Londoner's Diary: Another Morrissey on the way as singer Flo announces pregnancy

Congratulations are in order. The Londoner’s favourite musical couple is about to become a trio: singer-songwriter Flo Morrissey and Mercury Prize winner Benjamin Clementine are expecting a baby.

Over the weekend Flo, who won rave reviews for her album Gentlewoman, Ruby Man, recorded with American musician Matthew E White, posted a photograph on Instagram. A baby bump is plain to see. Clarifying that she hadn’t just eaten a particularly large lunch, Flo then added “Growing a joy” as a caption, and later thanked the many well-wishers by posting Gustav Klimt’s 1904 sketch Pregnant Woman With Man.

Morrissey, who is 22, has been in a relationship with Clementine, 28, since last year. He was the first to stoke rumours of a new arrival by photographing Flo cradling her stomach earlier this month, and in August he hinted that he might be ready for fatherhood. “I’m a man now, and I can see how hard it might be to look after somebody,” he told The Observer. “But in England, we’re taught to love each other as a family, even if we can’t love each other as a community.”

The baby will add to an already impressive brood. Clementine is one of five, but that’s nothing. Flo is the daughter of Helena Morrissey, head of personal investing at LGIM and founder of the 30 Percent Club. It’s a wonder Helena found the time also to have nine children, with Flo being the eldest daughter.

Helena will release her book A Good Time To Be A Girl in February next year. We will see if that proves prophetic of the baby’s sex.

---

British interior designer Lee Broom owns two flagship stores, in London and New York, but he hasn’t got his eyes on Washington. Broom was at the Evening Standard’s Progress 1000 awards last week and told us that he was approached to work with Melania Trump. “I was asked to comment and advise on something she was doing in the White House but I said no,” he said. “It’s just not something I was comfortable doing.”

US ambassador is ready for his close-up

EVER since Woody Johnson signed in as the US Ambassador to the UK, we’ve been hoping he would take up the mantle of his predecessor Matthew Barzun by throwing open his Winfield House residence for regular raucous parties. But it seems Johnson is going even further: he’s opening the embassy’s doors to everyone.

The Londoner is told that Channel 4 has commissioned a three-part documentary from Field Day productions which will show viewers the inner workings of the embassy. It’s a good time to take a glimpse: Johnson’s arrival coincides with a relocation of the building in Mayfair to a new complex in Nine Elms.

Will the special relationship survive the Big Brother experience?

Quote of the Day

"You have sparked totally unusual behavior in my dog."

French President Emmanuel Macron apologises after his dog Nemo cocks his leg during a ministerial meeting

Rallying Shakespeare to the refugee cause

A happy few, a band of brothers, took on the bard last night with an evening titled Whither Would You Go? in aid of the UNHCR refugee charity. Stars of stage and screen including James Norton, Celia Imrie and Martin Freeman were at the Harold Pinter Theatre to perform readings from Shakespeare’s work with modern parallels, with films telling the plight of Syrian child brides and torture victims followed by readings from Romeo & Juliet and Richard II. “It’s all about pain,” co-founder Emma Smith says. “And Shakespeare just says it better.”

---

MICHAEL Gove embraced his role as Secretary of State for Food and Farming this weekend, by tucking into a vegan feast. Chef Kerstin Rodgers, aka Ms Marmite Lover, catered a meat-, dairy- and egg-free dinner at the west London home Gove shares with his wife, journalist Sarah Vine. “We need all institutions, schools, prisons, hospitals, colleges, work place canteens etc to have at least one meat-free day”, Rodgers wrote on Instagram. Maybe Gove could start with the parliament café.

Brolly poor show, chaps

A THEFT most twee at the Garrick, the West End private members’ club that has existed since 1831 but may now wish to step into the modern era by investing in some security cameras. The stolen item in question? A brolly featuring Tintin.

A visitor at the club recently glanced at the notices to members and spotted a bulletin detailing an egregious crime. “A member using the Club on Thursday, October 5 left his black and white checked umbrella, featuring characters from Tintin and a basketry handle,” it reads. “When he went to collect his umbrella, he was unable to find it. The member would be extremely grateful for its return.”

The Garrick is, despite attempts at reform, one of the city’s few men-only members’ clubs. Perhaps one of the regulars took issue with recent assertions by a French philosopher that Hergé’s beloved boy detective may actually be an asexual girl.

The bulletin asks members to contact the Secretary’s Office if they are able to help locate the item. Sounds like a case for Tintin.

Tweet of the Day

“Good to see the old white dudes will be able to relate to someone in Doctor Who now.”

Blogger Rachel Charlton-Dailey thinks casting Bradley Walsh as a new companion may be a salve to critics of the female Doctor Who

Slogan of the day: Boris Johnson was seen jogging before his Chatham House Speech today, sporting a T-shirt with the word “hippomonstros esquipped aliophobia”. It means “fear of long words”.

Helen is a treat at The Savoy

ACTRESS Helen McCrory showed her sweet side yesterday by reporting for duty at the Savoy Hotel’s kitchen for a chocolate masterclass. McCrory was there as a patron for the Sir Hubert von Herkomer Arts Foundation that encourages kids to get into the arts. Looks like she had her cake and ate it.