Blazes have caused millions of pounds of damage and the countryside is a tinderbox, yet one of fashion’s most celebrated designers thought it would be the perfect time to light a bonfire at her wild birthday party.
I can reveal that firefighters, who would normally save lives, were called out for the 47th birthday of royal favorite Alice Temperley, whose ‘boho-chic’ dresses are worn by A-listers of the Duchess of Cambridge to movie star Keira Knightley.
“She should be charged with wasting emergency services time and money,” said a resident who lives near the West Country estate in Temperley.
Obviously her property’s fire alarm was set off by the bonfire she decided to light as part of the festivities, attended by fashion figures including model Jade Parfitt, 44.
The waterjet set: Jade Parfitt helps after firefighters were called to designer Alice Temperley’s birthday party
Sign of the times: Defiant Alice (pictured center) with friends at the wild party
Parfitt was later pictured wearing one of the designer’s leopard-print dresses, holding one of the hoses the firefighters used to put out the fire. “Health and safety have gone mad,” the model joked. Alice Temperley knows how to throw a party and how to make the best dresses to put out bonfires. The firemen are going to hire me because I have everything under control.’
A spokesperson for the Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service confirms: ‘We were called to a fire alarm at a property near Ilminster at 12:50 pm on Sunday 24th July and one firefighter was present.’
Temperley declines to comment.
But it seems she has few regrets, judging by the photo she shared of her finger to the camera posing with friends.
Look! Gino sniffs tea with Queen
Off with his head! Italian-born TV chef Gino D’Acampo claims he turned down an invitation for tea from the Queen because he didn’t like the food and drinks on offer.
“I’m not a big fan of tea or cucumber sandwiches,” says D’Acampo, 46, who hosts shows like Let’s Do Lunch, Gino’s Italian Escape, and the game show Family Fortunes.
“I was invited to the palace for tea just before Covid, but a cucumber sandwich is my worst nightmare. I don’t like tea either, so I called my agent and said, “I’d love to meet her, but I don’t like tea and cucumber sandwiches, and I can’t do either one. I will also have to wear a tie, and the last time I did was when I got married. I can not do that. But if I can get a plate of pasta and a cup of coffee, I’m in.”’
Is this the same tea-and-cucumber-hating Gino who recently introduced afternoon tea at his eponymous restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne?
Oscar-winning British composer Anne Dudley is humble when it comes to showing her honor. The creator of TV’s Poldark soundtrack, Dudley, who won the 1998 Academy Award for Best Original Music Score for The Full Monty, says of her Oscar statuette: “It’s in a glass case with my husband’s daffodil trophy from the local show and my daughter’s school sports cup. We are very egalitarian in my house.’
Oops Jezza, and on that bomb…
Jeremy Clarkson’s girlfriend, Lisa Hogan, showed remarkable elegance when she threw herself back from a yacht while on vacation in France, but I think it’s the engine nozzle that got into trouble.
Jeremy Clarkson pictured with new girlfriend Lisa Hogan
Jeremy Clarkson’s girlfriend Lisa Hogan showed remarkable elegance when she threw herself back from a yacht while vacationing in France
In appreciation of her skills, The Grand Tour host, 62, said: ‘Just amazing. I mean, she was born in the sixties.’
Until now, it was generally said that the age of the former actress and model was in the late 40s – so she would have been born in the 1970s.
After checking the official details provided to Companies House, I can confirm that Hogan was born in May 1969. So Clarkson has incongruously told the world that her real age is 53.
What a cad. Don’t push him off the boat, Lisa!
Kirsty in party mood at daughter’s bachelor party
Kirsty Wark, 67, pictured with her daughter Caitlin Clements, 32
A strict figure at the whim of seeming politicians, Newsnight host Kirsty Wark lets her hair down every now and then, as this photo proves.
The 67-year-old Scotsman is downing the cocktail with her journalist daughter, Caitlin Clements, 32, who is soon to be married to civil servant Callum Galloway, 31.
“My girlfriend’s bachelorette party at our house,” says Wark, who is married to TV producer Alan Clements.
Galloway proposed three years ago at Brodick Castle on the Isle of Arran, offering a sparkler he designed himself
Prince Charles has reached the pinnacle of patronage. I’m told he has become a patron of the Braemar Mountain Rescue Team covering his favorite hill, taking over the role from his late father. Charles’ affection for Lochnagar is so great that he immortalized it in his 1980 illustrated children’s book, The Old Man Of Lochnagar. It was originally written by the Prince to entertain his brothers, Andrew and Edward, as children. The book was later made into an animated short by the BBC, with Robbie Coltrane providing the hermit’s voice and narrating Charles.