Blessed with brains as well as beauty, the young Natalie Hicks-Lobbecke was always destined to be something of a show-stopper and duly stimulated admiration in several red-blooded bachelors, Prince William among them.
But today Natalie – as elegant at 47 as ever – may have cause to regret her talent for attracting attention.
As I disclosed last month, she and her husband, baronet Sir Edward Milbank, 52, face a revolt thanks to the welcome they’ve given to plans which would see 20 wind turbines, each more than 650ft, bolted onto unblemished moorland on the North Yorkshire and County Durham border – much of it on Sir Edward’s 7,000-acre Barningham Estate.
Locals, already simmering at the prospect of what one of them labels an act of ‘criminal’ desecration, are now, I’m told, at boiling point. That, I can reveal, is because of the emergence of a 2015 article in which Natalie spoke about her ‘massive objection’ to a proposal for... a single 120ft wind turbine on a smallholding.
‘The impact it would have would be entirely inappropriate given the village conservation areas,’ warned Natalie (pictured above in front of Barningham Park). ‘The aesthetic impact in the area would be huge. There are buildings from the 1600s nearby and people walk nearby.’
Summarising the proposal as ‘heartbreaking’, Natalie said that planning notices hadn’t ‘gone up in Barningham village so not enough people know about it – I think it’s a matter of great urgency that they do’.
‘Somebody is trying to block the view for everyone,’ she added. ‘It’s unfathomable that it has got this far.’
Barningham Parish Council agreed, objecting to the proposal and describing the turbine as ‘an alien and intrusive form of development’ which would detract from the beauty of the landscape. The plans were duly thrown out.
It is, perhaps, not entirely unsurprising that locals find Natalie’s new found enthusiasm for 20 turbines – all more than four times the height of the single turbine she objected to – difficult to swallow.
Lady Natalie Milbank pictured in Buckingham Park estate in County Durham
Among a young Natalie's admirers included Prince William of Wales (Pictured during a visit to the Hafan Yr Avon in Newtown, Wales)
‘It’s complete hypocrisy,’ alleges one, pointing out that Norwegian company Fred Olsen, which intends to install the turbines, will pay landowners lavishly for the privilege. ‘It’s obvious money is the only thing that really matters to the Milbanks.’
Natalie and Sir Edward declined to comment.
Why Minnie is envious of today's women
Minnie Driver has long championed the #MeToo movement, but she admits she envies the improved working conditions younger actresses now enjoy.
The Good Will Hunting star, 56, attended the premiere of her Fox TV biblical drama, The Faithful: Women Of The Bible, with her co-stars, including Natacha Karam, 31 (pictured with Minnie) at the National Gallery in London.
Reflecting on her younger counterparts, she says: ‘There are days where I’m like: “Wow, I wish it was like this when I was 25.” ’ She adds: ‘I feel properly proud of the sh** we went through to see these young women flourishing and feeling stronger and not afraid.’
DJ's family Tourette stress
JO WHILEY has revealed her sister Frances has developed Tourette syndrome, just days after the condition caused controversy at the Baftas.
The BBC Radio 2 presenter, 60, says Frances (far left with Jo), 58, who has the rare genetic disorder Cri du Chat syndrome and lives in a care home, has started showing tics associated with the neurological condition. ‘My sister has developed a kind of Tourette’s,’ says Jo. ‘She doesn’t swear, although she has said the odd thing, but she started snorting, and it was so alien to what we were used to with Frances.
‘When it first happens in public, you’re like: “Oh, God, that’s embarrassing.” You think: “Should I be apologising?” And you realise that she can’t help herself.’
OSCAR winner Olivia Colman appears to have been challenging to work with for Hollywood star Maggie Gyllenhaal, who directed her in 2021 film The Lost Daughter, which also starred Jessie Buckley.
‘I felt when I started working with Jessie on that film, we were speaking the same language,’ Maggie says at the BFI IMAX in London’s Waterloo.
‘When I tried talking to Olivia Colman the same way I had with Jessie, she was like: “What the f*** are you talking about?” ’ Maggie adds: ‘Then I had to learn how to talk to Olivia, which was great, but it took time.’
Victoria Beckham may have mixed feelings if she watches the Olivier Awards in April. For Betty Laine, the principal of her performing arts school, is to receive an ‘Industry Recognition’ prize.
Victoria revealed in her memoirs that Laine told her mid-rehearsal: ‘You’re so fat I am going to have to fly you in. I’m going to have to get you in on a crane because you’re such a roly poly.’
In her recent Netflix documentary, the Spice Girls star, 51, revealed she had suffered an eating disorder since school.
It became a global phenomenon after going viral on TikTok, but Dubai chocolate has failed to tickle the tastebuds of The Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain. ‘Dubai chocolate is not that tasty,’ declares the mild-mannered television star, 41.
The expensive chocolate bar is filled with chopped filo pastry and a pistachio-tahini cream. Nadiya says: ‘It’s so overdone, to the point where pistachios look unappealing.’
She adds: ‘I’ve even seen a body scrub in Dubai chocolate flavour, which is too much.’
Simon Lewis, former communications chief to the late Queen and Gordon Brown, is stepping down from his Radio 4 series analysing PR crises, When It Hits The Fan.
‘Our major concern when we started this in 2023 was whether we would have enough crises to cover week in and week out,’ he said. ‘We’ve done three a week for 100 episodes. You don’t have to look too far to find a person, company, government or celebrity facing the fan.’ Fittingly, Lewis bowed out with a discussion of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson’s latest travails.
