Alexander Larman is an author and books editor of Spectator World, our US-based edition
As the rest of the Royal Family prepare for the pageantry and pomp of their traditional Christmas, two ghosts have gatecrashed the party, in true Dickensian fashion. One phantom is that of the long-deceased Jeffrey Epstein, whose malign influence continues to stretch into the present day thanks to the release of the latest tranche of
Harper Collins announced last week that it would no longer be publishing any children’s books by their one-time cash cow David Walliams. The Little Britain star has been accused of ‘harassing’ junior female employees at the publishing house – he has strongly denied allegations of wrongdoing against him. According to a new investigation, one member
Anyone who has had the misfortune to be in central London at rush hour will be familiar with an unlovely spectacle: that of a middle-aged man solemnly making a fool out of himself on an ungainly-looking bicycle that seems slightly too small for him. This mode of transportation is none other than the Brompton bicycle,
The news that King Charles’s cancer treatment will be moving into a new phase as of next year is undeniably welcome, both for him on a personal level and for those who have been anxiously wishing him well since his diagnosis in January 2024. He offered the nation an update on his situation last night
With the average cost of a hotel room in London costing around £250 a night – and not showing any signs of getting lower, either – most might think that a stay in the capital is a rarefied activity. However, the news that the Zedwell group of budget-conscious hotels have opened a mega-budget establishment in
For lovers of self-destructive hubris – a quality that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex surely possess in spades – the saga of Prince Harry’s security is surely the gift that keeps on giving. Not since Jeremy Thorpe ensured that his former lover Norman Scott was deprived of his National Insurance card has anyone publicly
If you’ve ever dramatically broken up with an ex, only to find, to your miserable disbelief, that they keep popping up in the most inconvenient circumstances, you may feel a degree of sympathy with the royals as regards Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. A few weeks after he was stripped of his titles and ordered to leave Royal
Describing the royal family as ‘funny’ is not, perhaps, the first thing that comes to mind when talking about the Windsors. After all, anyone with a long memory remembers the horrors of It’s A Royal Knockout in 1987. Meanwhile, the performers who tend to get the biggest laughs from them at the Royal Variety Show are
On the Live Aid charity single, ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’, Bono sings the (somewhat incongruous) line ‘Well tonight, thank God it’s them instead of you’. Although he is referring to starving children dying in poverty rather than well-heeled Americans appearing on television, much the same sentiment applies to the unfortunate ‘special guests’ who have
If you’re fortunate enough to have been well-lunched at an establishment like the Ritz or 5 Hertford Street, your host may ask if you fancy a cigar. You would be forgiven for declining the opportunity to step out into the December chill. Say as much and a proud gleam may then enter your host’s eyes
As Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor contemplates the wreckage of his public life and career, it would be easy to say that his disgrace is complete. In fact, there is a qualifier: his disgrace is almost complete. Despite no longer being a royal prince, the Duke of York or holder of the Order of the Garter, Andrew still
The vast acclaim that Sir Philip Pullman’s latest novel, The Rose Field, has received has cemented his status as one of Britain’s most successful writers. Such authors are listened to, whatever their concerns, and so it has been both unsurprising and depressing that Sir Philip has been bothered not about literary matters, but about his
A publisher acquaintance of mine has a long-standing bet that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will announce their separation before the end of 2025. While he has no concrete evidence for this speculation, he believes – as many others do – that the marriage of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry is one largely based
If you saw the Edgar Wright–Stephen King adaptation The Running Man in the cinema last weekend, with Glen Powell as the eponymous fugitive in a dystopian future, then you were one of the relatively few. The film has flopped at the box office, with audiences resistant to Powell’s charms and Wright’s visual pizzazz, and in
Say what you like about the sweary, suspiciously blonde chef-entrepreneur Gordon Ramsay – and people have been known to do so – but there’s no denying both the longevity and apparent success of Britain’s best-known restaurateur. Thanks to a television career that has lasted since the late 90s, the image of Ramsay as a hard
King Charles III turns 77 today. He will be enjoying a typically packed day, with activities both ceremonial and personal. His Welsh association will be celebrated with a reception at Cyfarthfa Castle near Merthyr Tydfil, where he will be joined by guests including Gavin and Stacey’s Ruth Jones and fashion designer Julien Macdonald, all of
Amidst all the ceremony and gravity of the Remembrance Day service on Sunday, one salient fact could not be ignored. The King has long talked of his desire for a ‘stripped-down monarchy’, and now he has his wish. The only male figures from the Firm who were out on show alongside him were the Prince
The results of last night’s Booker Prize – the most prestigious and generous prize for literature in the country – were not entirely as anticipated. In a notably strong shortlist, which was finely balanced with three men and three women, it was anticipated that Andrew Miller’s The Land in Winter would be the frontrunner for
As the Royal Family attempts to maintain a ‘business as usual’ approach in the aftermath of the biggest scandal to have engulfed the institution in decades, the pair responsible for its last existential embarrassment have been notably silent. One might have expected, as Andrew was showily stripped of all his titles, some sanctimonious comment on
Cometh the hour, cometh the Prince of Wales. At least, that is what Prince William and those around him will be desperately hoping the result of his trip this week to Rio de Janeiro will be: a reset for the royal family after weeks of terrible, existentially damaging headlines, mainly but not entirely revolving around
