Nicknamed “the walking man’s crumpet”, Dublin born, Rutland based television presenter Julia Bradbury has over 50,000 followers on Twitter. She fronted the BBC’s Countryfile for five years and has also presented shows such as Kill It, Cook It, Eat It and Take on the Twisters. Bradbury views the late fell walker Alfred Wainwright to be a “walking God” and once told Hello! that she feels “no pressure to look younger”.
This thrice married daughter of the novelist Dame Barbara Cartland was allegedly fathered by Prince George, Duke of Kent and has worked her way through five titles. Upwardly mobile, she’s been described as “larger than life” but was so unpopular with her step-children that they nicknamed her “Acid Raine”. During Mohamed Fayed’s ownership of Harrods, Raine Spencer was made a director and was often to be found manning the tills during sales. Her step-son, Earl Spencer, described this mother of four as having a taste in decoration that is akin to “the wedding cake vulgarity of a five-star hotel in Monaco”.
This courageous corporal was hit by a mortar in Iraq and suffered terrible injuries that included being blinded in one eye, a heart attack and damage to her womb. She used part of the £380,000 compensation she received from the Ministry of Defence to have a £52,500 makeover and commented: “It was a non-brainer, the best money I ever spent”. Unlike the grasping pair Sam Barton and Josie Cunningham, Hannah Campbell paid for much of it herself. This heroic lady, whose photograph by the rock star Bryan Adams appeared in an exhibition at the National Gallery, has completed a marathon in the time since and given birth to her second child, Lexi-River. In August 2014, she told the Daily Mail: “The miracle happened. I feel blessed. Many women never learn to be fully happy with how they look but I really appreciate how I am now”.
The daughter of John Betjeman, Candida Lycett Green was English through and through. An author, conservationist and horsewoman, Lycett Green was a bohemian member of the Private Eye set whom lived by the Reverend Sydney Smith’s “take the short view of human life, never further than dinner or tea”. She began her marriage to the “romantic maverick” gambler Rupert Lycett Green with a round the world trip in a Land Rover and tellingly wrote such books as Goodbye London and Unwrecked England. A mother of five, Lycett Green bred 60 winning racehorses and loved exploring England.
A can of beer in hand, this bearded wanderer likes to serenade customers outside Brompton Road restaurants such as La Brasserie and Aubaine. He’s been known to do handstands and especially loves persuading old ladies to dance. A donation of £1 will have him jump into a jig.
This mother and son duo were the stalwarts that built Britain’s most popular seaside attraction, the 40-acre Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Fairgrounds were their life and even at 95, Malvern Ladies’ College educated Doris Thompson MBE OBE was the first to ride her park’s 100mph Playstation ride. After getting off, she gamely stated: “That’s the closest I’ve been to heaven so far”. Shrewsbury and Christ’s College, Cambridge educated Geoffrey Thompson (AKA “Mr Funshine”), aged just 67, sadly predeceased his 101-year old mother by 11 days.
This brilliantly named lady ought to be the head of the Charity Commission. She’d be much more use than William Shawcross CVO (who is paid £50,000 per annum for two days per week). Charity launched Crunchy Nutters for Kellogg’s in 2002 and was appointed global creative director on Head & Shoulders at Saatchi & Saatchi in 2008. She is a director of Ideamotel.com and could also be at home on a panel with Boaty Boatwright, Lauren Lauren and Morris Morris.
This talented Finnish Formula One champion is not known for being the most forthcoming interviewee but is the fifth highest paid sportsman in the world with an estimated salary of around £31 million per year. When asked: “How does it feel to drive at 300 km/h?”, Räikkönen responded: “It feels normal”. Of what makes him angry, he told a reporter: “If you keep asking questions like those”. Asked why he didn’t bother to watch a ceremony where Michael Schumacher received a lifetime achievement award on live TV, Räikkönen commented: “I was having a shit”. He believes “Formula One would be a paradise without the media”.
The daughters of a convicted Italian kidnapper were cleared of defrauding Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi at a trial at Isleworth Crown Court in December 2013. These “kitchen confidantes” stated that they were “treated worse than Filipino slaves” and added that they’d “rather go to jail” than live in Battersea. There’ll be no more cupcakes for this duo.
Described as “one of the nicest guys on London’s club and bar scene”, Kester Thomas worked at Kitts, the Buddha Bar and The Sanderson. His drink making ability was second to none. This “truly unique gentleman” passed far too young but he’s definitely now mixing the finest cocktails in the sky.