EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: After showbiz, is it politics for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle?

Not content with being TV producers paid an estimated £100 million by U.S. streaming giant Netflix, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have given a strong hint of their political ambitions.

They have applied to trademark the name of their ‘sustainable travel’ project Travalyst for a vast range of projects including lobbying, or trying to influence, governments.

In documents released this week by the Intellectual Property Office in London, Prince Harry and Meghan added a new clause to their 2019 trademark registration: ‘Lobbying with respect to laws regarding sustainable travel.’

Prince Harry has already used an online event for Travalyst to call for people to use more eco-friendly travel options, even though he’s fond of taking private jets himself.

He and his wife have become increasingly politically active over recent weeks, with Meghan urging Americans to vote in November’s election. 

(Very) modern manners

What do darts have to do with a wedding? Well, Esther McVey is using them to slash her big day’s guest list from 150 people to meet pandemic restrictions.

She’s due to exchange vows with fellow Tory MP Philip Davies at the Palace of Westminster’s Chapel of St Mary Undercroft later this month, and has come up with an ingenious way to whittle down their numbers.

‘We can only invite a maximum of 20,’ says McVey. 

‘That includes the bride, the groom, the vicar, the organist and the photographer.’

Her solution is to blindfold herself with a face mask and throw 15 darts at a board featuring the faces of potential guests. 

‘Philip left it to me to come up with this system,’ she says. ‘Another use for a face mask, to ensure ultimate in fairness.’ 

Good to see Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, are doing their bit to help revive London’s nightlife. 

They were among the guests on Thursday at Louie, a new three-storey restaurant in the West End. 

‘Eugenie knows how important it is that we all start going out again,’ one of her friends tells me.