Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck did it. So did Chris Evans and Billie Piper. And now I can reveal, like I’m A Celebrity winner – and only daughter of Margaret Thatcher – 70-year-old Carol Thatcher.
Showing a talent for pulling off a surprise that would certainly have shocked her mother, Carol got married in Las Vegas.
Her husband is Marco Grass, the mop-haired Swiss ski instructor who Carol met in 1992. Marco is the man friends long hoped she would marry, while fearing she might never have her big day.
Carol apparently shared those concerns. On one of the few times she spoke publicly about Marco, sixteen years her junior, she said, “One day he will surely fade into the distance with someone younger and more handsome.”
It was a rather poignant prediction from someone whose youthful love affair with Jonathan Aitken, then a rising star in the Tory party, ended in sadness when he turned his attention elsewhere. He was the man “who made Carol cry,” according to her mother Margaret.
Carol Thatcher, 70, married Swiss ski instructor Marco Grass in Las Vegas and the couple met in 1992
Baroness Margaret Thatcher with her husband Sir Denis at Towcester Races in 1992. Sir Denis advised Marco to follow his lead and avoid the spotlight
But some friends also found Carol’s comment realistic. That was not out of hostility towards Marco, a charming man from a family of hoteliers.
It was because they believed that the age difference would widen. However, Carol and Marco proved them wrong.
After meeting in Switzerland, the couple lived in Carol’s riverside flat in Fulham, west London. But Marco was soon a guest in Chester Square, Belgravia, where Lady Thatcher and husband Denis spent their final years.
Sir Denis, to whom Carol was devoted, advised Marco to follow his example and avoid the spotlight. For her part, Carol remains as discreet – and playful – as ever. She refuses to comment further on their wedding, saying it has been “years” ago. If so, it seems like she’s only now willing to acknowledge it.
Honor for Mail Force teacher
Congratulations to the remarkable Inna Hryhorovych, headmistress of St Mary’s Ukrainian School in Holland Park, West London, who this week received the MBE awarded to her in the King’s Birthday Honours.
It was fitting recognition for her tireless work spearheading a pilot project funded by a £1 million donation from the Mail Force Ukraine Appeal.
The money will help bilingual Ukrainian teachers help children here who are deeply traumatized by the war in their country. In total, Daily Mail readers raised £12 million for the appeal.
Inna Hryhorovych, headmistress of St Mary’s Ukrainian School in Holland Park, west London, this week received the MBE awarded to her in the King’s Birthday Honors
Mrs Hryhorovych was watched by her proud husband Serhiy Kadyshchuk and their two children, Alex and Tina, as she accepted the award from Princess Anne at Windsor Castle.
“What a trip,” said Inna, who came here thirteen years ago. ‘To be recognized with an MBE and receive it from the Princess Royal.’
Kristin and Lily come outside to play
Scathing reviews for their new West End play Lyonesse failed to dampen the spirits of Dame Kristin Scott Thomas and Lily James.
The pair celebrated the comedy’s opening night at London’s Harold Pinter Theater at the show’s after-party at Browns Covent Garden.
Meanwhile, my source at the event says Dame Kristin’s directorial debut North Star, starring Scarlett Johansson and Sienna Miller, remains in limbo.
The lady’s friend, John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg and co-author of the work, was heard saying: “We are still looking for distribution for the film.”
Dan arranges a night out with Spacey
During rugby star Danny Cipriani’s recent lecture for his book Who Am I? he expressed support for fair trials in sexual assault cases.
“What happened to innocents until proven guilty?” he opined at the Wimbledon BookFest in London. ‘Don’t people have the right to a fair trial?
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I’m sure this must have been a topic of discussion for the former England player, 35, as he enjoyed a night out with American actor Kevin Spacey.
The pair were pictured at the Novikov bar in London’s Mayfair. Spacey, 64, was recently acquitted of sexual assault charges while he was artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre.
Is pantomime Christopher Biggins preparing for a quick departure from the capital? I only ask when he confides to me: ‘I’ve had enough of London. The traffic, it has changed. I just feel like I’d like to have the freedom to live somewhere and I want to be 45 minutes away from central London by train.”
The 74-year-old star has even set his sights on work further afield. “I want to be in Coronation Street,” he adds.
Christopher Biggins, 74, said he has had enough of London and has set his sights on a role in Coronation Street
He’s known as a Hollywood hardman, but Arnold Schwarzenegger’s affection for animals goes a long way toward softening his image.
The Terminator star, 76, has revealed that he and his girlfriend Heather Milligan have two pigs, a donkey and a horse as pets at his Los Angeles mansion.
“They’re coming into the house,” the ex-governor of California revealed to an audience at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
“We’ll have dinner, just between us, and we’ll give them a carrot or some salad or lettuce or whatever.”
More financial worries for the family of the Princess of Wales? As The Diary revealed this year, Party Pieces, the company her mother Carole started, went bankrupt with debts of £2.6 million.
Now Bucklebury Farm Ltd, the company of Pippa Middleton’s husband James Matthews, is in the red for more than half a million.
But I’m confident the numbers reflect hedge fund owner Matthews’ investments – not a distressed company.