RICHARD KAY: Has Prince Harry turned to asparagus to cure his bald patch?

By Richard Kay

PUBLISHED: 19:35 EST, 31 December 2013 | UPDATED: 04:37 EST, 1 January 2014

After years of teasing his older brother about his hair loss, Prince Harry has had to face some uncomfortable truths about his own thinning thatch.

But unlike William, who appears to have given up on his own bald patch, Harry (pictured) seems to be seeking a cure for his.

That, at least, was the conclusion of friends after the 29-year-old Prince was spotted eating asparagus, hailed by nutritionists as a powerful counter to balding because of its apparent high alkaline content, which stimulates hair growth.

Thinning: Prince Harry is rumoured to have turned to asparagus to treat his bald patch
Prince Harry with a beard leaves the Christmas Day service at Sandringham on December 25

Thinning on top: Prince Harry is rumoured to have turned to asparagus to treat his bald patch

 
   

More from Richard Kay...

Just days after returning to London from the Royal Family’s Christmas gathering at Sandringham, Harry was spotted at fashionable Chelsea restaurant La Brasserie, which is his favourite hang-out.

Harry ordered a £9.50 plate of hot asparagus, followed by eggs benedict after he joined friends for a late brunch.

He has often joked about William’s receding hairline, once quipping that his brother was ‘already bald aged 12’.

But over the past year it has been noted that Harry seems to also be experiencing early hair loss inherited from his father Prince Charles, who had the same problem as a young man.

Indeed Harry’s emerging pate became more evident when he bent over to pet a dog brought by a well-wisher at the Sandringham Christmas church service.

But while he may be losing his hair, the Army officer, who spent three weeks trekking to the South Pole with a group of injured servicemen and servicewomen, did return home sporting a handsome beard.

 

One notable absentee from the New Year’s Honours is ex-BBC chief Mark Thompson.

By tradition, knighthoods are awarded to former directors-general. Thompson stood down in 2012 after eight years at the top.

Yet questions over what he knew about the Savile scandal and payoffs for executives have led to a mixed post-office reputation.

Now head of the New York Times, Thompson returns to London in February to give evidence to MPs about a third scandal, the failed £100 m Digital Media Initiative.

Even if he emerges unscathed, some in Whitehall say it is unlikely he will ever be given a ‘K’.



 

Lizzie and a nuclear bombshell

Paternity shock: Queen of the WAGs Lizzie Cundy

Paternity shock: Queen of the WAGs Lizzie Cundy

As the queen of the wags, Lizzie Cundy is marking New Year in the Caribbean with the likes of High Street tycoon Sir Philip Green and his daughter, Chloe.

But behind the celebrations  she is  pondering an astonishing personal discovery — that her late father, advertising genius Alan Miller, is not, in fact, her biological parent.

For Lizzie, divorced a year ago from ex-Chelsea footballer Jason Cundy after a drawn-out battle over money — in the end she had to pay HIM off — has been telling friends she has been contacted by  a nuclear scientist  who claims to be her  real father.

Lizzie, 49, declined to elaborate when I caught up with her yesterday before lunch at the Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados, but I gather she was approached out of the blue by the  physicist, a former government adviser.

Says a friend: ‘Lizzie was utterly shocked, as you might imagine. But it appears to be true.’

The man she thought of as her father, the acclaimed former art director for Saatchi & Saatchi, died a decade ago but it was only recently that actress Lizzie discovered the truth.

Adds the friend: ‘She doesn’t like talking about it because she doesn’t want to hurt her mother.

‘But her real dad got in contact after his wife died and he read about Lizzie in the papers. He is very proud of her.’

 

Robert Powell says that he’s not too daunted about stepping into the shoes of legendary sleuth Hercule Poirot in a new stage production, but reveals that he’s been warned by daughter Kate not to veer into Inspector Clouseau territory.

The actor, 69, who plays the detective in Black Coffee from January 7, admits: ‘My daughter is a complete Agatha Christie fan but I’d never read her as it just never appealed to me when I was young.

And I’d never seen an episode of Poirot until I knew I was doing this and I caught David Suchet’s last performance.

I said to Kate: “What do I read?” And she said: “The Mysterious Affair At Styles.” I started and I got hooked.’

As for perfecting Poirot’s Belgian accent, Robert says he has listened to Suchet to see if there was something he was missing, but adds: ‘I’m not doing Peter Sellers, my daughter has said: “Don’t you dare do Clouseau!”

'But I do have to be careful with certain words.’

 

Richard Branson's new juggling trick

Philospher: Richard Branson's daughter-in-law Isabella

Philospher: Richard Branson's daughter-in-law  Isabella

For all his commercial zeal, tycoon Sir Richard Branson is a fan of homespun philosophy.

And it seems his actress daughter-in-law Isabella, who married his son Sam in March this year, is similarly entranced.

When asked how he juggles life and work, Branson quotes Isabella’s fondness for the thoughts of   former Coca-Cola boss Brian Dyson, who imagines life as a game in which you juggle five balls.

‘You name them — work, family, health, friends and spirit — and you’re keeping all of these in the air,’

Branson explains. ‘You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.

'But the other four balls — family, health, friends and spirit — are made of glass.

‘If you drop one of these they will be irrevocably damaged. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.’

Adds Branson approvingly: ‘Looks like my son married someone who has her values right.’

 

Although experts in Grenoble say Michael Schumacher’s helmet saved his life, not all skiers are convinced.

Konrad Bartelski, 59, one of Britain’s best-ever ski racers, says: ‘The doctors are saying the helmet stopped Schumacher from being killed outright, yet I doubt he would have skied in the area where he crashed — either that fast or so close to the rocks — if he had been wearing a normal ski hat.’

He adds: ‘The industry needs to understand what the real problems are.

‘Just by asking people to wear helmets, are they shying away from the real problems? Why did Schumacher ski in an area with so many exposed rocks?’

 

psA month after the death of Leo, her beloved husband of 52 years, Jilly Cooper has decided against a memorial service.

Jilly, 76, has been inundated with letters at her Cotswolds home, sympathising and recalling anecdotes about her colourful husband who died aged 79 after an heroic battle against Parkinson’s disease.

‘I have been overwhelmed with messages which really constitute a memorial to Leo. He was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s 14 years ago and I was very lucky to have those years to say goodbye to him,’ she tells me. ‘I don’t believe he needs a memorial service to remember him.’



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My luck it would only promote back hair growth.

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Harry's got it all wrong. You're not supposed to EAT the asparagus - you're supposed to rub it on the bald spot!

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Plant some asparagus on his bold patch.

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like father like sons its hereditary, That's all well and good but asparagus is difficult to comb through.... lol lol

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DHT causes baldness and it's tricky to get rid of. Baldness usually starts in age 20's-30's due to the high testosterone levels in that age group.

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Harry and William will both be bald by the time they are 40.

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I eat asparagus all the time and I have a full head of hair. I just like the taste. Slow news day?

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I'm not sure planting asparagus will do the trick. Would he have to go for walks in the rain to water it? Also, it doesn't look much like hair in the first place.

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stop wearing baseball caps....that will help.

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He's still the most handsome and eligible Prince in the world!

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