EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: I have to use a wheelchair these days, admits Downton Abbey creator Lord Fellowes

Television viewers were captivated by his aristocratic tale Downton Abbey, so they will be saddened to hear that Julian Fellowes now faces a huge challenge in his own life.

I hear the screenwriter is largely confined to a wheelchair after returning from a devastating medical condition.

“It’s true that I spend too much time in a wheelchair these days,” says Lord Fellowes.

‘About 40 years ago I was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, probably due to an early herniated disc. I had an operation and after quite a long recovery I was better again, with dancing, horse riding and the rest.

‘Unfortunately a few years ago I was told that the condition had returned and after another operation I had to acknowledge that my powers of recovery at the age of 75 were not quite what they had been at the age of 35. not a big surprise.’

Oscar winner Lord Fellowes, whose wife Emma Kitchener is a former lady-in-waiting to Princess Michael of Kent, added: ‘I’m not completely immobile, but I do have to sit most of the time. I don’t consider myself unhappy about that. Other people have to endure much worse.’

Major success came relatively late in the life of Fellowes, who was elevated to the House of Lords by David Cameron in 2011.

He was a character actor best known for his role as Kilwillie in the BBC One series Monarch Of The Glen, when he turned to screenwriting, to immediate acclaim.

Fellowes received an Academy Award in 2002 for his screenplay for Gosford Park.

He then made a fortune with Downton Abbey, which so far includes six hit series of the costume drama for ITV and two feature films, which together grossed more than £200 million at the box office worldwide.

Chelsy’s New Year’s Cheer

Prince Harry often looks miserable in photos these days, but his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy couldn’t be happier.

39-year-old Chelsy, who had an on-again, off-again relationship with the prince for seven years until 2011, shared this photo on social media yesterday on the occasion of the New Year.

Looking carefree in the beach photo taken in warmer times, she wrote: “I’m so excited for everything that’s going to happen in 2025.”

Last September, Chelsy announced that she had given birth to her second child Chloe. Hardly anyone even knew she was pregnant. Like her ex-boyfriend and the Duchess of Sussex, Chelsy now has a boy and a girl.

In 2022 I announced that Chelsy, who runs a jewelery and travel company, had married hotelier Sam Cutmore-Scott and had a boy, Leo.

Rosie shies away from Sitwell’s problems with a wedding

The Sitwell family and the institution of marriage have not always made for happy bedfellows.

Model Martha Sitwell even denounced the marriage as ‘pure misery’ after hers to Baron Sir George Sitwell ended in 2017, claiming it ‘sucks all the fun out of your life’.

But I’m happy to say this hasn’t put off Sir George’s cousin Rosie, 29.

The graphic designer – great-granddaughter of poet Sacheverell ‘Sachie’ Sitwell, who was never forgiven for marrying his older brother Sir Osbert – is engaged to software specialist George Carter, 31, an alumnus of the Princess of Wales’s old school, £59,000 -one year at Marlborough College.

“We are very happy,” Rosie’s mother Alexandra tells me. The wedding will take place at Renishaw, the 400-year-old family home surrounded by 5,000 acres of Derbyshire.

Sting and Trudie meet Eliot’s new girlfriend

Rock star Sting has been married to film producer Trudie Styler for more than thirty years, and their child Eliot Sumner seems to long for that stability.

I hear Eliot, who played a security guard in the James Bond film No Time To Die, is enjoying a deepening relationship with mother-of-two Mollie Davis.

Last summer I announced that Eliot, 34, who was born a girl but now identifies as non-binary, was dating Mollie.

And Eliot has now taken her to see The Police singer and Trudie, which left her impressed. “I really love this family,” Mollie says.

Party animals Sir Ringo Starr and Keith Moon

David Essex says Sir Ringo Starr and The Who’s great drummer Keith Moon were party animals when the trio starred in rock ‘n’ roll musical film That’ll Be The Day.

“The problem was that, as the lead actor, I was always up at six o’clock and they were partying until five in the morning,” the 77-year-old actor and singer recalls.

Essex, a member of Eric Clapton’s celebrity cricket XI, thought the Rolling Stones behaved better when they went to the extreme in a match.

“Bill Wyman would just stay in and not score much. And I remember bowling Ronnie Wood first ball.”

Nigel Farage gets the green light to demolish a two-storey seaside house

For years he was mocked by opponents for repeatedly failing to win a seat in the House of Commons. But the complacency of his critics was shattered when he was elected MP for Clacton at last year’s general election.

And now reform leader Nigel Farage, who delights in removing obstacles in his path, is celebrating again.

I can tell you that he has just been given the green light to demolish the derelict two-storey seaside house he bought in Kent for £575,000 a few months before the election and replace it with a stunning three-storey into a ‘carport’. , a sunken terrace bordering the beach and a first floor balcony overlooking the sea.

When Farage, 60, applied for planning permission, neighbors were reportedly prepared for a ‘nightmare’ when work started.

But all their doubts seem to have been dispelled: not a single objection has been submitted to the city council. An omen for Nigel’s progress in 2025?