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Dame Emma Thompson once referred to Britain as “a tiny, rainy, cloudy little corner of a sort of Europe, an old gray island full of misery and cake”. Now she is considering moving to warmer climates, I hear.
The Oscar-winning actress has said she wants to “move to Venice” after revealing she’s been spending more and more time in the Italian city.
Dame Emma said she had dreamed of living in Venice since childhood and now spends at least two months there every year.
For the moment, her family ties allow her to maintain a permanent base in Great Britain, but she plans to “settle” in Venice. She says: “Since I was a child, I have dreamed of living in a magical place like Venice.
Now I have realized my dream. I moved into a house in town and when I can, I spend at least two or three months there. And in the meantime, I’m studying Italian, which I want to know and speak as well as possible.
Weather: Dame Emma Thompson (pictured) once called Britain ‘a tiny, rainy, cloudy little corner of a sort of Europe, an old gray island full of misery and cake’
Actor: The Oscar-winning actress said she wants to ‘move to Venice’ after revealing she’s been spending more time in the Italian city
Speaking to Italian newspaper Il Gazzettino, she said: “I still live in London, on the same street as my children and my mother, who is 91 and needs me, but my biggest wish is to settle down in Venice for the whole year”. . In the meantime, I’m happy to be able to enjoy the city for at least a few months.
Dame Emma, 64, adds that she loves the fish market in Venice and is ‘crazy about Venetian and Italian food in general’.
She exclaims: “Venice is not only a special city, the Venetians are too, they have a unique character. And I also understood why: the Venetians know what resilience is, they know how to resist everything.’
She was speaking in Venice as she attended the Diane von Furstenberg Awards on the island of San Giorgio.
She was previously accused of hypocrisy after appearing on board a luxurious £200million super yacht owned by Fox News founder Barry Diller and his wife, fashion designer Von Furstenberg.
Critics have compared the luxury ship to appearing on an abandoned boat in Oxford Circus as part of an XR climate protest in 2019.
Three years ago she became an honorary citizen of Venice alongside her husband, actor Greg Wise, 57, who played Burma’s first Earl Mountbatten in Netflix hit The Crown.
Lady Mary swaps DJ turntables for plates
She has previously been described as London’s ‘chic wild child’ and married in a semi-sheer wedding dress.
But now Lady Mary Charteris, 36, wants to make a name for herself as a household goddess. The Earl of Wemyss’ daughter has launched a range of home furnishings including bamboo napkins and plates, with socialite Alice Naylor-Leyland, 37.
“Working with an old friend like Alice has been so awesome,” the model and DJ tells me (above). “It felt like we were 21 again.”
Famous: Lady Mary Charteris, 36 (left) wants to make a name for herself as a household goddess
The day of the wedding, a hassle for Sirieix de C4
He’s the charming frontman of First Dates – a dating show that has led to at least five marriages – but Channel 4 butler Fred Sirieix is struggling to squeeze a date into his own diary.
The Frenchman has been engaged to his mystery fiancée, publicly known only as Fruitcake, for over three years. “We’re still deciding on a date,” Sirieix, 51, tells me at the opening of an “Endorphin Shop” hosted by Neilson Beach Clubs in London’s Soho. “We are working on it.”
Lovers: Fred Sirieix (left) has been engaged to his mysterious fiancée, publicly known only as Fruitcake (right), for over three years.
Obi-Wan’s clothes go under the hammer
Want to own clothes worn by Ewan McGregor?
The Star Wars and Trainspotting actor is putting some of his outfits under the hammer to raise money for charity.
McGregor, 52, will sell them on his daughter Esther’s Instagram account. “Esther and I came up with the idea of doing a big spring cleaning and selling some of the clothes I’ve collected over the years and worn on red carpets and in photoshoots,” he says.
Items include Adidas sneakers he wore in the 2017 Trainspotting sequel.
Is Charles in favor if Keir wins?
The leader who will wear the crown may be worried if Labor wins the next election.
Labor MP Clive Lewis has revealed that many senior figures in Keir Starmer’s party want King Charles ousted.
“A lot of Labor members don’t like the monarchy,” Lewis told the i newspaper.
“They don’t hate it, but they’re not enthusiastic royalists at all, far from it. When I talk to co-workers, they say, “Oh, it’s still causing trouble.” I tell them: “Your opinions are not so different from mine” and they answer: “I agree with what you say, but I don’t take the risk”.
Best-selling novelist Zadie Smith has revealed why she switched from Sadie to Zadie when she was 14. “I had a huge crush on a friend of mine whose name started with a Z, and he drew on everything, like exercise books, with a dramatic Z, and I kind of wanted him, so I took,” the White Teeth author, 47, tells the Changes with Annie Macmanus podcast.
He was spared the horrors experienced by his grandfather, Sir Arthur “Bomber” Harris, in both World Wars. But Tom Assheton finds Sadiq Khan’s London important enough to contend with. Last week, as I revealed, the co-host of the Bloody Violent History podcast tracked down a thief and alerted the police, only to see the miscreant get away with a warning.
But returning to his south London home on Sunday, the former Life Guards officer found his way blocked by police. “There was a trail of blood,” Assheton, 60, tells me, adding that it’s hard not to despair. “The police have been ‘awakened’. So they have to sting people taking pictures or other ‘hate crimes’, referring to the case of a pensioner who was questioned by police after taking a picture of a sticker saying ‘keep men out of reserved spaces’ to women” on an LGBT+ poster.