EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Unholy row as Justin Welby seeks to rejoin gentlemen-only membership

For more than 30 years he devoted himself to preaching the gospel and praying for peace and goodwill on earth.

But, in the aftermath of his resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury in difficult circumstances last year, Justin Welby was always likely to find life a little less serene – although he might not have expected that one of his first, and fiercest, battles would be at the £1,700-a-year Travellers Club.

That’s the same gentlemen’s club in St James’s, London, from which Welby resigned in 2014 – a year after he became Archbishop of Canterbury – when the Travellers voted conclusively against allowing women members. Only days earlier, the Church of England had approved legislation which allowed women to become bishops.

But last year Welby, 70, decided that, spared the burdens of office, he would allow chums to re-enter his name in the candidates’ book for prospective members.

‘He felt he could swallow his DEI [Diversity, Equity, Inclusion] objections to the Travellers remaining a male bastion, after all,’ reflects a St James’s boulevardier.

But if Welby, who officiated at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018, thought that after, as it were, straying like a lost sheep, he’d be rapturously welcomed back, he has been brutally disabused.

Though he’s attracted plenty of signatures in support of his candidacy, he has also inspired a barrage of opposition – scrawled furiously under his name and also, I’m told, communicated by other means.

‘The club chairman, [former MI6 officer] Adrian Stones, has been swamped with letters of objection,’ I’m told. Causing still greater disquiet is the candour with which some of Welby’s critics are expressing themselves in the ­candidates’ book.

‘They’ve been writing “NO” all over it,’ a member tells me, adding that their fury stems from the publication of the Makin Review – into abuse perpetrated at Christian camps – which effectively ended Welby’s time as Archbishop.

That report concluded that it was ‘unlikely’ that Welby had been unaware of concerns being voiced about the abuser, John Smyth, while Smyth continued to run the camps.

‘Someone’s signed Welby’s page “Jimmy Savile”,’ a Travellers stalwart tells me, adding that the description of Welby as ‘company director’ has been crossed out. ‘“Clerk in Holy Orders” has been written in instead.’

It’s all too much for the club authorities, who’ve emailed a letter to members, imploring them to desist.

(Very) modern manners 

Actress Gemma Atkinson, who has two children with Strictly Come Dancing professional Gorka Marquez, always thought she’d start using Botox when she turned 40.

But, now she’s 41, there’s an awkward stumbling block. ‘I feel like I can’t be the face of my new wellness and skincare brand Gem & Tonic while filling myself with injectables,’ the former Hollyoaks star says. ‘I feel a responsibility now to be pro-ageing, and to continue with my healthy lifestyle.’

• His great-uncle, jockey Anthony Mildmay, 2nd Lord Mildmay of Flete, inspired the Queen Mother’s love of National Hunt racing. But John Mildmay-White is making his mark by completing a brutal ‘super marathon’ of more than 370 miles in ten days when, today, he reaches London’s Westminster Bridge to highlight pollution of the River Erme in Devon. ‘It’s been tougher than I ever imagined but the Erme river is a cause worth fighting for,’ Old Etonian John, 40, tells me. 

• When TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh tended his plants in his youth, he wasn’t just growing flowers and vegetables. ‘When I left school at 15 with an O-level in art I was 4 ft 10 in – and I grew up to 5 ft 8 in in about a year under glass in the greenhouse,’ reveals Titch, 76, who has previously said he was ‘bullied a bit’ for being short by his peers at school. He adds: ‘It’s a technique I recommend if you have a small child – put them in a greenhouse and they grow.’ He’s not asking mulch.

When TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh tended his plants in his youth, he wasn’t just growing flowers and vegetables. ‘When I left school at 15 with an O-level in art I was 4 ft 10 in – and I grew up to 5 ft 8 in in about a year under glass in the greenhouse,’ reveals Titch, 76, who has previously said he was ‘bullied a bit’ for being short by his peers at school. He adds: ‘It’s a technique I recommend if you have a small child – put them in a greenhouse and they grow.’ He’s not asking mulch.

Poppy’s ex is a hands-on new dad with Lauren 

Model Poppy Delevingne and her ex-husband James Cook appear to be keeping pace with each other’s life milestones, even after their split.

Just eight months after Cara Delevingne’s sister, 39, gave birth to a girl with boyfriend Archie Keswick, 44, James, 47, has become a father himself.

Cook’s fiancee, Lauren Brown a photographer’s agent who looks remarkably like Poppy, shared a picture online of James pushing a pram carrying their baby this week.

A friend tells me: ‘Lauren gave birth to a boy. James has always wanted to be a dad,so this is a dream come true.’

Cook, who works for his family’s aerospace firm, proposed to Brown in Bhutan last April. He and Poppy separated in 2022 following eight years of marriage.

• Instead of giving Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor money to do nothing at Sandringham, how about King Charles puts his brother to work? The Norfolk estate is advertising for ‘a variety of customer-facing roles’ with one that would be just perfect for the golf-loving former prince. It needs a ‘Mini Golf & Groundskeeper’. Might get him out of his bunker…

How King put a spring in Strictly star Tasha’s step 

Strictly Come Dancing star Tasha Ghouri waltzed through the competition with a cochlear implant to become a finalist in 2024.

Now, the former Love Island contestant, 27, who was born deaf, is mentoring a new generation of talent from disadvantaged backgrounds. It’s a new initiative by the King’s Trust, inspired by Charles’s love of dancing.

The rising stars will take to the London Cabaret Club stage next week for the launch of the Emerging Talent Programme.

Chief executive Evelina Girling tells me: ‘I’m guessing the King has those dance moves and that is why he is supporting us and the young talent that we have here.

‘We’re hoping royalty will making an appearance here soon.’

Princess of Wales’ fashion fave reveals she’s so well-heeled  

A favourite of the Princess of Wales, fashion designer Jade Holland Cooper has given a rare glimpse inside her astonishing private shoe collection.

The 39-year-old, who lives with her husband, Superdry co-founder Julian Dunkerton, and their two children in the Cotswolds, shared a peep of her dressing room in a video posted online this week of her getting ready for the Cheltenham Festival.

In the footage she inadvertently revealed, in the background, a staggering collection of around 100 pairs of shoes.

Half of those are Christian Louboutins – immediately distinguishable by the red lacquer of their soles – which cost up to £1,300 a pair, alongside an array of other luxury footwear.

Jade, who founded her eponymous fashion label in 2008 that’s now worth an estimated £60million, has previously admitted a soft spot for ‘killer heels’ and ‘a passion for Louboutins’.

The smart set’s talking about… Murdoch girl’s new romance

Her father has been married five times, but Grace Murdoch has not been deterred from seeking a fairytale ending for herself.

I hear that Rupert Murdoch’s 25-year-old daughter – whose mother is his third wife, American-Chinese businesswoman Wendi Deng, 57 – has found love with dashing US finance analyst Daniel Siegel, 23.

The couple, who met three years ago as students at Yale University, attended Murdoch’s 95th birthday party in New York last week.

Grace, who graduated from university last year, shared a photo on social media of her and Dan at the bash, pictured above, captioned with a love heart emoji. ‘You make me the happiest,’ she writes.

•  Richard E Grant was devastated when his wife of 35 years, Joan, died from lung cancer in 2021. But he has some happy news from their only child. ‘[Olivia] is going to have a baby in June,’ the Withnail And I star confirms. Olivia, 37, married Austrian Florian Herbst, 36, two years ago. They have since moved in with Grant in Richmond, south-west London.

Doctor Who will not see you now

As the ninth Time Lord, Christopher Eccleston watched the end of the world in the year five billion and met Charles Dickens in 1869.

But one time and place the actor’s unlikely to be is the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Birmingham, where he’d been billed as appearing at a Doctor Who convention today organised by the company Starfury. ‘I’ve not been paid as per the contract,’ he explains. ‘No explanation has been given. Anyone who’s paid to meet me, you’re entitled to a full refund, please contact the convention and ask for an explanation, I’ve tried to do the same myself but heard nothing back.’

Starfury does not respond to my inquiries.