Cruel twist to modern love Tory

He was the first married

Conservative MP to "come

out", revealing that he had

left his wife and three

children for a new life with

a gay interior designer.

Announcing his marriage was over,

Greg Barker, 42, a confidant of Tory

leader David Cameron, indicated to his

family, friends and party colleagues that

his new relationship with William Banks-

Blaney, 33, was a permanent one. He also

publicly paraded the relationship.

But two months ago, I disclosed that

the couple were undergoing a trial

separation while insisting they would get

back together. Now I learn that after a

"make or break" foreign holiday they

have decided to split up for good.

It is, I understand, by mutual consent.

There are no third parties involved.

A source close to Mr Barker tells me: "They

made the decision together last month

after going away. Both feel that it is

tremendously sad that it didn't work

out. They remain dear friends."

Banks-Blaney, who used to work for

Viscount Linley at his furniture store in

Pimlico, moved to the U.S. after

news of his affair with the high-flying

Tory frontbencher was revealed 20

months ago. He has now returned to

work in Britain.

The revelation is another humiliating

blow for Barker's extraordinarily loyal

estranged wife Celeste, who had

accepted her husband's boyfriend on the

basis that he was making an irrevocable

life-changing shift in his domestic affairs.

Not only did she meet Banks-Blaney,

she was even photographed with him and her husband. The couple are still

sorting out their divorce.

A friend of Celeste, heiress to the

Charles Wells brewery fortune, tells me:

"It is another kicking for her. One of the

reasons she behaved so decently was

because she understood William was

going to be a permanent fixture in

Greg's life — yet they split up after little

more than a year."

Barker, who is highly thought of by

Cameron, had originally planned to set

up home with the handsome Banks-

Blaney after the divorce from Celeste

was finalised. He still spends weekends

at the former marital home.

Stylish send-off for Doug

How Doug Hayward

would have enjoyed it if

he had been in the

packed congregation at

Farm Street church in

Mayfair yesterday.

It was the celebrated

tailor's funeral and it

marked a unique coming

together of his old

friends — and clients.

Three of them spoke —

Sir Roger Moore, Sir

Michael Parkinson and

Sir Michael Caine, who

told mourners how,

when first introduced to

Doug, he "reminded me

so much of myself".

Caine, of course, played

the lead in the film Alfie,

which was based on

Hayward.

As the priest Father

Anthony Meredith

observed, it was "a remarkable gathering

for a tailor".

Mourners

included Sir David Frost,

Sir Jackie Stewart,

Michael Winner, Nigel

Havers, Alan Whicker,

Terry O'Neill, Ronnie

Corbett and — bringing

some glamour — Joan

Collins and Minnie Driver.

Two others also spoke.

Modestly gazetted in the

order of service as Harry

Hambleden and James

Abercorn, they are

better known as

Viscount Hambleden and

the Duke of Abercorn.

Hello! or goodbye?

There is an intriguing backdrop to tomorrow's royal

wedding of the Queen's grandson Peter Phillips to

Canadian PA Autumn Kelly at Windsor Castle.

For after Hello! magazine secured a £500,000 deal with

the happy couple, courtiers are nervous about just

what role the publication will have at the nuptials.

Normally, for splashing out such a vast sum, the glossy

would expect to secure photographs of all the principal

figures — in this case, Princess Anne, Prince Philip and

the Queen. Should this occur, royal complaints about

privacy will begin to sound rather hollow.

Naturally, the magazine is being rather cagey about

what access it has obtained. The Marquesa de Varela,

the weekly's legendary fixer who negotiated the

Phillips deal, is reluctant to say.

But royal aides have

been told there could be something "special" for the

magazine. If true, it means the Queen's permission

must have been sought.

One hopes the magazine has better luck than with its

19-page special issue on Peter and Autumn, which

insiders say failed to excite readers.

No Moore, says Hofit in Cannes

I hope pulchritudinous

Hofit Golan doesn't

bump into Julianne

Moore during her stay

at the Cannes Film

Festival this week,

because the Hollywood

star might not take

kindly to the blonde

bombshell's remarks

over her latest film.

Julianne's acclaimed

role in the thriller

Blindness, in which she

is the only woman in a

town able to see, did

not impress model Hofit.

She tells me: "On

the red carpet they

asked me what I

thought of the film and I

said: 'It's terrible. It's so

miserable. That's the

last thing you want to

watch when you've just

got off a plane.'"

Still, Hofit, who is in

Cannes working for

Fashion TV having just

signed up as the new

face of Elizabeth Grant

skincare, can escape

Miss Moore's clutches

by sneaking off to the

£50million yacht upon

which she is residing

with supermodel Petra

Nemcova.

"It's great I'm

staying with Petra,

because she lets me use

her private make-up

artist," trills Hofit.

With 11 of his own restaurants in

London from which to choose, Gordon

Ramsay ignored all of them to celebrate

his mentor and father-in-law Chris

Hutchinson's 60th birthday at Irishman

Richard Corrigan's uber-expensive

Lindsay House in Soho.

Accompanied by his wife, Tana, and

children, Ramsay led a party of 20 in a

raucous version of Happy Birthday.

"I was honoured to have Gordon's family,"

Corrigan tells me. "I can understand why

he would not want to go to one of his own

restaurants.

"He'd be worrying about the

unpolished shoes of a waiter or the

inferiority of a starter. Better to go to

someone else's restaurant. I'm glad it was

mine. And no, I didn't give him a discount."

Much of his

£500 million fortune

has come from his lurid

tabloid newspapers, but

porn baron David

Sullivan has turned to a

rather more genteel

publication to find new

servants for his Essex

mansion.

Sullivan, the

co-owner of newly

relegated Birmingham

City FC, is advertising

in The Lady — Britain's

oldest women's weekly

— for two couples to be

his housekeepers.

"I like my house to be

run like — and look like

— a five-star hotel, but

in an informal way,"

says Sullivan's ad,

which says he wants

two couples because "I

never like my house

unoccupied".

It adds:

"Friendly, pleasant

personalities and an

easy-going attitude to

life are as important as

previous experience."

Perhaps he could hire a

gaggle of glamour

models instead.

PS After his

plea on

Radio 4 to

halt logging in

the world's fast-diminishing

rainforests, the

Prince of Wales

is putting his

money where his

mouth is.

Charles has

decided to turn his

Scottish retreat

Birkhall into a

green palace by

converting its

heating and hot

water system to

run off boilers

fuelled by woodchips

cut from

trees grown on the

Royal Deeside

estate.

At the same time,

he has had his

Jaguar and Land

Rover vehicles

converted from

standard fuels to

run on 100 per

cent biodiesel —

made from

cooking oil.