His personal odyssey – from lewd comedian to messianic ‘thought leader’ and born-again Christian – earned him a manly embrace earlier this year, during his baptism in the Thames, from none other than survival specialist Bear Grylls.
But Russell Brand has not, I fear, won over Grylls’s Eton College contemporary William Stonor, 8th Lord Camoys, of Stonor Park, the Oxfordshire family seat which successive generations of Stonors have occupied since before the Norman Conquest.
Brand, 49, is, by contrast, a more recent member of the county set, having shelled out £3.3million for a six-bedroom house overlooking the Thames in 2016.
Camoys, 50, might have preferred to remain aloof from the new arrival. But in 2020 Brand – now being investigated by the Metropolitan Police following allegations of historical sexual misconduct, which he vehemently denies – added an ancient pub, The Crown, in the village of Pishill, just a mile from Stonor, to his property portfolio.
He then succeeded in antagonising locals by seeking permission to convert the 800-year-old pub into a recording studio and offices. Scores of objections followed. The proposals were thrown out – prompting Brand to try again, this time seeking to put The Crown to ‘mixed use’ as a pub plus media studio, offices and function room.
As he preaches as a born-again Christian, one man who does not have faith in Russell Brand is a local peer, who slammed the controversial celeb’s Oxfordshire pub venture
William Stonor, 8th Lord Camoys, has pointed out in a letter to the local council that when Brand bought The Crown, he ‘did so promising to keep the pub open’
Brand bought the building in 2020 and soon tried to convert it into a recording studio
But Lord Camoys is having none of it. In a magisterial analysis of Brand’s second effort, he points out in a letter to the local council that when Brand bought The Crown, he ‘did so promising to keep the pub open’.
Since then, though, adds the peer, he has ‘made no attempt to re-open it’. So the revised plans must be conditional on the pub being ‘marketed and let on such terms as would facilitate its long term use as a public house’ – before any part of it is used for an office or ‘other uses’. Otherwise, ‘the application must be refused’.
The Lord has most certainly spoken…
Give us a twirl, Lady Forsyth
Sir Bruce Forsyth’s widow, Wilnelia, ruled out competing on Strictly Come Dancing while he was alive, explaining: ‘I don’t think my husband would have taken the criticism of the judges very well.’
Yet seven years after his death in 2017 at the age of 89, Wilnelia has been showing she could be a strong contender for the glitterball trophy.
In a video recorded at her 67th birthday celebrations this week in her native Puerto Rico, the former Miss World can be seen showing off her best moves.
Clearly, Lady Forsyth, who inherited almost all of Sir Bruce’s £11.5million fortune, is determined to… keeeep dancing!
Sir Bruce Forsyth’s widow, Wilnelia, has been showing off how she would have been a worthy contender for her late husband’s show, Strictly Come Dancing
In a video recorded at her 67th birthday celebrations this week in her native Puerto Rico, the former Miss World can be seen showing off her best moves
Lady Antonia’s family fears
Lady Antonia Fraser’s family feared for her life when she had to spend Christmas in hospital after a fall two years ago. Now the historian is to publish a new book – at the age of 92.
Titled Patchwork Pieces, it’s a colourful memoir of her life, which she began as the daughter of the 7th Earl of Longford. It was originally called The Diary Of A Jolly Old Lady. She tells me: ‘I liked the jokey title but got rid of it.’
Dating’s just the Pitts, says Tamzin
Tamzin Outhwaite declares she’s off men and seeking solitude since splitting from toyboy lover Tom Child, which I disclosed last month.
The New Tricks star, 53, insists even Brad Pitt would be given the brush-off if he sought a date.
‘I had a wonderful six and a half years with Tom,’ the actress, pictured left, says of Child, who’s 20 years her junior.
‘It was the most mature, respectful and humane break up ever. The idea of a date fills me with horror, the awkwardness of it all, even if someone like Brad Pitt is coming over and wants to take me out, I’d be, like, “No”.’
Tamzin Outhwaite declares she’s off men and seeking solitude since splitting from toyboy lover Tom Child
Osmond stays squeaky clean
Jay Osmond, of squeaky clean American boy band The Osmonds, has put his foot down about ‘foul language’ in new production Now That’s What I Call A Musical, directed by Strictly’s Craig Revel Horwood.
Like his family, drummer and singer Osmond, 69, is a devout Mormon and says of the play he is guest starring in this week: ‘As my parents taught me, “You have to be in the world, but you don’t have to be of the world”. This is a perfect example .’
Step back for TV historian Lucy?
Lucy Worsley, known for her historical costumes on TV documentaries, is to leave the ‘royal’ job she’s held for the past two decades.
Worsley, 50, says: ‘I’ve had the best colleagues in history [as chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces], but I want to spend more time with friends at our Lady Killers podcast.’
Lucy Worsley is to leave the ‘royal’ job she’s held for the past two decades
King’s budget preview
As Chancellor Rachel Reeves puts the finishing touches to her first Budget, one man has been given a sneak preview.
King Charles, I learn, met Reeves at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. I wonder if she mentioned cuts to royal finances?
With hereditary peers to be abolished, how long before Labour moves on to hereditary monarchs?
