They were a golden couple for more than two decades, during which he picked up an Oscar for his portrayal of George VI in The King’s Speech and she led a passionate eco-crusade to prevent companies from wasting scarce resources.
But it now seems truly over for Colin and Livia Firth, some nine years after she embarked on an intense 11-month affair with fellow Italian Marco Brancaccia.
Though the Firths reconciled in 2016, they parted in 2019 and have now decided that even their professional relationship is at an end, closing the company which they jointly established in 1998, a year after their marriage.
But that poses an ethical dilemma for Livia, 55. She and Colin, 64, each owned a 50 per cent stake in the company, Nana Ltd, which after all debts are repaid has just under £500,000 in its coffers. This will be shared between them.
While that sort of money may be small change to the actor, it’s far more significant to Livia, not least because of the fate of her other company, Eco-Age, which organised the annual Green Carpet Fashion Awards and was championed by the likes of Stella McCartney and Cate Blanchett.
‘Tragically the business was targeted by criminals,’ a heartbroken Livia explained on social media in August after the firm went under, owing creditors £1.2 million and with assets of just £27,000.
‘Although we tried, we have been unable to recover financially from the impact,’ she added, explaining that with a police investigation underway she could not comment further but ‘looked forward to justice in due course’.
But that’s scant consolation to creditors in the US, Italy and New Zealand – or those at home, including the British taxpayer: Eco-Age owed £351,000 to HM Revenue & Customs. Royal bankers Coutts are owed £337,000.
Livia is under no legal obligation to repay any of them, as Eco-Age was a limited company. But as someone who’s fearlessly battled against consumerist greed, could she perhaps now spare some of her windfall from the closure of her other firm?
Alan as a godfather? He’s hired
Alan Sugar is known for firing candidates on his TV show The Apprentice, but he could now be presented with a once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity himself – to be godfather to the offspring of former contender Tre Lowe.
The entrepreneur and his partner, Enas Daeki, an author and refugee advocate are expecting their first child together, and he tells me: ‘Lord Sugar would be a great godparent.’
The smart set’s talking about… The royal solution to Harry and Meghan’s media mess
With their £80 million Netflix deal labelled a ticking time bomb, Harry and Meghan may well be searching for new opportunities in the entertainment industry.
And an exciting collaboration may well be on the cards, as the couple have piqued the interest of film producer Sheikha Abrar Khaled Al Sabah – who also happens to be a member of the Kuwaiti royal family.
Abrar, who founded her own production company, Abbey’s Productions, in 2019, tells me at the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt: ‘It would be a very nice coming together of European royalty and Arab royalty.’ The mother of four adds: ‘It’s very exciting for us to be among a new generation of royals worldwide where we can be normal and present our interests without forgetting about our family tree.’
The businesswoman, who is passionate about enhancing the perception of the Arabian Gulf on screen, continues: ‘Everyone portrays us in a way that is not true, we’re actually different.
‘So I’m trying to get that message out there and change the ideas people have [about] the Gulf.’
Bad reviews still hurt, says Isaacs
His acting career has spanned almost 40 years, including roles in the Harry Potter films and The Patriot.
But Jason Isaacs, 61, still struggles to deal with harsh comments about his performances on social media.
‘I read all of my reviews and, tragically, now you can read ten million people’s opinions,’ Isaacs, who played Lucius Malfoy in JK Rowling’s wizarding world, tells me. ‘I can read 9,999,999 brilliant ones, and one idiot can wound me for months by telling me that my nose looks fake or my accent sucks.’
Raising a glass to Churchill tipple
He sustained himself in the mornings with whisky, while favouring Pol Roger when it came to champagne.
But it was over glasses of cognac that Winston Churchill sealed a peace agreement with Stalin at Potsdam in 1945.
Now one of his kinsmen, Robert Spencer Churchill, is to commemorate the Potsdam Conference’s 80th anniversary with ‘Maze Churchill’ cognac at £100 a bottle. The cognac is from the vineyard owned by Robert’s wife, Jeanne Maze – granddaughter of Churchill’s French friend Paul Maze.
Countess says ‘so long’ to Althorp
Can anyone else match the poise of the current Countess Spencer?
I ask because Canadian-born Karen Villeneuve, as the Countess was before becoming Earl Spencer’s third wife in 2011, revealed that this week, she ‘had the pleasure of hosting a lunch at Althorp’, her husband’s magnificent ancestral seat. It will ‘probably [be] one of the final events I’ll host here,’ adds the Countess.
Indeed: she’s being sued for alleged misuse of private information by Cat Jarman – the blonde Scandinavian archaeologist who is now Earl Spencer’s lover.
Fury over Bella’s boycott backtrack
Bella Hadid once defiantly said she was ‘not afraid to lose modelling jobs’ due to her opposition to Israel’s occupation of Gaza.
As a result, the 28-year-old is facing a wave of scrutiny for taking part in a Victoria’s Secret fashion show in New York last month.
One of the main suppliers of the lingerie giant’s stock was acquired by Israeli textile giant Delta Galil in 2019. Bella’s Palestinian-American father, property developer Mohamed Hadid, 75, has defended her and tells me: ‘It’s been unfair, the criticism she has received,
as there’s no doubt [about] where her support lies.
Mr Hadid, who is also dad to model Gigi, adds: ‘For me and my kids it hasn’t been a choice but an obligation to keep our voice out there on what’s going on in Palestine.’
Lumley’s feeling fabulously festive
Dame Joanna Lumley is looking forward to reuniting with her Absolutely Fabulous castmates on the airwaves in a Radio 4 special on Kirsty Wark’s The Reunion, due to be broadcast during Christmas.
‘I can’t wait to be back in the same room as Julia Sawalha, Jane [Horrocks] and Jennifer [Saunders]. We have all gone down different paths but the second we get back together again you can see that weird electricity,’ says Lumley. ‘We know how Bubble would react and how Saffy would disapprove or what Edina or Patsy would say.’
(Very) modern manners
Most mothers still feel frazzled a month after having a baby, but heiress Alice Dellal – whose grandfather ‘Black Jack’ Dellal once blew £1.7 million at a Monte Carlo casino in a single night – is already back on the club scene with her newborn son in tow.
The model, 37, could be seen carrying Buster, whose father is skateboarder Charlie Birch, 25, in a sling at a ‘tot rave’ in the Ministry of Sound nightclub in London, right.
Organisers say the music ‘is kept at safe levels – but is still loud enough to dance’.