His comeback show was typically flamboyant – held, during last month's Fashion Week, at over 1,000ft at the top of The Shard, and heralded by adulatory coverage, which breathlessly recorded that Beyoncé, and remain among his most ardent fans, and that he, 'the Welsh wizard', Julien Macdonald, 'is as buoyant as ever'.
Outlining his intentions – 'to reignite my brand in the fashion arena, raise my profile' – Macdonald, 55, made it plain that his sights are set on a dazzling new chapter, giving 'a bit of glamour to a lot of women… there are no designers that do my style'.
But some old acquaintances are having none of it, denouncing Macdonald as a 'scumbag' and 'one of the most revolting, arrogant men you could come across', and claiming that he was trousering hundreds of thousands of pounds even as his company, Julien Macdonald Ltd, became perilously short of funds.
So short, in fact, that, a year after Macdonald's previous show in 2023, he was obliged to put the company into liquidation, owing creditors £524,000.
Many of these were highly skilled, self- employed men and women who'd worked unstintingly on the 2023 show. Dismayed and sickened though they were to be left out of pocket, their mood was almost mild compared with what it is now that the liquidation process has revealed what Macdonald was paid before his company went bust.
Much of the cash came from one of his richest clients, Mexican socialite Gabriela González, who keeps a white tiger called Max in her garden.
'She paid him, on May 23, 2022, £80,000. On May 25, she paid him £170,000,' explains one who's followed the liquidation step by step.
'On December 1, her husband paid him £115,800. On January 24, 2023, she paid him £94,000. A total of £459,800.'
In all, this witness adds, Macdonald received income of £970,684 between September 30, 2022 and May 31, 2023.
Some old acquaintances have claimed that Julien Macdonald was trousering hundreds of thousands of pounds even as his company became perilously short of funds
Celebrities attend Macdonald's show during London Fashion week last month
'Julien even paid himself £30,000-a-month in February, March, April and May. He had only five staff – 70 odd people were brought in to work on the show, from hair and make-up, to locations, to champagne, to putting celebrities up at the Corinthia hotel' – the sumptuous five-star establishment off Whitehall where the cheapest double rooms are £750 per night.
Another witness adds: 'It's incredible that people like this can get away with what they do.'
The designer, whose brand, Star by Julien Macdonald, operates under another company, announced before his comeback show last month that he intended to spend the second half of the year in Dubai. Seems some would like him there right now...
Macdonald declines to comment.
Anna's vintage drama with daughter Gracie
Anna Friel collected a prize at the Royal Television Society Awards this week, but she's having trouble holding on to her possessions at home.
The actress, 50, who won best supporting actor (female) for her harrowing performance in BBC television drama Unforgiveable, says her daughter, Gracie, is regularly raiding her vintage wardrobe.
Actress Anna Friel says her daughter, Gracie, is regularly raiding her vintage wardrobe
'I'm about to do a big wardrobe clean, but my daughter is turning 21 and she's starting to like my vintage items and adding them to her wardrobe,' Anna says of her daughter
'I'm about to do a big wardrobe clean, but my daughter is turning 21 and she's starting to like my vintage items and adding them to her wardrobe,' Anna says of Gracie, a budding musician whose father is Harry Potter star David Thewlis.
Anna, who wore a vintage 1930s red puffball dress, adds: 'I don't know how much stuff I'll be left with by the time she's done rummaging in there. But isn't it beautiful with vintage that you can keep re-purposing it and it tells a story.'
Two-job Rayner's £19k speech
When she was in Opposition, Angela Rayner attacked 'shameful' Tory MPs , declaring: 'Being an MP isn't a second job. It is the job. Labour will put an end to this racket.'
Now, she's made a disclosure of her own. She's updated her entry in the Register of Members' Financial Interests to record that she was paid £19,000 to give a speech at a dinner held by the Management Consultancies Association.
It involved scarcely five hours work. That's the equivalent of £3,486 per hour or £129,000 per week. Nice work if you can get it!
Clock is ticking says Carol, 65, as she considers facelift
Maths whizz Carol Vorderman is 'I don't look as good as I did in my 40s, but I don't think I look bad for my age,' says the former Countdown star, 65.
'I have Botox and all of those things, and I'm probably going to have a facelift in the next couple of years.'
Carol has 'no issue' with going under the knife. 'It's my money, I've earned it, so I'll spend it on what I like. I am accepting of myself, but I also want to look good, and those two things can go together.'
If the former Duke and Duchess of York are sticking pins in a voodoo doll of Andrew Lownie, it seems to be working. The author, 64, who helped expose the couple in his best-selling book, Entitled, has been injured in an accident at home. Stoically, he went ahead with a promotional appearance via video link anyway. 'I did the event by Zoom on painkillers, having pulled muscles in my back falling down stairs on Friday and being unable to walk,' Lownie confirms.
Bill Nighy insists he's refused to watch any of his performances since his television debut 50 years ago.
The actor landed his first guest role in 1976. 'The first time I ever watched myself on screen was when I was in a cop show called Softly, Softly. I was living in a rooming house at the time and I made the mistake of saying, 'Hey, everybody, I'm on TV tonight.' So we all sat down and watched it and it was absolutely dreadful. So I decided to never watch myself again, and my life is so much better for it.'
Lily Allen's father, Keith, has made an intriguing intervention in the furore over Banksy's identity. The comic and actor says the recent investigation naming Robin Gunningham as the mystery guerrilla artist was wrong. Allen once posed for a piece with Banksy and says he knows him well. 'You know his piece adorning a wall in Bristol called well-hung lover? Well, it's me,' Keith says. 'I hung naked from a scaffolding pole in a studio in Vauxhall for the photo.
'The man being identified as Banksy I can assure is not he. I know because I've worked with him on numerous occasions.'
