Sarah Vine has used a tell-all Tatler interview to deny that her ex, Michael Gove, had an affair that caused the marriage to break down. Instead she blames the stresses of political life:
“despite all the rumours, his only mistress was politics. That’s what he is in love with. He is genuinely in love with politics.”
Adding, “The mistress wins in the end. It’s all about making sure she is happy.”
Unlike the Cabinet’s prior marriage breakdown, in the form of Matt and Martha Hancock, it sounds like the couple’s relationship has remained cordial:
“It’s not because we hate each other, it’s because I can’t look after my family and myself and be a wife of politics.”
Vine claims her “ulterior motive throughout my entire life was to stop my husband being prime minister because I can’t think of anything worse.” Now there’s nothing stopping him…
This month’s Tatler hails the return of their little black book of the “200 hottest dates in Britain”, a comprehensive list of the “sexy, sassy and seriously social… most eligible people in the land”. In the name of public service journalism, Guido rounds up those of particular interest to the Westminster village.
Freddie Benyon: Lord Benyon’s son – the former MP for Newbury from 2005 to 2019 before rebellion against the Brexit deal in 2019 and having the whip removed. Freddie is an officer in the Coldstream Guards, a keen polo player and a spirited jouster.
Lady Juno Coke: 21-year-old daughter of Lord Coke, a hereditary peer sitting on the Tory benches in the Lords after being elected in a by-election this year.
George Flemming: 27, a cousin of the Tory Peer the Duke of Montrose. Launched a campaign during the pandemic to protest the lack of support for musicians during the pandemic – no doubt he’s on the breadline…
Nico Douglas-Home: The 19-year-old great-great nephew of former PM Alec Douglas-Home. He left Eton this year.
Xanthe Gladstone: 26-year-old descendant of PM William Gladstone, manages food sustainability at her family’s castle in Wales.
Cass Horowitz: Rishi’s top media SpAd. 30-years-old, he’s the son of author Anthony, who is less than a fan of his son’s boss’ government. Presumably Gove’s muscular SpAd Josh Grimstone will be jealous over his exclusion…
Beatrice Gove: A Guido regular, known for her TikToks and a social life reminiscent of her father’s old partying days.
Charles Manners: Not only does this 22-year-old share a title with Guido’s regular drinking hole the Marquis of Granby, he’s the heir to the Duke of Rutland David Manners, an old school UKIP backer who used to host fundraisers for them at Belvoir Castle. He stood for UKIP when the House of Lords elected 92 hereditary peers in 1999, standing again in 2005 and 2015.
Ludo Heathcoat Amory: 21-year-old son of Times hack Alice Thompson. Just graduated from Cambridge and now “kicks back at Chevithorne Barton, his family’s divine manor house in Devon.”
Theodore Johnson-Wheeler: Boris’s 22-year-old son. Wrote a play about Brexit last year.
Lara Johnson-Wheeler: Theo’s older sister. A journalist and fashion writer whose article last month in Tatler undoubtedly played no part in her inclusion on their list.
Freya Jones: 21-year-old daughter of Kirsty Young and Soho House magnate Nick Jones. Paints for a living.
Olivier Huband: The son of journalist and Labour candidate Mark Huband who stood for the party against Jacob Rees-Mogg in North East Somerset in 2019. Oliver’s due to appear in the next series of Sky’s A Discovery of Witches. Attended Harrow, naturally. How very Labour…
Stanley Morgan: Acting and directing son of Piers. Holidayed with his dad in Antigua this year – a holiday that Piers tried to keep under wraps until Guido revealed he’d broken lockdown rules to go.
Luke Osbo[u]rne: Son of former chancellor George Osborne, 20. Tatler spells his surname the same as his dad though for some reason his Companies House listing for his Bristol clubbing venture spells it with a ‘u’. Some might suggest trying to distance himself from his dad, hardly the most popular man in trendy left-wing Bristol…
Liberty Osborne: 18-year-old daughter of George, sans surname editing. Currently studying Chinese at Oxford. The apple clearly didn’t fall from the tree of her Sinophile dad…
Any “sexy, sassy and seriously social” totties excluded can complain to Tatler, not Guido…
Rumour has it Tatler are looking at profiling scandal-hit Tory Mark Clarke for a second time. The society magazine infamously glammed up ten rising stars of the right back in 2008, transforming Clarke et al into “top Tory totty”. A person with knowledge of the proposed piece says any new profile would be less of a “where are they now?” type article, and more of a focus on Clarke’s recent career developments. Tatler has had its name in headlines about Tory bullying for the best part of four months. A follow up would make sense…
