EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Sting, 71, stuns guests renting out his Tuscany palace

He grew up in the shadows of the shipyards – “a dark, terrifying place”, the air saturated with “terrible chemicals” – but everything changed when he caught sight of the Queen Mother brandishing from “a big, black Rolls- Royce’, on a visit to the Northeast.

That glimpse, he has said, “infected” him with the belief that he “didn’t belong on this street” and ultimately inspired him to worldwide recognition as rock star Sting.

But never assume the Police singer takes anything for granted – certainly not his £320 million fortune, which has seen him acquire a range of trophy properties, including a 16th-century mansion in Wiltshire and a beach house in Malibu, to name a few. not to mention Il Palagio, a 600 hectare vineyard in Tuscany.

And it is in Il Palagio, I can reveal, that the musician shows that he is simply in a class of his own.

Because while there’s nothing unusual about his willingness to rent out the Italian estate to those with deep enough pockets, Sting, 71, goes two steps further.

Sting and Trudie Styler celebrate their pearl wedding on their sprawling estate in Tuscany

Not only is he willing to perform live for paying guests just about anywhere in Il Palagio, which has five other homes in addition to the nine-bedroom villa, he’s also, I can reveal, willing to dine and entertain the assembled party.

“Sting was sitting at the top table for dinner,” a still shaken source says.

“He held court – happy to talk to anyone who approached him,” my informant explains, adding that Il Palagio was booked by a technology company.

The police frontman is said to have charmed guests at his villa and even took the stage to bust out some classics with his house band

Sting’s Tuscan villa, which costs ‘a penny’ to rent out – but worth every penny, as the singer may just join the guests for dinner

“It cost a penny to rent the entire building,” says the source. “It seemed Sting wanted them to get their money’s worth.”

Indeed, he did not limit himself to schmoozing. “He’s done some of his songs with his house band,” I’ve been told.

A Sting spokesperson declined to comment.

TV chef shares his proudest moment

He had a lucrative television career and a collection of classic cars reportedly worth around £5 million, but chef James Martin says the best thing he’s come up with has been a home for his mother, Sue.

Chef James Martin, 50, says the best thing he’s cooked has been a home for his mum, Sue (on This Morning in 2022)

“Forget the cars, forget everything, the greatest achievement I’ve ever had was buying my mum a house,” says the star of ITV’s Saturday Morning With James Martin.

The 50-year-old Yorkshireman, whose family were pig farmers on the Castle Howard estate, adds: “I couldn’t have dreamed of that as a little kid and Mum used to visit me at work, crying and saying, ‘You shouldn’t be like that. to work”.

“But you stick with it because it’s the job you love.” Martin adds, “My family still tells me my hair is messed up and my shoes don’t match my top. But that’s what you want in life. My family has always been honest.’

Adrian Edmondson, who played aggressive punk student Vyvyan Basterd on the 1980s sitcom The Young Ones, has shifted his focus to classical music, which he says is “ill-served” by the radio.

“Those popular programs like Classic FM present it as if it were Gardeners’ Question Time,” says the actor, 66.

“There’s something cozy and bourgeois about it, whereas if people fell for it, Mozart would think it more punk than punk, but we shouldn’t approach him that way.”

Comedian Harry Hill clearly has no time for false modesty.

I saw him laughing out loud at his own jokes about Tony! (The Tony Blair Rock Opera), at the Leicester Square Theater in London.

Comedian Harry Hill says he’s always watched his own stuff: ‘Some people don’t like seeing their own stuff, but I’m always like, yeah, I like it’

“I’ve always been like this,” he tells me. “In the old days, if TV Burp was on, I would go down and watch.

“Some people don’t like seeing their own stuff, but I’m always like, yeah, I like it too. Every show is different [In] every performance there is something different, and it’s funny.’

Titanic fighter Sir Andrew dies

Baronet Sir Andrew Duff Gordon died last week at the age of 89, having finally cleared the name of an ancestor who was criticized on both sides of the Atlantic after the Titanic disaster.

His great-uncle, Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon, was accused of bribing a lifeboat, ahead of women and children, when the liner sank in 1912, killing more than 1,500 people.

Sir Andrew discovered documents in a law firm showing that his ancestor gave each of the then unemployed crew members who rescued him, his wife and her secretary a check for £5 to show their gratitude.

This was misinterpreted as a delayed bribe. Sir Andrew saved the truth. Now they can both rest in peace.