Beatrice's ex is all smiles on night out with blonde: Dave Clark seen with mystery companion at the Chiltern Firehouse 

• e-mail

Princess Beatrice has been adapting to her new single status by enjoying nights out with her girlfriends.

But the same cannot be said for her ex-boyfriend Dave Clark, 32, who rather insensitively paraded a mystery blonde at the Chiltern Firehouse in Marylebone this week.

Dave, who works in San Francisco as an executive for the taxi app Uber, was all smiles as he left the celebrity hotspot with his new companion, who wore black leather trousers and a turtle neck, before they both hopped into a taxi.

Dave Clark, 32, paraded a mystery blonde (pictured) at the Chiltern Firehouse in Marylebone this week

Beatrice, 28, split from Dave (pictured together) in August after ten years together

When Beatrice, 28, split from Dave in August after ten years together, her mother the Duchess of York was said to feel as though she had lost a son.

But thankfully her youngest daughter, Eugenie, is proving to be luckier in love. On the same night Dave was cavorting around with his new woman, the 26-year-old hosted a charity gala in Kensington with her long-term partner, Jack Brooksbank, by her side.

The pair are rumoured to be preparing for marriage in the near future.

Actress Olivia Williams admits her dreams of writing a novel have been crushed by her experience judging this year’s Man Booker Prize.

‘Having been a judge for this year’s prize, I’d now never, ever, ever, ever write a novel myself,’ says The Sixth Sense star.

‘I’ve always had an idea of how beautiful it could be and I don’t think I could do it, because now I have an idea of how bad a novel could be, and I think I’d probably do that. Reading all these brilliant novels was so daunting. I’ve realised that it’s not something you can just wake up and go, “I’m going to write a novel!”

‘You know, quite a lot of people come up to me and say, “Yeah, I could have been an actor,” and now I realise it’s just not that easy. You can’t be good at something just because you want to be.’

'No one would accuse Downton Abbey creator Lord Fellowes (pictured) of being a shrinking violet'

No one would accuse Downton Abbey creator Lord Fellowes of being a shrinking violet. But the Oscar-winning writer tells me he hides his portraits from guests at his Dorset pile, Stafford House.

‘I have a number of portraits of me on the walls, but not in terribly obvious places,’ he tells me at the Heads At The Tower private view. ‘I always feel when I go into someone’s house I’m hit over the head when there’s a huge picture of my host staring at me. It’s rather inelegant.’ Instead, he insists the purpose of his pictures is to benefit his son Peregrine, 25. ‘They’re more for my son, to promote them if he wants to, after I’m dead,’ the 67-year-old adds.

The Duke of York (pictured)  clearly needs to put some distance between himself and his mother. He is in China trying to persuade companies to settle in the UK

The Duke of York clearly needs to put some distance between himself and his mother, after the Queen apparently refused to give his daughters taxpayer-funded roles. Two days after news of their disagreement emerged, Andrew flew to China, where the globetrotting royal is trying to persuade companies to settle in the UK. The Palace tells me it is a privately funded visit. Perhaps the Chinese can put Bea and Eugenie on the payroll, too.

Alfie star Sienna Miller (pictured) appears to have found herself a new clique in New York, where she now lives

She left London this summer because she found the capital ‘too cliquey’, but Alfie star Sienna Miller appears to have found herself a new clique in New York, where she now lives.

The 34-year-old blonde mingled with, from left, American actress Katie Holmes, The Affair star Ruth Wilson and Emily Mortimer, daughter of Rumpole creator John Mortimer, at a glamorous filmmakers’ luncheon.

However Sienna, who was sporting a £3,850 Chanel red tweed jacket and black leather shorts, may not be sticking in the U.S. for long.

Despite insisting her move to New York was for the foreseeable future, Sienna admits she would back-track if Trump becomes president. ‘I’m really horrified. I don’t know if I can stay if it goes the wrong way,’ she says.