NOEL GALLAGHER has apologised to the family of Ecstasy victim Leah Betts for his much publicised remarks about drugs. He claimed earlier this week that taking drugs was no different from having a cup of tea.
But he stood by his call for honesty about the scale of drug taking in Britain, saying: "There's a lot of people taking drugs out there. It's a reality."
Prince Charles and his father Prince Philip were among mourners at the funeral yesterday in Darmstadt of Princess Margaret of Hesse and Rhine.
The daughter of a Scottish diplomat, Auckland Geddes, later Lord Geddes, she was born in Dublin. Related by marriage to Prince Philip, she married Prince Ludwig of Hesse and Rhine. They had no children and her death, aged 83, ends the line of the house of Hesse Darmstadt.
The Duchess of York is to attend the social event of the Austrian year, the Vienna Opera Ball, next week at the invitation of an Austrian building contractor, Richard Lugner has made a habit of annual ball, coupling it with a cash inducement. Last year actress Grace Jones was given a million schillings (£63,000) to help pay for her ball gown.
Tara Palmer Tomkinson has won the Interseason Best Dressed Woman of the Year award.
Previous winners were TV presenters Emma Forbes, Anthea Turner and Tania Bryer.
John Patterson, founder of the computer dating agency Dateline, has died in Oxfordshire. He was aged 51.