EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Elon Musk's SpaceX sonic boom leaves Sussexes' Montecito community 'creaking'
Their quest to find freedom led them to break from Palace protocol and embrace lives living as 'ordinary people' in California, where their home is a £12million Tuscan-style mansion with thirteen – and a half – bathrooms, a spa, swimming pool, cellar, cinema and more or less everything a couple with two young children could need.
Yet might there be a curse on Montecito, a cluster of gated communities where Harry and Meghan's neighbours include their special friend Oprah Winfrey, not to mention Gwyneth Paltrow and one-time teen heartthrob Rob Lowe?
I ask because residents there are being reduced to wails of distress by the world's richest man, Elon Musk.
Not by his political pronouncements, splendidly forthright though those are, but by the acoustic assault from Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB), where the multi-billionaire's SpaceX missions blast off with impressive regularity.
'Enough! Let's stop the disruptive arrogant sonic booms at night!' howls one Californian on an online community group.
'This insane frequency and quantity needs regulation, it's just terrible,' says another, alleging that the blast-offs exact a structural as well as a sonic cost.
'I could hear the house creaking,' insists the complainant, one of nearly 1,300 signatories on a petition entitled Protect California's Coast: Say No to Deregulation and Unchecked SpaceX Expansion at VSFB.
The aural trauma comes in the wake of an aromatic one which aroused similar desperation, as I disclosed last May.
Might there be a curse on Montecito, a cluster of gated communities where Harry and Meghan's (pictured) neighbours include their special friend Oprah Winfrey, not to mention Gwyneth Paltrow and one-time teen heartthrob Rob Lowe?
Residents in Montecito there are being reduced to wails of distress by the world's richest man, Elon Musk (pictured)
The acoustic assault comes from Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB), where the multi-billionaire's SpaceX missions blast off with impressive regularity
What was described as a 'skunk-like' odour, 'an ungodly stink' and a 'jaw-clamping stench' left locals in urgent need of a scrubber – the name of a new filtering machine which, it's claimed, can rid the air of 84 percent of the reek of cannabis, now legally grown and harvested in California.
Ten scrubbers – costing nearly £18,000-a-piece – are needed per acre if they're to be truly effective.
By contrast, the battle against Musk and SpaceX is currently being fought with hot air: the US Department of the Air Force is scheduling three public meetings this month.
What are the chances of Meghan breaking free from her Netflix cookery show – being filmed in a neighbour's kitchen two miles from her own – and waving her spatula in support?
Or will she and Harry soon be waving their passports and heading to Portugal, where, as I revealed last October, they've snapped up another property?
Under the mistletoe? Cara enjoys Christmas fairytale in New York
Romance is still in the air for Cara Delevingne and her singer girlfriend Minke, who spent Christmas with the supermodel's family – including her sister Poppy and property developer father Charles – in New York.
Cara, 32, and Minke, 33, whose real name is Leah Mason, could be seen embracing in front of a Christmas tree in a picture model Poppy shared online.
'Twas a holly, jolly Christmas,' she wrote alongside the snap.
The couple met when they were students at the £52,000-per-year Bedales boarding school in Hampshire.
However, they only started dating in 2022 after being reunited at an Alanis Morissette concert. Cara has credited Minke with helping her stay on the road to sobriety.
Romance is still in the air for Cara Delevingne and her singer girlfriend Minke (pictured together), who spent Christmas with the supermodel's family – including her sister Poppy and property developer father Charles – in New York
However, they only started dating in 2022 after being reunited at an Alanis Morissette concert. Cara has credited Minke with helping her stay on the road to sobriety (Cara and Minke are pictured together above)
Jemima starts year on back foot
Spare a thought for film producer Jemima Goldsmith, who has had a painful start to the year after falling down a mountain in South Africa.
Jemima, 50, had hiked up to the summit of the Lion's Head in Cape Town, which is situated at 2,194ft above sea level, before tumbling on her way back down.
Lady Annabel Goldsmith's daughter and the ex-wife of cricketer Imran Khan ended up in hospital following the accident and could be seen with her leg in a boot in a picture she shared online.
'Festive break (pun intended) in Cape Town,' she says. 'Embracing the highs and the lows of 2025.'
Spare a thought for film producer Jemima Goldsmith, who has had a painful start to the year after falling down a mountain in South Africa
When Peckham-born John Boyega shot to international fame playing Stormtrooper-turned-rebel Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he insisted he'd never leave Blighty for Hollywood.
But the actor, 32, has clearly since been swayed by its charms.
'America has been loving to me. They're so accepting, especially for the black British actor, we're loving it right now,' he tells me.
When Peckham-born John Boyega (pictured) shot to international fame playing Stormtrooper-turned-rebel Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he insisted he'd never leave Blighty for Hollywood
(Very) modern manners
The grass might not be looking greener on the other side for Ellie Goulding who, after the collapse of her marriage to art dealer Caspar Jopling, had a fling with a surf instructor in Costa Rica.
The singer, 38, this week reflected on experiencing some of the 'hardest times' last year and warned her fans to avoid non-committed relationships.
'I don't know who needs to hear this, but leave that situationship in 2024,' she wrote online.
The grass might not be looking greener on the other side for Ellie Goulding (pictured) who, after the collapse of her marriage to art dealer Caspar Jopling, had a fling with a surf instructor in Costa Rica
The smart set's talking about... The Sixties icon eclipsed at party... Diane Abbott
If ever a woman could leave men 'bewitched, bothered and bewildered', in the words of the classic Rodgers and Hart song, it was Lady Mary-Gaye Curzon, third of the 6th Earl Howe's four daughters.
The former 'it-girl' is perhaps better known to a younger generation as the mother of Cressida Bonas, the beauty who once dazzled Prince Harry.
Now 77, MG, as she's known to friends, still has the power to turn heads.
So it's little wonder that her old friend, former Tory MP Jonathan Aitken, 82, a widower since his beloved second wife Elizabeth died in 2022, should have invited her to his New Year's Day lunch party, where other guests included Lady Antonia Fraser.
Aitken opted instead for a younger woman of 71 – Labour MP Diane Abbott, now 'Mother of The House', the most senior female in the House of Commons
There was, I'm told, a special moment when Aitken – whose zig-zag through life has taken him from the Cabinet to imprisonment for perjury, then to ordination and his current role as a chaplain at HMP Pentonville – proposed a toast to 'two national treasures'.
'One of the two was Antonia,' I'm told. 'Jonathan pointed out that, at 92, she's writing her thirty-third book.' And the other?
Not, apparently, Mary-Gaye. Aitken opted instead for a younger woman of 71 – Labour MP Diane Abbott, now 'Mother of The House', the most senior female in the House of Commons.
'I don't think Mary-Gaye was remotely put out,' I'm assured. 'She's more a Sixties icon.'
Becker's ex signs up for I'm a Celeb stint
She was locked in a bitter divorce battle with three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker, which left her needing therapy.
But now I hear that Lilly Becker is facing another challenge – of the adventurous kind.
The Dutch model, 49, reveals she has signed up to appear on the German version of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!
Lilly, who shares son Amadeus with Becker, tells me: 'I'll be scared of facing my fears such as snakes, spiders, crickets, going on the water... and trying not to have a panic attack.'
Dutch model Lilly Becker (pictured) has revealed she has signed up to appear on the German version of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!
No funds for film with A-list cast
Celebrated film director Sir Richard Eyre has generated millions of pounds at the box office with his previous blockbusters including Notes on a Scandal and Iris.
Yet I hear his next feature might not even make it on to the big screen if it doesn't receive enough funding.
Sir Richard, 81, has recruited A-list names, including Uma Thurman and Sir Anthony Hopkins, as well as Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor, to star in The Housekeeper, an adaptation of Rose Tremain's story that fictionalises the inspiration behind Dame Daphne du Maurier's famous novel Rebecca.
'We're having trouble raising money for it,' Sir Richard tells me. 'It's an outstanding script... but it's very difficult because it doesn't fit into any sort of particular genre.'
He adds of the project, set in 1930s London: 'It's pretty hard to make it cheaply because of the period costumes and period locations.'
Celebrated film director Sir Richard Eyre (pictured) has generated millions of pounds at the box office with his previous blockbusters including Notes on a Scandal and Iris
He enjoys the high life in LA with his Formula 1 billionaire heiress wife, Petra Ecclestone, but estate agent Sam Palmer is sick of influencers clogging up cities.
'My pet hate is people that block up walkways, taking videos and pictures of each other,' he says.
'I just walked from my hotel and had to get through about 3,000 influencers. This woman was dressed... in an improvised Inspector Gadget outfit – looked like an absolute prat.'
He enjoys the high life in LA with his Formula 1 billionaire heiress wife, Petra Ecclestone (right), but estate agent Sam Palmer (left) is sick of influencers clogging up cities
Sir Richard Branson has ballooned across oceans, parachuted into parties, blasted into space, and kitesurfed in tandem with a naked model.
Yet the Virgin tycoon, 74, appears to be most impressed by his latest achievement – 'two years without caffeine', which he marked on New Year's Day.
However his wife, Joan Templeman, is unconvinced of his success. 'My wife calls it a 'why bother' when I order a cup of decaf coffee,' says Branson.
Sir Richard Branson has ballooned across oceans, parachuted into parties, blasted into space, and kitesurfed in tandem with a naked model
Ex-Strictly pro in tango with taxman
He left Strictly Come Dancing after a bitter bust-up with head judge Shirley Ballas.
And now former professional dancer Brendan Cole has found himself in a costly spat with his creditors and HMRC.
I can reveal that Cole, 48, has failed to pay off debts of £83,000, including £28,000 owed to the taxman.
Companies House figures show he put his company, Brendan Cole Ltd, into voluntary liquidation in 2021.
Since then the firm has racked up bills including a £50,000 Covid lockdown 'bounce back' loan, £22,000 in outstanding corporation tax and £6,000 in PAYE.
The Kiwi has been ordered to pay back a £29,087 director's loan he had taken out of the firm, agreeing to repay £1,000 a month.
