The Londoner: Python hisses at Kenwood shows

Michael Palin angry at Hampstead revellers / Irvine Welsh recalls a euphoric Brit awards  / Zamero's painting belongs at Harry and Meghan's / The Home Office seeks a thick-skinned recruit / 
Michael Palin:
WireImage
3 August 2018

Michael Palin is “indignant” at the presence this summer of concerts at Kenwood.

The Monty Python star and travel writer says that the English Heritage site on Hampstead Heath is being compromised.

“This is an English Heritage property in trust for the public and it’s being closed off at the time of year when everybody wants to go there”, Palin writes in a letter to his local newspaper, Ham & High.

Palin, a Gospel Oak resident who enjoys regular runs on Hampstead Heath, says he has been disrupted by a series of festivals and live music events in the area surrounding Kenwood House.

“I was aware of the number of days that this rather lovely part of the Heath and Kenwood was closed off,” he writes.

“It wasn’t just the two to three nights of the concerts, it was the time before and afterwards that struck me.

“Even after the trucks, stage, Portakabins and fences have gone, it leaves the grass yellow — which isn’t appealing for anybody who wants to picnic on there during the summer we’ve had.”

Palin is something of a veteran complainer. He has vented over multiple issues including, but not limited to, being famous, being censored, traveling in groups, litter and even fellow actors, who he has described as “difficult”.

He admits to regularly contacting his local council and says he is aware that he has a reputation for “complaining all the time”.

Kenwood’s general manager Sam Cooper says he is “sorry” to hear Palin’s grievances but says the events provide “vital income.”

“We are committed to holding no more than eight large-scale music events at Kenwood every year,” he said. “This year, for example, they will allow us to replace the surface on the south terrace.

“English Heritage is a charity and every penny we receive goes towards looking after Kenwood and all the historic sites in our care, hundreds of which — including Kenwood— are open to the public for free.”

The BBC passes on Mastermind

BBC quiz show Mastermind and music fixtures Later with Jools Holland and Hootenanny are being put out to competitive tender. The corporation is required to accept pitches from producers in order to encourage competition — The Proms, Holby City, Doctors and Songs of Praise have already been affected.
“These are firm audience favourites,” Richard Dawkins, of BBC Content, says. “We look forward to seeing who will make them for us in the future, as part of our commitment to competition.”

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Irvine Welsh recalls when Trainspotting won a Brit Award for Best Soundtrack. “I took a really strong ecstasy pill on the stage and was pretty much c****d by the time I got back to the seat,” the novelist tweeted last night. “I lost the award — or maybe I left it in a minicab. #90sShit.”

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A new advert for a daunting job in Westminster has appeared: the Home Office is looking for a “head of EU exit communications” role. The successful candidate will have “the proven ability to grasp complex issues swiftly as well as excellent political judgment and news awareness”. They will also need very thick skin.

Naomie takes to the water as foot model Poppy nurses a toe injury

Actor Naomie Harris has  spent much of this week paddleboarding, swimming and sailing around the Greek island of Santorini. The Spectre star is proving quite the jetsetter: she was recently in Austria, where she opened a James Bond cinematic experience on the Gaislachkogl Mountain. 
Lady Amelia Windsor is also enjoying her summer; the royal shared a candid snap of herself with a dog in Mallorca. Actor Douglas Booth, meanwhile, made do with the blazing London heat, tucking into an ice-cream before taking a dip in one of the ponds on Hampstead Heath. 
In Monaco, Poppy Delevingne took a break from filming the second series of Riviera. She has been in the wars: her co-star Jack Fox shared an image of her bandaged toe this week, declaring “once the darling of the foot model industry, now resorted to this”. 
We asked Cara’s big sister whether her poor toe has recovered, but we are yet to hear back.

SW1A

Michael Gove has a new party piece: his impression of Martin Selmayr, Secretary-General of the European Commission. the Environment Secretary amused Tory MPs with it when he addressed the Green Chip dining group in June and is said to pull it out on demand. Does Selmayr do a return impression of Gove, we asked one of his team? “No.”

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We knew that the Cabinet was served a lunch of barbecued chicken wings at the Chequers summit in July. We now learn they were so undercooked that Chancellor Philip Hammond had to step in to stop his colleagues from eating them. Undercooked chicken, Brexit white paper? Metaphor alert.

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Martial arts superstar Conor McGregor was filming himself in New York yesterday dressed in T-shirt and shorts. Who should walk past but Jacob Rees-Mogg, in a tie and double-breasted suit (the temperatures were in the 30s) with his wife and children like ducklings in tow.

Quote of the day

‘I’m mainly a weekend parent. I think they are fine with it’

Jamie Oliver says work sometimes gets in the way of fatherhood

Tottenham Adonis belongs in the palace

The royal couple in Zamero’s work (Courtesy of Annie Zamero)

In May, we revealed that controversial artist Annie Zamero had painted a portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as Adonis and a Nymph. Now that the work has been exhibited at a gallery in Tottenham, she wants to send it as a wedding gift. 
“I thought their wedding was wonderful — an uplifting highlight amidst the general Brexit gloom”, she says. “My painting shows them literally being lifted up! It is my celebration of the wedding and I am trusting to their good humour.”
 Perhaps it would fit in the spot above the fireplace at Nottingham Cottage.

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