear, they could be found gently misbehaving on the slopes of Verbier and the streets of Chelsea.
Now both are engaged in bruising battles – Prince Harry in the High Court, and his old friend, hospitality entrepreneur Howard Spooner, in the corporate jungle.
The cost to the swashbuckling Spooner – one-time co-owner with Guy Pelly of Harry’s favourite nightclub Public – has been high.
Indeed, I can disclose that a couple of weeks ago he put one of his companies, which owes HMRC nearly £600,000, into liquidation as he tries to regain his health after five gruelling years.
‘They thought I’d had a stroke,’ Spooner tells me. ‘It wasn’t. It was a problem with my heart.’
The bleak medical bulletin followed a brutal and protracted legal case against US multi-millionaire Brook Johnson and his glamorous wife, Sally, a former TV weather girl and one-time squeeze of Princess Diana’s lover James Hewitt.
‘I had to beg and borrow over £1million to fight the case,’ explains Spooner, who won both the first round and an appeal brought by the Johnsons, with whom he’d been equal partners when acquiring The George, a splendid 17-bedroom hotel on the Isle of Wight, in 2019.
Though he won – the judgment handed him full control of The George, while the Johnsons’ legal bill was estimated at £1.5million – his victory came at a cost.
Howard Spooner is a friend of Prince Harry (pictured)
A couple of weeks ago he put one of his companies, which owes His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs nearly £600,000, into liquidation, as he tries to regain full health after five gruelling years (pictured: Howard Spooner)
‘I was exhausted and unwell, with a heart murmur,’ he explains, adding that other members of his family valiantly stepped in and took over the running of the hotel.
But Spooner, 55, assures me: ‘No local suppliers at all are owed any money.’ His wife, Lucy, 44, is now in charge at the establishment, which is run by a new company.
Perhaps he should now concentrate on his memoirs. Once, when footing the bill in Verbier, he watched aghast as Harry ordered a bottle of wine – ‘a £600 Pomerol’.
However, Spooner was aware that the young prince invariably got what he wanted –
perhaps especially at Public, in London’s Chelsea, where
‘a line of girls’ would walk past Harry’s table ‘and he would just point, and they would sit down’.
Street artist has designs on royals
He has in the past depicted King Charles in military uniform, wearing aviator sunglasses and surrounded by graffiti, but French street artist Mr Brainwash still hopes that he will be granted permission to capture the Windsors.
‘I would love to do a Royal Family portrait next,’ he tells me at the unveiling of his new artwork depicting the Royal Albert Hall, in partnership with Clarendon Fine Art and in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.
The King’s niece Princess Beatrice attended an exhibition of his work last summer. ‘I’ve been a fan of his for a long time,’ she told me.
Mr Brainwash, whose real name is Thierry Guetta, is, she added, ‘all about fun and joy’.
He has in the past depicted King Charles in military uniform, wearing aviator sunglasses and surrounded by graffiti, but French street artist Mr Brainwash still hopes that he will be granted permission to capture the Windsors
Zara and Eugenie set the tone at the races
Cheltenham Festival ditched Ladies’ Day last year and replaced it with Style Wednesday in a bid to be more ‘inclusive’.
And Zara Tindall, who is a director of the racecourse, made sure she and her pals co-ordinated their clothing yesterday.
Zara, 43, and another of King Charles’s nieces, Princess Eugenie, 34, wore burgundy fascinators, as did their friend Natalie Pinkham, 47, the Sky Sports presenter.
Pinkham’s husband Owain Walbyoff and Zara’s other half, former England rugby captain Mike Tindall, wore matching ties.
Pinkham jokily referred to the group as ‘Maroon 5’, after the American pop band.
Zara, 43, and another of King Charles’s nieces, Princess Eugenie, 34, wore burgundy fascinators, as did their friend Natalie Pinkham, 47, the Sky Sports presenter
Camilla’s thrifty niece
Selling unwanted clothes on websites such as Vinted or Depop has become de rigueur for young people, but Queen Camilla’s niece wants themto trade in person.
Alice Irwin, daughter of Camilla’s sister Annabel Elliot, is to hold a ‘pre-loved clothing marketplace’, called VintFitz, this Sunday at Port Regis prep school in Dorset.
‘It’s not vintage in the traditional sense, but we liked ‘Vint’. And ‘Fitz’ is the term young people use for outfits,’ explains Alice.
Royal rugby rivals
This weekend’s final round of the Six Nations is particularly tense for the Prince and Princess of Wales.
While English rugby patron Catherine hopes her boys might nick the title by beating the Welsh in Cardiff, long-time Wales patron William wants his currently winless team to avoid the bottom of the table.
And Prince George’s rugby allegiance has been a bone of contention recently. ‘It’s become quite the thing in the house,’ William has said of the rivalry, adding: ‘[Catherine] is quite into it. I’m trying to stay out of it.’
Irish charm for Sabrina
Sabrina Carpenter wearily declared that ‘Irish boys are hard work’ to a Dublin audience last week, but Barry Keoghan’s ex-girlfriend remains charmed by all things Irish.
I hear the US pop star visited Irish pub The Devonshire in London’s Soho on Sunday after playing The 02.
Sabrina Carpenter wearily declared that ‘Irish boys are hard work’ to a Dublin audience last week, but Barry Keoghan’s ex-girlfriend remains charmed by all things Irish
‘We had Sabrina in here the other night,’ confirms Irish co-owner Oisin Rogers – but he won’t tell me whether the Espresso singer, 25, performed there.
There are rumours that Sabrina has rekindled her romance with Saltburn star Keoghan, 32, who split up with his previous girlfriend when their son was 15 months old. Oisin says: ‘You wouldn’t want him going out with your daughter, would you?’
Pike: Young actors must stay offline
Young actors are encouraged to build up a following on social media these days, but Rosamund Pike claims it’s leading them astray.
‘It’s easy to get distracted from the main purpose of your work as an actor, which is to shut all of that out,’ says the Saltburn star, 46.
‘Other people can confuse that and make you think having a lot of followers, having a profile and being at the right party is the job. It is not.
‘The real job is hard graft out of the limelight. The only thing I say you need as an actor is stamina.’
Pike said of getting her start in the industry: ‘There wasn’t the competition of ‘I want to be famous’ – there was none of that – which is maybe problematic for young people now.’
