EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: George Galloway's plot to replace King Charles with his sister Anne and declare her president might end with a 'robust handbagging'

In tandem with his pledge to abolish the monarchy, George Galloway has a daft scheme to replace King Charles with his sister Anne. 

But not as Queen. 'She would be president,' declares bumptious George. 

His brainwave may be based on the 2015 idea mooted by then Jamaican PM Portia Simpson-Miller's party that the Queen be removed as monarch but declared president. 

Galloway's suggestion is a non-starter. Now that Anne's out of hospital, the Workers Party leader should brace himself for a robust handbagging when next they meet.

Pictured: Leader of the Workers Party of Britain George Galloway speaks to media following his party's manifesto launch at the Voco hotel on June 19

Pictured: Leader of the Workers Party of Britain George Galloway speaks to media following his party's manifesto launch at the Voco hotel on June 19

Pictured: Britain's King Charles III waves as he and Queen Camilla formally bid farewell to Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on the final day of their state visit to Britain

Pictured: Britain's King Charles III waves as he and Queen Camilla formally bid farewell to Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on the final day of their state visit to Britain

Pictured: The Princess Royal arriving for the Commonwealth War Grave Commission's Great Vigil to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day

Pictured: The Princess Royal arriving for the Commonwealth War Grave Commission's Great Vigil to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day

 

Should Sir Keir Starmer gain the keys to Downing Street, he will find a warmer welcome at Buckingham Palace than the first Labour PM Ramsay MacDonald did 100 years ago. 

The Duchess of York (the future Queen Mother) wrote to a friend: 'I am extremely anti-Labour. 

'They are so far apart from fairies and owls and bluebells and Americans and all the things I like.' 

Maybe Keir could have broken the ice with the Queen Mum by telling her that his dad was a toolmaker, adding: 'Not a lot of people know that!'

 

Unimpressed by preachy duo Sir Elton John and David Furnish's public backing for Labour, Piers Morgan fumes: 'The pomposity... my god. 

'They don't even live in England.' 

A longtime Elton foe, Piers also recently claimed: 'As for Saint Elton always looking to spread love and inclusion, he is legendarily one of the bitchiest people in showbiz.'

 

Is BBC weather queen Carol Kirkwood shouldering the blame for the rain-sodden early summer? 

'Tongue in cheek, yes,' she tells Radio Times. 

'People stop me in the supermarket and ask what I've done with the sunshine. 

They know, of course, that it isn't my fault, but the British do love talking about the weather.' Carol, just quote Lord Byron: 'The English winter – ending in July.'

Pictured: Carol Kirkwood attends The RHS Chelsea Flower Show at Royal Hospital Chelsea on May 20

Pictured: Carol Kirkwood attends The RHS Chelsea Flower Show at Royal Hospital Chelsea on May 20

 

Conspicuously wearing an England football shirt as she practised ahead of Wimbledon, Emma Raducanu wasn't merely showing her support for the Three Lions. 

She has a multi-million-pound contract with Nike to supply her tennis kit – the very same Nike which has the contract for England's football kit. 

It's just an exercise in mutual brand promotion. What a racket!

Emma Raducanu steps out to practice in a white England football shirt

Emma Raducanu steps out to practice in a white England football shirt 

 

SDP founder Lord (Bill) Rodgers yearns for the age when general elections were marked by heckling. 

Recalling his days as a 16-year-old cycling around his parents' Liverpool constituency to shout at candidates, he laments: 'I know of no local open meetings that candidates invite the public to attend – and heckle. 

'Is this not a real loss of quality in the connection people have with democratic politics?' 

At 95, Bill, are you up to cycling and shouting at the likes of Nigel Farage?