The Duchess of Sussex is hoping to toast success with her own range of booze when her As Ever lifestyle firm gets off the ground. The former actress – who is known to enjoy beer and wine – has applied to trademark authorities to be allowed to market alcohol. But she omitted to include beer in her filings to the US Patent and Trademark Office, I can reveal. Meghan’s team has requested permission to market alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and legal documents state: ‘Alcoholic beverages except beers, alcoholic cocktail mixes, non-alcoholic cocktail bases and non-alcoholic cocktail mixers.’ Last week she also added cookies to her As Ever mix. About A Boy author Nick Hornby in a sizzling new romance with younger writer He has sold more than five million copies of his books by documenting men's obsession with football, in Fever Pitch, and records, in High Fidelity. Nick Hornby is, though, also passionate about the opposite sex. Having separated from his second wife, the film producer Amanda Posey, Hornby is, I hear, enjoying an ardent romance with a woman who once caused a furore by writing a damning article about British men. She is Leah McLaren, a Canadian writer 18 years younger than Hornby, 67. 'It's early days, but they are really enjoying each other's company,' a mutual friend tells me. The pair follow each other on social media where they have exchanged loving messages decorated with heart emojis. The author, whose best-selling novel About A Boy was turned into a hit film starring Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult, separated in 2021 from Posey, with whom he has two sons. She has produced acclaimed films including Brooklyn and An Education. Hornby has a third son with his first wife, Virginia Bovell, also a fellow writer. It's not clear how he met McLaren, who has two sons and was married to journalist Robert Yates. Last summer, she wrote an article with the headline: 'Why I don't regret leaving my unhappy marriage two years later.' She said: 'I've had the divorce from hell (and I'm not even divorced yet).' Surrey-born Hornby has done well to convince her of the charms of British men. In a notorious cover story for The Spectator magazine in 2002, McLaren complained that after 12 dates in London, she still hadn't made it to bed with a Brit. McLaren had come to this country aged 26, ostensibly for work purposes, but secretly hoping to bag a Jude Law lookalike. She described this country's men as repressed homosexuals, tight-fisted, emotionally lost and terrified of women. Kindly, she conceded that we do have a great sense of humour and can wear nightshirts with some panache. Neither Hornby nor McLaren wished to comment. 'I get mistaken for a man' Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie often had to take jibes about her appearance as Brienne of Tarth, the sword-wielding warrior in the sex-and-dragons drama. Off screen, the 6ft 3in actress has also been mistaken for a man. 'Sometimes people do think I'm male in airports and when I'm out and about,' says the West Sussex-born star, 46. 'It's happened through my whole life.' She is not offended by the confusion. 'I don't mind it and I can enjoy it because men have a lot of power historically and in that moment I get a sense of power,' says Christie, whose boyfriend is fashion designer Giles Deacon. 'The opportunity to be something other than what has been designated to you by society brings possibility.' She adds of her sartorial choices: 'I love suits. They're extraordinary pieces of architecture. Sometimes I think, do I want to be a man today or do I want to be the woman?' Lady Victoria Hervey mugged by a thug on an e-bike Lady Victoria Hervey came home from Los Angeles after two decades in 2022, complaining that the American city was 'not safe and not what it used to be'. The former 'It girl' has discovered to her cost that London is also no longer the city it once was. Lady Victoria, 48, was left deeply shaken after being robbed of her mobile phone in Pimlico on Thursday evening. 'A guy on an electric bike swiped it out of my hand and sped off with it,' the Marquess of Bristol's sister tells me. 'It's such a shock'. She has reported the incident to police and says: 'I managed to wipe all the information stored on my mobile using the Find My iPhone app.' The socialite was able track her phone's last location. 'I sent the police the new address where it is, but I don't think they were able to enter the flat,' she says. 'It's a major inconvenience.' Lady Victoria wants to return to the US now Donald Trump is President: 'The UK right now is like Biden's America. 'We are going through the Biden years here, right now.' Earlier this week, I disclosed that celebrated actress Susan Hampshire had been mugged on the London Underground, having her phone and purse stolen. Punchy style of What Not To Wear star's daughter Her mother, Susannah Constantine, pulled no punches while presenting TV makeover show What Not To Wear, so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that Esme Bertelsen is equally pugnacious. The art consultant, 23, is determined to make women's boxing 'sexy' and has provoked much comment among pals by posing for a photo-shoot in her gym wear and thigh-high boots, with a pair of boxing gloves. 'I want to promote women in boxing, to make it sexy, fashionable, and something everyone can do, not just men,' she tells me. 'I've feminised boxing to create a juxtaposition between beauty and power.' Esme took part in a charity boxing bout last year at Belvoir Castle, the Duke of Rutland's Leicestershire seat. She plans to return to the ring this year, in aid of Victoria Falls Boxing Academy, at a match at her West Sussex home. She's previously said the sport 'reduced my anxiety,' adding, 'my problems with ADHD also improved'. Why Jo Brand hides her food Visiting her local supermarket is a stressful experience for comedienne Jo Brand. 'Most people think I've never been near a salad in my life,' moans the TV star, 67. She adds: 'Someone once spotted a lettuce in my shopping trolley, and berated me loudly. 'So now I hide the salad under a massive packet of biscuits.' Zara's alarm call for husband Mike Queen Elizabeth used to be roused by a piper playing beneath her window. Her granddaughter Zara has a more dramatic way of waking up her husband, Mike Tindall. 'Zara's mum has a flat at St James's Palace and I was staying there,' reveals the former England rugby captain. 'I had been out with my friend and the next day I was doing a coaching clinic at 8.30am. 'I was meant to be there in 45 minutes. My friend rings up Zara, who phoned the police post at the palace. 'They started giggling, saying they saw me at 4am on video cameras struggling to get to the doorway. She says, 'I don't care what you do. 'He needs to be in North London in 35 minutes.' Speaking at a fundraiser for DEBRA, in support of people living with the rare skin condition epidermolysis bullosa (EB), Tindall adds: 'Next thing, five guys in full riot gear with machine guns come in saying, 'Get up, get up'. 'I was, like, 'F***!' And in three minutes I was in the back of a cab, with the police waving me off.' (Very) modern manners FORMULA 1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone's husband, the Mayfair art gallery owner Jay Rutland, is a popular figure online, with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram. But billionaire Bernie Ecclestone's 40-year-old daughter is not worried about any danger of Rutland, 43, being seduced by women sending him Direct Messages, or 'sliding into his DMs', as it's known. 'I've asked him [about it], and apparently there's not,' she tells me. 'I would never worry about things like that, because if something's not meant to be, or if someone wants to go, they can – I'm not going to cling on for dear life.' Phil Collins was shocked when Genesis singer Peter Gabriel donned his wife's Ossie Clark dress, topped with a fox.s head at a 1972 concert. The Sledgehammer hitmaker recalls: 'Phil said "f*** all this, I just want to be a musician, Pete". I said "Yes, but this might allow you to be a musician without having to take another job".' Gabriel was right. His outrageous costumes became a feature of Genesis's live performances, helping the drummer and In the Air Tonight singer on his way to rack up an estimated £200million fortune.