RICHARD EDEN: Harry charity raises more in donations since he left

Losing not one but two royal patrons amid a storm of accusation and counter-accusation might be considered enough to condemn any organisation to a bleak future.

But, 18 months after it lost Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, Sentebale, the charity they founded in 2006, is displaying signs of admirable vigour and a renewed sense of purpose.

Despite Harry and Seeiso’s departures – following the resignations of several trustees, including Mark Dyer, sometimes known as Harry’s ‘second dad’ – Sentebale, now chaired by Sophie Chandauka, managed to pull in £342,000 in donations in the last financial year.

That’s nearly £50,000 more than in 2024.

Chandauka, with whom Harry and Seeiso’s relationship was said to have deteriorated ‘beyond repair’, also presided over a substantial rise in legacies.

Money bequeathed to Sentebale more than trebled from £47,000 to £189,000.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the charity’s annual report, just published, bristles with defiance.

‘We ran Sentebale with commercial discipline… rigorous on cost, ambitious in impact and focused on the value of every pound entrusted to us,’ it states. Chandauka won’t be complacent though. The polo matches which Harry played in always proved a payday for Sentebale.

Without them, ‘events income’ plunged from £715,000 to £70,000, while cash from institutional sources dropped from £2.6 million to £1.7 million.

But Chandauka may well think it a price worth paying. Following Harry’s resignation, she went on television and accused him of ‘harassment and bullying at scale’, of playing ‘the victim card’, and observed that ‘the number-one risk for this organisation was the toxicity of its lead patron’s brand’. He denied the claims.

How’s giving up the vapes going, Lily?

Just last week Lily Allen declared that she was confident she could quit vaping.

‘It’s been a coping mechanism and a crutch for me, but I’m feeling in a pretty good place and I think I can get rid of it,’ said the pop star, 41, who had a bitter split from her second husband, Stranger Things star David Harbour.

Her resolution didn’t last long.

At Arlington restaurant in St James’s, London, on Tuesday, the Smile singer could be found puffing on a bright green matcha-flavoured vape with a friend.

Lily’s determination to quit the habit surprised some as she had said she was ‘delighted’ to win a lucrative contract to advertise Vype e-cigarettes in 2019.

I hope Lily hasn’t signed a money-spinning deal to promote these fashionable matcha vapes!

He's one of pop music’s greatest composers, but Sir Elton John, 79, is struggling with his failing sight. ‘He can’t sit down at a piano with a sheet of lyrics and write a song,’ reveals his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. ‘He has to be kind of fed lyrics, which is difficult for him. Elton’s whole way of recording now is completely different, because of his eyesight. He keeps fighting.’

Miranda’s Faithful to muse

Celebrity Traitors star Miranda Hart is taking her sleuthing skills as a Faithful to the next level.

The comedienne, 53, has revealed that, after ‘Miss Marple-ing’ her way through the BBC series in a bid to unmask the Traitors, she decided to visit Agatha Christie’s grave near Oxford.

She posed beside the gravestone of the detective novelist, writing online: ‘Sometimes when it’s not happening you just have to step away from the desk and go on an adventure to reset.’

Did she take The 4.50 From Paddington?

AI stole my work: One Day author  

One Day writer David Nicholls has revealed that he’s among the authors suing artificial intelligence giant Anthropic over allegations that it used their work to train its technology without permission.

‘All of my work has been stolen by A.I,’ he tells me at the Cliveden Literary Festival in Berkshire. Nicholls, 59, whose best-selling book was turned into a Hollywood film and a hit Netflix series, says all six of his novels ended up in Anthropic’s database.

‘It’s like someone stealing your bike, and then you have to go around to their house and buy your bike back. I find it degrading.’

Anthropic has agreed to settle the case for £1.11 billion, with authors and publishers receiving less than £2,000 per title.

Stowe head sells rare Bowie art 

David Bowie’s ‘striking and richly coloured self-portrait’ is due to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s this morning with an estimated value of £35,000 to £55,000.

The expressionist-style painting is being sold by Stowe’s headmaster, Dr Anthony Wallersteiner, who bought it in 1997 from a gallery in Cornwall after the pop star gave his permission.

‘I passed the Bowie test,’ Wallersteiner tells me. The singer agreed to sell it to him because they both admired the St Ives artist Peter Lanyon. So why’s the teacher selling?

‘I’ve run out of wall space,’ he tells me. ‘It’s someone else’s turn to have those eyes follow you around the room.’

Jack Whitehall sees the funny side of having a three-year-old daughter, Elsie, with model Roxy Horner.

‘Becoming a parent has been a great new source of material,’ admits the comedian, 38.

‘I’m not worrying about that. I guess that’s something they’ll have to bring up with a therapist in years to come.

‘Nothing is sacred in my life. Now I’m talking about night feeds, travelling with a toddler and nursery drop-offs. Hopefully the audience have come along with me – they’re all boring and old too.’