EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Scandal as £400k goes AWOL from a top army charity that dropped the Duke of York as a patron in the wake of his car crash Emily Maitlis interview

Dozens of charities and organizations rushed to distance themselves from the Duke of York in the wake of his car crash interview with Emily Maitlis, fearing they would be tainted by association.

But now it’s Prince Andrew’s turn to breathe a sigh of relief because he no longer has to do with any of them.

That is, I would argue, because of the crisis engulfing a military charity – of which he was patron until 2020 – which is reeling from the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of pounds from its coffers.

The charity, the Army Museums Ogilby Trust, whose website lists former chief of defense staff Lord Richards and former Defense Secretary Lord Soames among its deputy patrons, refuses to say exactly how much money has gone missing.

But I am told the figure could be as high as £400,000 – a devastating loss for a charity whose total expenditure in 2021, the most recent year for which accounts have been published, was £2.2 million.

“We were all shocked and concerned when this was discovered,” said a senior source at the charity.

That is completely understandable. The Trust, which was instrumental in the creation of the National Army Museum, hands out thousands of pounds every year to regimental and other military museums – all of which have been hit hard by repeated lockdowns – for ‘the stimulation and education of the public’ .

I understand that the loss of money is not considered to be the result of an accounting error, much less bad investment, but is instead a case of alleged theft and has so far resulted in the suspension of one staff member.

In the meantime, the Trust must continue without Lord (David) Richards, who tells me that, contrary to what the website claims, he is not one of the vice-patrons and has never even attended any of the meetings or events. .

He explains that when he was approached by the Trust three or four years ago, he agreed to become vice-patron ‘in principle’. But he didn’t hear anything again until a few months ago one of the Trust’s officials emailed him about the missing money.

“He apologized that no one had ever contacted me.”

Richards says that given the silence that had passed, he did not see himself as one of the Trust’s vice-patrons. “But I thanked him and hoped he could solve what was clearly a very difficult and sensitive problem.”

Not, for once, one of the Duke of York’s…

(Very) modern manners…

Are dinner parties a thing of the past? Hotel heiress Nicky Rothschild seems to think so.

The wife of British banker James Rothschild, who turned 40 on Thursday, reveals she is scrapping the ‘boring’ format for her milestone birthday.

‘I’m going to have a party in New York. People say, “Oh, like, are you going to do a sit-down dinner?” And I say, ‘No, I find that boring.’

‘Who wants to be at a sit-down dinner? I’m going to have a big dance party with all my friends and family – and have a lot of fun.’

Nicky, who has three children with James, 38, says her older sister, Paris Hilton, will DJ.

The smart set is talking about…Cambridge Uni’s wonderfully poised new lady Provost

She is the author of Fool’s Gold and three other books and has a PhD in social anthropology. But Gillian Tett, recently appointed Provost of King’s College, Cambridge, is much more than a blue stocking full of brains.

She is also an alumna of the Lucie Clayton Charm Academy, the London school that launched the careers of Dame Joanna Lumley, 1960s model Jean Shrimpton and the vivacious baronet’s daughter Vicki Hodge.

In Tett’s day, the organization was no longer preparing girls for modeling, but instead offered classes in balance – “how to get out of a sports car with your knees together,” as one devotee puts it – and behavior.

“It was actually my time with Lucie Clayton that sparked my interest in anthropology,” says Tett, 56.

‘I started to see that all cultures have social patterns. From there I went on to volunteer at a medical charity in Pakistan and later study anthropology at Cambridge.’

Lady D’s ex remarries in a more relaxed style

When former sheep shearer and builder Gary Lewis married Lady Davina Windsor, daughter of the Duke of Gloucester, in 2004, he looked dapper in a suit and tie as they exchanged vows in the Kensington Palace Chapel in a lavish ceremony that was attended by royals including Princess Anne.

Now Lewis, 53, has married again, but this time in a crumpled shirt, shorts and a pair of dusty shoes, at a registry office in the West Country.

While Lady Davina, 45, is a great-granddaughter of George V, Lewis’s new bride, Pauline Cox, 44, right, is a divorced nutritionist with whom he runs a restaurant, takeaway and health food store in Clevedon, Somerset.

“My heart is so full,” Cox said. ‘I feel so grateful. Crazy in Love.’ Lewis later donned a battered straw hat as he and Pauline, center, cut their wedding cake.

He and Lady Davina, who have two children together, divorced in 2018.

His life has been one of scarcely believable extremes, bouncing from the ski slopes of the Alps to the swankiest parties in London and New York – and then, in 1984, to a three-month stint in Pentonville for cocaine possession.

All the while, Greek playboy Taki Theodoracopulos, 87, has written a “High Life” column for Spectator magazine every week since 1977.

But I hear he resigned yesterday following his conviction on Thursday for attempted rape in 2009, for which he received a 12-month suspended sentence in Switzerland – a conviction he says he will appeal.

‘Mr Tinder’ finds Mrs Right… in the emergency room!

Nicknamed ‘Mr Tinder’ after it was revealed in 2017 that he was the most ‘right-swiped’ man on popular dating app Tinder, Stefan-Pierre Tomlin despaired earlier this year that he could not find lasting love.

However, I can now reveal that the reality TV star has a new girlfriend – and he didn’t meet her online.

She is NHS nurse Leanne Noakes, 34.

“We met while I was being treated for a minor football injury at the hospital where she works,” he tells me at the premiere of Bikeriders at London’s Royal Festival Hall. “She’s an ER nurse who caught me off guard and nursed me back to health.”

She and Tomlin, 33, who runs dating agency Celebrity Love Coach, wore matching black leather outfits to the premiere, right.

Georgia’s incredible numbers

Georgia May Jagger recently spoke about her jet-set lifestyle, which has seen her zipping between the Venice Film Festival, the Cote D’Azur and New York on fashion assignments.

Yet the 31-year-old model, daughter of Sir Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall, may have to shift her focus to her skincare line, which, I can reveal, has suffered losses approaching £500,000. Newly filed accounts for her company, Catfish Soup Ltd, show the company founded six years ago is still leaking money.

Creditors are owed almost £1.5 million. Without the £866,000 owed by debtors, losses would be much greater. Paperwork says Georgia, the company’s sole director, is “pleased to continue supporting the company.”

As Sir Keir Starmer measures the curtains in 10 Downing Street, the astonishing extent of Tony Blair’s influence is laid bare.

Documents published this week reveal that the titular Tony Blair Institute for Global Change had a huge turnover of $121 million (almost £100 million) last year. The accounts show turnover increased by £33 million compared to 2021.

The former Labor leader’s non-profit organization now employs 514 people, 177 more than in 2021. Its income includes £91.1 million from ‘advising political leaders in countries around the world’.

Critics accuse Blair of using the institute to advance his own ideological views as well as the interests of his business base.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation are among donors to the institute, which came under fire this summer when it emerged that it had continued to accept donations from the government of Saudi Arabia after its involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal in 2018. Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.