Prince Edward is taking extremely seriously his debut Trooping the Colour next month on horseback. 

Previously he’s attended the event in a carriage but as the new colonel of the Scots Guards he will turn out in bearskin and full military fig. 

He has been discreetly rehearsing with his brother Andrew providing practical training in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle. 

Andrew, briefly colonel of the Grenadiers, took part in just two Troopings (2018, 2019) but had to undergo intensive preparation for his time in the saddle, a shock for a career naval man.

Training Edward has allowed Andrew to get his old bearskin out of mothballs, something he thought he’d never wear again. At last a real job for the banished prince!

No sooner is former health secretary Ken Clarke besieged by demands for the removal of his peerage over his inept handling of the infected blood scandal than the BBC start broadcasting repeats of his 2011 series Jazz Greats. ‘Le timing est tout’?

President Macron’s wife Brigitte is reportedly less than thrilled at Gaumont Studios’ announcement of a six-part drama about her life. 

How will the film boffins handle the seduction scenes between teacher Brigitte and the teenage Emmanuel Macron? Deep waters!

Meanwhile President Macron, whose final term expires in 2027, is being lined up to join Tony Blair in a dream lecture team by JP Morgan. 

Let’s hope Emmanuel gets paid as much as they’ve promised Tone. 

The ex-PM will trouser one million euros per conference appearance.

Declaring her love of sewing and jam-making, Liz Hurley, pictured, less than a decade from her old age pension, seems to have embraced a sedentary lifestyle.

‘On days when I’m not working,’ she says, ‘I normally get up fairly early, seven-ish, feed and walk the dogs, play with the parrot Ping Pong whom I love – and then I’ll slurp endless coffees.’ 

Could Meals on Wheels be revving up in the Gloucestershire shrubbery Liz?

Old Etonians Damian Lewis and Dominic West are among former school boys asked to open their wallets for a contribution to departing Provost William Waldegrave. The Old Etonian Association suggests £50 each lads!

Dashing veterans minister Johnny Mercer – photographed barefoot on a train journey and explaining he had just cycled across Dartmoor in the rain – takes more than a passing interest in his appearance.

One Westminster wag recalls Mercer being late for an adjournment debate when a fellow minister asked a doorman if he’d seen him.

The reply? ‘Perhaps he was delayed when he walked in front of a mirror, sir.'