IT’S the definitive sign that you really have joined the Royals’ inner-circle: when you need a spot of legal help you get straight on the phone to Prince Charles’s lawyers Harbottle & Lewis. Not only has the expensive showbiz firm been assisting Chelsy Davy and Kate Middleton, somewhat more surprisingly it has also been helping Chelsy’s student pals, including some living in South Africa.

Kirsten Rogers, Teo Van Den Broeke and Anna Lawrence have all claimed – with Harbottle & Lewis’s help – that their photos have been used without permission. And last week, Kate’s friend, Willem Marx, who was caught up three years ago in a furore over the planting of US propaganda, also called on the lawyers for assistance. How these students and adventurers afford the fees is a mystery.

In an email marked ‘strictly private and confidential – not for publication’, Harbottle & Lewis said: ‘It will come as no surprise to you to learn that we do not discuss details of our client’s [sic] with the Press.’ One can only hope that Prince Charles is on hand to pick up the bill.