John Gibson: Lorraine is still up for the chase

Odd bird Lorraine Chase. Never married. Lives alone. Well, would you want to share the former soap star’s front room in London’s Camberwell with an impala’s head on the wall (mind you, you could always hang your hat on it)?

Cockney Lorraine expects to sell up for a million because she is down-sizing and increasingly sees herself working outwith London. She has spent so much of this year in Edinburgh at the Fringe.

Had she changed her mind and decided to stay put she could have added one of the Dome’s redundant chandeliers to her impedimenta It would have set off that impala’s head perfectly (the Edinburgh restaurant recently replaced its imposing chandeliers, before Lorraine had a chance to swing from them).

Rolf gets ratty

It still rankles. Rolf Harris, who was the toast of Holyrood for a week with his portrait of the Queen, was “hurt” when the National Portrait Gallery in London knocked back his offer to show his 80th birthday portrait of Her Majesty.

It had played to capacity crowds at Buck Palace. “I was emboldened to ring up the head of the National Gallery and said ‘Would you be interested in having my portrait of the Queen in your gallery?’. He said from a great height ‘We have numerous portrait of Her Majesty, thank you very much.’

“I was hurt by that. Just because something is popular doesn’t mean it’s crap.”

Good on yer, Rolf!