CHILL OUT FOR PRINCE ON POLAR MISSION
COLD comfort for Prince Harry, who has arrived at Base Camp at Svalbard in Norway to join the Walking for Wounded team before they set off for the North Pole tomorrow on April Fool’s Day.
But Harry’s training regime under expedition leader Inge Solheim is no joke – on Wednesday he spent the day cross-country skiing and yesterday he tested immersion suits in Arctic waters.
The Capitalist was unable to speak to Harry because he was about to get on a bus, so instead it fell to the charity’s co-founder, Simon Daglish, to provide an update. “Nothing daunts Harry,” said Daglish, who added that the young Royal is “getting on famously” with the rest of the team – although his stay will be brief as he has to fly home on 6 April in good time for his brother’s wedding.
Spare a thought for Daglish’s colleagues holding the fort back at his employer ITV though, after Daglish set off for the Arctic just one week after joining the broadcaster as its new director of multiplatform and partnerships.
Fortunately, Daglish’s friendship with his new boss at ITV, Fru Hazlitt, dates way back to the days when the pair worked together at radio business GCap, now Global Radio. “The time off was all agreed before I joined [ITV],” he assured us.
SANITY SAVER
CITY big hitters sought an oasis of calm away from the financial maelstrom at last night’s concert hosted by Miller Philanthropy at the Cadogan Hall.
Spotted being soothed by the performances from Derek Paravicini, the world-famous autistic pianist known as “the human iPod”, were Edward Horner, managing director of Eden Rock Capital Management; Garfield Ramsay, director at Credit Suisse; and Stephen Brawn, principal of Locus Capital Consulting.
Gina Miller (right), founder of Miller Philanthropy, told The Capitalist: “Music is what feelings sound like, as someone once said. But for many of us it also lifts our spirits and keeps us sane.”
HIGH SPIRITS
TO Tate Modern for cocktails to mark Banco Espirito Santo Group’s expanded presence in London after the Portuguese bank bought a majority stake in UK stockbroker Execution Noble.
As a corporate sponsor of the Tate, Espirito Santo held the event in the Turbine Hall, where representatives of the Portuguese Embassy in London and the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce mixed with guests from the UK government and City institutions as they admired the installation by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
The mood at the party was upbeat, with Ricardo Espirito Santo Salgado, vice-chairman and president of BES Group (above) and Jose Maria Espirito Santo Ricciardi, CEO of Espirito Santo Investment Bank, outlining the bank’s global prospects following the acquisition.
But with Portugal looking set to default on its national debt without an EU bailout, let’s hope Espirito’s confidence doesn’t prove to be misplaced.
ON THE FENCE
Specialist insurer Beazley is dispelling the myth that fencing is “difficult to understand” by holding a series of demonstrations of the sport in the Olympic run-up.
The first – where City workers can watch Olympic hopefuls Laurence Halsted, Tom Bennett and Chrystall Nicoll – takes place between 5.30pm and 7.00pm today. Drop by Leadenhall Market for coaching tips and – for anyone feeling more adventurous – the chance to clash swords with your colleagues in the winner-stays-on competition.