The Sunday Times - UK (2021-11-14)

The Sunday Times November 14, 2021 5

NEWS

Linhart said: “When you

go to buyers and retailers and

say ‘I need a 30 per cent price

increase’, they almost die.

We’ve been offered much

better prices from Japan for

Italian products. I think that

the UK consumer will

continue to see relatively

empty shelves for some time

— and big cost increases.”

UK-based Eurostar

Commodities said that it had

stopped importing pasta from

Italy for a small supermarket

chain last week. The price

had become so high, they had

been forced to find a new

manufacturer.

Jason Bull, a director at

Eurostar Commodities, said:

“Pasta prices have increased

dramatically due to the

shortage of durum wheat, so

we have temporarily stopped

bringing it in. Nobody wants

it with it being so expensive.”

@Louise_Eccles

Brexit and Covid

have meant gaps

on the shelves —

so local producers

are stepping up

Louise Eccles

Tom Kington Rome

that the record is her way of

explaining to Angelo why she

got divorced. The album’s

first single, Easy On Me, broke

records as it soared to

number one in the charts.

“It’s a process: the process

of a divorce, the process of

being a single parent, the

process of not seeing your

child every single day wasn’t

really a plan that I had when I

became a mum,” Adele said.

“The process of arriving

for yourself every single day,

turning up for yourself every

single day. And still running a

home, still running a business

... I juggled those things as
well. And I felt like not doing
it anymore.”
She discussed the meaning
of her new songs, including
Hold On, which has the lines:
“I’m such a mess / The harder

Adele has admitted that the

aftermath of her divorce,

becoming a single parent and

juggling her career left her

“exhausted” and feeling “like

not doing it any more”.

The London-born singer

also said that not seeing her

son, Angelo, 9, every day

“wasn’t really a plan I had

when I became a mum”, in a

television interview with

Oprah Winfrey to be aired in

America tonight.

Adele, 33, split from her

husband, the charity boss

Simon Konecki, in 2019 after

eight years together. She is

now dating Rich Paul, an

American sports agent.

Her fourth album, 30 , is

out on Friday. She has said

Liam Kelly

Entertainment Correspondent

There is no gleeful dancing about it,

nobody is wearing the “told you so”

T-shirt, they are family members, but in

the long run this is probably why you

don’t want to get involved.”

Another royal source said: “If you

can’t trust the witness evidence of a

member of the royal family, if that unrav-

els, then you’re b*****ed. To anyone who

follows their story closely, it’s obvious

that if she didn’t tell the whole story in

court, and got caught out, of course it

casts doubt on anything she has said. A

lot of us who follow it closely know a lot of

what she said to Oprah [Winfrey] wasn’t

true.”

In their bombshell television interview

with Winfrey in March, Harry and

Meghan claimed a member of the royal

family raised “concerns” about how dark

their son Archie’s skin might be, and said

mislead the defendant or the court.”

Meghan’s lawyers had described claims

she collaborated on the book as “false”,

“fantastical” and “a conspiracy theory”.

A palace aide said: “Perhaps this gives

them the understanding of why the roy-

als don’t like to get into court cases. It’s

not like this wasn’t going to happen.

It had a guide price of up to

$800,000 before its auction

in 2013, but fetched

$5.2 million (£3.3 million)

after a 15-minute bidding war.

The Cossacks have been

reunited for an exhibition,

Fabergé in London, which

opens at the Victoria &

Albert Museum on

Saturday. Kieran McCarthy,

the curator, described them

as “three-dimensional

jigsaws” with each stone

cut to slot into place.

He noted that the

Russians had mixed up

the boxes.

“The carelessness

of the Bolsheviks may

be righted after this

exhibition if we can

reunite each figure with

his proper box.”

@IAmLiamKelly

capitalist”, took the

Pustynnikov figure to New

York. He sold it that year to

George Davis, a collector.

It was forgotten for

decades, but was found by

Davis’s descendants wrapped

in a blanket in the rafters of a

house after a relative died.

Andrei Kudinov

served the Tsar’s

mother

protect Maria in 1878 and

served her until he died in

1915. Pustynnikov protected
      Alexandra from when she
      married Nicholas in 1894 until
      the Russian Revolution in


1916. The imperial family were
      executed at Yekaterinburg in
      July the following year.
      Fabergé, whose business
      was nationalised, created
      fewer than 50 recorded
      figurines, making them
      almost as rare as his more
      famous Easter eggs. Nicholas
      paid 2,300 roubles for each
      Cossack, the most expensive
      figures Fabergé made. The
      average annual income in
      Russia was 123 roubles.
      The pair became separated
      some time before 1934 when
      Armand Hammer, an
      American businessman
      known as “Lenin’s chosen

The dramatic twist in the Duchess of

Sussex’s battle against a newspaper, forc-

ing her to apologise for “misleading” a

court, is just the tip of the iceberg,

according to royal sources.

Meghan made a U-turn in court last

week in her privacy case against Associ-

ated Newspapers, admitting that she had

authorised an aide to brief authors on a

flattering biography about the Sussexes.

Harry and Meghan previously denied any

collaboration with the authors of Finding

Freedom but a source said “a lot more”

could emerge on “what was briefed for

the book” if the case proceeds.

Details of the Sussexes’ disputed

involvement with the book came out in

documents submitted to the Court of

Appeal, where Associated Newspapers is

challenging a ruling in February that The

Mail on Sunday had breached Meghan’s

privacy and copyright by publishing

extracts of a letter she wrote to her father,

Thomas Markle, in 2018.

Lawyers for the publisher argued that

the letter was intended for public con-

sumption, and that further evidence

should be heard at trial. A judgment will

be handed down at a later date.

Highly sensitive details in the court

documents included texts and emails

exchanged between Meghan, Harry and

Jason Knauf, their former communica-

tions secretary, about the letter to her

father and Finding Freedom.

The biography by Omid Scobie and

Carolyn Durand, published last year,

included intimate personal details,

including the exact “perfect warrior

[yoga] pose” Meghan, 40, performed

after she and Harry first discussed mar-

riage on holiday in Africa and the expres-

sion on their son Archie’s face when he

was born. The Sussexes’ lawyers denied

that Meghan authorised any details for

the book when The Sunday Times

approached them with information sug-

gesting otherwise in November last year.

The royal family is frustrated by the

fallout from the case and Meghan’s deci-

sion, backed by Harry, to take legal

action. A royal source said: “There is

ROYA

NIKKHAH

Royal Editor

Adele: Becoming a single

parent left me exhausted

The singer’s interview with

Oprah Winfrey airs tonight

Fabergé Cossacks split by the

Bolsheviks finally reunited

that I try I regress / I am my

own worst enemy / Right

now, I truly hate being me.”

Adele told Winfrey: “My

friends always would say

‘hold on’ when I would feel

like the lyrics in the verse, but

it was just exhausting trying

to keep going with it.”

She said that “it made my

feet hurt walking through all

that concrete”.

Her interview with Winfrey

took place in the garden of a

friend of the broadcaster, the

same location as Winfrey’s

interview with the Duke and

Duchess of Sussex in March.

There are no plans for the

interview to air in the UK,

although the singer recorded

a gig at the London Palladium

last week that ITV will be

broadcast next Sunday.

@IAmLiamKelly

Andrei Kudinov and Nikolai

Pustynnikov were such

diligent servants of the

Russian royal family that Tsar

Nicholas II commissioned

Peter Carl Fabergé to make

figures of them from precious

stones. Now the models,

separated after the Russian

Revolution, are to be reunited

after almost a century apart.

The Cossacks were made

from hardstones, including

jasper and onyx, as gifts for

the Tsar’s wife, Empress

Alexandra, and his mother,

the Dowager Empress Maria,

in 1912. The six-inch figures

were seized by the Bolsheviks

who sold art owned by

former elites in a “treasure

for tractors” programme.

Kudinov was assigned to

Liam Kelly

The writer of The

Inbetweeners, the smutty

Channel 4 sitcom, has made

an admission that might have

had him laughed out of the

sixth-form common room at

Rudge Park Comprehensive:

he can’t stand banter.

Iain Morris, 48, said:

“Every time I hear the word

‘banter’ I shudder. Banter is a

word I loathe, and I’ve never

met anyone genuinely funny

who uses it to describe their

comedy.”

The admission may

surprise fans of the hit

comedy, which followed the

sweary, excruciating exploits

of four sex-obsessed

suburban teenagers, Will,

Simon, Jay and Neil. The

Inbetweeners, which ran for

three series and spawned two

films, involved relentless

name-calling and plotlines

concerning whether or not

Neil’s father was gay and just

how “fit” Will’s mother was,

all in the name of “bantz”.

Morris, who co-wrote the

series with Damon Beesley,

said: “[Banter] implies a back-

and-forth repartee, but of late

it’s been used as a cover for

racism and bullying. Banter is

the word the punchers-down,

the bullies and the terminally

unfunny reach for when the

victim of their abuse doesn’t

laugh back. Banter is the

word used to assuage the guilt

of people who know they

have done wrong,” he said.

Banter and associated “lad

culture” was invoked in

relation to Metropolitan

Police officers sharing

misogynistic WhatsApp

messages after Sarah

Everard’s murder.

Supposed banter at

Yorkshire County

Cricket Club led to

accusations of racism

from the spin

bowler Azeem

Rafiq. “Calling

someone a

P-word then

laughing isn’t

‘banter’. It’s

racism,” said

Morris.

Sitcom’s

creator

detests

the bantz

Martin Hemming

Lazio region, had stopped

supplying them after Brexit

because they said it was “too

much paperwork” for a small

order of 800 bottles.

Pasta, consumed by about

two in three Britons at least

once a week, has been one of

the most noticeable gaps on

shelves since the start of the

pandemic. While initially the

issues were caused by

stockpiling, more recent

shortages have been

traced to logistical

problems due to Brexit

and Covid.

Natasha Linhart, chief

executive of Atlante in

Bologna, which supplies

supermarkets — including

Sainsbury’s — with its own-

brand Italian pasta and

tomatoes said it had 70

containers stuck at

Felixstowe port, when they

would have previously passed

through without delay.

Company, based in Malton,

North Yorkshire, with her

husband Thomas, 37, in 2019

after quitting her job in wafer

product development for the

food giant Nestlé. She said:

“The business is growing

exponentially. I think people

are making a conscious

effort to eat locally.”

Its products, which use

a combination of locally

grown wheats, not the

durum wheat typically used

in pasta, are now sold in 300

shops, including Italian delis.

“It helps that our

ingredients are locally

sourced. I know there have

difficulties across the

industry importing goods. We

sell to Italian delis that are

wanting to diversify and stock

more British products, from

Yorkshire pecorino to pasta,”

Bumby added.

A shortage of hard durum

wheat, the key ingredient in

Italian pasta, and fears that

climate change will continue

to deplete Canada’s wheat

harvest, mean that the pasta

manufacturing industry is

increasingly looking into

switching to softer, less

vulnerable grains. However,

this means that consumers

will have to get used to a less

al dente style of pasta.

Pastificio Carleschi, a

British producer of organic

dry pasta, uses spelt flour

made in Somerset. Its

founder, Giovanni

Carleschi, said: “We

are not copying Italian

pasta. We are creating a new

breed, redefining an

historical Italian product by

using local produce to

create a British

alternative.”

La Coppola, an Italian

deli in Sheffield, said an olive

oil brand and a confectionery

company, both from the

British pasta in Italian delis? It’s not as fusilli as it sounds

‘She’s been found out’: royal

despair at Meghan’s U-turn

The UK’s Italian delicatessens

are stocking British pasta for

the first time because it has

become so difficult to import

products such as spaghetti

and tinned tomatoes from the

Continent.

Exports of Italian

pasta to Britain were

down 25 per cent

between January and

July this year compared with

the same period in 2020.

Global exports of pasta have

dropped only 10 per cent,

according to the Italian

farmers’ lobby group

Coldiretti. Tinned tomato UK

exports were also down

12 per cent over the same

period compared with just

1 per cent globally.

Italian suppliers blame

Brexit, congestion at British

ports and driver

shortages for the more

dramatic fall in

exports to the UK.

Since January, goods

entering Britain need

face hurdles from customs

declarations to product safety

certificates, food

inspections and rules-of-

origin checks.

One Italian firm

said it is now easier to

export to Japan — and

warned Britons to brace

themselves for “relatively

empty shelves for some time

and big cost increases”.

Kathryn Bumby, 30,

launched The Yorkshire Pasta

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Jay from The

Inbetweeners

The royal family is ‘frustrated’ after the Duchess of Sussex was forced to apologise for misleading a court

Kathryn Bumby

has taken full

advantage of the

problems faced

by the Italian

pasta industry

by using locally-

sourced wheat

Harry and Meghan, meeting Afghan refugee children learning English yesterday, made explosive claims on TV, below

the “institution” ignored Meghan’s sui-

cidal pleas for help as she struggled to

cope with royal life.

The fallout comes as Buckingham Pal-

ace confirmed that its investigation into

claims that Meghan bullied royal staff is

still going on after eight months. Last

night a spokesman said: “The review and

the consideration of the issues raised is

still being actively worked on.”

The original complaint was made in

October 2018 by Knauf.

Lawyers for Meghan have said reports

of the claims were “a wholly false narra-

tive” and a spokesman for the Sussexes

said the allegations were a “calculated

smear campaign based on misleading

and harmful misinformation”.

@RoyaNikkhah

Camilla Long, page 23

frustration all the way to the top, because

a lot of people told them that it was

unwise to proceed with the case. Now she

has been found out. They [the royal fam-

ily] will think they should never have

taken it to court.”

One of the royal family’s most trusted

lawyers, Gerrard Tyrrell, and several sen-

ior Sussex aides attempted to dissuade

them. A royal source said: “Before Harry

and Meghan pulled the trigger, we

wanted to walk them through what it

would look like if it went all the way and

face up to that.” The advice fell on deaf

ears and the couple turned to Schillings,

a firm known for its aggressive tactics on

behalf of celebrity clients.

The court documents also revealed

discussions between the Sussexes and

senior members of the royal family over

strained relations with Meghan’s father.

One text that Meghan sent Knauf in

August 2018, after staying with the Prince

of Wales in Scotland, suggests family rela-

tions were breaking down within months

of their wedding in May.

She accused the royal family of “con-

stantly berating” Harry, 37, by suggesting

she could visit her father in Mexico,

where he lives, to encourage him to stop

speaking to the media, and suggested

Charles was behind her decision to write

the letter. “The catalyst for my doing this

is seeing how much pain this is causing H.

Even after a week with his dad and end-

lessly explaining the situation, his family

seem to forget the context — and revert to

‘can’t she just go and see him and make

him stop?’ They fundamentally don’t

understand so at least by writing H will be

able to say to his family... ‘she wrote him

a letter and he’s still doing it’. By taking

this form of action I protect my husband

from this constant berating... ”

But sources close to Charles, who

turns 73 today, said he was unlikely to

give family members specific advice on

handling the media, suggesting he would

be “sympathetic to the issue, but not

didactic about the solution”. Meghan has

not spoken to her 77-year-old father since

the wedding. Harry has never met him.

Knauf ’s witness statement detailed

how the Sussexes “authorised specific

co-operation in writing” to the authors of

Finding Freedom, forcing Meghan to con-

cede in a statement that they were

briefed “with my knowledge”, adding: “I

apologise to the court for the fact I had

not remembered these exchanges ... I

had absolutely no wish or intention to

SSGT JAKE CARTER, TASK FORCE LIBERTY PUBLIC AFFAIRS/PA

CBS