EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Did Prince William and Kate Middleton give too much away when Princess Anne returned to work after her horse-related accident?

Did William and Kate give too much away when Princess Anne returned to work? 

They tweeted: 'Super trooper! So great to see you back so soon!' – a message that Aunty Anne mightn't appreciate. 

A mole reports that medical advice was for the Princess Royal to rest up over the summer, the results of head injuries not always being immediately obvious – but Anne isn't noted for doing what she's told. 

William might have had another reason to see Anne back 'so soon'. She can share the burden of investitures. 

So far this year there have been 25, with Anne presiding at 17.

King comes under peer pressure

King Charles's confirmation of Keir Starmer's plan to evict the remaining 92 hereditary peers must have been uncomfortable for the Monarch. 

The proposed changes would mean that the only hereditary offices left in the country would be the Earl Marshal, the Lord Great Chamberlain, the Grand Carver of England, the King's Champion, the Chief Butler of England – and, er, the King.

Mammal match Down Under?

One of the late Queen's patronages dropped by Charles is that of Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, making it a tad awkward when he visits the city in October. 

In 1868 Alfred, second son of Queen Victoria, was making the first ever royal visit to Australia when he survived a would-be assassin's bullet. 

Grateful Aussies built the hospital via public subscriptions, with Alfred invited to witness a fight between a snake and a mongoose. 

He was given the victorious mongoose as a souvenir. Might the city burghers arrange a rematch for Charles?

Brand new attitude 

Reporting from the Republican Convention in the US, Emily Maitlis, fails to engage with Russell Brand when he finishes an interview, whining: 'When he came off air, I tried to grab his arm and he shot me daggers and fled.' 

In her memoir, Emily mewls: 'Russell had me at hello. I am grubbily keen already and he's only been in the room a minute.' 

Plus ca change! 

Campbell faces Major upset 

Recalling his first arrival in Downing Street in 1997, Alastair Campbell tells of being introduced to his new PA, civil servant Alison Blackshaw. 

'At one point she burst into tears. 'Sorry,' she sobbed. 'It's just that I really liked John Major.'

Rod Almighty

Black Rod Sarah Clarke had a seamless State Opening compared with her 1940 predecessor Sir William Pulteney, who had to bang on the door three times in the temporary HQ Church House. 

Unfamiliar with the layout, he got lost. Each time he asked a policeman for directions, he was told: 'Make way for Black Rod!' 

He was then halted from banging his staff by an alert doorman, who revealed a pane of glass behind the curtain covering the door.

'Wonderful' Hannibal is hard to digest 

Informed that Donald Trump recently hailed his famous cannibal movie character 'the late, great Hannibal Lecter... a wonderful man,' a taken aback Sir Anthony Hopkins now asks: 'As if he is real?' 

I'm shocked and appalled.