«Breaking News» SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Oxford University head Sir Jonathan Bate quits after abusive letters

Sir Jonathan Bate is to step down as Provost of Worcester College, Oxford, after he and his wife received a stream of vicious anonymous letters

With a knighthood to his name and what he describes as ‘perhaps the best job in the world’, acclaimed Shakespeare scholar Sir Jonathan Bate appeared to have it all as Provost of Worcester College, Oxford.

But I can disclose that, following a protracted poison-pen campaign, during which he and his bestselling author wife, Paula Byrne, received a stream of vicious anonymous letters which left her badly traumatised and seeking help from the police, Sir Jonathan is to step down.

Announcing his decision to Worcester alumni, Sir Jonathan remarks that ‘the role of Provost has . . . taken a toll on family life’ and ‘slowed my academic productivity and diminished my opportunities to teach’, before praising Paula for her ‘unstinting support’.

Sir Jonathan’s eight-year tenure as Provost — less than half that of his predecessor — is the shortest in the history of the college, whose alumni include media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and supermarket multi-millionaire Lord Sainsbury.

Sir Jonathan, 60, had been in the post only three years when the first letter arrived. As was the case with all those that followed, the couple’s address at the Provost’s Lodgings had been typed on a piece of paper which had been Sellotaped onto a Basildon Bond envelope bearing a Midlands postmark and inscribed: ‘Private and Confidential’.

‘Please, please do something about your wife,’ the letter implored Sir Jonathan, before denigrating Paula as ‘barely literate’ and ‘pathologically vain’. Byrne is the author of highly praised books about the ‘Brideshead’ world of Evelyn Waugh and the life of ‘Kick’ Kennedy, sister of President John F. Kennedy.

A new letter arrived each term, delivering a fresh volley of abuse, accusing Paula of looking ‘like a tranny’ — a transsexual — and deriding her working class upbringing in Liverpool and education.

A new letter arrived each term, delivering a fresh volley of abuse, accusing his wife Paula Byrne (pictured) of looking 'like a tranny'

All 17 letters purported to be from different people — even from Paula, 51, herself: ‘I get bored of men within two years, unless they happen to be a passport to a glam life.’

The police concluded that the writer was female — and someone from Sir Jonathan or Paula’s past.

Neeson steps out with lover for Fiennes film

When Liam Neeson admitted he once roamed the streets looking for a random black man to murder, Ralph Fiennes was quick to defend his old friend publicly.

Neeson was ‘certainly not a racist’, he insisted.

On Tuesday, Neeson made his first public appearance since his controversial comments at the London premiere of The White Crow with girlfriend Freya St Johnston

On Tuesday, Neeson returned the favour by making his first public appearance since his comments at the London premiere of The White Crow, a film directed by Fiennes.

Neeson, 66, turned up at the Curzon Mayfair with Freya St Johnston, a PR executive whom he’s been courting on and off since 2011, two years after his wife, Natasha Richardson, died following a ski-ing accident.

Heartbeat star left £2.5m to friends and charities 

As kind-hearted garage owner Bernie Scripps in ITV series Heartbeat, Peter Benson was often roped into madcap schemes that would invariably go wrong.

In real life, the actor has enriched the lives of his friends from beyond the grave.

I can reveal that Benson, who died in September at the age of 75, left a fortune of £2.5 million to a string of pals and charities.

Documents released by the probate office reveal that Benson, who also played roles in Blackadder and All Creatures Great And Small, signed a will just days before he passed away.

He directed that the bulk of his estate should be split into 12 parts and given to a dozen little-known actors he named.

He also left £2,000 each to his two executors, £5,000 each to 22 friends and £6,000 each to charities including Cancer Research and Shelter.

The Affair star Dominic West admits he has fallen under the spell of W. H. Auden’s erotic poetry.

‘He worked in a library which I do think are the sexiest places in the world,’ the Old Etonian actor tells Mariella Frostrup in a BBC podcast. ‘I think because it’s transgressive, because you’re supposed to be quiet. Maybe because it was my student days, when I spent most of my time in a library, and I suppose I found my eyes wandering most of the time off these sacred texts on to whoever was in there.’

Somehow the actor maintained sufficient concentration to leave Trinity College Dublin with an English degree.

Emiliy Mortimer with daughter May Rose in Berlin at the Head Full Of Honey premiere

Actress Emily Mortimer was only 18 when she made her TV debut in Catherine Cookson's The Glass Virgin.

But the English star has now been eclipsed by her daughter, May Rose. 

At the age of nine, May Rose features on the soundtrack for Emily's latest film, Head Full Of Honey, singing a track entitled Airborne. 

At the film's Berlin premiere, May Rose appeared entirely at ease in the spotlight.

Perhaps it won't be too long until she can afford to match her mother's wardrobe: on this occasion, Emily, who married U.S. actor Alessandro Nivola in 2003, favoured a Peter Pilotto gown. Yours for just £10,000. 

They say if you can remember the Sixties, you weren't there. 'What I remember is some nights we would come off stage and the ringing in our ears didn't go away for two days,' says Who singer Roger Daltrey at the International Live Music Conference in Kensington. 'When Pete Townshend used to break a guitar, it could take him ten minutes to finish the job. The thing would scream. It was an incredible sonic experience.' Pardon?

She made dresses worn by Princess Diana before becoming a best-selling novelist. Now Bella Pollen reveals she's getting in touch with her darker side.

'I'm writing an original television series at the moment about a serial killer — I like bones and death,' she tells me.

'It's different to anything I've done before. I've had books optioned before but none has made it to the screen, so hopefully this one will make it.

'It's part of a bigger scheme I'm working on, which is about missing migrants in the desert on the Mexican border. It's a subject that's quite close to my heart.'

History Boys actor Russell Tovey enjoyed his stint on Celebrity Bake Off. 'It's the proudest thing I've done in my mum's opinion despite everything that I've done in my career,' he tells me. 'She kept telling everyone 'that's my son' — she's very proud.

'I think I got away with being on the show.

'I just didn't want to come off the show looking like an absolute idiot in the kitchen. I wanted to have some sort of sex appeal that would make people think they can trust me with cooking dinner for them, which they can.'

Doctor Who star Alex Kingston says her new stage role in Admissions at Trafalgar Studios has proved so challenging she has had to take remedial measures.

'When I first started rehearsing for the play I lost my voice because I was shouting so much during scenes,' she tells me at a party in Covent Garden.'I'm now doing acupuncture and drinking horrible Chinese tea to keep my vocal cords strong.'

Kingston, 56, who appeared in Doctor Who from 2008 to 2015, could pass on her tips to croaky-voiced Theresa May.

Alex Kingston attends the press night after party for Admissions at Browns on March 12, 2019

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Sir Jonathan Bate is to step down as Provost of Worcester College, Oxford, after he and his wife received a stream of vicious anonymous letters

With a knighthood to his name and what he describes as ‘perhaps the best job in the world’, acclaimed Shakespeare scholar Sir Jonathan Bate appear...

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