EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Why did the late Queen refuse Harry and Meghan's proposal for a new style of monetised royalty?

Unfettered from royal restrictions, Meghan is free to sell her jam and pursue commercial work – prompting the question: Why did the late Queen refuse Harry and Meghan's proposal for a new style of monetised royalty?

Could it stem from Sophie Wessex's decision to continue working in public relations after her marriage to Edward? 

The Queen approved of this new type of working royal but changed her mind two years later when Sophie was caught being indiscreet about her royal connections when trying to impress potential clients. 

It's an experiment no one is in a hurry to repeat.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend The Lion King European Premiere at Leicester Square on July 14, 2019

Queen Elizabeth II wearing the Cullinan V brooch at a visit to London Fashion Week in 2018

Spice Girl Mel B, pictured, recalls sitting beside Charles, then Prince of Wales, when he attended the premiere of the group's 1997 movie Spice World. 

'He was laughing his head off, and I'm sitting there thinking, "Oh my God, this movie is amazing, everyone is like really enjoying it," she remembers. 

'I said to Charles: "You're really enjoying it, aren't you?" and he went: "I'm a good actor." RUDE!'

The Prince of Wales shakes the hand of Scary Spice (Mel B) as he meets the Spice Girls at the gala premiere of Spiceworld, The Movie on December 15, 1997

Pictured in 1997: From left, Ginger Spice, real name Geraldine Halliwell, aged 24; Sporty Spice, Melanie Chisholm, 22, Scary Spice, Melanie Brown, 21; Posh Spice, Victoria Adams, 22; Baby Spice, Emma Bunton, 20

Slow Horses star Gary Oldman still mourns his mother Kathleen who rejoiced when he won an Oscar in 2018 for his role as Churchill in Darkest Hour. 

'She would always say to me, "Oh, you're going to win an Oscar one day, darling." I'd just say, "Yeah, you never know. One day, Mum," he tells Saga magazine. 

'And I think she held on. I really do. I won the Oscar and she died. She let go. Her mission accomplished.'

Gary Oldman with his mother Kathleen Oldman, before she died aged 98 in 2019

Gary Oldman won an Oscar in 2018 for his role as Churchill in Darkest Hour (2017)

BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty, pictured, makes the unprompted admission that she has slept in the nude ever since she was a teenager. 

Will her late colleague Bill Turnbull (a buttoned-up flannel pyjamas man if ever there was one) be turning in his grave?

BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty with her co-host Charlie Stayt

Anglicism's latest delightfully daft cleric, the Ven Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Archdeacon of Liverpool, calls for more anti-whiteness, adding that 'whiteness' does not refer to skin colour per se'. 

Mind you, she does admit on her X feed that she went to her optician last week. New glasses for the archdeacon, please!

Pig farmer and Charles in The Crown Dominic West tells Bath Life about his affection for his first sow. 

'We slaughtered her and now we can't eat her,' he wails. 'Poor Marla...' Marla? 'Yes – the boar was red and ginger, so we called him Donald. 

'And so the sows are named after his wives. We've got Melania and Ivana left...'

Pig farmer and Charles in The Crown Dominic West at the Golden Globes in January