His powerful tenor has sold out concert halls ever since he made his name in Les Miserables, but the unwanted sound of Alfie Boe’s booming voice almost had diners manning the barricades at one of London‘s most fashionable restaurants this week.
A magazine editor seated next to Boe, below, at Colbert in Sloane Square tells me her dinner was ruined by a ‘horrible run-in’ with the celebrated singer, 51. ‘What a rude man,’ says the fellow diner. ‘There I am with my cousin, having a long overdue catch-up and glass of pinot noir.
‘No sooner had Boe’s bottom touched the banquette than he gets his phone out and starts FaceTiming a blonde girl on loudspeaker.
‘In my view, that’s inexcusable at night in a cosy restaurant when everyone else is trying to socialise. So I turn to him and ask him politely to switch it to telephone mode. He gives me a dirty look and says, “No, I’m going to do it like this”.
Alfie Boe’s restaurant etiquette has been called into question after he allegedly ruined one diner’s culinary experience
‘Meanwhile, I cannot hear my cousin speak over the noise, so I cup my ear. This seems to annoy him.
‘It goes on like that, with me asking him politely to stop and him responding rudely that he wouldn’t.
‘Suddenly, he leaps up from the table with such force that he drags the tablecloth with him, leans into me and snarls, “Have a good night”. I say, “Thank you so much – you too”. And kind of giggle because he’s so angry and there’s rumpled tablecloths everywhere and it’s just ridiculous. He hasn’t even been served yet.’
Boe’s spokesman tells me: ‘Alfie’s children live in the US. When they video-call him, he always picks up to make sure that they are OK, as would any parent.
‘Consequently, he answered the FaceTime. Obviously, no one wants to upset their neighbour at dinner.’
High Mistress of childcare?
After retiring as High Mistress of St Paul’s Girls’ School in 2017, Clarissa Farr memorably went into print with details of dementedly pushy parents – including one couple who were livid that their daughter had got into the ‘wrong’ Oxbridge college.
Now Farr, a married mother of two, has issued another warning – addressed to all young parents but of most pertinence to her own offspring.
Noting that Spanish grandparents have begun ‘drawing the line at being used for free childcare’, Farr, 67, shortly due to become a grandmother herself, says crisply ‘an overtime tariff will apply to any contracted childcare hours’.
Although he’s enjoyed a flourishing screen career since his child star debut in Love Actually more than 20 years ago, Thomas Brodie-Sangster acknowledges he has to contend with one physical drawback when it comes to adult roles. Now a distinctly boyish-looking 35, he chuckles: ‘I can’t do bearded roles. I’ve tried and it’s not very good.’
Look Who’s back in town
Doctor Who star Karen Gillan recently took part in an ‘experimental’ clown performance at Edinburgh Fringe Festival
She has become one of Hollywood’s most successful actresses, but when Karen Gillan is back in Britain she clearly enjoys clowning around.
The Doctor Who star, 37, tells me she took part in an ‘experimental’ clown performance earlier this month at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
‘I was hanging out with these clowns backstage, and they were, like, “Do you want to be in the show?” says Karen, who is married to American comedian Nick Kocher.
Speaking at the screening of her new film, The Life Of Chuck, at Picturehouse Central in London, she adds: ‘I had such bad stage fright. It was like improv.’
King Charles and Queen Camilla are seeking someone to plan their engagements and warn them of any ‘complex and sensitive issues’ involved. The £40,000-a-year Royal Engagements Officer position will be based at Buckingham Palace and involve ‘facilitating meaningful contact between Their Majesties’ and the world through careful coordination, thoughtful briefings and seamless delivery of engagements’, advises an advert on the royal website.
Lady Kitty holidays with her husband, 66, and mum
Lady Kitty Spencer with her husband Michael Lewis on holiday. Keen-eyed viewers may spot Lady Kitty’s mother in the background
Holidaymakers in the French Riviera could have been forgiven for wondering who’s the wife when they spotted these three.
Princess Diana’s niece Lady Kitty Spencer, 34, was accompanied by her 66-year-old husband, Michael Lewis, as well as her mother, Victoria Aitken, 60, on a visit to Le Club 55 in St Tropez.
The trio was spotted disembarking from a yacht and boarding a speedboat to take them to the beachfront gastro bar. The couple also took their two-year-old daughter, Athena.
Lady Kitty married the South African-born fashion tycoon, who has an estimated £80 million fortune, in 2021.
Her father, Earl Spencer, 61, was conspicuous by his absence at the lavish wedding ceremony in Italy.
Taskmaster star Horne’s £4.6 million payday
If ever Alex Horne’s parents harboured doubts about stumping up the punitive fees to send him to Lancing – the £57,467-a-year East Sussex public school – their qualms will surely have ebbed away by now.
Indeed, not only did Horne dream up Taskmaster, Channel 4’s hit panel show – on which he also appears – but he’s making a fortune from it. Just filed figures for Shakey Productions, the company into which Horne directs his television earnings, show that it notched up a £4.6 million profit for the last financial year – or a thumping £89,000-a-week.
Taskmaster enjoys global popularity, with versions from Canada to Croatia, Spain to Sweden, Australia to America, which helps explain why Shakey Productions has now accumulated a very tasty £12.2 million. A useful piggy bank should Horne, 47, and his wife, Rachel – co-director and co-owner of the company – ever consign their three children to private schools.
