As the Duke of Sussex prepares to return to Britain to attend the tenth anniversary celebrations of the Invictus Games he founded, one of his closest allies is doing his bit to help mend fences with the Princes and Princess of Wales.
Television presenter JJ Chalmers, who is a trustee of the Invictus Games Foundation, which organises the sporting event for injured and sick service personnel, has spoken publicly about how he identifies with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis following Catherine’s cancer diagnosis.
‘I was a similar age to George when my mum was diagnosed with cancer for the first time, so I know how it feels as a kid,’ Chalmers tells me.
His mother, Liz, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993. It returned six years later and she had to undergo chemotherapy. ‘Thankfully, my mum made it, but my auntie didn’t.’
Chalmers, 37, was born in Edinburgh where both of his parents worked for the Church of Scotland. His father, John, was one of Queen Elizabeth’s chaplains.
During a six-month tour of Afghanistan with the Royal Marines in 2011, Chalmers was caught in an IED explosion, suffering facial injuries, losing two fingers and his right elbow disintegrating.
As part of his recovery, Chalmers took part in the Invictus Games in 2014 where he met Prince Harry and the pair quickly became friends.
Recalling the royal wedding he was invited to four years later, he says: ‘It was like sitting in a piece of history.’
Chalmers, who is spearheading a campaign by Zurich UK to encourage long-term sick employees back to work, also appeared as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, using his time on the hit BBC show to speak openly about his disability.
He urges Catherine to follow suit and use her ‘influence’ to raise awareness about cancer, suggesting that her shock diagnosis, which was announced to the world via an emotional video message last month, has a ‘silver lining’.
He says: ‘She and her family will be able to make the world a slightly better place.’
London has seen a boom in expensive members-only clubs, but this means it’s losing the thrill of the unexpected, according to singer and TV presenter Mica Paris.
‘London has become so much about private membership,’ she tells me. ‘We’ve lost just walking into a place and getting great live music.’
The former Strictly star, 55, whose hits include My One Temptation, is performing this week at Upstairs at Langan’s in Mayfair. She says: ‘It’s a great place to have a dance and meet people.’
Earl’s charity secret…
King Charles’s cousin, the Earl of Snowdon, was not too proud to beg a billionaire for charity donations.
Presenting a prize for Outstanding Contribution to Philanthropy to restaurateur Richard Caring at the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards, Princess Margaret’s son says: ‘I used to write to him every year to ask him if he would sponsor me to ride a bicycle to Paris.
‘In the end, he got so fed up and said, ‘Can’t I just throw you a party? It would be so much easier.’
‘He raised so much money that night, more than I’ve ever raised through my own endeavours for the Princess Margaret Fund [for the Stroke Association].’
Emily: Going Global’s been a brilliant fit
Emily Maitlis, whose Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew ended his career as a working royal, seems to be pleased to have left the BBC.
The journalist, 53, joined Global Radio, where she has a podcast with Jon Sopel.
‘When Jon and I first announced that we were leaving the BBC — word got back to us that it was a bit of a shock,’ she tells me at the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards at The Londoner hotel.
‘Some people were surprised we came to Global… Global has been the most brilliant fit for us – their warmth, their welcome, their ambition and, I have to say, their speed at getting things done.’
The Prince and Princess of Wales are considering whether George should go to a boarding school, just as they did. But TV presenter Julia Bradbury, 53, says she wouldn’t send her children with property developer Gerard Cunningham. ‘I waited all this time [until the age of 40] to have children and I just couldn’t pack them off and not see them for months,’ she says. ‘They don’t remember the toys. They remember all the experiences that you have together.’
Taxi saves Sinitta from scary ordeal
Simon Cowell hurriedly sold his Holland Park mansion following multiple break-ins.
Now, the music mogul’s ex-girlfriend Sinitta, 60, reveals she doesn’t dare ‘walk alone’ after hours in the expensive west London neighbourhood following a terrifying encounter near Cowell’s former pad.
‘I had a bad experience two doors from my [former] house – a man came towards me with clearly evil intentions,’ the So Macho pop singer tells me at the DIVA Magazine Awards at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms. ‘I ran into a street and nearly got run over by a black cab that was occupied – I banged on the window and said, ‘Please help – this man is chasing me.’
Sinitta, who was without her keys, says the passenger and driver ‘kindly waited until I could call someone at the door to let me in’.
Ellie mends fences with birth mum
In her acclaimed ITV documentary, Finding My Secret Family, Ellie Simmonds made the shocking discovery that her biological mother wished that she had undergone an abortion.
However, the Paralympic swimmer and Strictly star says she has since tried to mend fences with her birth mother.
‘It’s been an emotional rollercoaster and we’ve been taking it very slowly because it has been tough,’ she tells me.
‘It’s unearthed a lot of things.’
Ellie, 29, who was put up for adoption, says she’s been ‘bridging the gap’ between her two families.
‘Both my birth mother and my family have all been very supportive of me taking my time to process it all and work through it,’ she says.
Carole Middleton was left deeply upset by the collapse of her mail-order business, Party Pieces, which went bust last year. Happily, her family hasn’t been put off parties all together. Carole’s son-in-law, James Matthews, bought Bucklebury Farm in Berkshire for £1.5million in 2020. Now, I hear, he’s opening its lodge for parties, as well as events and even Pilates.
Laura Adams is a tech enthusiast residing in the UK. Her articles cover the latest technological innovations, from AI to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.
