EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Is Prince Andrew pitching a return to public life? Never doubt his ardent belief that he can

Since his car crash interview with Emily Maitlis in 2019, he has endured a series of humiliations as institutions that once boasted of his patronage have rushed to relegate their association with him to the dustbin of history. But never doubt Prince Andrew’s fervent belief that he can – and will – one day resume a meaningful role in public life.

Evidence of this, if any were needed, is now in the public domain – thanks to Pitch@Palace, the Duke of York’s Dragons’ Den style scheme that introduced young entrepreneurs to those with money and connections.

Although it dropped the Duke’s name from its website and moved out of Buckingham Palace nearly four years ago, Pitch@Palace has no intention of fading into the proverbial sunset. Indeed, I can report that accounts published this week show that the company has almost £500,000 in shareholder funds and maintains an office in Pall Mall, just a stone’s throw from St James’s Palace – and a little longer from Buckingham’s palace

Although Andrew is not a director, Companies House describes him as having “significant control” over the business. The accompanying note explained that its “strategic direction remains under review.”

There’s no doubt that Andrew, 63, sees himself shaping that strategy – perhaps not immediately, but certainly soon. “The Duke thinks it would be a big mistake to give up Pitch@Palace,” one of his friends tells me. “The project has done a fantastic job, helping create millions of pounds of business, and it would be a huge waste to throw it away. This is exactly the project Britain needs to bring some dynamism back into the economy.”

Andrew himself could hardly have said it better. “We’re all cogs in a big fucking machine, right? Some of us have the advantage of being able to activate more gears than other people. That’s it,” he mused in an interview—the year before, his pal Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in New York custody while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.

Strictly’s Angela gives Birt the boot!

Angela Rippon, who turns 80 next year, stunned Strictly Come Dancing viewers with her stunning high kick.

However, the former news presenter says she was told her time in the spotlight was up when she turned 50 by then BBC director general John Birt.

“He managed to be misogynistic and ageist in one statement,” she says at the Broadcasting Industry Club’s Christmas lunch at the Londoner Hotel, where she received a lifetime achievement award.

“To John Birt: When I was 50, you said I had my day. I’m 79 now—and I’m not done yet.”

The Smiths star Morrissey has announced a special guest at his concert Down Under this week. “She was born and raised in Melbourne and changed everyone’s lives,” the singer said. – Do you know who she is? Someone shouted, “Kylie.” But the concert-goer was not Miss Minogue.

“Germaine Greer,” said Morrissey, adding: “She’s now banned by English academia because she’s too smart and talks common sense.”

Last year I reported that the 84-year-old author of The Female Eunuch had moved into a nursing home after returning to Australia.

The family drama at the heart of Davina’s French novel

Davina McCall once admitted that her rocky relationship with her mother Florence Cock led to them taking drugs together twice.

Now the 56-year-old is trying to come to terms with her past by applying to become French like her late mother.

“Yesterday was a great day,” she declares online alongside a selfie of herself under the tricolor and EU flag. “I went to the French embassy to begin the process of obtaining a French passport.”

When the Long Lost Family host was three years old, Florence returned to France, leaving Davina with her grandparents.

“It was very emotional,” she says. “I’ve always felt a great affinity for France, but I had a difficult relationship with my French mother and I can’t explain why, but it seems very healing. It’s like I’m admitting that I’m half her. And it’s nice.”

Spandau ballet stars Martin and Gary Kemp take a swipe at Prince Harry in their new BBC Two mockumentary The Kemps: All Gold.

The 1980s pop stars play feuding brothers in a satirical comedy to be screened at Christmas, with Martin publishing a “pathetic memoir” called Afterthought in a desperate bid to regain the spotlight. And, like Harry’s memoir Spare, there’s a dramatic kitchen fight involving a dog bowl.

“We can do and say things to each other that people who aren’t brothers would probably worry about,” Gary says at a screening at the BFI Southbank in London.

How Hockney put Hanks into orbit

Hollywood legend Tom Hanks credits a chance meeting with David Hockney with inspiring him to launch his new immersive Moonwalkers exhibition in London.

An exhibition at the Lightroom Gallery in King’s Cross explores NASA’s Apollo space missions. “I entered this space not knowing what I was going to see and experience,” Hockney says of Hockney’s exhibition “More and Nearer” (“No Less and Further”), in which his work was projected onto screens around visitors. “I came across a painting by David Hockney while he was painting. It was an amazing experience.”

Hockney was among guests including Succession star Brian Cox and Spice Girl Geri Horner at the launch.