The artwork, called Poor Anna – Nothing to Wear, was part of a
collection on loan from Twisted Knits, a Devon-based art group,
whose other dolls include Colonel Gaddafi, a dog in a burka, and
Rebekah Brooks being visited in prison by her baby.
But a rumpus erupted when Conran and Birley discovered the
Wintour doll had been discreetly hidden away by the show's curator,
Sarah Mower, who happens to be a Vogue contributing editor:
understandably, she felt her boss's modesty should be preserved. My
man behind the curtain says Conran and Birley immediately demanded
to see it, and threatened to launch a "Free Anna" campaign. Ever
the diplomat, festival hostess Catherine St Germans offered them a
private viewing, and led them up to her own bedroom, where the
naked Anna was hanging in her wardrobe. Shrieks all round!
Rebekah joins Loulou's set
Rebekah Brooks isn't letting the small matter of being charged
with phone hacking stop her from having a good time. I can reveal
she and fun-loving husband Charlie Brooks were among guests at the
recent opening of Loulou's, Robin Birley's new Mayfair
nightclub.
The ritzy boîte, in the basement of Birley's long-awaited
private members' club, 5 Hertford Street, is being dubbed the new
Annabel's, after Robin's father, the late Mark Birley, sold the
Berkeley Square haunt to Richard Caring. Rebekah's admittance to
the Loulou's set is perhaps surprising, given that Robin's sister
Jemima Goldsmith is one of the club's chief backers: her ex, Hugh
Grant, is a leading member of Hacked Off, the anti-News
International campaign group. On the other hand, Charlie and
Rebekah are Oxfordshire neighbours of Goldsmith. I happen to know
that Rebekah became a member of Annabel's last year, at about the
time snobs were saying it had lost its caché. Let's hope she
doesn't lower the tone at Loulou's!
Simmering in Saatchi kitchen
Is Charles Saatchi trying to tell us something? The millionaire
art dealer has written an extraordinary article in the London
Evening Standard about the misery of marriage, describing it as "a
flawed ideology with a miserable track record that only gives
comfort to the insecure and the needy, like me".
He is, of course, married to the celebrity TV chef Nigella
Lawson, though one can only wonder what she makes of his latest
musings. In the piece, he marvels at the idea of a "brank", an iron
muzzle used in 16th-century Scotland for clamping the tongues of
nagging women, and grumbles that today "it would probably be
considered inappropriate by Health and Safety".
He also tells a revolting anecdote about an obese past lover,
who had BO, and concludes with this joke: "The only advice I can
offer a friend whose marriage is in difficulty is to remind him
that wives make excellent housekeepers: they always manage to keep
the house."
Last month, it emerged that the BBC had built a replica of
Nigella's kitchen because she felt it would be too intrusive for
her teenage children if she filmed her series, Nigellissima, at
home. Aren't Charles's musings rather more intrusive?
It's taking part that counts...
The relatively unknown punk rocker-turned-folk singer who opened
the Olympics ceremony tells me he was persuaded to take part when
he heard Danny Boyle knew all his songs. Frank Turner, who was a
contemporary of Prince William at Eton, is a resolutely
anti-establishment figure, who has previously said he despised his
school and background. But when he heard Boyle was a genuine fan,
he agreed to take part, and has no regrets.
"It was fantastic," he tells me. "Easily the best thing I've
done in some time. I'm not really a tub-thumping, flag-waving
nationalist, but being part of the ceremony in the only Olympic
Games that will take place in my city in my lifetime was something
to be proud of."
So does he now feel he's part of the establishment? "Ha! Well,
obviously the thought wandered across my mind when I was asked. It
might have been different had I got a call from an IOC suit, but
the fact it was Danny and that he had obviously thought about this
a lot made me want to be a part of it."
Fun and games in the abattoir
With Anneka Rice for a mother, and West End producer Nick Allott
for a father, it was only a matter of time before Josh Allott made
his name in showbiz.
Sure enough, the talented 21-year-old, who has just landed a
first class degree in drama from Manchester University, has written
his first play, which he is taking to Edinburgh. It's called
Swordy-Well, and is a "dark comedy" about a struggling family-run
abattoir. "It treads a fine line between horror and comedy," he
tells me.
"I had seen a few documentaries about the decline of the British
meat industry, but it's also a metaphor for commercialisation more
generally. Setting it in an abattoir gave me an opportunity for
some gory indulgence."
Allott hopes to become a full-time writer, with plenty of
encouragement from his father, who as Cameron Mackintosh's right
hand man, runs seven West End theatres. "He's been very helpful,
but at the same time, he's quite keen on letting me figure it out
for myself. I sent him a script and he panned it. He's very honest
with me."
It's tough on your own
Steve Coogan turned up to a dingy suburban theatre to watch a
one-man show by Richard Peppiatt, the hack-turned-tabloid
scourge.
Peppiatt is the former Daily Star reporter who, after a crise de
coeur, quit in order to spend his time lampooning tabloid
journalism. His show, previewed on page 56, is likely to make him
many enemies on Fleet Street, though I'm bound not to divulge any
details.
"I'm trying to keep a Mousetrap-style secrecy round the show,"
he says, "so that it's a surprise for as many people as
possible."
After the show, Coogan gave Peppiatt a, er, pep talk on how to
perform. "I've got a massive new respect for comics," adds
Peppiatt. "The stage is a very lonely place when you're on your
own."
So is performing as tough as being a hack? "Let's just say
they're both very creative endeavours."
Cyclists' spoke in Beck's Games
David Beckham's journey to the Olympic Stadium on Friday was
eventful, quite apart from his speed boat trip. Word reaches me
that the footballer's car got tangled up in the monthly outing of
Critical Mass, an urban cycling group who celebrate life on two
wheels.
One of the 500 cyclists posted an alarming message on Facebook
afterwards, saying his bike had been damaged in the incident and
making further allegations as to what happened subsequently. He was
believed to be one of many cyclists to have been arrested for
causing a public nuisance.
When I call Beckham's office, a spokesman says: "There was a
number of aggressive cyclists hell bent on causing maximum
disruption and distress to people for the start of the Olympics.
David was one of many people caught up in this disturbance."
Beckham himself was unreachable to clarify further, and regrettably
the cyclist is also out of reach. All very curious.
Whisky isle to inspire Bond writer
William Boyd is busy beavering away on a new James Bond novel,
to be published next year. But he has been made another offer too
good to turn down.
I understand he is the latest author to have accepted a stint as
writer-in-residence on the Isle of Jura, where the eponymous
whisky-makers run a writers' retreat. Scribes are given a luxury
lodge and must pen a short story, inspired by the island, in
return. Jura was where George Orwell wrote 1984. The west coast of
Scotland was teeming with Bond-like spies during the war, so no
doubt Boyd will be inspired – the odd dram or three allowing!
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