'Harry and Meghan are poor at least by standards of California’s wealthy'

MEGHAN and Harry are poor by Hollywood’s wealth standards, according to a former editor of Vanity Fair.

Tina Brown, who was speaking on the final day of this year’s Henley Literary Festival, described the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as “D-list” celebrities and their home as a “humble cottage”.

The royal biographer was responding to reports that the couple have gone house-hunting and said they didn’t have the money of the super-rich who have settled in California.

The Sussexes have an estimated worth of £20 million while their neighbours, including the TV presenter Oprah Winfrey and singers Jay Z and Beyonce, are worth billions.

Brown, author of The Diana Chronicles and The Palace Papers, told a packed audience at Phyllis Court Club on Sunday: “It’s not very pleasant to be a D-list celebrity who, for them, doesn’t have enough money.

“It is a wholly different game to be with those super-rich people.

“In Montecito, where they live, their $14million mansion is a humble cottage compared to what these other people have.

“Yes, and at some point, it might be more than a new house she’s looking for. Elon Musk is still single, that’s all I have to say.”

Brown, who grew up in Maidenhead and Little Marlow and attended Rupert House School in Henley, also claimed Harry’s memoirs would never be published, even though the book is scheduled for release as part of a £40 million deal.

She said: “They are now in a bind, where they’ve taken all this money and Harry has made this book deal where he’s supposed to spill everything about his horrible life as a royal but now he’s actually tortured about it because he understands there is no way back if he does it. If the book continues, I don’t think there is any way for Harry to return, so my view has always been that the book won’t see the light of day.”

Meanwhile, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, told an audience at Phyllis Court on Wednesday last week that the late Queen gave her blessing for her to write Mills & Boon novels and “inspired” some of the characters.

The former wife of Prince Andrew said she gave her mother-in-law copies of her first work of historical fiction, A Heart for a Compass, in English and French.

Sarah said: “It’s been all my life that I’ve known the boss and there’s no one like her.

“I wouldn’t do anything unless the boss gave me her blessing and still to this day I think about that.”

She described herself as the “luckiest person alive” and said the Queen was a positive influence on her.

The Duchess said: “When we wrote the book, I gave it to the boss and I said, ‘You don’t need to read it’ but I think she was so proud that we did it and that’s just huge for me. She was just very, very special.”

She also told how she has inherited the Queen’s beloved corgis.

She said it was important to uphold her mother-in-law’s values, including “kindness and humility, loyalty and all the good things and always remember manners.”

Broadcaster David Dimbleby criticised the BBC for its reluctance to stand up to the royal family.

The former Question Time presenter, who was speaking at Phyllis Court Club on Thursday last week, accused the broadcaster of avoiding certain topics.

Mr Dimbleby said these included “the power that the palace has to change taxation legislation” and contrasting views on whether the Duchy of Cornwall should be paying capital gains tax.

He said: “All those issues are never touched by the BBC because I think they feel their viewers will not like it — a visceral feeling. I think it is wrong and these things should be properly examined.”

Mr Dimbleby also told of his surprise at the “degree of control” that Buckingham Palace had over the image of the royal
family.

He explained that the BBC had not been subject to any injunctions during its coverage of the Queen’s funeral last month, other than to be “courteous” and to “not show the King in floods of tears”.

However, he claimed this changed for future broadcasts, with one email from the palace saying that a clip of Prince George “touching his nose” should not be shown nor should footage of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie leaving St George’s Chapel.

Mr Dimbleby said: “There was a complete list of things that no broadcaster could show because the copyright belongs to Buckingham Palace. I think that’s wrong, just wrong. It’s just how tightly controlled monarchy is.

“It is not discourteous to question, it is not rude, it is important because the way we are governed is important and the way our constitution works is important.”

Henley residents Dame Mary Berry and novelist Irvine Welsh both appeared on Friday evening at Phyllis Court Club and the town hall respectively.

The TV cook and food writer spoke about her new book, Cook and Share: 120 Delicious New Fuss-Free Recipes.

Dame Mary said: “So many people are put off recipes that are too laborious. I wasn’t a little star at school but the one thing I was good at was cooking.”

With a nod to the current cost of living crisis, she said it was important to use up any leftovers.

Dame Mary said: “Statistically, we throw away a lot of bread, so make leftover pieces into breadcrumbs. They’re useful for many dishes.”

Welsh told a capacity audience that the coronavirus lockdowns had been productive for him as it gave him time to write.

He also confirmed that he had just finished writing a musical of his debut novel Trainspotting, which was made into a hit film in 1996. Meanwhile, survival expert Ray Mears criticised TV wildlife documentaries such as those narrated by Sir David Attenborough, claiming they might do children “more harm than good”.

The TV presenter said he falls asleep when watching what he called “wallpaper” shows that feature “shots of gannets diving in slow motion”.

Mears told an audience at Phyllis Court Club that there was a lack of presenters on wildlife programmes and that the shows were not interactive enough.

He said: “I see families plonking their kids in front of the screen with a wildlife documentary because that’s better than playing on the game they’ve got on their computer.

“But if the child becomes bored because it’s not dynamically interactive, then maybe we’re doing more harm than good.

“I think there are a lot of wildlife programmes that have become wallpaper.”

This year’s festival sold a total of 22,604 tickets, not far behind the record of 24,000 set in 2019.

Harriet Reed-Ryan, events director and programmer, said: “This year has been incredible and that is down to the most varied programme we have had.

“We have had everything from astronauts and soul singer PP Arnold to literary greats like Robert Harris.

“Stuart Lawrence had the most amazing schools event and the longest book queue we have known.

“Lenny Henry was very special for me personally because, having a mixed-race child, my son got all the references to curly hair and so forth.

“It was best selection of speakers we have had and I’d like to thank our team, volunteers and supporters.”