William Dalrymple suggests the past should guide anyone considering invading Afghanistan
Last night I attended a reception hosted by Sir Tom Stoppard and the Founders’ Circle of the London Library at the East India Club with my great friend Barbara Minto. At it, the writer and historian William Dalrymple gave a brief but fascinating talk about the discoveries he’d made researching his latest work, Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan 1839 – 42.
A former Eastenders actress turned born again Christian whose car crash of a life is the envy of no one. She tragically destroyed her nose after wasting at least £250,000 on crack cocaine and even ended up being kidnapped and gang raped because of a drug debt. In 2013, twice married Westbrook announced: “I have given my life to the Lord”. Her story should be a lesson to many.
Like a fine vintage, this Texan model and actress gets better with age. Mick Jagger’s former common-law wife was once engaged to Bryan Ferry and has dabbled with Kabbalah and other religions. A mother of four, Hall once stated: “I’m a very bad citizen. I’ve never even voted… I have zero interest in politics”.
The costs of policing Julian Assange’s residency at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London soar to beyond £4.2 million
By the time of the first anniversary of Julian Assange’s arrival at the Ecuadorean Embassy in Hans Crescent on 19th June, the cost of policing his “stay” will have come to the astounding sum of over £4,200,000.
One of the greatest traders ever to have lived. This thrice married American was famed for making and losing several multi-million dollar fortunes and once stated: “People who look for easy money invariably pay for the privilege of proving conclusively that it cannot be found on this earth”. Bankers today should pay heed. Nicknamed the “Boy Plunger” and “Great Bear of Wall Street”, Livermore’s end was tragic. A sufferer of clinical depression, Livermore shot himself in a cloakroom at The Sherry-Netherland Hotel in November 1940.
Ben Fogle suggests that he could have been poisoned by a Russian spy
Ben Fogle’s rise to the middle realms of “fame” is something I’ve always found puzzling. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an affable chap and I have utterly no problem with him but whenever he comes on the screen, I find myself simply asking: “Why on earth is this man famous?”
Mr Fogle featured in The Telegraph’s ‘Mandrake’ column, written by great friends of The Steeple Times Tim Walker and Richard Eden, this morning and frankly made the most preposterous of suggestions I’ve heard in years. Even though he had to admit it sounded “far-fetched”, he went ahead and alleged that he could have been poisoned by a Russian spy. Has the man gone bonkers?
The Steeple Times asks singer Zach Matari: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
Passion.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
“Argue for your limitations and they are surely yours”.
The sale of one of the North of England’s finest Georgian homes
Julian Fellowes’ Downton Abbey has undoubtedly led to a revival in interest in English country houses both in Britain and America and now with the sale of Burrow Hall in the Lune Valley in Lancashire, there is an opportunity to acquire one of the North of England’s finest Georgian residences.
With her screenwriter husband, this Californian socialite and writer built the largest home in Los Angeles County in 1988. She sold the 123-room property for $85 million in 2011 and then sued the developers of the $47 million apartment she moved into as they had failed to set up a restaurant in the building. Her first published work was the bizarrely titled How I Gave My Father An Ulcer. According to Joan Rivers, she won $90,000 on a slot machine in Vegas in 2011 and called it “pocket change” and of her relationship with her Beverley Hills, 902010 actress daughter, Tori, she has commented: “There was a time when things were rocky between us, and we worked that out, and I’m going to be on her reality show”.
The Steeple Times asks public relations guru The Hon. Alexandra Foley: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
My nanny.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
“Ut prosim” – “That I may do good”. I like medieval swords. I have them hidden all over my house.