Anthea Turner’s friends hoped it would be third time lucky when socialite Mark Armstrong proposed to the twice-divorced television personality in Italy back in 2019 after a whirlwind two-month romance.
Now, however, I can disclose the couple have called off their wedding – for a fourth time. And some pals are unconvinced that it will ever happen.
The wedding was due to take place in Italy in 2022 but was postponed to 2023 with the location switched to Britain.
Anthea, 64, who was a Blue Peter presenter before becoming television’s golden girl as a presenter on programmes such as GMTV, admits she and Armstrong, 59, no longer have plans for a wedding. ‘We keep telling friends, “Oh, we will sort it out”,’ Anthea says at the launch party for Undercroft Mayfair restaurant in London, which is headed up by TV chef Aldo Zilli.

Anthea Turner has admitted that her marriage to socialite Mark Armstrong has been called off

The couple at the launch party for Aldo Zilli’s Undercroft Mayfair restaurant
She tells me: ‘We feel like we’re married. But why it hasn’t happened is my mum died, and Mark’s mum died, then there was Covid and then we moved in together properly.’
Anthea, 64, split from her first husband DJ Peter Powell in 2008 and later married businessman Grant Bovey. They divorced in 2015 after his adultery with a 24-year-old.
Anthea tells me: ‘Maybe we’ll elope and have a holiday and tell everybody we got married on holiday.’
Marquess’s business partners jailed over £13m contempt case
There can be few more blue-blooded property entrepreneurs than George Gordon, 8th Marquess of Aberdeen.
Aside from keeping an expert eye on the 5,000-acre Haddo Estate, which has been in the Gordon family for more than 550 years, he also specialises in ‘transforming iconic buildings into unique workplaces’, in tandem with his business partner, Sam Lawson Johnston.
But however noble their vision – formed, they explain on the website of their company, Kinrise, by looking through ‘four lenses; human, social, environmental and financial’ – they cannot be accused of remaining aloof from the less genteel elements of society.
I can disclose that one of their business partnerships is with Inc & Co, described on its own website as a private equity firm.
What it omits to mention is that two men who were, until recently, on its board of directors have been given 22-month prison stretches after a judge found that they’d ‘lied on a prolific scale’ to move £13.7 million to the British Virgin Islands.
The sentences were handed to David Antrobus and Jack Mason, both of whom became directors of Inc & Co in 2019, the year it was founded. So they remained until months before their court appearance eight weeks ago, when the judge ruled them to be in contempt of court for ‘deliberate and planned flouting’ of court orders intended to safeguard the £13.7million.
Instead, the money was ‘spirit[ed] away’ from Barclays Bank to companies they controlled in the Caribbean. An Inc & Co blog continues to describe Mason as the firm’s CEO.

George Gordon, the 8th Marquess of Aberdeen, is pictured with his wife, Isabelle
More grievously, for the Marquess of Aberdeen, it displays fulsome praise allegedly from the Marquess’s company, Kinrise, which is quoted as saying that it is ‘delighted to see [Inc & Co] have already signed tenants to bring this iconic & beautiful [Manchester] building once again alive’.
Neither Antrobus, 38, nor Mason, 35, appeared in court, prompting the judge to issue warrants for their arrest.
But their colleague, Scott Dylan – Inc & Co’s founder, according to its website – is behind bars after also receiving a 22-month sentence.
‘He was sent to Pentonville,’ I’m told. ‘Now he’s in HMP Woodhill, in Milton Keynes.’
It may be some time before the Marquess, 41, and Lawson Johnston, 42, can fully disengage from these distasteful business partners.
‘The issue is currently being dealt with by the court, so there’s very little we can say,’ Lawson Johnston tells me.
At least Scott Dylan seems certain to find the coming months stimulating: the Inc & Co website describes him as ‘someone who enjoys immersing himself in the culture of new destinations’.
Buon direction for Harry’s Italian job
He’s almost as acclaimed for his romantic entanglements as for his stage and screen efforts. But has Harry Styles, who parted from Canadian actress Taylor Russell last May, found true love?
I ask because one of his recent passions looks to be maturing into something more profound. I refer to his love affair with . . . Italy. I can disclose that the former One Direction star, 31 next week, displays every sign of settling down there.
‘He’s having a studio built at his place outside Rome,’ an admirer tells me. When his 2023 Love On Tour ended there, he spoke fluently in Italian. Splendido!
The smart set’s talking about… Rocco Forte’s son Charles becoming engaged
Hotels tycoon Sir Rocco Forte has a welcome new addition to his family empire. His only son, Charles, has got engaged to a handbag designer, Georgie Wright. ‘Georgie and I got engaged over Christmas while we were with my family,’ Charles tells me. ‘It’s been an incredibly happy time and we are looking forward to the wedding, which will likely take place in May next year.’
Charles, 33, was named after his grandfather, Trusthouse Forte owner Lord Forte, a close ally of Margaret Thatcher, who became Britain’s best-known hotelier.#
Turning 100 this year, Dick Van Dyke claims to have never enjoyed the profits from film classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The veteran US actor, forever mocked for his attempt at ‘cockney’ when playing Bert in Mary Poppins, had the lead role of Caractacus Potts in the 1968 film, which was shot in Britain and based on the children’s book by James Bond author Ian Fleming. ‘I’m supposed to own 20 per cent of that movie,’ Dick now announces. ‘But I haven’t seen any cheques… they never came.’
Jeremy (miscast) Irons
While the identity of the next James Bond remains unclear, Oscar winner Jeremy Irons reflects on turning down the role in the 1980s.
‘Cubby Broccoli [late Bond producer] came to see me. There was a possibility… but I wasn’t enthusiastic. After Sean Connery and Roger Moore, they chose Timothy Dalton. Looking back, I was probably wrong: it wouldn’t have hurt my career at all.’
It wasn’t only Bond: Irons also said no to portraying Hannibal Lecter before Sir Anthony Hopkins got the job.
‘That was probably a mistake, though I would never have done it as well as Anthony Hopkins. But I realised I was starting to accumulate too many strange characters, dark types.’
Lady Victoria’s happy to be one of Trump’s golden girls
President Donald Trump has proclaimed his second term in office marks the beginning of the USA’s ‘golden era’ – and Lady Victoria Hervey appears to agree.
This week, the Marquess of Bristol’s sister jetted off to Washington to show her support for Trump at his inauguration celebrations.
Lady Victoria 48, was sporting a £400 gold-sequinned bomber jacket with the words ‘Trump The Golden Era’ on it.
‘I bought the jacket in Texas and had so many people ask about it and they tried to buy it from me, offering double what I paid,’ the former ‘It girl’ tells me.
Her priorities have changed, she tells me: ‘Getting to meet world leaders I find more interesting than any fashion show.’
(Very) modern manners
Alan Titchmarsh claims that when he collected his MBE from Queen Elizabeth, she told him: ‘You give a lot of ladies a lot of pleasure.’ Now the garden guru reveals his horticultural horrors include gladioli – and overzealous signage. ‘ “Dad’s Veg Patch” Really?’ But writing on Scribehound gardening website, Titch admits having a hot tub in his own garden, something he once looked upon ‘disapprovingly’.

Hollywood star Samantha Morton, left, and her actress daughter Esme Creed-Miles, 24
Sam’s girl opens up on her love life
Hollywood star Samantha Morton made a big move last year when she ended her 20-year relationship with her agents, Conway Van Gelder Grant, after her actress daughter, Esme Creed-Miles, left the agency. Now, Esme has made a very public declaration about her private life.
The rising star, 24, came out to her social media followers this week, describing herself as a ‘Jewish lesbian’.
Esme, whose father is actor Charlie Creed-Miles, 52, starred in television drama The Doll Factory and is due to appear in Netflix’s latest adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s comic books The Sandman.
Nigella Lawson split up with celebrated barrister Geoffrey Robertson KC in the 1980s, but the domestic goddess’s shadow lingered over his marriage to novelist Kathy Lette, 66. She and Robertson, 78, who have two children, separated in 2017 and the author now says: ‘Here’s a bit of goss for you. When I met Geoffrey he was going out with Nigella. He broke up with her for me. And I can’t cook. I use my smoke alarm as a timer! I think he came to really regret it.’
Tempers are short at Mayfair’s Savile Club, which next week is to vote on allowing women members. The club planned to let people vote remotely but that had to be dropped after a potentially costly court threat. The mood in the bar is pretty toxic.