GOOD TO see Prince Harry enjoying himself and helping Spearmint Rhino gain a tremendous amount of exposure at the weekend. I must admit I was quite surprised, as well as pleased, at helping Spearmint achieve this coverage, particularly as Harry has been a regular visitor to other similar establishments together with his mates in recent months. Fortunately for Spearmint Rhino, the other establishments he has visited either didn't recognise him or simply didn't know how to make the best of a Royal visit.
THE FIRST of several potentially damaging revelations to the Tory party appeared in The Independent on Sunday at the weekend, as I hinted last week. The IoS revealed how David Cameron and his advisors have been trying desperately to conceal the anonymous financial loan they received from Christopher Moran — a man whose wealth is estimated at around the £200m mark. Financially successful he certainly is, but he does have something of a chequered past, as The IoS detailed.
One senior Tory was quoted in The IoS as saying "they have been trying desperately to get the money back to him so they do not have to admit to having had it". It seems as if Mr Moran could well be the first of many anonymous Tory secret lenders who will be revealed. As I said in my column last week, my view is that it would be in the best interest of the Tories to bring out the information themselves.
I WAS interested to read about Wayne Rooney's apparent £700,000 gambling debt in the national press this week. From my gambling industry contacts, I'm only too aware of several other major Premiership footballers who are gambling similar amounts regularly and, after the World Cup, it could well be that at least three other household names will be making similar headlines.
SHY KEENAN came to us many years ago and we revealed how she had been abused as a child, by her step-father and his friends. With the help of The News of the World and Channel 4, we brought the story of her ordeal to the attention of the public and subsequently her abusers were jailed. Since then, Shy has gone on to form Phoenix Survivors, an organisation which has successfully pinpointed paedophiles.
In order to keep this worthwhile organisation running, The Sun carried an editorial campaign telling of Shy's story of triumph over tragedy.
I sincerely hope Shy gets the financial backing she so richly deserves.
If you want to know more about Shy and Phoenix Survivors, please check the following website: www.phoenixsurvivors.com .
The fee for this column is donated to the Rhys Daniels Trust
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog