TALK OF THE TOWN: The Crown star Emerald Fennell poses on a grand mantlepiece as she prepares for the Academy Awards
With three Oscar nominations to her name, it looks like Hollywood is ready to put The Crown star Emerald Fennell on a pedestal – and it seems she’s been trying one for size!
Emerald posed on a grand mantlepiece for this light-hearted shot as she prepared for the Academy Awards, where she is tipped to win at least one of best director, best picture or best screenplay for Promising Young Woman.
But things could have been different for Emerald, 35, as she nearly flunked her role as Camilla Parker-Bowles in the Netflix royal saga.
With three Oscar nominations to her name, it looks like Hollywood is ready to put The Crown star Emerald Fennell on a pedestal – and it seems she’s been trying one for size!
Things could have been different for Emerald, 35, as she nearly flunked her role as Camilla Parker-Bowles (above, Ms Fennell in The Crown) in the Netflix royal saga
The star, who attended Marlborough College with the Duchess of Cambridge, says: ‘I auditioned just as we were wrapping Killing Eve [on which she was writer and producer] so I was a completely insane person. I came in and did a mad performance.
‘They said, ‘Look, go to sleep and come back when you’re not working 48 hours a day’.’
And after a good night’s sleep Emerald – daughter of society jeweller Theo Fennell – did bag the part.
No more Hicks hiccups…
A glimpse into the painful saga behind Kata Hicks parting from husband Ashley in 2019 was offered to me last week when I learned that she was sent a legal letter at the time warning her about her 92-year-old mother-in-law,
Lady Pamela Hicks, daughter of Lord Mountbatten. Ashley, 57, apparently took umbrage with Kata, 39, for accepting financial help from Lady Pamela ahead of the birth of their second child Horatio, who arrived in 2019 just a year after their first, Caspian.
Says my source: ‘The letter accused Kata of pestering his elderly mother in an attempt to persuade her to meet her expenses.
Pictured: Ashley Hicks on the day he married Kata de Solis, 34, at his Oxfordshire home
‘It warned that Lady Pamela would not meet any costs for Kata and said further action would be taken if she repeated this behaviour.
‘Kata insists she had merely accepted a kind offer. Ashley had just started dating their friend Martina at the time, so Kata was worried about managing a one-year-old baby and a new-born as a single mum.’
Ashley has since settled matters, with Kata moving into a Kensington home and the children at private school.
The source described matters as ‘stable’, but added: ‘Kata misses Lady Pamela.’ Kata declined to comment.
A spokesperson for Ashley said: ‘Recollections may vary.’