SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Queen’s English Society bids to drop its royal name…

The Queen’s English could soon be a thing of the past. I hear the Queen’s English Society is considering taking the unprecedented step of dropping the royal connection from its name.

The charity, which exists to promote the correct use of English and strives ‘to halt the decline in standards in its use’, is worried that including mention of the monarchy in its title may be ‘elitist’ and ‘outmoded’.

A source tells me: ‘It’s the “Meghan effect”. The Duchess of Sussex has so annoyed some of our members, who are instinctive royalists, that it’s putting them off the monarchy altogether.’

The proposal is disclosed by Debbie le May, editor of the society’s newsletter, Quest. In her autumn editorial she notes that the society will probably need to alter its name when the Queen’s reign comes to an end.

I hear the Queen’s English Society is considering taking the unprecedented step of dropping the royal connection from its name

Committee members have already been discussing changing the name to ‘The King’s English Society’, she reports, but there were ‘several suggestions’ that something more radical should be considered. 

‘Perhaps,’ writes le May, the society should ‘move away from royal connotations and change the name to The Better English Society or The Good English Matters Society or The Society for Better English.

‘It is considered that all these express what the society stands for and do not link it to outmoded customs nor to an elitist and exclusive cabal.’

The proposal is disclosed by Debbie le May, editor of the society¿s newsletter, Quest. In her autumn editorial she notes that the society will probably need to alter its name when the Queen¿s reign comes to an end. (Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle in July)

The proposal is disclosed by Debbie le May, editor of the society’s newsletter, Quest. In her autumn editorial she notes that the society will probably need to alter its name when the Queen’s reign comes to an end. (Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle in July)

Members are being asked to tell le May what they think of the proposal, which may be taken further at the society’s next annual general meeting.

The move would disappoint Prince Charles, a great lover of language who has had a lifelong preference for using older spellings considered correct by the Oxford Dictionary of English.

But we will still speak the King’s English when Charles is on the throne, whatever this society chooses to call itself.

Mamma Mia! star Dominic Cooper has appealed for help finding his Range Rover, which was stolen in a suspected keyless theft in London’s swanky Primrose Hill.

He’d been using the car to deliver cooked meals to NHS staff with his actress girlfriend, Gemma Chan.

‘Not much petrol — they can’t have got far,’ he wrote to residents in a social media group. ‘Let me know if you see it.’

The black car would be hard to miss: it has distinctive pink writing on the front and side with the name of the relief group he’d been working with — Cook-19.

The former City lawyer launched a business, Aya Luxury Travel, amid great fanfare in 2016. But it has slipped farther into the red.

The former City lawyer launched a business, Aya Luxury Travel, amid great fanfare in 2016. But it has slipped farther into the red.

 Chelsy: lady in the red

Prince Harry has great hopes for Travalyst, the ‘sustainable’ travel initiative he launched with his wife Meghan.

Let’s hope he has more success than his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

The former City lawyer launched a business, Aya Luxury Travel, amid great fanfare in 2016. But it has slipped farther into the red.

Newly filed accounts disclose that Aya had an almost £72,000 deficit in capital and reserves in the year to last October. That’s almost double the £38,000 deficit in 2018.

Perhaps Harry could sprinkle her company with some of his stardust? 

Stylish Stella has a masked ball on Ibiza

Looking chic during a pandemic is a sartorial challenge too far for most of us, but Stella McCartney seems to have pulled it off.

The fashion designer wore a billowing floral kaftan on the beach on Ibiza with her family recently. She also wore a face mask, although these are not compulsory on Spanish beaches.

McCartney, the 48-year-old daughter of Sir Paul, will have to quarantine on her return to Britain, where she lives with her publisher husband Alasdhair Willis and their four children.

Her fashion label could be forced to cut jobs and close stores soon. According to an internal note written by her chief executive, Gabriele Maggio, the firm is planning a number of measures to slash costs. 

The fashion designer wore a billowing floral kaftan on the beach on Ibiza with her family recently. She also wore a face mask, although these are not compulsory on Spanish beaches

The fashion designer wore a billowing floral kaftan on the beach on Ibiza with her family recently. She also wore a face mask, although these are not compulsory on Spanish beaches

Tie Rack heiress Karen Bishko is so fed up with her first name being used as a term of abuse that she’s written a song about it, My Name Is Karen.

In America, a ‘Karen’ has become a stereotype of a white woman who uses her privilege to demand her own way at the expense of others.

Bishko, whose former boyfriends include Take That’s Jason Orange, says: ‘To hear my name spoken of as an insult saddens and infuriates me. It’s very telling that there is no male equivalent.’

 She takes the Mickey . . . but Kate’s in Ben’s pack 

It appears there are three in the marriage of television adventurer Ben Fogle and his wife, Marina. Step forward Fogle’s long-time on-screen colleague Kate Humble.

It appears there are three in the marriage of television adventurer Ben Fogle and his wife, Marina. Step forward Fogle¿s long-time on-screen colleague Kate Humble (pictured together)

It appears there are three in the marriage of television adventurer Ben Fogle and his wife, Marina. Step forward Fogle’s long-time on-screen colleague Kate Humble (pictured together)

‘We’ve shared our lives for two decades. Animal Park is the glue,’ says Fogle, referring to the BBC1 series filmed at Longleat, the Wiltshire wildlife park.

They are so close — Humble is godmother to Ben’s son — that he even left Marina after their honeymoon to stay with Humble in a rented house in California to film a new programme.

‘I went to live with her for a month straight after our wedding,’ he recalls. ‘She takes the Mickey out of me, but also makes sure I keep my feet firmly rooted to the ground.’

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