SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Wills' pal Jecca and a happy little secret 

Eyebrows were raised when Prince William left his family over the Easter weekend to attend the nuptials of his friend Jessica ‘Jecca’ Craig in Africa.

But there may have been an extra special reason for him to attend. For I can disclose that Jecca, 34, gave birth to a boy months before her wedding to Jonathan Baillie, director of conservation at the Zoological Society of London.

Professor Baillie let slip his new paternal status at this week’s Safari In The City gala at London Zoo, which raised £350,000 to fight the illegal wildlife trade. ‘I’m having to help host without Jecca because she’s at home looking after our new baby,’ the Canadian told me proudly.

Jecca, 34, right, gave birth to a boy months before her wedding to Jonathan Baillie, director of conservation at the Zoological Society of London, pictured left

The couple announced their engagement in April last year, but until now her pregnancy had been a closely guarded family secret and there has still been no official birth notice.

The couple’s son is believed to be six months old and has a fittingly zoological name — Wolf.

Wills first met Jecca on a trip to Africa in 1998 when he was 16. She has the distinction of being the only woman before Kate Middleton to have provoked an official bulletin about Wills’s love life.

In 2003, Prince Charles’s staff issued a statement in which it was denied the couple were in a relationship.

They had never done this for any of William’s other alleged girlfriends, prompting speculation there may have been some truth in the rumours. Shortly afterwards, Jecca was seated next to the Prince at his ‘Out Of Africa’ 21st birthday party which was held at Windsor Castle.

The Duchess of Cambridge was not with her husband at the Easter wedding because she didn’t want to take her children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, to Kenya

The Prince turned down an invitation to his cousin Peter Phillips’s wedding in 2008 so he could join Jecca when her brother, Batian, got married in Kenya.

One reason it is said the Duchess of Cambridge was not at the Easter wedding is she didn’t want to take her children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, to Kenya.

However this would have been the perfect family occasion for their respective offspring to meet. Perhaps there will be another opportunity to do so at the christening.

Pippa's ex bails out her brother's firm

Friend of the Royals Charlie Gilkes, the nightclubs entrepreneur, offers his well-connected mates more than just a discreet VIP area to escape the paparazzi.

The owner of Prince Harry’s favourite spots for a mojito, Maggie’s and Bunga Bunga, has invested in James Middleton’s personalised marshmallow firm, Boomf, snapping up almost 2,000 shares.

Charlie Gilkes, the nightclubs entrepreneur, has snapped up 2,000 shares in James Middleton's personalised marshmallow firm, Boomf. He used to date James' sister Pippa, while they were studying at Edinburgh

Gilkes’s business partner, Duncan Stirling, has bought an equal slice of the business as part of the venture’s recently completed £1.3 million funding round. James Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge’s younger brother, owns 32 per cent of the company, which he says will make a profit this year, following a rocky patch where it posted a £250,000 loss.

Most Boomf investors were introduced via Q Ventures, a private investment club, but Gilkes has a closer connection.

Before marrying PR girl Anneke von Trotha Taylor in 2014, he enjoyed a dalliance with James’s older sister, Pippa, while they were studying at Edinburgh University.

It’s a small world.

Mariah Carey put on a bold front as she checked out of Claridge’s with her mountains of designer luggage

Mariah, diva with a lot of baggage! 

Watch out: diva coming through! Mariah Carey put on a bold front as she checked out of Claridge’s. Despite her mountains of designer luggage, which filled the boot of a people carrier, the singer eschewed a coat in favour of a plunging dress.

Carey, 46, got engaged to billionaire James Packer earlier this year, but can’t tie the knot because she is still married to second husband Nick Cannon. And Packer has yet to divorce his wife Erica.

That’s a lot of baggage.