EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Ritchie buys Chelsea pub - lock, stock and barrels

Blessed with 'the physical proportions of a baronial barn door', the late 8th Earl Cadogan was difficult to miss – not just because he was broad in the beam and 6ft 6in but because he never shied away from expressing trenchant opinions, splendidly indifferent to what anyone might think.

No one learned that better than the owners of Oriel, a brasserie which for 25 years occupied a site on Cadogan's 93-acre Chelsea estate – until, that was, the earl lunched there.

Declaring he didn't like the food or the prices – 'far too high' – the billionaire peer announced that Oriel's lease would not be renewed.

Now, though it's two-and-a-half years since Charles Cadogan's death at the age of 86, his spirit lives on, as evidenced by an intriguing change of command at another watering hole on the Cadogan Estate.

I can disclose that there's to be a new guvnor in charge at The Gloucester, a boozer established in 1835. Step forward high-octane film director Guy Ritchie, who, I can reveal, is taking over lock, stock and fully primed barrels in May.

That's when the lease runs out for Greene King, which describes itself as 'the country's leading pub retailer and brewer', with 2,700 pubs, restaurants and hotels.

That was evidently one too many for Cadogan, even though William, the 9th Earl, is a less acerbic – and more modestly built – character than his father.

Cadogan Estate tells me that the expiry of Greene King's lease offered 'an opportunity to ensure that the only pub in Sloane Street was a great local, run by an exciting independent operator' – someone, in short, who would 'bring real character' to the pub and, indeed, the entire street.

Ritchie, 57, who's established a new company, 187 Sloane Street Ltd, to run the pub, declines to comment. But he's previously owned The Punchbowl in Mayfair and the Walmer Castle in Notting Hill, and is currently owner of The Lore Of The Land in Fitzrovia, which has twice gone up in flames.

Conflagration is, of course, all in a day's work for Ritchie: he's about to begin filming his latest gangster movie, Viva La Madness, with favoured confederates Jason Statham and Vinnie Jones.

Why Kimberley is still in the pink 

Made In Chelsea star Kimberley Garner has always been the poster-girl for her swimwear brand but now her name's been dropped from the label.

I hear that the line, which has been called 'Kimberley' since it was launched in 2013, is to be rebranded as 'Sunday'.

The property developer's daughter, 34, tells me: 'I always wanted to call it Sunday, if I'm honest. The name suddenly became available.'

She explains that the label is expanding into unisex designs and a children's range, too: 'Sunday is such a relaxed day. I wanted the brand to be about men, women and children all matching together as a family.'

Who's more barking – Denise van Outen or her telly-addict dogs?

'I talk to my dogs constantly,' admits the presenter, 51. 'I'll go out and I'll go, 'I'm not going to be long', as if they know how long 'long' is. 

'I'll put the TV on for them. Sometimes something will be on and I think, 'They won't like that'. The news – it's a bad energy. I think, 'No, it's a bit much for them'. I'll skip over to Loose Women.'

Kirsty Wark shares some gran news

Kirsty Wark, who stepped down from Newsnight in 2024 after more than 30 years, has a new role even closer to her heart.

The broadcaster, 70, has become a grandmother. Her daughter Caitlin Clements, 35, a television executive, has given birth to her first child.

She and her husband, civil servant Callum Galloway, have named their daughter Maisie. Proudly posting a photo of the baby online, Kirsty writes: 'We are all so happy the stork brought you safely here. I'm beside myself with being a grandma.'

Kirsty who now presents Front Row on Radio 4, also has a son, actor James, 33, with her husband, TV producer Alan Clements.

Queen last went on tour with singer Adam Lambert in 2020, but if they hit the road again, the US will not be on the list. 

'America is a dangerous place at the moment, so you have to take that into account,' guitarist Sir Brian May tells me. 

'It's very sad because I feel like Queen grew up in America and we love it, but it's not what it was. Everyone is thinking twice about going there at the moment.'

Rugby star Pollock's latest royal highlights 

Henry Pollock met the Prince and Princess of Wales when they visited the changing rooms at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium after he scored twice for England on his Six Nations debut last year.

Now, the flanker's getting his hair styled by royal appointment.

This week, the 20-year-old visited Queen Camilla's hairdressers, Jo Hansford, in Mayfair, to get his highlights done. 

A spokesman for the salon, which charges between £290 and £605 for full-head highlights, tells him online: 'It was great to see you, Henry.' Not sure the Welsh will feel the same at next month's return fixture…

He described himself as 'an ideas factory', known at Buckingham Palace as 'the entrepreneur-in-residence'. But if Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor nurtured the hope those dreamy days might somehow be revived, he can lay it to rest forever next Tuesday.

I can disclose that's when his company, Pitch@Palace Global Ltd, will be struck off – just three months after Andrew decided to wind it up. 

In its pomp, it encouraged young tech entrepreneurs to compete for funding, with a finale at St James's Palace. Successful candidates were obliged to hand over 2 per cent of their start-up to Pitch@Palace. 

Andrew remained its only person with 'significant control', though its sole director was Arthur Lancaster – found by two judges to have given evidence 'lacking in candour' in a 2022 court case.