News about Jeffrey Archer

In publicity for new Dickens' novels Hard Times, Little Dorrit, and Our Mutual Friend, the BBC's flagship Radio 4 station denied the charge. 'In the fall, there will be a new triple bill, with titles in which the well-loved writer's reflection of Victorian life has remarkably close resemblances with life in Britain today.' Last night, experts attacked the argument as 'ludicrous,' pointing out that Dickens was writing at a time when Britain did not have a welfare state, the NHS, or free education. Jeffrey Archer, a best-selling author, said: "If the BBC is attempting to make a comparison between Victorian Britain and today, it would be about as realistic as saying that Richard III and Charles III have anything in common."

The Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, one of the highest civilian awards, is a CBE. The King had stripped Paula Vennells, the former chief executive of the Post Office, of her CBE three days earlier. Vennells had 'brought the honours system into disrepute,' according to the reasons given. Vennells (pictured left) said last month that after more than a million people signed a petition demanding that she be stripped of her CBE, Vennells (pictured left) announced that she would hand over her CBE "with immediate effect." However, it doesn't work that way. You will keep your rank until the monarch decides to delete it, at which time you are encouraged to give the true medal to Buckingham Palace. Lord Taylor of Warwick (pictured below) was given a prison term for claiming over £11,000 in expenses, but others who should lose their positions include Lord Taylor of Warwick (pictured below). And what will become of Baroness (Michelle) Mone of Mayfair (pictured top right)? She denies wrongdoing and has not been found guilty of any crime.

I've been consistently surprised by how candid my interviews have been, and wealthy people make exactly the same mistakes as the rest of us. Here's a rundown of the ten worst performers.

Jeffrey Archer's 40th birthday party took place at his opulent London penthouse apartment. Lord Archer has amassed a circle of acquaintances who, though they may gush as they bid him goodbye, only say what they really believe in their diaries, which they published a few years later.

My wife Mary and I will dine our last champagne and shepherd's pie party at our London penthouse overlooking the Thames this year. I'm sad, of course, but this Christmas season is winding down because the visitors, a majority of whom are senior fogeys like me, are finding it difficult to stand for two-and-a-half hours. After hosting 200 or so guests a night, I'm 83 and I'm really tired. In mid-December, we always have two parties on consecutive evenings, and I'll be on my feet for the duration of the evening, while the guests' glasses are topped, from actors to politicians, academics, scientists, and singers.

The Christmas party season will never be the same. Jeffrey Archer and his wife, Mary, will dine 'champagne & shepherd's pie' next month. The festive parties, hosted at the best-selling author's penthouse overlooking the Thames, became the stuff of legend, with Tory prime ministers and the majority of cabinet members in attendance. 'I am 83,' Lord Archer tells me. After 40 years, Mary and I felt that now was the time to hold the last one.'

A trip down memory lane for the 69-year-old King, who was hidden in Le Caprice behind a side street in St James' behind The Ritz London hotel. As the pair established a restaurant empire whose brightest stars were The Ivy and The Wolseley on Piccadilly, he managed and then owned it for 17 years beginning with Chris Corbin, his business partner. Now he's back at Le Caprice for the second time after taking over the lease from former owner Richard Caring in August.

EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Andrew Lownie has failed in his attempt to find out if Scotland Yard ever investigated Prince Andrew's allegations against him under the Freedom of Information Act. He asked if police had looked into her allegations of being trafficked to the United Kingdom, and, if not, who had ordered that the probe be dropped. The Met replied, "We cannot confirm or deny that details in connection with any suspect's allegations are known." Lownie says, although Andrew has always denied the allegations and settled her civil lawsuit with no admission of guilt, the public is entitled to know if the police ever bothered to look into the allegations against the Duke of York.' We need certainty. Let's hope that the police do not consider that the Royal Family is above the law.'

Show Me The Monye, the former England and British Lions player, has been lined up for a thumping fight in the High Court by the taxman. The company, which Monye, 40, set up in 2012 for 'physical well-being activities', now owes nearly £200,000 in unpaid taxes and social security payments

Commander Hawksby opened the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out two dice, but not a gambler, as he wasn't a gambler. Superintendent William Warwick and Inspector Ross Hogan remained standing as the Hawk, like a Vegas croupier, shook the dice vigorously in his right hand before securing them and waiting for them to settle. William was one of two people to die,' he said. As he waited for William and Ross to announce the two numbers' legitimacy, the Hawk raised an eyebrow.

With M.V.'s The Mysterious Dog, Shehan Karunatilaka caught the reading bug. Carey. They were 'Much more advanced than other teenage detective franchises,' he said.

ROLAND WHITE: Making TV programmes about Jeffrey Archer's somewhat colourful career must be like shooting fish in a barrel, except in this case the fish shouts 'Over here!'and 'Look at me!' 'Could I am interested in another glass of this delectable Krug champagne,' a narrator says.'

ANDREW PIERCE: Jeffrey Archer (pictured) has sold 320 million books around the world. However, such triumphs do not mean anything to the awakened pygmies of the publishing industry, who have attempted to censor Archer to please modern sensibilities as they did with Roald Dahl. Puffin, Dahl's publisher, has been accused of ruining masterpieces like Matilda and The Twits by removing words such as "fat" and "ugly," which may lead to snowflakes. The archer praised the Queen Consort's "common sense" involvement in the Dahl row last week, adding: "I worked with Roald Dahl on Tales Of The Unexpected [the 1980s television series]. He'd be stricken by the word's modification.'

CRAIG BROWN: Soon after the death of Princess Diana, a friend's child asked me earnestly: 'But what was Lady Di called before she died?'These days, many under the age of 40 are similarly baffled by the idea that there was once a time when there was nothing to watch: 'But what was on television before they invented breakfast television?' They find it difficult to believe that, although not all that long ago, you could turn on the TV in the morning and be confronted with nothing but a test card made up of vertical and horizontal lines.

The Sussex biographer, who was responding to reports that the Sussexes (left) had gone house hunting, said the couple'didn't have enough funds when compared to the super wealthy A-listers who have made California their home, as she joked that 'Elon Musk (inset) is still single if the duchess wishes to trade up to the £193 billion tycoon. Although it doesn't quite fit as a 'humble cottage,' the Sussexes' nine-bedroom, 16-bathroom mansion (right) pales in comparison to other celebs based in the Golden State.

We may not have to wait long before we hear his own interpretation of events. Prince Harry is writing a new chapter in his much-anticipated memoirs that will include details about his grandmother's death and the events leading up to her funeral, according to best-selling author Jeffrey Archer, who was a pal of Princess Diana. Lord Archer is deeply worried that the book will strengthen already fragile relationships between the Royal Family and Harry and his spouse, Meghan, even more.

It's Jeffrey's friendship with Princess Diana that is most in his thoughts today, amusing, quipy, conspiratorial. It began in 1991 at a charity concert and she came to rely on his expertise and entertainment company during the next six years. In his new book, he focuses on their intimate friendship, revealing the particulars of it for the first time. Next In Line is the fifth in a series of crime thrillers starring Detective Chief Inspector William Warwick, and it features an endearing, vulnerable, and often lonely figure of Princess Diana. The plot centers on the Royal Protection Command, which has been entrusted with guarding the earth's most prominent family. Mixing fantasy with real events and set in 1988. When she and Charles were preparing to divorce, it was December 3, 1993, when he was entrusted by then Prime Minister John Major to chaperone Diana.

HENRY DEEDES: Kwasi Kwarteng sat nonchalantly in the Commons, head back, legs splayed, almost as if he was sitting on a deck chair on a sun-kissed beach. The Chancellor, if not the entire world, was a cool hombre. He was set to deliver a speech that would undoubtedly determine the fate of the government. All that was missing was a rum cocktail with a jaunty umbrella behind him, a bottle of Piz Buin, and a dog-eared copy of the new Jeffrey Archer potboiler. Such a lackadaisical demeanour made it all the more surprising when it transpired that he was about to unleash the country's most popular and boldest fiscal announcement in decades. A veritable bonfire of taxes, igniting embers of control and red tape fluttering over Westminster. His so-called'mini-Budget' was not so much a rabbit-out-the-hat trick as a series of Paul Daniels-style eye poppers that left a majority of his audience stunned. Not all of them for the same reason.