She has long entranced generations of men, not least all five of her husbands, but it is Dame Joan Collins’ tempestuous 13-year relationship with Old Etonian art dealer Robin Hurlstone that many remember.
It will be sorrowful then for her to learn, as I can disclose, that his family has revealed he died ‘peacefully in London’ on Monday and was ‘loved by all who knew him’.
Indeed, Dame Joan and Robin remained friends after their split in 2001 and were pictured together in Saint-Tropez in 2008.
In her memoirs, Dame Joan recalled his formidable eye for aesthetics and sharp tongue.
She wrote: ‘Robin considered himself an expert on everything aesthetic – and I couldn’t deny that he had exquisite taste.
‘Together, we spent hours exploring antique shops in search of furnishings and pictures for my flat in London. His most frequent comments were “hideous” and “ghastly”.’
Joan Collins smiles in 1990 with her then long-time companion – old-Etonian antique dealer Robin Hurlstone
The relationship was far from easy as the Dynasty star, 93, also penned that Hurlstone could be cutting about her looks, writing: ‘He didn’t like my hair when I wore it down, insisting I wore my short wig from Dynasty – which he liked, but I didn’t.’
Their romance ran its course and Dame Joan then met Percy Gibson, 61, to whom she’s been married for nearly 25 years. She once joked that Robin and Percy’s first meeting felt like ‘two stags at bay’.
She recalled: ‘Robin fixed me with a beady, accusing eye. “This Percy fellow, you seem to talk about him a lot. Have you got a crush on him?”
‘”A crush? Don’t be ridiculous,” I spluttered, but I literally felt my face flame. I don’t think I have blushed since I was a teenager.’
Life imitates art for Ellie and Derek
It didn’t take long for Ellie Bamber and Sir Derek Jacobi to channel the close bond between Kate Moss and Lucian Freud in their new film Moss & Freud.
Despite their 58-year age gap, the pair say their chemistry was ‘immediate’ on the set.
Sir Derek Jacobi, 87, and co-star Ellie Bamber, 29, at the film premiere of Moss & Freud
Ms Bamber, 29, stars as the model in the James Lucas drama, with Sir Derek, 87, playing the late artist.
At the London premiere at the Cinema at Selfridges, Ms Bamber tells me: ‘We clicked immediately, and we went for lovely lunches and we could have a laugh.’
Meanwhile, Sir Derek added: ‘Probably more than anything we giggled, and we giggled, and actors have to giggle. We trusted each other and we liked each other.’
King’s gentlemen’s club is feeling the heat
Despite its uncompromisingly traditionalist ways, I hear rule-makers at The Travellers Club in London’s Pall Mall have finally buckled under heat.
As temperatures soared into the mid-30s in the capital this week, the gentlemen’s club temporarily relaxed its rule requiring members and guests to wear jackets at all times on the premises.
‘In view of the high temperatures and humidity, members who wish to take off their jackets in Carlton Garden may do so, other than those members wearing short-sleeved shirts,’ the Club secretary Conrad Winter informed members, who include King Charles and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Sir David Jason reckons his career might have looked different if he went by his birth name.
The actor, 86, admits: ‘When I got my Equity card, the name David White was already registered. I picked Jason because, when I was at school, the teacher read us Jason And The Argonauts. It’s been lucky for me.’
Jodie: I was brought up on absolute s***
Former Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker, 43, says she grew up eating cheese and onion crisp sandwiches
Former Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker has dished up a brutal review of the food she received from her mother, Yvonne, in childhood.
‘I’m going to throw my mum under a bus here; I was brought up on absolute s***,’ reveals the actress, 43.
Recalling her meagre packed lunches, she says: ‘I was given white bread; I’d have cheese and onion crisps smashed in the middle and that would be a sandwich.’
She adds: ‘I love my mum to pieces, she’s extraordinary, she’s not a cook.’
Barry’s talent praised
Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan surprised audiences when he danced to Murder On The Dancefloor fully nude in Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, and now he’s set to shock audiences once again.
The Irish actor, 33, stars in Kantemir Balagov’s gripping coming-of-age story drama Butterfly Jam, which had its world premiere at the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
Barry Keoghan, 33, has been described as ‘one of the greatest actors of his generation’ by the director of his latest film
Keoghan and Riley Keough in Butterfly Jam, the English-language debut from award-winning Russian director Kantemir Balagov
The Russian director has praised Keoghan’s fearless commitment, particularly in a harrowing and graphic scene which depicts a gay sexual assault.
Balagov tells me at the Theatre Croisette: ‘He handled the scene with so much sensitivity and he’s very raw. He wanted to embrace awkwardness in the scenes because we think awkwardness is a form of sincerity.’ He adds of Keoghan: ‘He’s one of the greatest actors of his generation.’
