RICHARD EDEN: Will princes clash over rival Diana TV tributes?

When the Duke of Sussex broadcasts his planned television documentary about his mother next year to mark the 30th anniversary of her death, he might find he’s competing for attention with a very familiar rival.

For I hear that his brother, the Prince of Wales, is considering appearing in a different television programme about Princess Diana.

‘William has been approached with many offers and is thinking hard about what he wants to do,’ a source tells me.

On the 20th anniversary of their mother’s death in 2017, the brothers appeared in the same BBC documentary – Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy.

That is unlikely to be the case next year. Harry has been estranged from William since he and wife Meghan attacked the Prince and Princess of Wales in their interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. Harry continued to pour vitriol over his brother and sister-in-law in his tawdry memoir, Spare, and in numerous interviews.

Harry is understood to have asked a number of Diana’s friends and relations if they would take part in a commemorative film ahead of the milestone next August. However, the project has not been confirmed, and he is believed to be weighing up different ways of commemorating Diana and her legacy.

The brothers previously appeared in the same BBC documentary – Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy – to mark the 20th anniversary of her death in 2017

A source close to Harry said: ‘The duke has discussed a number of possible projects.

‘Nothing has been finalised or confirmed, and he is still considering the most meaningful way to honour his mother’s legacy during this important anniversary year.’

The documentary could be created through Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Productions, which has a first-look agreement with Netflix for its film and television projects.

A Kensington Palace spokesman tells me: ‘We wouldn’t comment on how the Prince of Wales will mark the anniversary.’

Mountbatten ‘emotional’ as daughter weds

Lord Ivar Mountbatten pictured with his daughter Ella, 30, on her wedding day

Ella, an events manager, married Fergus Wright, who works in insurance

The couple tied the knot at St Luke’s, Milland, in West Sussex

Lord Ivar Mountbatten is such a fan of matrimony that he exchanged vows twice – first with Penny Eastwood in 1994; secondly, with James Coyle, an air cabin services director, in 2018.

In doing so, he made history, becoming the first member of the extended Royal Family to enter into a same-sex union. Now Lord Ivar has proudly walked his daughter Ella, 30, an events manager, down the aisle at St Luke’s, Milland, in West Sussex, to marry Fergus Wright, who works in insurance.

Prince Edward and Sophie were among the guests. Lord Ivar, 63, a great-nephew of the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, says: ‘It’s been such a fun and emotional couple of days, but boy I’m glad it’s all over; the last month has been non-stop.’

Ella tells me: ‘It was epic.’

Charlie Higson’s Arabian slights

Charlie Higson's new James Bond novel, King Zero, takes 007 to the Saudi desert

Charlie Higson, whose new James Bond novel King Zero takes 007 to the Saudi Arabian desert, is unlikely to visit the Gulf kingdom again himself.

‘I didn’t say very nice things about MBS [Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman], so I’m probably not going to be allowed back,’ he tells me at the book’s launch party at the Embassy Gardens Sky Pool in London’s Nine Elms. King Zero describes MBS’s linear megacity The Line as a ‘vanity project’ in spy chief M’s words, and elsewhere mentions how ‘public beheadings seemed to be a regular event’.

Fast Show co-creator Higson visited Saudi some years ago. ‘I was working with locals – the young people there like MBS,’ he claims. ‘Compared to the restrictions there used to be, it’s really opened up, but there are problems.’

Tory Tom's surprising link to Bayeux Tapestry

Tom Tugendhat has said his wife, the current Cultural Counsellor at the French embassy, was instrumental in delivering the Bayeux Tapestry to the British Musuem

Shadow Foreign Secretary Tom Tugendhat avoided a domestic diplomatic spat when Nick Robinson asked him to critique George Osborne’s call for Britain to rejoin the Customs Union on the BBC’s Political Thinking podcast.

‘I’ve got be careful because George has been unbelievably helpful to my wife with the Bayeux Tapestry,’ said the former Territorial Army reserve officer. ‘My wife [Anissia Morel] is French and is currently the Cultural Counsellor at the French embassy and was instrumental to delivering the tapestry to the British Museum,’ he explained.

Museum chair Osborne is ‘great and I like George’, said the MP, adding: ‘I’m very proud of what my wife achieved with the tapestry.’

Gizzi’s hen do doubles

Gizzi Erskine looked very elegant at her hen do - but she insists that it was ‘nice and sleazy’

The aristocratic television cook, 47, is due to marry punk rock singer Matt Turner, 40, of the band Luxury Apartments (pictured together) 

During her party at London restaurant Otto's, guests hid behind masks bearing her face

Gizzi pictured with rapper Professor Green at her hen do, which was also attended by actor Sydney Lima and socialite Martha Sitwell

Gizzi Erskine looked the picture of elegance at her hen do but she insists that it was ‘nice and sleazy’.

The aristocratic television cook, 47, is due to marry punk rock singer Matt Turner, 40, of the band Luxury Apartments.

While she wore a bridal veil for the party at London restaurant Otto’s, her guests, who included rapper Professor Green, actor Sydney Lima and socialite Martha Sitwell, hid behind masks bearing her face.

‘It was a very messy lunch,’ Gizzi admits.

Earlier this month she told me the wedding would be north of the border, explaining: ‘I lived in Scotland for the first years of my life.’

Ruth Rogers is one of London’s most celebrated restaurateurs and has lived here for almost 60 years but admits that she has yet to explore. ‘The country I know least of all is Britain,’ says the American-born co-founder of The River Cafe. ‘Someone once asked me, “What’s your favourite part of London?” and I said, “The departure lounge at any London airport.” [It] sounded insulting but I didn’t mean it.’