The Princess of Wales’s favourite tennis club has been shaken by two cases of ‘inappropriate behaviour’, I can reveal.
Catherine, who is currently recovering from abdominal surgery, takes Prince George for tennis lessons at the £1,400-a-year Hurlingham, set in 42 leafy acres on the north bank of the Thames near Fulham.
The first incident, I can disclose, occurred in the club’s sauna, adjacent to the indoor swimming pool.
Authorities who, as I revealed last week, have established a ‘conduct committee’ to counter numerous cases of ‘unacceptable’ behaviour, reacted immediately, emailing a stark memo to members and also prominently displaying it on a notice board.
Entitled ‘Formal Reprimand – Rule 22’, it states that: ‘A senior member has been issued a formal reprimand for conduct deemed to be discreditable as laid out in Rule 22 IV B.’
The Princess of Wales’s (pictured playing tennis in 2021) favourite tennis club has been shaken by two cases of ‘inappropriate behaviour’
Catherine, who is currently recovering from abdominal surgery, takes Prince George for tennis lessons at the £1,400-a-year Hurlingham (club house pictured), set in 42 leafy acres on the north bank of the Thames near Fulham
Refraining from naming the miscreant, it adds: ‘The member made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature to a fellow member while in the sauna.’
It’s not the sort of decorous conduct with which Hurlingham was once synonymous – and which the Princess of Wales must surely, and understandably, have taken for granted, as another club member explains.
‘The sauna has always been mixed and all ages,’ he tells me, adding that it has never been tainted by the seedy connotations of uninhibited Californian bath-houses or even the bracing authenticity of the thermal baths of Budapest.
‘It has always been really tame,’ says the club stalwart, who suggests that it may still be but has perhaps fallen foul of differences in generational outlook, with senior members speaking in a carefree manner which their younger, more puritanical counterparts struggle to cope with.
‘My feeling is that it’s unlikely to be as grim as it sounded in the email.
‘I can see someone saying to a yummy mummy, ‘Isn’t that a nice swimsuit?’ or something like that. Probably something I would have said.’
A second – apparently unrelated – incident is said to have landed another member in hot water. ‘Someone has been banned because of inappropriate behaviour,’ I’m told.
The Hurlingham club declines to comment on either episode.
Comic Katherine can’t do stand-up without a lie-in!
Raising children is no joke, as comedienne Katherine Ryan has found out.
The Canadian star says she is trying to muster up the energy to perform live again – and her bleary-eyed appearance at Monday night’s TV Choice Awards in Mayfair shows she may have a little way to go.
The mother of three and team captain on hit Channel 4 panel show 8 Out Of 10 Cats was spotted stumbling into a cab after the ceremony, which she attended with her partner Bobby Kootstra.
‘I get up at 5am every day to look after my kids,’ Katherine tells me, explaining: ‘I need to get them sleeping a little bit longer, so I can do stand-up again.
‘If anyone has the secret to that, let me know.’
The Canadian star says she is trying to muster up the energy to perform live again – and her bleary-eyed appearance at Monday night’s TV Choice Awards in Mayfair shows she may have a little way to go (pictured above as she left the afterparty)
Moira faints at Angela’s party
Angela Rippon couldn’t resist one last waltz with Strictly partner Kai Widdrington after returning from the gruelling Live Tour.
The 79-year-old and the 28-year-old dance pro danced the night away at London Hilton on Park Lane’s Revery bar to celebrate her success on the show.
‘I hope my experience will encourage older people to take up dancing,’ she tells me at the party, adding: ‘I’m keen to meet Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty to discuss the importance of dancing for good health.’
However, the jolly celebrations were brought to a halt when broadcaster Moira Stuart fainted. Luckily, she was caught by BBC presenter Samira Ahmed, 55.
A spokesman for Stuart, 74, who was the first Afro-Caribbean female newsreader on British television, says she is now ‘absolutely fine’.
Angela Rippon couldn’t resist one last waltz with Strictly partner Kai Widdrington (pictured together) after returning from the gruelling Live Tour
However, the jolly celebrations were brought to a halt when broadcaster Moira Stuart (right) fainted. Luckily, she was caught by BBC presenter Samira Ahmed, 55
Is the usually effervescent Geri Halliwell, married to under-fire Red Bull F1 team boss Christian Horner, in need of a pit stop?
For, amid the controversy over her husband’s alleged ‘inappropriate behaviour’, I can reveal the former Spice Girl has suffered financial losses in two of her firms.
Wonderful Productions Limited notched up a £77,994 loss last year, while her children’s book firm, Falcon Queen Productions, has yet to get off the grid, leaving it with a deficit of £276,076.
Needless to say, only a fool would bet against Geri, 51, who’s standing by Christian, 50, who denies the accusations.
Is the usually effervescent Geri Halliwell (right), married to under-fire Red Bull F1 team boss Christian Horner (left), in need of a pit stop?
Struggle of chef’s addict son
Restaurateur Marco Pierre White has revealed his son, Marco, is still struggling with heroin addiction despite converting to Islam last year and spending more than £1 million on rehab.
During a talk at the Cambridge Union where he blasted the culture of drug-taking in his industry, the Michelin star chef said: ‘I’ve got a son who’s a heroin addict. Why? I can’t possibly answer but it has infiltrated every sector of society. I think it’s very destructive.’
White Jr, 28, a model and reality TV star, was given a suspended sentence in 2020 for two offences of possessing Class A drugs, two of making off without payment, four public order offences and six offences of theft.
Meanwhile, his father, 62, who was once the enfant terrible of the restaurant world, says that addiction runs in his genes.
‘My work was an addiction; the hours I did were not healthy. Anyone with an addictive personality is vulnerable to drink and drugs.’
Restaurateur Marco Pierre White (right) has revealed his son, Marco (left), is still struggling with heroin addiction despite converting to Islam last year and spending more than £1 million on rehab
White Jr (pictured), 28, a model and reality TV star, was given a suspended sentence in 2020 for two offences of possessing Class A drugs, two of making off without payment, four public order offences and six offences of theft
Devout bookworm Dame Joanna Lumley takes pride in her South London home being littered with literature.
‘I feel a room is unfurnished without books, as is a staircase without a bookshelf,’ she says.
The Absolutely Fabulous star, 77, adds: ‘A lavatory is a sad place to be if you haven’t got something to read – a magazine, books or something on the wall.’
Devout bookworm Dame Joanna Lumley (pictured) takes pride in her South London home being littered with literature
It was a pleasant surprise when, last year, Princess Diana’s wedding dress designer revealed she had made a backup in case anything happened to the original.
And now designer Elizabeth Emanuel, 70, has recreated the spare so it can secure its place in history.
‘We didn’t realise that it was an important dress because we never used it,’ she tells me. ‘So, it just ended up on a sample rail somewhere or got taken apart – I have no idea.
‘But I thought, “It’s such an important thing I’m going to recreate it.” Every element on it is the same.’
The spectacular bridal gown Diana wore in 1981 featured a 25ft train and 10,000 pearls.
The spectacular bridal gown Diana wore in 1981 featured a 25ft train and 10,000 pearls (pictured above)
Designer Elizabeth Emanuel (pictured here in 2022), 70, has recreated the spare of Diana’s wedding dress so it can secure its place in history