NEWS
EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Harry Potter star Leslie Phillips’s widow 30 years his junior is forced to leave their London home as details of his £5.2million will are revealed
His talent for portraying shameless skirt-chasers with lust-laden catchphrases – ‘Well, hell-oo’…’I sa-a-ay!’…’Ding dong!’ – made him a household name in the Doctor and Carry On films of the 1960s.
It also ensured that the poverty that had blighted his childhood was far behind him when, in later life, he tackled the weightier parts he yearned to play.
Yet nothing Leslie Phillips did on stage or screen could match the drama and pathos of his life’s final act – details of which I can now disclose, 21 months after his death at the age of 98 in 2022.
Almost exactly four years earlier, his will had been drawn up. But, in a brutal twist of fate, Phillips, who’d observed that he didn’t fear death ‘just illness and senility’, no longer had control of his own affairs which were, instead, administered by his solicitor, under the terms of the Mental Capacity Act.
Aware of this, the third and last of his wives – Zara, a former air stewardess, whom Phillips married in 2013 when he was 89 and she in her mid-50s – threatened legal action, convinced that she would have to leave the four-storey, £4million town house which she and Phillips shared in Maida Vale, West London.
It transpires that she was right. Probate has just been granted, valuing Phillips’s estate at £5.2million, while the terms of the will stipulate that the house is to be sold two years and nine months after his death – in other words, by July next year – and the proceeds put into trust.
Zara, who’d been previously widowed, first encountered Phillips, the voice of the Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter films, on a zebra crossing close to his home.
A year after they married, he suffered a massive stroke. For the next eight years, she cared for him at the house, which is crowded with antique bronzes, glassware and sepia-coloured photographs.
Zara could not be reached for comment yesterday, but insisted last year that she would not leave without a fight.
‘This is my marital home,’ she said. ‘I want to live here for the rest of my life.’
But Phillips had two sons and two daughters by his first wife, to each of whom he left £50,000, and nearly three-quarters of the shares in the trust fund the will establishes, while his 15 grandchildren each receive £5,000.
Zara is far from forgotten, however. She is left £155,000, plus ten of her late husband’s belongings – each worth up to £1,500 – and more than a quarter of the shares in the trust fund.
Ding dong!
His roles range from Jurassic Park and The Piano to Brummie gangster drama Peaky Blinders – but Sam Neill regrets that he has never appeared in a cowboy movie.
He says: ‘I ran across Clint Eastwood once at an awards show or something and I told him, “I’d love to have been in a Western, ideally with you, Clint.”
‘He said, “What do you mean, Sam? You wear a hat and squint a bit.”
‘I thought, “Oh, that’s great. That’s all you need . . . You just wear a hat and squint a bit.”‘
Taylor: I had a few Swift ones in lockdown!
As Taylor Swift performed her final concert at Wembley Stadium, she told fans of the key role London had played in her career.
Swift, 34, spent Covid lockdowns in Primrose Hill with then boyfriend, actor Joe Alwyn, while she wrote her 2020 album Folklore.
In my pretend, folklore world, I was like a classic Victorian lady wandering through the forest in a lacy nightgown, holding a candlestick and collecting feathers,’ she said.
‘The truth was that I was a lonely millennial woman covered in cat hair in the house, drinking a lot of white wine.’
Von Tresckow finishes a labour of love
Fashion designer Beatrice von Tresckow, whose outfits have been worn by the King’s niece Zara Tindall, has just finished a labour of love.
She and her team spent an incredible 1,800 hours creating her daughter Frederike Gardiner’s bridal gown for her wedding to businessman Caldon Pike in Cheltenham this weekend.
(Armani)
CELEBRITY
Angry Patrick Mahomes says he will LEAVE the NFL and accuses the NFL of risking player safety before huge run of Chiefs games “If there’s no changes, I will leave” – Full Story Inside
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have an extremely congested schedule coming up – and the passer is far from thrilled with the NFL.
The two-time defending champions will embark on a stretch of three games in 11 days beginning this weekend when they face the Browns on Sunday, before hosting the Texans on December 21 and then traveling to the Steelers on Christmas.
And while the Chiefs are sitting pretty atop the AFC with a 12-1 record, Mahomes seems to be dreading his team’s next couple of weeks.
‘It is not a good feeling,’ he told reporters on Wednesday, per ESPN. ‘I’m excited to play on Christmas to hopefully get back from what we did last year [when the Chiefs lost to the Raiders], but you never want to play this many games in this short of time.
‘It’s just not great for your body. But at the end of the day, it’s your job, your profession. You have to come to work and do it.’
Mahomes added, ‘All you can do is focus on the game and the practice that you had that day. I try to prepare my body all year long for this stretch by tailoring my workouts, tailoring how you practice and you prepare. The coaches do a great job of taking care of us on the practice field. We practice hard as anybody, but they know how to kind of dial it back when we need it.’
In addition to the Chiefs, the Texans, Steelers and Ravens will also be playing three games in the next 11 days.
Crucially, though, the Ravens and Texans are coming right off of a bye in Week 14, while the Steelers had their break in Week 9.
The Chiefs haven’t had a rest since they returned from their Week 6 bye – a fact that defensive star Chris Jones was eager to point out.
‘This is one thing I’m doing this offseason is I’m going to the NFLPA, especially with us having three games in [an 11-day] span, that we’re mandatory to have a late bye week,’ he said.
‘With our schedule, it’s kind of awkward, to say the least. … That’s a conversation to have this offseason. If a team has somewhat of a schedule like that, they should get a late-season bye. We don’t need a Week [6] bye … Give it to us in Week 8, Week 10, something like that.’
Mahomes and Co. will have a week-and-a-half to recover after their Christmas Day game before facing the Broncos in Week 18 on January 5.
And if Kansas City manages to wrap up a first-round playoff bye before Week 18 – as they currently have a two-game AFC lead over the Bills – Mahomes and the team’s other starters could be held out of the final regular season game.
The quarterback then wouldn’t play until January 18 or 19 in the divisional round.
CELEBRITY
Selena Gomez, 32, Is Engaged to Benny Blanco, 36! Star Flaunts Massive Diamond Ring, Shares Sweet Photos, Hilarious Proposal Clips – and Reveals the Wedding Date Along With Another Shocking Surprise: “Our Prayers Have Been Answered, We’re Expecting…”
Selena Gomez shocked fans on Wednesday night by revealing she is now engaged to her boyfriend Benny Blanco after a year and a half of dating.
The singer, 32, revealed the news on Instagram, sharing the first photos of her massive diamond engagement ring with her 422million followers.
‘forever begins now..’ captioned the Who Said singer. She also included a photo of herself showing off her ring for the camera as Blanco, 36, wrapped his arm around her and kissed her head.
Blanco — a famed music producer — seemingly popped the question during a romantic nighttime picnic featuring Taco Bell.
The couple received an outpouring of love from theor A-list celebrity friends, including Cardi B, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow and Gomez’s BFF Taylor Swift.
Swift — who has been friends with Gomez since 2008 — offered to be the couple’s ‘flower girl.’
Blanco himself also left a cheeky comment in which he referred to Gomez as his ‘wife.’
‘hey wait… that’s my wife,’ wrote the musician, who earned nearly 150,000 ‘likes.’
Gomez has been dating Blanco since June 2023, though she did not confirm the relationship until that December. At the time, she used Instagram to confirm to fans that she’d been secretly dating the hitmaker for six months and that he was her ‘absolute everything.’
Previously, the Wolves songstress dated The Weeknd, Zedd, Nick Jonas, Taylor Lautner and was linked to a number of other stars, including Zayn Malik and The Chainsmokers’ Andrew Taggart. She also famously had an on-and-off relationship with Justin Bieber, 30, that spanned eight years, before they called it quits in 2018. He is now married to model Hailey Bieber, 28, and they welcomed a baby son in August.
Before getting romantic, Gomez and Blanco were friends for over a decade and even worked on music together.
He has produced three of the singer’s biggest hits, including the 2021 tune I Can’t Get Enough and 2015’s Same Old Love.
Selena Gomez shows off engagement ring from fiance Benny Blanco. Last month, Blanco revealed that it was Gomez who made the first move.
‘She asked me out. It was crazy, it was crazy. She literally asked me… like we were just talking, and then she said, “You wanna get dinner?” And I went to the dinner, and I had no idea,’ he explained on Kai Cenat’s Twitch stream.
Drama
Breaking news: Chargers Coach, Brandon Staley, has issued a stern warning to chiefs QB Patrick mahomes over irregularities and foul plays against tomorrow’s match ” Accused NFL of…
Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles Chargers Coach, Brandon Staley, has issued a stern warning to Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, regarding alleged irregularities and unsportsmanlike conduct ahead of tomorrow’s crucial matchup.
Staley’s Statement “Patrick Mahomes has consistently pushed the boundaries of fair play. We will not tolerate any gamesmanship that compromises the integrity of the game. We’re prepared to take action if necessary.” – Brandon Staley.
Alleged Irregularities
1. Late-game celebrations
2. Excessive trash talk
3. Alleged tampering with opponent’s equipment
Head Coach Andy Reid dismissed Staley’s claims, saying, “Patrick’s a class act. We’re focused on winning, not worrying about distractions.”
Tomorrow’s Showdown
The Chargers and Chiefs face off in a highly anticipated matchup. Fans eagerly await the outcome, knowing that sportsmanship and fair play will be on full display
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