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Sally Phillips: ‘I accidentally lived in a brothel’Lotte Brundle talks to the actor about returning to the stage after 20 years, her frustration at never getting to kiss Colin Firth in the Bridget Jones films and wanting to look like ET.
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Sir John Major: ‘For all its frustrations, England is where I wish to live. I feel blessed to be British'To celebrate the release of this week's 'English Issue', Paula Minchin spoke to six individuals on what being English means to them. Today's is former prime minister The Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH.
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Athena: Texting in the theatre is always bad mannersLast week, Rosamund Pike told off an audience member for texting during her play. Bad manners in the theatre has become far too common, writes Athena.
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Tom Parker Bowles: ‘The English art of the witty put down is unmatched’To celebrate this week's 'English Issue', six individuals reflect on what being English means to them. First up: Country Life's very own Tom Parker Bowles.
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A T-Rex by the name of Gus is going up for auction — and he could be the most expensive dinosaur ever soldThe dinosaur skeleton will be on the market as part of Sotheby’s Geek Week auction, next month.
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Was there ever a city so densely populated by brilliant minds, so tightly packed with bright ideas? Mark Rothko is following in the footsteps of Michelangelo and taking over FlorenceA major retrospective of Mark Rothko's work is now open in Florence. Steven King went to have a look.
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Hugo Vickers: 'Wallis Simpson enjoyed being the King’s friend, but in no way did she want to become his wife, or to cause a major constitutional crisis'Why everything we've been told about ‘the woman who stole the King’ is wrong, by toyal biographer Hugo Vickers.
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Lady Anne Glenconner: ‘Princess Margaret and I were quite naughty then, Elizabeth always had an eye out for us’The Baroness and British socialite tells Lotte Brundle about growing up with Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, her tumultuous relationship with her late husband and being a ‘gay icon’ aged 93.
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Royalty, racing drivers and the Riviera’s most charming reprobates: Inside Monaco's fabulous partiesZachary Weiss takes a look back at some of the most epic evenings (and daytimes) in Monaco history.
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Few historical figures have sat at such a rich juncture between power, empire and progress than this East London princessWill Hosie celebrates the legacy of Princess Sophia Duleep Singh who campaigned strongly for women's independence.
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Keep calm and carry on because the triumphant return of British landscape painting is hereCarla Passino picks out five of her favourite paintings from a new and ambitious exhibition that charts the rise and evolution of landscape painting.
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Dame Prue Leith: ‘I won't say we were rolling drunk, but we were definitely tight’The former ‘Bake Off’ star tells Lotte Brundle about growing old, her burgeoning friendship with Blake Lively and the advice Mary Berry gave her about Paul Hollywood.
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'She said it was the most haunted place she had known and asked if we’d seen all the ghosts': Alexander Armstrong on his first house in the countryThe actor and comedian Alexander Armstrong fondly remembers his first house in the country, in an Oxfordshire village.
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No shoes please, we're French: The seaside gallery celebrating Pop Art — and you have to look round barefootAmy Serafin journeys to Villa Carmignac on the Île de Porquerolles for their 'Sea, Pop & Sun' exhibition.
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The enduring English vision of Midsomer Murders still captivates the worldNick Hendrix, who stars in the show as Detective Sergeant Jamie Winter, tries to figure out why a show about little England holds such sway with an international audience.
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'The Luftwaffe created plenty of space in the city that is ideal for a game': How the game of boules is taking over BritainThe game of boules was unfairly maligned by Henry VIII for inducing the deplorable state of English archery, but, in its modern incarnation, it continues to thrive in Britain, discovers Harry Pearson.
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Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: ‘Nettles, grey squirrels and the occasional placenta? I’m relaxed about that’Lotte Brundle talks to the celebrity chef about getting sacked from his job at the River Cafe, chowing down on some placenta and what she’s done wrong with her tomatoes.
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‘We thought they could be a lovely gift for our daughter-in-law’: How an unsuspecting couple found £11,000 worth of cat paintings in a skipTwo works by 19th-century artist Louis Wain are heading for auction, after being rescued by a couple in South Wales who had no idea of their value.
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What is everyone talking about this week: The secret life of planktonPlankton generates at least five times more oxygen than tropical rainforests. Yet its various subspecies remain opaque and poorly understood. That could soon be changing.
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Cariad Lloyd: ‘What I would like people to get from me is a Moomin vibe’The writer, actor and comedian talks about discussing grief on the toilet, raunchily re-writing Jane Austen and the importance of championing women’s writing with Lotte Brundle.
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Bountiful maiden or Virgin Queen: The many faces of Elizabeth I paint a compelling portraitElizabeth I forged her own myth through portraiture, as a new exhibition at the Philip Mould Gallery in London reveals.
