EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Did a cheat really ‘load the dice’ at White’s?

As London’s gentlemen’s clubs go, they don’t get any grander — or more self-respecting — than White’s, founded in 1693 and located just a few hundred yards from St James’s Palace.

But I can reveal that neither reputation nor history has shielded it from a whirl of incendiary claims after a game of high stakes backgammon played there recently.

There was, I’m told, no indication of anything off-putting at first when the match got under way, with a member of the club – scene of the King’s hen night before his wedding to Lady Diana Spencer – throwing at a guy who, I As assured by one White’s husband, he is “a fine player.”

Interest in the game was high, not least because of what was on it. “There was a very important bet on the outcome – £30,000,” I was told.

As the game progressed, interest grew. So was the suspicion. A bystander watched the dice roll intently and became convinced that something underhanded was going on.

Finally, after the guest won, he voiced his concerns. “He was convinced the guest had loaded dice,” I’m told.

The accusation of outright deception could not have been more stark. Anyone who ‘loads’ the dice — tamper with them so that they are more often than not facing up with a specific number — has a huge advantage in backgammon, a game where the roll of the dice is paramount.

I was told that “a great drama” has taken place. White’s is protective – of both its guests and its members, including the Duke of Marlborough, the lavish hedge fund manager Crispin Odey and former government minister Sir Nicholas Soames. “We don’t talk to the press at all, I’m afraid,” an employee tells me.

A habit of a neighboring St James’s club feels less inhibited. “They’ve kept it very quiet out of disgust at every scandal,” he tells me. “White’s,” he claims, “has a bad reputation for bastards anyway.”

Ivy Getty is in trouble

The old showbiz adage about never working with children or animals was ignored by heiress Ivy Getty – at her expense.

The 27-year-old model fell under the spell of unruly Dalmatians during a shoot for photographer Daniel Sachon at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood. “The Dalmatians have wild personalities and they all love the water, so shooting next to a pool was especially difficult,” she tells me at a preview of Sachon’s exhibit, Bitches, at 59 Greek Street, Mayfair.

“I was in heels, trying not to be dragged and torn by them, and ended up in the pool myself.”

It hardly fits the spirit of our meritocratic age, but Julian Fellowes wants more inherited privileges.

“The sad thing for me is that they don’t create hereditary peers anymore apart from the couple Mrs Thatcher did,” says the creator of Downton Abbey at the London Grill Club in Covent Garden.

“They haven’t had that for 50 or 60 years, apart from royal dukes, so presumably in 100 years we’ll have 50 royal dukes and practically nothing else.”

Oscar winner Lord Fellowes of West Stafford became a life partner in 2011.

Jane Asher’s brother is recovering from brain surgery.

‘I wasn’t feeling 100 percent, so I went to get an MRI [scan] after my wife and daughter insisted I check things out,” reveals Peter Asher, 78, half of the ’60s pop duo Peter and Gordon.

‘Good thing I did, because from there I had to be operated on urgently. Two small holes in my head, but I’m recovering and should be out of here next week.’

Sir Paul McCartney wrote for them the big hit A World Without Love by Peter and Gordon Waller, while he was dating Jane.

Liam desperate to act at his age

Most actors would be flattered to be cast as someone decades younger than them, but Liam Neeson has had enough.

“I’m still being offered parts that say, ‘Here’s the character, Joe Blow, he’s 50,'” says the Northern Ireland star.

‘No he isn’t. If you want me, he must be 70, or in his late 60s. You can’t cheat the public. They just know.’ Neeson turned 70 in June, “although I prefer to say soixante-dix,” he jokes.

The art of raising money

Bibulous Pogues star Shane MacGowan called on his fans to “bring a lot of money” to the private viewing of an exhibition of his art.

And his supermodel friend Kate Moss, 48, was on hand to help gamblers buy some of the works featured in the show, called The Eternal Buzz And The Crock Of Gold, at the Andipa art gallery in Chelsea.

The works of MacGowan, 64 – who has used a wheelchair since breaking his pelvis in 2015 – are expected to sell for between £5,000 and £32,000.

The Fairytale Of New York singer tells me: ‘I don’t have a favorite piece, they are all special in their own way.’

Disgraced BBC interviewer Martin Bashir has seen assets in his media company plummet by 60 percent after a scathing investigation into his interview with Princess Diana.

Funds at Panoramic Productions Ltd fell from £112,700 to £46,200 and he paid no corporate income tax in the 12 months to January, indicating that the company was not making a profit.

After costs were taken into account, the company was left with just £25,800, a far cry from three years ago when the company received £200,000 in revenue on top of its £100,000 BBC salary.

Call The Midwife creator Heidi Thomas claims that writing the hit BBC drama is harder than having a baby.

“Giving birth is so much easier than writing 103 episodes of a TV series,” says the acclaimed screenwriter, 60, who has a 22-year-old son with her husband, Stephen McGann, aka Dr. Patrick Turner on the show.

“I gave birth, and it only lasted a day. I always prefer my son to my success. But it can be very hard and I’d be mad to say it wasn’t a slog.’