EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: End of an era as Prince Harry’s ‘second father’ quits his charity after almost 20 years
He’s sometimes known as Prince Harry’s ‘second dad’ – an epithet which playfully but accurately reflects his steadfast presence in the Duke of Sussex‘s life, from the heartbreaking moment when, aged just 12, the boy prince lost his mother, through his days at Eton and Sandhurst and his subsequent service in the Household Cavalry and, finally, into his married life in self-imposed exile in California.
But I can disclose that Mark Dyer’s formal, professional ties to Harry came to an end on Monday when he stood down as a trustee of Sentebale, the charity which Harry co-founded in 2006 to benefit orphaned African children.
It seems fair to say that the charity would never have materialised without Dyer’s guidance.
The former Welsh Guards officer, who, in the 1990s, had been an equerry to Prince Charles, helped co-ordinate Harry’s gap year and travelled with him to Australia, Argentina – and, at the invitation of Dyer’s friend, Prince Seeiso, to the impoverished, land locked country of Lesotho.
The experience galvanised Harry into establishing Sentebale, in tandem with Seeiso, its co-founder.
From the outset, one of its trustees was Dyer, known as ‘Marko’ to family and friends.
In his memoir, Spare, in which he excoriated several of those from his old life before he and Meghan moved to California, Harry wrote: ‘Of all Pa’s people there was consensus that Marko was the best. The roughest, the toughest, the most dashing.’
When Dyer married Amanda Klein – an American – in 2012, Harry was an usher.
Prince Harry (right) with Mark Dyer (left) at the Sentebale Concert at Kensington Palace in 2016
The former Welsh Guards officer (pictured), was an equerry to Prince Charles in the 1990s
When Harry married Meghan at Windsor, Dyer’s son, Jasper – Harry’s godson – was on duty as a page boy
Dyer returned the favour in 2018 when Harry married Meghan at Windsor, with Dyer’s son, Jasper – Harry’s godson – on duty as a page boy.
It’s believed that ‘Marko’, 59, is a godfather to Archie, the older of Harry and Meghan’s two children.
Displaying characteristic discretion, he declines to comment on his departure from Sentebale.
The charity resists the chance to pay tribute to him or four other trustees who departed this week – two of whom had been in post for only three years.
Instead, it explains the changes are part of ‘its evolution from a development organisation focused on addressing the impact of HIV/AIDS on the lives of children and young people in Lesotho and Botswana, to one that is addressing issues of youth health, wealth and climate resilience in Southern Africa’.
Mr Bean star Rowan Atkinson’s daughter Lily Sastry has spoken out for the first time about her parents’ divorce, revealing their break-up plunged her into ‘darkness’ and ‘chaos’.
Rowan separated from her mother, make-up artist Sunetra Sastry, in 2015 after 24 years of marriage.
Sunetra was granted a ‘quickie’ divorce on the grounds of his ‘unreasonable behaviour’, and he has been in a relationship with actress Louise Ford since.
‘I went through so much chaos and loneliness in my twenties. Now I am 30, I can see clearly where I was at and what was happening inside me during the darkest days,’ Lily says.
‘I was so lost, and only really started to feel vaguely normal in my late twenties. I have always been trapped between worlds; do not belong here, but also don’t belong there.’
In her early twenties, Lily tried her hand at burlesque dancing and then moved onto singing, which her father was reportedly backed financially.
She changed her surname from Atkinson to her mother’s, Sastry, in 2017, leading to whispers of a possible rift between Lily and the Blackadder star.
Lily, who lives in London, is now a professional artist, and had her debut exhibition at a small independent gallery in the capital last December.
Rowan Atkinson’s daughter Lily Sastry (pictured) has spoken out for the first time about her parents’ divorce
Mr Bean star Rowan Atkinson (pictured) separated from make-up artist Sunetra Sastry, in 2015 after 24 years of marriage
‘It’s hard to find out who you are in the midst of no friends, a broken family, and no idea how to navigate making music and trying to understand the world,’ she continues.
‘It has taken me years to figure out my life and who I am, as well as become the best person I can be. I have made countless mistakes, and been hurt, lost, and alone many a time.’
She adds: ‘Art was my guiding light. The thing that made all the suffering worth it; as I was working towards a goal, a dream.’
Rowan and Sunetra also have a son, Ben Atkinson, 31, who is an officer in the Royal Gurkha Regiment.
Tom aids Hayley’s anxiety
And I hear his outgoing persona has helped his Mission: Impossible co-star Hayley Atwell cope with social anxiety.
‘The pep talk Tom gave me helps me a lot,’ reveals the Londoner, 42.
Pictured: (left to right) Vanessa Kirby, Hayley Atwell, Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie at the UK Premiere of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One in 2023
‘If I walk into a room and I feel the anxiety is coming and it makes me want to retreat into myself, he said, “Try doing the opposite, try to look out and look around the room and go where is it, where is the thing that I’ve attached my insecurity on?”
‘If I keep looking at it long enough, it tends not to be the monster under the bed any more.’
Beatrice and her brilliant baby shower
The American custom of holding a ‘baby shower’ – a party at which friends ‘shower’ gifts on the soon-to-be born child – has now been given the royal seal of approval.
Princess Beatrice has collaborated on a baby shower collection with her friend Alice Naylor-Leyland, who has a business selling themed dining sets.
Princess Beatrice (left) has collaborated on a baby shower collection with her friend Alice Naylor-Leyland (right), who has a business selling themed dining sets
Featuring storks and wicker balloons, it is in aid of Borne, a medical initiative which provides research into premature birth.
King Charles’s niece Beatrice was unveiled as Borne’s new patron earlier this week and admitted that she had cried ‘tears of relief’ after her second daughter, Athena, was born prematurely in January.
Grayson’s tapestry is made to shock
Cross-dressing potter Sir Grayson Perry, who joined King Charles at a Windsor Castle dinner last month, happily admits to being ‘a pillar of the Establishment’, but he has found a way to try to stay edgy.
The ceramicist has curated an exhibition at London’s Wallace Collection, Delusions Of Grandeur, which includes a new tapestry by him that he has named Fascist Swing.
The ceramicist (pictured) has curated an exhibition at London’s Wallace Collection, Delusions Of Grandeur, which includes a new tapestry by him that he has named Fascist Swing
Sir Grayson Perry (pictured) with ‘Heaven’s Gate’ wool carpet, one of his latest artworks displayed at the Wallace Collection
It reimagines Jean-Honore Fragonard’s 1768 painting The Swing, the prize piece in the collection, and depicts an angry-looking woman with no fascist imagery.
‘As an artist, I thought it would be funny to throw in the word “fascist” because that’s the go-to insult for an activist artist,’ he declares.
Hilarious.
David Dimbleby is proud of his third-class degree as it shows how bright he is.
The former Question Time host studied philosophy, politics and economics at Christ Church, Oxford.
‘When I got a third, it was a very good degree to get if you didn’t get a first,’ insists Dimbleby, 86.
David Dimbleby (pictured) studied philosophy, politics and economics at Christ Church, Oxford
‘Getting a third meant you hadn’t worked but bright enough for them to say, “He would have got a first if he’d done some work.”‘
If you say so, David . . .
Months after revealing he’d bought in an auction the prosthetic nose worn by his hero Laurence Olivier for his 1955 film portrayal of Richard III, Michael Sheen now confirms he’s been putting it to good use.
Having filmed the final episode of fantasy comedy TV series Good Omens with pal David Tennant, the Welshman says: ‘There’s a bit in the last part of Good Omens that I’ve just finished filming where my character has to be in disguise.
Michael Sheen (pictured) filmed the final episode of fantasy comedy TV series Good Omens with pal David Tennant
‘I wear Olivier’s nose from Richard III.’
What would the late Larry make of it?
