As the dopey Duchess of Sussex is derided for her “me, me, me” speech in Manchester, her pugnacious PR peddler Omid Scobie continues his cretinous campaign against her husband’s family
Today, as the new Prime Minister Liz Truss heads to Balmoral to see the Queen, it remains unknown as to whether her grandson Prince Harry and his wife – currently in Europe bigging themselves up in spite of the public clearly not wanting them present – will bother to do the same and pay a visit also.
In Düsseldorf today for the Invictus Games but said to be have “free time” tomorrow before being expected at the WellChild Awards in London on Thursday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were deservedly slammed by Gyles Brandreth yesterday on ITV’s This Morning programme.
Speaking of the dastardly duo, the much-loved veteran broadcaster and author declared: “The number of people being as sympathetic to them [the Sussexes] as they were initially does seem to be sort of thinning out a little bit… Once you make yourself the story, then you yourself become the story. What should be the story is the good works that you are doing… but, in fact, what we’re talking about is the family rift.”
Unsurprisingly, elsewhere the MailOnline’s Mark Duell referenced an intervention by Omid Scobie – who he termed “Meghan and Harry’s friend and trusted media partner” – in which the feckless Finding Freedom ‘author’ laughably claimed: “This is very much about the work [that the couple] wanted to do ever since they stepped back.” The leading “Sussex Squaddie” and all-round troll did, however, fail to mention what role paymasters’ Netflix and Spotify would play in the charade and also neglected to justify his continuing campaign against other members of Prince Harry’s family.
Turning to the speech to 2,000 young people in Manchester yesterday by the Duchess of Sussex, The Sun’s Sarah Grealish reported on a “Meg-A Snub” and shared news of the former Suits actress and her drippy husband being “booed and branded ‘fake royals’ by [the] crowd on [their] ‘me, me, me’ mini-tour.” The duchess referenced herself an astonishing 54 times during her 7-minute “nonsensical” tirade before the assembled gathering at the One Young World youth gala.
Grealish added that the couple were faced with “anti-royal placards” and “one woman accused Meghan of being a ‘liar and a hypocrite’ and of launching an ‘attack’ on the royal family.” Another, “Janet from Manchester” is said to have added: “She’s a fake humanitarian and a fake feminist. She’s a social climber… She thought she could be a celebrity in the royal family and she’s the most toxic, divisive woman I’ve ever heard of in my life.”
Pictured top – Plastic-not-anything-but-fantastic PR peddler not-a-journalist Omid Scobie (left) and his delusional puppet mistress, the Duchess of Sussex (right) yesterday in the north of England.
The ‘Montecito Meddler’ turned up looking like a scarlet woman to give her speech yesterday. It was met with derision given it was just about herself rather than inspiring to the young people who’d paid upto £1,000 to be present.On Twitter, Jimmy Failla of ‘Fox Across America’ called out the Duchess of Sussex and remarked of her: “It takes a special kind of stupid to claim women are being held back on the SAME DAY they name a Female Prime Minister” in the United Kingdom.Meanwhile this morning, after the ‘Daily Mail’s’ Richard Eden referenced “charity clearly [starting] at home for mother and daughter” behind the One Young World charity – after ‘The Sun’ reported that Kate Robertson and her daughter Ella Robertson McKay took home £634,494 in pay between them last year in spite of the pandemic, ‘The Steeple Times’s’ editor Matthew Steeples expressed surprise that “Chanel-clad” Baroness Meyer – who Eden had previously called out for her “charitable” antics” – had not got in on the act.The second son of Prince Charles and his late former wife Diana, Princess of Wales were told they were “fake royals” and to “f**k off” by one placard waving protestor. Another added: “[‘MeGain’] has used every card she can – racism, mental health, feminism. She’s not a feminist, she’s just a hypocrite.”As the duo arrived at the Bridgewater Hall, they were booed and jeered from behind barriers by an angry mob. Their demand for a “ring of steel” security curtain to shield them from such did nothing except draw further attention to how much the British public truly dislike their audacious antics.The couple’s popularity has plunged further and further into the quagmire in recent months. Nobody is surprised about that and they’re most certainly up there with non-sweating friend of child abusing sex traffickers Prince Andrew in the very, very disliked stakes.
What’s the truth about the stories that abound about the Duchess of Sussex?
Of her claiming having got married the day before she actually did, Mr Markle stated: “Lying about the archbishop? How can you say: ‘We’ve been married three days before we got married’? Her lies are so obvious, I don’t know why she says them.”
Her very own half-sister, Samantha, who is currently bringing a defamation case against her, has called her out as a liar on multiple occasions also. It has been proven that the duchess’s claim that she hasn’t seen her sibling in over 20 years was proven untrue when a photo of the pair 13 years ago emerged.
Her very own half-brother, Thomas Jr., said of her: “I told Prince Harry, I think she’s going to ruin your life. She’s very shallow… She’s a phony, a bully, a jaded, shallow, conceited woman.”
The wife of Prince Harry has been called out on multiple occasions for spinning stories against other members of the royal family, most especially the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Staff who’ve worked for her have complained that she is a bully and investigations into this remain ongoing.
The Duchess of Sussex is a known manipulator of the press and paparazzis and it has been claimed that she’ll “twist the truth” to get any headline she wants.
Questions remain as to how many times she’s actually been married in total. Some say twice, some say thrice.
Did the ‘Montecito Meddler’ meet Prince Andrew or Prince Harry first? Rumours abound that she could have spent time and holidayed with the former as long ago as 2001 and that her claim to have no prior knowledge of the royal family until 2016 is just utter baloney.
As author Kirby Sommers suggests that the then Meghan Markle likely spent time with Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein before she met Prince Harry, we again highlight the mucky, murkiness and mendacious manner of this alleged “yacht girl”
In January 2020, following a tip from a renowned journalist from a national newspaper, The Steeple Times asked: “Did the then Meghan Markle meet Prince Andrew before she met Prince Harry? Or did she meet the friend of the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein first?”
Now, just as the fallout from Tom Bower’s Revenge book continues to excite Twitter and her pugnacious PR peddler Omid Scobie announces that he’s writing a sequel to Finding Freedom, this very question has again resurfaced.
Discussed in a 35:49-minute podcast shared on YouTube late last week, crusading author of Ghislaine Maxwell: An Unauthorized Biography Kirby Sommers examines the connections between the Duchess of Sussex, Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Effectively suggesting Markle’s mate, Markus Anderson of Soho House, to be a ‘connector’ going back as far as 2001, Sommers argues the mainstream media “may have a photo of her” on a yacht in Phuket, Thailand “cavorting” with Prince Andrew at the behest of the mucky madam Maxwell and the since croaked paedophile Epstein.
Going further, the author also provides evidence of Markle having been invited to the ‘Yacht Week 2016’ in Croatia by an individual named Adam Haun. Founded by William Wenkel in 2006 and described as “Sodom and Gommorah at sea” by GQ in 2015, it is unknown whether then actress attended the hedonistic “Tinder at sea” event that one participant, Sweet Home Alabama dating show ‘bachelor’ Tribble Reese lauded as “like the Bahamas on steroids!”
Concluding on Twitter, Sommers observed: “[The Duchess of Sussex] is controlled by the same forces that controlled Jeffrey Epstein.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Duke of York andn their representatives, unsurprisingly, failed to respond to requests for comment.
A man believed to be Markus Anderson pictured on a yacht in Phuket, Thailand with Prince Andrew in 2001.
Tweets by crusading author of ‘Ghislaine Maxwell: An Unauthorized Biography’ Kirkby Sommers about the connection between the Duchess of Sussex, the Duke of York and the late Jeffrey Epstein:
Of her claiming having got married the day before she actually did, Mr Markle stated: “Lying about the archbishop? How can you say: ‘We’ve been married three days before we got married’? Her lies are so obvious, I don’t know why she says them.”
Her very own half-sister, Samantha, who is currently bringing a defamation case against her, has called her out as a liar on multiple occasions also. It has been proven that the duchess’s claim that she hasn’t seen her sibling in over 20 years was proven untrue when a photo of the pair 13 years ago emerged.
Her very own half-brother, Thomas Jr., said of her: “I told Prince Harry, I think she’s going to ruin your life. She’s very shallow… She’s a phony, a bully, a jaded, shallow, conceited woman.”
The former Meghan Markle has been called out on multiple occasions for spinning stories against other members of the royal family, most especially the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Staff who’ve worked for her have complained that she is a bully and investigations into this remain ongoing.
The Duchess of Sussex is a known manipulator of the press and paparazzis and it has been claimed that she’ll “twist the truth” to get any headline she wants.
Questions remain as to how many times she’s actually been married in total. Some say twice, some say thrice.
As rumours swirl about whether they are still actually living together, Boris Johnson and his puppet mistress Carrie unsurprisingly got booed at Jubilee Service of Thanksgiving
When she’s not lavishing £840 a roll of other peoples’ money on chintzy Lulu Lytle wallpaper or munching on fancy nosh gifted in Lady Bamford’s £1,000 a pop “colossal Daylesford hampers,” Carrie Johnson enjoys chucking no doubt very expensive red wine on sofas, abusing staff at Chequers and dancing to ABBA with the lads she nicknames “the gays.”
Still allegedly a senior advisor to the ocean conservation charity Oceana – which was for many years funded in part by the convicted mucky madam sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell – and also head of communications for the controversial Aspinall Foundation, the missing for some months now baby mama to the PM finally reappeared together on Friday in London.
Unsurprisingly booed on arrival and departure from St Paul’s Cathedral by many and jeered at by others, the public subsequently suggested on social media that yesterday’s show of unity was nothing but to keep the press and public’s speculations at bay.
With more likely having done so without declaring their hands, we now have a Prime Minister in both personal and political turmoil. He is not a steady captain for the ship that is Great Britain and once the fun and festivities are over on Monday, it is time for ration and reason. It is now time to start the process of getting this country back to dignified political leadership as we move into Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s 71st year at the helm.
Pictured top – Yesterday, satirical site @Mockeree shared on Twitter: “Boris and Carrie Johnson appear together at the #PlatinumJubilee thanksgiving service, quashing rumours of a rift.”
LBC radio jockey James O’Brien suggested that the Prime Minister’s wife wore a “hat that shields her husband from her sight” whilst others argued the jeering at St Paul’s to be “judged best international PR move by [the] British public since 2016.”Others, amongst them Saif Islam, suggested the reaction was “not isolated” and added this was a “roar of rage from Middle of England.” Here is a premier who is truly loathed and detested and frankly here is a wazzock who should just have stayed at home.
As the Conservative leader and his current wife arrived at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, they were most certainly met with anything but adulation. Here instead the modern-day Marie Antoinette and her bumbling buffoon husband found themselves hearing the wrath of a public sick to their stomachs with a government that governs only for the benefit of themselves.
As the couple left the event, they were again met with jeering. It illustrated how hated they truly are and it is most certainly indication that it is time for them to go. With polls predicting a “very heavy loss” in the Wakefield by-election and the likelihood of the 54-letter threshold being reached on Monday, here is a leader on the verge of being toppled and here is one that the public most certainly will not miss. It is time for this national disgrace to do the decent thing on the final day of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee and it is time for him to finally resign. Decent, true people everywhere would most certainly say cheers to that.
Members of the public cited the current government’s policies on Brexit and the Partygate scandal as amongst the reasons they jeered the current Conservative Prime Minister and his puppet mistress wife. They did not harbor dislike for the Queen, but they do harbour hatred for this country’s rotten government.
As it is revealed Carrie Johnson has been abusive to staff at Chequers, perhaps it is time for her to be told: “Carrie Shouldn’t Live Here Anymore;” this demanding wench along with her hapless husband deserve kicking out of all of their grace-and-favour residences ASAP
Situated 40 miles north-west of Central London at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, Chequers is an Elizabethan style residence that has been the official country residence of serving British Prime Ministers since 1921.
Listed Grade I and standing on an expansive plot of 1,500 acres, here is an especially tony crib that costs at least £916,000 a year to maintain. Now, though gifted originally primarily as a place for the incumbent PM to entertain visiting dignitaries, it seems that Boris Johnson’s self-entitled wife has decided that instead this is a place where she and her ABBA loving chums Henry Newman and Josh Grimstone are entitled to just frolic and fool around.
Former court jester to the modern-day Antoinette and one of those she supposedly nickname’s “The Gays,” Newman was so important to clearly tone deaf Mrs Johnson that she enabled him to celebrate his 38th birthday – hardly a milestone of any note – with a lavish bash at the estate in the summer of 2021. “It turned out to be a very high-spirited affair,” the Daily Mail’s Andrew Pierce reported in February, with “Housing Secretary Michael Gove riding pillion as Boris Johnson took him on a joy-ride on his second-hand Yamaha motorcycle around the grounds. Gove clasped his hands around Boris’s ample waist as they nudged speeds of 55mph, while Newman – clutching a flute of champagne – laughed and cheered.”
Exposing the misuse of this “retreat” further on Tuesday, The Times’s Simon Walters shared that Mr and Mrs Johnson began creating “tensions” at the Buckinghamshire residence before he even became Prime Minister. Aside from being “accused of failing to give enough notice before arriving,” the pair “were even trying to arrange to get into Chequers before [Philip and Theresa May] had gone. When he knew he was going to take over, they were trying to book ahead.”
Of their behaviour, a source shared: “It was chaos” and added that even when “they were told they couldn’t [come] because there were no staff,” they reversed – at no cost to themselves – David Cameron’s “austerity era” cuts and brought in at least four extra employees.
Now, after one now former employee who had supposedly “clashed with Carrie,” a housekeeper named Charlotte Vine MBE, received a payoff after denying accusations that she had the “inappropriate handling of a personal item” belonging to Johnson in his Chequers bathroom, it is time for a spring clean. Just like occurred with the squatting, property pest and “Nasty NestSeeker” Jonathan Davis, whose antics we reported on June 2020, the day when “Carrie Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” is played at Chequers is thankfully growing increasingly ever closer.
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta with Britain’s Prime Minister at the Buckinghamshire pad in July 2021.Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel with Johnson at the mansion in July 2021.The current PM’s latest baby mama with her beloved party loving chum Henry Newman toadily following along and fawning behind her. He got his just rewards with a big bash in the country in the summer of 2021.Of 16th century origin, the house has served has the British Prime Minister’s country residence since 1921 after being gifted to the nation by Sir Arthur Lee (later The Right Honourable The Viscount Lee of Fareham GCB GCSI GBE PC) by a Deed of Settlement.Another view of this expansive residence. In the building is a stained glass window that reads: “This house of peace and ancient memories was given to England as a thank-offering for her deliverance in the great war of 1914 – 1918 as a place of rest and recreation for her Prime Ministers forever.” It is a great pity that the self-centred, self-serving woman formerly known as Carrie Symonds has decided to take it upon herself to misuse this generous gift.On Twitter, of the latest scandal to follow ‘Partygate,’ columnist turned ‘Bloody Difficult Women’ playwright Tim Walker opined: “The Johnsons never got that Chequers and Downing Street aren’t five-star hotels that tolerated Wayne and Waynetta Slob behaviour.”Another user, Louis Henwood added: “No wonder they call her Carrie Antoinette. She comes across as a self-obsessed prima donna, who treats employees as servants and then tries to get people she doesn’t like fired. Her only skill seems to be getting the rich and powerful to indulge her whims.”
The creepy Christian crooner Sir Cliff Richard’s 1979 song should be played as they likely, hopefully soon drum the most disgraceful Prime Minister and his equally ghastly puppet mistress out of their grace-and-favour residences. It’ll be chants of “good riddance” that come on that day from the vast majority.
Both blubbing bed sh*tter Amber Heard and boring botherer the Duchess of Sussex should be heard less and ignored more; it is time to cancel these woke wazzocks
Audacious and awful Amber Heard is an actress and so used to be the wicked wench formerly known as Meghan Markle. Here, indeed, is a pair who are very similar and in both of them this week we’ve seen yet more shameless attention seeking.
Whilst Johnny Depp’s clearly crackers ex blubbed in court and was made an utter berk of by Kate Moss over her clear lies, that the Duchess of Sussex decided to visit a town in Texas she has utterly no connection with is just plain wrong.
The grieving families of those so disgustingly shot by a deranged madman do not need or require a visit from a woman who forced her husband to quit his royal duties to seek privacy. Her presence, instead, was nothing but wrong in all senses and that she turned up to profiteer with her camera crew in tow was beyond reprehensible.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex might believe Netflix’s cash to be their future; it will soon be their deserved undoing. Shame on them and shame on bed sh*tter Amber Heard also.
Why did the Duchess of Sussex – the wicked wench formerly known as Meghan Markle – go to a memorial for the victims of a school shooting in Texas when she has no connection to it in any way, shape or form?
The deranged diva’s decision to use a tragedy for her own PR purposes was rightly slammed on social media. That she stood looking over photographers sums up how self-serving this dreadful toerag truly is.If the Duchess of Sussex had wished to support the families of the victims of the Uvalde shootings, she could have sent a donation. Instead, she used this tragedy for her very own benefit. Shame on her.Meanwhile elsewhere in the Fairfax County Courthouse in Virginia, Johnny Depp looked on as his ex-lover Kate Moss proved Amber Heard nothing but a loopy liar yesterday.
Of her claiming having got married the day before she actually did, Mr Markle stated: “Lying about the archbishop? How can you say: ‘We’ve been married three days before we got married’? Her lies are so obvious, I don’t know why she says them.”
Her very own half-sister, Samantha, has called her out as a liar on multiple occasions also. It has been proven that the duchess’s claim that she hasn’t seen her sibling in over 20 years was proven untrue when a photo of the pair 13 years ago emerged.
Her very own half-brother, Thomas Jr., said of her: “I told Prince Harry, I think she’s going to ruin your life. She’s very shallow… She’s a phony, a bully, a jaded, shallow, conceited woman.”
The former Meghan Markle has been called out on multiple occasions for spinning stories against other members of the royal family, most especially the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Staff who’ve worked for her have complained that she is a bully and investigations into this remain ongoing.
The Duchess of Sussex is a known manipulator of the press and paparazzis and it has been claimed that she’ll “twist the truth” to get any headline she wants.
Questions remain as to how many times she’s actually been married in total. Some say twice, some say thrice.
SCOOP: Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, traveled to Uvalde, Texas, where she donated food to a community blood drive center and visited a memorial for the victims of the deadly school shooting. https://t.co/QgVGCznO4G
‘Buzzfeed’ botherer Ellie Hall claimed a “scoop” on the story of the mendacious meddling minx that is the decided drip Prince Harry’s wicked wastrel wife visiting the scene of a massacre. She announced: “SCOOP: Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, traveled to Uvalde, Texas, where she donated food to a community blood drive center and visited a memorial for the victims of the deadly school shooting.”
BREAKING: Meghan Markle has been photographed laying flowers at a memorial for the Texas shooting victims.
‘The Steeple Times’ chooses our Heroes & Villains 2021; the 25 best and 25 worst people of the last year and the 25 who’ll be missed and the 25 who won’t
Happy New Year to all our readers. Our ‘Heroes & Villains’ list was well received in 2020 and as we move into 2021, we yet again to echo our sentiments from last year and join all celebrating ‘good riddance’ to the monstrous mess that so sadly continued from 2020 into 2021.
May we now all hope that this period of uncertainty is coming towards it end and may we salute the heroic frontline workers who’ve continued to work towards getting a solution to this.
Our Heroes & Villains 2021 list follows, but first we make a special award:
For such amazing dedication and tenacity in his quest to help others, this 24-year-old truly deserves to be commended as not just a hero of the year, but as one of the most remarkable men of the decade. We salute Marcus Rashford and join those lauding him for showing compassion, kindness and decency.
Long may this decent gent continue – but may we also hope that one day soon, a country like Britain stops actually needing to rely on the efforts of such people. It is time in 2022 for our Prime Minister to work towards provide a solution to this crisis, rather than, as it did in 2021, to allow itself to get mixed up in scandals such as ‘Wallpapergate’ and the disgraceful protection of its very own self-serving members like ‘MP for the BVI’ Geoffrey Cox QC and the now money grabbing rather than constituent focused ex-MP Owen Paterson.
HEROES OF 2021
We’ve seen some great people do some wonderful things during 2022 and in the face adversity and strife, it is yet again healthcare heroes who are the ones most deserving of our ultimate respect as they continue to fight to rid us all of coronavirus.
Elsewhere, others have put on extreme shows of courage, broken down barriers and supported those working to expose injustice. We celebrate them all, but our first selection for our Heroes & Villains 2021 list had to be:
WINNER – Richard Ratcliffe
Iranian-British dual citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been imprisoned for no good reason in Iran for 19 months. Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, meanwhile, has never given up hope and his 21-day hunger strike in Westminster in 2021 was illustration of his dedication and courage.
Though the British government has done little to nothing to help him and that the Foreign Secretary has yet to reach a solution is beyond disgraceful, Ratcliffe remains hopeful and in December remarked: “It feels like things are moving and movement is good. My greatest fear is inertia. I always feel it’s shameful, how could it happen, but it did.”
Rose Ayling-Ellis
Aged just 27 and born deaf, Rose Ayling-Ellis has played Frankie Lewis in the BBC One soap EastEnders since 2020. In 2021, she became the first deaf contestant on the channel’s Strictly Come Dancing and went on to win the show’s nineteenth series.
Her victory brought joy to the nation and of her success, award winning deaf and disabled journalist Liam O’Dell remarked: “It goes to show how, with the right support, deaf people can achieve anything… It’s important now that the buzz, passion and momentum generated by Rose’s journey does not dissipate – let’s continue uplifting deaf people!”
Alfie Best
In spite of being of humble origins and leaving school aged just 12, “old school, blood and blisters businessman” Alfie Best has risen to the top and deservedly recently won the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Award’ at the Signature Awards at the Park Lane Hilton, London.
Described as “the world’s first gypsy billionaire” by the Mirror in August 2021, Wlydecrest Parks chairman and founder Best remarked: “I’m a Romany gypsy. I’m a gypsy through and through and sometimes I pinch myself.”
Generous, flamboyant and the owner of a fleet of helicopters and supercars, Best is the largest residential park and holiday home operator in the UK. He has over 91 parks in the UK alone and is also the owner of East Thurrock United.
Alfie Best, interviewed first by The Steeple Times in April 2017, is someone with tenacity and dedication to hard work. He sets an example to others that if you put in the hours, you’ll get the results and success you desire.
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, LG, GCVO, CSM, PC
Herself an “avid reader as a child,” the second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, started what she described as a ‘Reading Room’ that is “inspired by the success of Her Royal Highness’s reading lists shared during the pandemic in 2020” in the last year.”
It has involved everyone from William Boyd and Susan Hill to Kazuo Ishiguro and Hilary Mantel and of why she started it, she herself stated:
“To me, reading is a great adventure. I’ve loved it since I was very small and I’d love everybody else to enjoy it as much as I do. You can escape and you can travel and you can laugh and you can cry. There’s every kind of emotion that humans experience in a book… It has been a lovely way of communicating.”
We urge readers of The Steeple Times to join the 128,000 who’ve already followed this worthy endeavour on Instagram.
Tony Hudgell (AKA ‘Bear’)
Happy New Year Everyone🎉 A message from Tony see you in 2022
Wishing you all health, love and happiness in the year to come 💙
— Tony Hudgell BEM (BCyA) Paula Hudgell OBE (@paula_hudgell) December 31, 2021
In his relatively short life thus far, 7-year-old double amputee and victim of parental abuse as a baby Tony Hudgell has morphed into a courageous changemaker.
This unstoppable dynamo – now adopted by two loving parents and living in West Malling, Kent – is a true “inspiration” and described as someone who “never complains, carries on no matter what is thrown at him – all the challenges, he just gets back up and carries on.”
Nicknamed ‘Captain’ for following in the footsteps of the late Captain Sir Tom Moore, Weller responded to the news by announcing:
“I’m chuffed to bits… It feels absolutely amazing to be honoured by the Queen. My mum told me about the award on Christmas Day and I thought, ‘wow! I am so excited.’”
“It makes me feel magnificent. I love raising money for charity and knowing I have helped other children is a lovely feeling. I am so proud and privileged.”
VILLAINS OF 2021
As could only be expected, many of the usual suspects to be considered villains in the context of our Heroes & Villains listings have behaved appallingly during 2021. Amongst them, towards the top of such a collection, has to be the buffoon that supposedly runs Britain but seems too busy consuming cheese and wine with his puppet mistress wife, Boris Johnson, and the mendacious money grabber the Duchess of Sussex and her sidekick drip of a husband, Prince Harry.
This dastardly duo – quite rightly now known as ‘Ginge and Cringe’ – have caused pain to the Queen at a time when she has lost her stalwart husband and joining them, others consistent in their vileness and ridiculousness must include, as ever, publican Tim Martin for whining about his beloved Brexit causing his profits to slump and the especially moronic media mouthpieces Darren Grimes, Owen Jones and Richard Madeley for their continuing crackpot craziness.
Now, unlike the entirely innocent and wrongly incarcerated Nazanin Zaghhari-Ratcliffe, rightly certain to spend the rest of her days rotting in the clink, mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured in happier times with her father’s rival, Rupert Murdoch) will never again be called a “socialite.”
This wicked wench will henceforth quite deservedly will forever be labelled a “sex offender” and “sex trafficker” and again The Steeple Times joins those calling for the 1994 Met Police investigation into what went on at the alleged brothel at her Stanhope Mews East mews house to urgently be reopened.
We know that’ll be unlikely to occur whilst her school and university mate Dame Cressida Dick remains in charge and equally, we suspect, the deviant daughter of a murdering pension pot plunderer will not offer up any powerful names of those that so disgustingly ‘enjoyed’ abusing the innocent victims she so willingly passed around.
Shame on her and in 2022 and beyond, may Ghislaine Maxwell forever rot in hell.
Russell Brand
In June 2021, The Steeple Times featured the story of how The Sun excused the unfunny comedian Russell Brand as “quick thinking and a hero” after his German Shepherd dog, Bear, caught a female wallaby “whilst it had its baby in its pouch” and “mauled it to death” in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. He should have instead been condemned and most certainly not saluted and at time we remarked:
“If Brand’s dog had attacked sheep or a child – which it quite potentially could do next given it plainly has a clear penchant for blood – would The Sun so easily have leapt to his defence? The hypocrisy of this shocking story is clear and today we call upon the RSPCA and police to intervene before Brand’s dog slaughters something else.”
As far as we are aware, disgustingly, both Bear and Brand remain at large; where the poor wallaby and its baby is buried is, however, unknown.
Gordon Elliott
Racing “blow-in” – given his being the son of a panel-beater and lacking any familial connections to horse racing – Gordon Elliott brought utter disgrace to the sport in March 2021 when he was banned as a trainer for 12 months after being captured on camera sitting on a dead horse whilst on his mobile phone and making a V-sign. Outrageously, this sick scumbag was allowed back into the game just 6 months later and nobody seemed to bat an eyelid.
Ivy Holt
PR pontificating prized pillock Ivy Holt of Media PR is so “highbrow” that we haven’t even got a photo of her – not that we’re bothered; it’d probably break your screens, she’s probably as ugly as sin physically on top of her ugly as sin soul.
This wannabe Brian Basham and fake news muckspreader was called out by The Steeple Times on 1st April 2021 – April Fools’ Day – after she tried to make a mockery of our previous day’s story about the twentieth anniversary of the tragic murder of Stuart Lubbock at the home of the disgraced ‘entertainer’ Michael Barrymore. Shame on her; what an utter disgrace.
Ms Holt (AKA Ivy Elizabeth Barbara Elsby) thought herself clever for sending a press release containing nothing but fake news. When questioned, she claimed that we, instead, were at fault for hurting the feelings of the deranged drug addict Lindsay Lohan. Frankly, this stupid cow and her crappy clients ‘Love Yourself’ ought to have got real. Next!
Rebecca Sabben-Clare
If you were a barrister, you’d most probably abide by the law and be a pillar of the community. Sadly, Rebecca Sabben-Clare of 7 King’s Bench isn’t such a person and after failing to keep her dog on a lead, the result was that her out-of-control beast savagely killed a seal that it managed to get its teeth into.
Sabben-Clare, instead of putting her hands up in shame, then tried to PR her way out of the situation and herself lawyered up. Why the police didn’t prosecute this unfit-to-own-an-animal-of-any-kind barbarian is beyond comprehension.
James Staley (AKA ‘Jes Staley’)
In February 2020, The Steeple Times made reference to an investigation into Barclays CEO Jes Staley (pictured left) in connection to his close connection to the croaked just under a year earlier paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
It took 627 days until anything progressed, but on 1st November 2021, this Boston, Massachusetts born close associate of Ghislaine Maxwell’s ex-lover finally stepped down. The mucky madam, meanwhile, had her Barclays account closed shut down while she was trying to fund her case in February 2020 on the basis of her links to the proceeds of crime.
THOSE WHO’LL BE MISSED
Sadly, as with any year, countless great people pass on into the skies and amongst the many who’ll be greatly missed are are the Queen’s late husband and constant stalwart Prince Philip, the billionaire businessmen Sir David Barclay and Galen Weston OC, CVO, OOnt, footballer Jimmy Greaves, founder of Tramp nightclub Johnny Gold, the Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding, the talk show host Larry King, the actresses Helen McCrory OBE and Una Stubbs, the racehorse trainer Zoe Davison and the Cheveley Park Stud owner David Thompson CBE.
Our twenty-five selections follow, but naturally the winner of the most missed for our Heroes & Villains 2021 list had to be:
WINNER – Archbishop Desmond Tutu OMSG CH GCStJ
A 90-year-old humanitarian, human rights activist and key force in the campaign to end apartheid, this humble South African hero to millions insisted on “no ostentatiousness or lavish spending” for his funeral and that he be given “the cheapest available coffin.”
Of him, via a video message shown at his funeral, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the head of the worldwide Anglican church, remarked:
“Archbishop Tutu lit up the world… that light has lit up countries globally that were struggling with fear, conflict, persecution, oppression, where the marginalised suffered.”
“When we were in the dark, he brought light. For me to praise him is like a mouse giving tribute to an elephant.”
“South Africa has given us extraordinary examples of towering leaders of the rainbow nation with President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu… Many Nobel winners’ lights have grown dimmer over time, but Archbishop Tutu’s has grown brighter.”
The late Archbishop himself once wisely added: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” He was spot on and with his passing, humanity is all the poorer.
Harry Brant
A “socialite and style setter” according to The New York Times, Harry Brant fulfilled the prophecy of “the good die young” when he was found dead aged just 24 in January 2021.
Son of the industrialist Peter M. Brant and original supermodel Stephanie Seymour, this modern-day “Little Lord Fauntleroy,” as Vanity Fair once called him, “pushed the boundaries on gender stereotype” and released unisex makeup collections with MAC with his brother even in 2015 and 2016.
Of his passing, his family announced in a statement: “He was a creative, loving and powerful soul that brought light into so many people’s hearts. He was truly a beautiful person inside and out.”
John Challis
The Steeple Times interviewed actor John Challis in May 2013. He told us that “mobile phones are a bloody nuisance” and that he loathed the word “gobsmacked.” He spoke of ABBA being his guilty pleasure and his love of the Hotel Splendido in Portofino and though he became best known for playing a conniving car dealer in Only Fools and Horses, he was only meant to be in the sitcom for one episode.
Thrice married and born in Clifton, Bristol, the legend that was John Challis died aged 79 in September 2021. The statement: “Come on, Marlene. Let’s go home and ignore each other for the evening” will sadly now never be heard directly from his lips ever again.
Terry Lubbock
A campaigner to the end for justice for his raped and murdered son, Stuart – a father of two who was killed in the most gruesome manner in March 2001 at the home of the since deservedly disgraced ‘entertainer’ Michael Barrymore – died after a long battle with cancer in September 2021.
Though he never managed to see any of those present at the Roydon, Essex bungalow when his son died, he will forever be remembered for being “mild-mannered” yet having “the heart of a lion.”
Wilbur Smith
Born in Northern Rhodesia in 1933, British-South African novelist Wilbur Smith (pictured with his beloved wife, Niso) had published an astonishing 49 books and sold over 140 million copies by the time he died in November 2021.
Smith was an international household name whose swashbuckling adventure stories gripped readers for over half a century. He covered critical periods including the dawn of colonial Africa, the American Civil War and the apartheid era South Africa and did so with style and panache.
In 2018, in his memoir On Leopard Rock, the author recounted his life and remarked he’d had ““tough times, bad marriages … burnt the midnight oil getting nowhere, but it has, all in the end, added up to a phenomenally fulfilled and wonderful life.” Believer in “deep research” Smith concluded: “I want to be remembered as somebody who gave pleasure to millions” and he most certainly will.
THOSE WHO WON’T BE MISSED
It is much harder to choose villains who deserve to be dead than heroes who deserve to be missed given they are all loved by somebody whatever they may have done, but lots of bad guys and gals have gone in 2021 – amongst them mobsters, murderers, rapists and sex offenders.
Those that especially stand out for our Heroes & Villains 2021 list include:
WINNER – Bernard L. Madoff
Having been sent to prison for 150 years, the maximum sentence allowed, on 29th June 2009, Queens, New York born Bernie Madoff died in prison on 14th April 2021.
An individual rotten to his core and the personification of greed this Ponzi schemer stole not only £48 billion ($65 billion), but also left behind a family in ruins. One of his two sons died of cancer, the other committed suicide and to the end this wicked “wizard of lies” and all-round wrong ‘un.
Quite rightly, in June 2020, this fraudster’s request for release on compassionate grounds was denied. His wife, Ruth, continues to deny any knowledge of the fraud in spite of being the long-time keeper of his books.
Michael McKevitt
Founder of the Real IRA Michael McKevitt was the brother-in-law of hunger striking Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) hunger striker Bobby Sands.
A County Leith native and eventually expelled from the Real IRA, McKevitt was one of four men found liable for the 1988 Omagh bombing and jailed in 2003 for “directing terroism” between August 1999 and October 2000. He had allegedly planned to assassinate the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair and died following a battle with cancer on 2nd January 2021.
Donald Rumsfeld, 13th and 21st United States Secretary of Defense
Forever more, Donald Rumsfeld’s name will be associated with “the biggest military fiasco in US history, the 2003 invasion of Iraq in pursuit of non-existent weapons of mass destruction, alongside the widespread use of torture that has dogged America’s reputation ever since” according to The Guardian.
A Donald Trump supporter described by Henry Kissinger as “the most ruthless man” he ever knew, the villain Rumsfeld was also labelled the “worst secretary of defense in American history” and a man who “lacked the wisdom to change his mind” by The Atlantic. Many believe this psychopath will burn in hell; they are more than likely right.
Phil Spector (born Harvey Phillip Spector)
Born in The Bronx, New York in December 1939, this clearly talented but totally unsound of mind American record producer, musician and songwriter worked with The Beatles, The Ronettes and Tina Turner.
In 2009, this monstrous twisted drug addict was convicted of the 2003 murder by shooting of the actress Lana Clarkson at his then home, the Pyrenees Castle in Alhambra, California, and sentenced to nineteen years to life in prison. Phil Spector died in the clink in Los Angeles, in January 2021. The world is a better place for this repugnant specimen’s passing.
Raymond Teret (AKA ‘Ugli’ and ‘Ugly Ray’)
Chauffeur to the perverted paedophile Sir Jimmy Savile turned radio DJ, Salisbury born Ray Teret was accused of over thirty offences of sexual abuse and eventually convicted of seven counts of rape and eleven counts of indecent assault in December 2014.
AND FINALLY… A SELECTION OF FIVE AMAZING ANIMALS WHO’VE SADLY LEFT US IN 2021
Some incredible animals spotted doing incredible things have kept us all going in the dark days 2021, but amongst those that sadly passed and are thus included on our Heroes & Villains 2021 list are:
WINNER – Seal named ‘Freddie Mercury’
Though the death of any majestic animal is awful, the way in which an irresponsible barrister (one of our Villains of 2021) named Rebecca Sabben-Clare QC reacted after her “snarling” terrier-cross mauled to death a “defenceless” seal on the River Thames in March 2021 was utterly disgraceful.
‘Freddie Mercury,’ as the seal was nicknamed, shamefully never got justice whilst the reprehensible Sabben-Clare was not even prosecuted. The lesson here is this: If you spot this wicked woman and her deranged dog in 2022, run for the hills.
Racehorse named ‘Galileo’
Aged 23 at the time of his death in July 2021, Galileo was a spectacular Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who ran eight times and won six races including The Derby, the Irish Stakes, the King George VI and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2001. After his retirement, he became one of the most sought after sires of the world with notable offspring including Frankel, Nathaniel, and Anthony Van Dyck.
Minke whale calf named ‘Minnie’
In May 2021, an injured minke whale calf became trapped at Teddington Lock in the River Thames. Stuck sixty miles from the estuary, this poor 13-foot long juvenile – which was named ‘Minnie’ – got stuck in weeds after “running out of river and having nowhere to go.” After a desperate attempt to save the “poor fella,” the unfortunate mammal had to be put down with an overdose of anaesthetic.
Racehorse named ‘Roy Rocket’
With nine 1st places along with two 2nd and six 3rd places at Brighton during his eleven-year life, “Roy’s The Boy,” as he was known was “an incredible horse.” Stubborn to the point he wouldn’t go anywhere else, this favourite of punters even had an octogenarian fan named Iris who forced his trainer, John Berry, to down flasks of gin prior to sending him to post.
Dolphin named ‘Winter’
This female Atlantic bottlenose dolphin was found when she circa two months old tangled in a crab trap line in Mosquito Lagoon, Florida in December 2005. Without circulation to her tail flukes as a result, ‘Winter’ lost her tail and was given a prosthetic replacement. In turn, it allowed her make a complete recovery and become an international star featuring in books, films and Nintendo games even. She died in November 2021 of a twisted intestine.
THANK YOU AND ALL THE BEST FOR 2022
All at The Steeple Times would like to thank everyone who has contributed suggestions to our list of the Heroes & Villains 2021. Most have expressed that they would rather not be named so we shall respect that, but all their contributions are greatly appreciated.
May we end by wishing you and yours great times and prosperity in 2022 and may this, for us all, be a much better year.
Cheers and happiness galore and do send your suggestions for the heroes and villains of 2022 to us at [email protected] as the year progresses.
Matthew Steeples previews ‘Who Is Gatsby Randolph?’ and finds it not only refreshingly raucous, but also proof that anyone can achieve their dream
In England, we have party crashers like David Pun – a bow tie wearing blaggart who pretends to own Harvey Nichols, but actually lives in a bus shelter in Hammersmith. Freakish toerags like him and the bigoted berk Marie-Claire, Baroness von Alvensleben pollute events, hoovering up canapés and nabbing gift bags with audacity and awfulness, but in Hollywood there’s a marvelous man who has got the art of getting into the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party down to a fine art.
London’s leading liggers, amongst them bow tie wearing David Pun (right) and convicted racist Marie-Claire, ‘Baroness’ von Alvensleben (left, with disgraced ‘entertainer’ Michael Barrymore), flash business cards lacking class, style and elegance, but still somehow get their wicked way into society bashes. How they get away with it remains a mystery and though there have been proposals to make documentaries about their antics, these have yet to reach the viewing public.English actress turned award winning producer Alexa Jago, however, has managed to bring the remarkable yet totally true story of a humble boy from Memphis, Tennessee who sought out and achieved his dream of getting to the top in Tinseltown to the big screen.With a (borrowed but real) Oscar and a bottle of Dom Perignon (or five), this bio-documentary of an aspiring music producer turned tastemaker illustrates the power of Instagram. In it, the star claims “social media is archival footage” and through weaving his posts into a cohesive story, Gatsby Randolph becomes a genuine and welcomed personality.
https://vimeo.com/423678137
A ‘mockumentary’ in style and deservedly lauded as “Borat meets Entourage,” Who Is Gatsby Randolph? tells the story of Memphis, Tennessee born Kobie Randolph’s transition as he seeks out fame and fortune in Tinseltown. Rather like in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel from which he takes his adopted moniker, “people were not invited – they went there” is the premise of our suave, cigar chomping protagonist.
Produced by talented English theatre and film actress turned award winning producer Alexa Jago – best known for having worked alongside amongst others Kevin Costner and for having been part of the team behind the 2015 hit Kajaki (AKA Kilo Two Bravo) – and due for theatrical release in the coming months, here is a film about a young man’s rise from poverty to the pinnacle of power and privilege living in a mansion in the Hollywood Hills.
With 101,000 followers on Instagram currently, but ironically without 101 Dalmatians, in what has been described as “a poignant wild ride through red carpets with unlimited access to all the glitz and glamour,” this bio-documentary examines not only success, but also struggle.
Reinvention is key to Kobie Randolph’s transition into his alter-ego ‘Gatsby’ and of his journey, the star recently told FilmInk: “As a filmmaker, I recognised that my own story of rags to riches was, in fact, a movie in the making.” He most certainly has achieved that and Who Is Gatsby Randolph? most definitely looks set to be one of the hits of 2022.
Pictured top – Kobie Randolph, a man described by British actor Hainsley Lloyd Bennett as making him “feel like I could take over Hollywood.” Of him, the ‘Pennyworth’ star recently remarked: “His electric spirit jumps through the screen… He projected that he was somebody, so everyone treated him like he was and that was irrespective of his race, his age and his looks.”
Here (pictured with Anna Wintour) is a hustler who threw convention to the wind and got himself in front of Steven Spielberg even.This is an amusing and lighthearted tale that echoes F. Scott Fitzgerald’s character’s intrepid pursuit of the American dream. Its protagonist (pictured here with screen sirens Glenn Close and Emily Blunt) really did get into ‘Vanity Fair’s’ Oscar after-party not only once but four times.On his journey, Gatsby Randolph met everyone from Angelina Jolie (pictured) to Reese Witherspoon.
