The sun may have been blazing at Royal Ascot last week but I can reveal dark clouds have been gathering over Newmarket, that other jewel of British horseracing.
The Earl of Derby has submitted plans for three giant warehouses in the area, prompting fury from the King’s racehorse trainers.
They fear ‘dangerous’ lorries could soon be thundering along roads used by prized thoroughbreds to get between yards and gallops, posing a ‘risk to horse and rider safety’.
Edward Stanley, the 19th Earl of Derby, has applied to West Suffolk council to build three warehouses on his estate, Hatchfield Farm, with HGV access.
The King and Queen are understood to have around ten horses stabled in Newmarket, some under trainer John Gosden.
He tells me: ‘Putting these buildings in to earn a quick buck is not the way to look at the centre of British racing. The fact the Earl is from a family at the foundations of the British racing industry is beyond ironic.’
The Epsom Derby is named after Lord Derby’s ancestor, the 12th Earl, who co-founded it in 1780.
The current Lord Derby – who lives on the 2,500-acre Knowsley Hall estate in Merseyside – remains heavily engaged in racing, and has his own stud farm, Stanley House, near Newmarket.
The council received four objections to his plans, including one from William Haggas, who trains several horses for the King.
He called the idea ‘life-threatening to horses and staff’.
He wrote: ‘As a resident and trainer of 200 horses I object to the plans, which seem to be for an enormous industrial centre, which is completely unacceptable.’
Lord Derby – who declined to comment on Saturday night – previously angered locals with plans to build 1,200 homes, later downgraded to 400 after legal wrangles.
Caroline Stanley, Countess of Derby, and Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby. The Earl has submitted plans to build three large warehouses in Newmarket
Minted on Vinted
You might think that model Roxy Horner’s got enough cash now she’s married to the UK’s poshest comedian, Jack Whitehall.
But that hasn’t stopped the Essex girl, 35, making a quick buck selling her old clothes on second-hand site Vinted.
Some items go for hundreds of pounds, but there are River Island T-shirts going for a tenner each. Bargain!
Jack Whitehall and his wife, the model Roxy Horner, were married earlier this year
Mrs Horner has been selling items of her clothing on the resale platform Vinted
Lila’s good spell
Watch out Ariana Grande – it looks like model Lila Moss has got her eyes on your part in Wicked!
The daughter of Kate Moss and magazine editor Jefferson Hack went for the full Glinda The Good Witch garb – the part played by Grande in the recent films – to pose for this selfie.
Certainly, the 23-year-old is playing the part of goody two-shoes better than her party-loving mum and the Primrose Hill set were in their 20s.
Lila Moss dressed as Glinda The Good Witch in a recent selfie
DJ Mary has a bit of a stinker
Socialite Lady Mary Charteris has DJed at parties all round the world, but last week’s venue was one of the less salubrious the daughter of the 13th Earl of Wemyss has been booked to play.
‘I had to DJ in a toilet/restroom/WC and it was pretty stinky at times,’ the unimpressed 39-year-old told her TikTok followers.
Sounds like Mary got a rather bum deal…
Lady Mary Charteris, the model, DJ and daughter of the 13th Earl of Wemyss
Big result!
Sienna Miller took a rare night off from new mum duties to celebrate England’s victory over Croatia last week.
The actress, 44, headed to A-list favourite The Fat Badger in Notting Hill, with aristocratic pals Jazzy de Lisser and Tish Weinstock, plus art dealer Charles Green, brother of her partner Oli, 29.
The couple had their first child in 2024 and added to the family last month.
With all the nappies and night feeds, perhaps an evening of footie with friends was exactly the result Sienna needed.
Tish Weinstock, Charles Green, Jazzy De Lisser and Sienna Miller pictured on the night of England’s opening World Cup match
It was ‘bring your girlfriend to work day’ when Robert Peston turned up to present ITV News with his new American beau in tow.
‘He kept going to check on her,’ one staffer tells me.
‘They were flirting like teenagers.’
The visitor, who watched from the wings, is said to be a US-based academic – a long-distance romance after Peston’s split from fellow journalist Charlotte Edwardes earlier this year.
ITV political editor Robert Peston arrived with his girlfriend in tow to present the news this week
Noel Gallagher spent £11million on his north London mansion and was rewarded with a leaky roof and rising damp.
But the Oasis star certainly isn’t going to live in squalid conditions, and I can reveal he’s got grand plans for his new pad, including a gym, library and basement bar.
He must keep up with the neighbours and brother Liam, who also has a private bar in his £4million house nearby.
That’s what the hefty proceeds from last year’s reunion tour get you.
Noel Gallagher has plans for a gym, a library and a basement bar in his £11million north London mansion
