EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: William and Kate indulge in fervent window shopping at a secret evening visit to sale of antiques in Berkshire

As scathing criticism goes, few can match the inspired snobbery of the late Alan Clark’s diary remark that ‘the problem with Michael (Heseltine) is that he had to buy all his furniture’.

But has the line – which Clark attributed to fellow Tory minister Michael Jopling – lived on, but has now been royally rejected?

I ask this because none other than the Prince and Princess of Wales indulged in what might be described as avid window shopping last Friday when they made a discreet and entirely private evening visit to the salesrooms of auctioneer Dreweatts in Berkshire.

“They seemed very interested,” says one antiques enthusiast, adding that “everyone was tweeting to see them.” It was the beginning of the very big champagne reception that auctioneers always have before a serious auction.”

And few sales are as milestone moments as the ones attended by Prince William and Catherine.

The three-day auction of the extraordinary collection amassed by Robert Kime, who oversaw the redevelopment of first Highgrove and then Clarence House for King Charles, begins on Wednesday.

With almost 1,000 lots, ranging from Mughal carpets to Delft vases, it is expected to realize at least £1.5 million – a tribute to Kime’s inspired yet understated style, both as an interior designer, as he described himself, and as an antiques dealer, whose genius earned him the adoration of clients such as Daphne Guinness, Lord and Lady Lloyd-Webber and Lord Puttnam.

Dreweatts and Kensington Palace would not comment on William and Kate’s visit. Others suspect a discreet telephone offer – or two – could be made on their behalf.

“Not so much to buy for themselves, but as a gift for Kate’s parents or brother or sister,” suggests another admirer of Kime, who died suddenly last year at the age of 76.

‘Maybe not the Ushak Medallion Tapestry for £50,000, or even George II’s grandfather clock for £4,000, but the fifteen Bronze Age axes for £2,000. What else would you give a mother-in-law?’

Lily lends a helping hand to friend Freddie Fox

Laurence Fox has become ‘toxic’ after being sacked as presenter of GB News for making vulgar sexual comments about political reporter Ava Evans – but his cousin Freddie has lost none of his charm for Lily James.

The 34-year-old Mamma Mia 2 star took Freddie’s hand as they arrived at the Gielgud Theater in the West End for the first night of Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends.

Fox, 34, starred opposite James in racy BBC drama The Pursuit Of Love. Last week I announced that he lost a major role in the West End because producers were so concerned about his links with Laurence.

Announcer Vanessa Feltz was overcome with emotion at Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends in the West End.

“As soon as Send In The Clowns started, she started laughing,” says an audience member sitting behind her.

To stop herself, she suppressed giggling for the rest of the song by putting her head between her legs. Seriously strange behavior.

‘The entire audience heard her – and also the soloist Bernadette Peters. It really put her off her performance.” After the show, Feltz said, “It was absolutely beautiful. Everyone cried. I lost it.’

Cycle paths drive Tom crazy

Tom Conti, who played Albert Einstein in the Hollywood blockbuster Oppenheimer, has come up with his own theory: that Labor is ruining the capital by prioritizing bicycles over cars.

The Shirley Valentine star says: ‘The damage the canonization of cyclists has done to London is incalculable.’

Cycle paths have been given priority, the actor (81) adds. ‘Older and less able-bodied people experience great inconvenience and companies are severely damaged.

‘How many cyclists use those lanes? Almost none.’

Award-winning musician Anoushka Shankar is celebrating a very personal milestone this week.

The daughter of late sitar player Ravi Shankar, and half-sister of singer Norah Jones, has celebrated her 14th anniversary as clean and sober. “For years I avoided talking about my sobriety,” explains Shankar, 42, who lives in London with her two sons by ex-husband, film director Joe Wright.

‘However, it feels important as a South Asian woman in recovery to talk about addiction. It was difficult to recover from a community where addiction was a taboo, a shame and a moral weakness.”

In illness and in eleven for Georgina?

West End star Georgina Castle fell for actor Simon Lipkin when he starred in Elf The Musical and she played his girlfriend on stage.

Now their real-life romance is getting more and more exciting.

I hear the 30-year-old daughter of BBC Wimbledon expert Andrew Castle is sharing a duvet with 37-year-old Lipkin, a magician in illusionist Derren Brown’s new show. “My daughter lives with Simon,” confirms former tennis pro Andrew.

And Castle is such an admirer of Georgina’s new boyfriend that he keeps a photo of him as a screensaver on his phone.

Former Labor MP Simon Danczuk, 56, married beautician Claudine ‘Coco’ Uwamahoro, 29, in Rwanda last month, but she has struggled to accept some aspects of life in Lancashire.

He suggested a trip to Pendle Hill, the scene of witch trials in the 17th century.

Claudine tells me, ‘Simon said we were going to a festival there for Halloween. I do not like it. I can not go.’