Signs of trouble at Harry's polo club: Exclusive venue is riven by allegations of 'profligate spending' as banners appear outside branding bosses 'vindictive bullies'
Prince Harry has thundered across its turf, as has supermodel Elle Macpherson.
But Ham Polo Club, London's last remaining polo ground, is currently the arena for an unseemly chukka involving allegations of 'profligate spending', the apparent sacking of a committee member — and the appearance of two extraordinary banners just outside its entrance.
'The Club is being run by Vindictive Bullies,' read the banners, 'Against Elderly and Disabled Members and Family Local Business.'
Prince Harry (pictured in 2009) has thundered across its turf, as has supermodel Elle Macpherson
The club is powerless to remove the banners, which were seen by hundreds of polo fans at the weekend, because they are on a neighbour's property.
A member says feelings have been running high since the club's chairman, Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers, 70, stepped down last year.
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'He was chairman for about 25 years, and nurtured the club into financial and professional stability.'
In particular, Colquhoun-Denvers persuaded the late Thai billionaire — and Leicester City owner — Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha to become the club's president.
The club is powerless to remove the banners, which were seen by hundreds of polo fans at the weekend, because they are on a neighbour's property
Ham Polo Club (pictured), London's last remaining polo ground, is currently the arena for an unseemly chukka involving allegations of 'profligate spending'
Srivaddhanaprabha hosted a charity match in which Prince Harry played, reportedly generating £100,000 for Harry's favoured charities.
Vichai's polo manager, Pete McCormack, is said to have left the committee for questioning what he claimed was 'profligate spending'.
Club committee member Freddie Ventura will say only: 'The club denies the allegations on those banners.'
During the height of the credit crunch, the Queen memorably asked academics at the London School of Economics: 'Why did nobody notice it?'
Prince Charles appears to be taking a similarly close interest in economics. I hear that he held private talks at Highgrove last Friday with Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England.
A Clarence House spokesman declines to disclose what they discussed, but it's a shame Canadian Carney didn't bring his wife, Diana.
She shares Charles's environmental concerns and wrote a blog with eco-tips.
Prince Charles appears to be taking a similarly close interest in economics. I hear that he held private talks at Highgrove last Friday with Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England
Made a Dame in the Queen's New Year Honours list, Twiggy nevertheless struggles to command respect in her own household.
The Sixties icon, who picked up her gong from Prince Charles in March, reveals that her husband, the actor, director and writer Leigh Lawson, loathes her favourite nail varnish colour of burgundy.
'He hates it,' Dame Twiggy says. 'He always says it looks like I've caught my fingers in the door.'
Twiggy (right), who picked up her gong from Prince Charles in March, reveals that her husband, the actor, director and writer Leigh Lawson (left), loathes her favourite nail varnish colour of burgundy
Lewis star Laurence Fox, who played DI James Hathaway in the ITV drama, is in need of his character's crime-solving skills.
Yesterday, the 40-year-old actor was dismayed to discover his new navy Skoda Kodiaq vRS, worth £43,000, had been broken into near his home in South-East London.
'Luckily, he didn't have much in it — only his sunglasses and tobacco,' said a friend.
The father-of-two, who has filed a police report, admits that his kids don't mind the theft of the latter.
He's one of this country's most prominent aristocrats, with a magnificent estate in Sussex, but Goodwood owner the Duke of Richmond says it doesn't guarantee him a reply to his letters.
The Duke, who runs Glorious Goodwood horse racing and the Festival Of Speed for classic cars, says of his title: 'On the whole, it might mean they think twice about not replying, so in that sense it helps a bit.
'But I still get plenty of people who never bloody write back!' Tut-tut.
