Since George Michael’s untimely death on Christmas Day 2016, at the age of 53, stories of his generosity have come to light, including an anonymous £15,000 donation to pay for a woman’s IVF treatment. Now, it can be revealed that the Wham! singer is still helping others from beyond the grave. Newly published figures disclose that his businesses donated almost £2 million to his charity last year. Three of the companies which channelled his millions had given cash to the Mill Charitable Trust, which is now run by his surviving sister, Yioda. Robobuild Ltd gave just under £1 million, Wham Music Ltd gave £500,000 and Big Geoff Overseas Ltd gave £375,000. The figures for 2023 are more than double what his companies donated the previous year and means the charity has reserves of almost £8 million. The charity made donations of £542,483 to good causes in 2023, according to the accounts which have just been published by the Charity Commission. It means it has now given more than £1.5 million in four years to unnamed charitable projects. The fund was initially boosted by the sale of his huge art collection after he died which raised £11.2million at auction. Works included pieces by Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, and Bridget Riley. There was criticism in some quarters when it emerged that staging the sale had generated £3 million in costs, leaving £7.46 million from the sell-off. A spokesman for his estate said of the auction: ‘There were third-party costs which had to be incurred in order to sell the works for full market value.’ The singer, who donated to Childline and Cancer Research among others during his lifetime, left the bulk of his £97 million estate to Yioda, 65, and other sister Melanie, who died on Christmas Day, exactly three years after his death, aged 55. George also left a large amount to charity, including a piano worth £1.7 million that had been owned by John Lennon. Bookings under the name James Corden may fill caterers with dread after the star was barred from Manhattan’s Balthazar restaurant — he later admitted to having been ‘ungracious’ towards staff. But not TV cooks Shauna Guinn and Sam Evans. ‘We fed the wrap party for a Gavin and Stacey Christmas special on Barry Island in our restaurant,’ Saturday Kitchen star Shauna tells me while delivering an American BBQ class at The Cambridge Club Festival. ‘James came in again with his wife and kids.’ She admits of Corden: ‘He is a hard customer to please.’ Nicole gives bride Naomi Watts a lift Naomi Watts appears to have been swept off her feet by her friend Nicole Kidman, rather than by her husband, at her wedding at the weekend. King Kong star Watts, 55, held on to her mother, Myfanwy Edwards, as she was lifted up by Kidman, 56, at her wedding celebrations in Mexico. British-born Watts held the wedding one year after she and American actor Billy Crudup, 55, exchanged vows at a Manhattan courthouse. ‘Her feet never touched the ground,’ Kidman jokes online. Watts and Crudup became romantically involved while co-starring in 2017 Netflix series Gypsy. Watts has two sons with her ex-boyfriend, actor Liev Schreiber, while Crudup has been previously married twice, to actresses Claire Danes and Mary-Louise Parker. Spare a thought for Tess Daly. The Strictly Come Dancing host’s husband, Vernon Kay, admits he struggled with his romantic technique. The Radio 2 presenter says he had to plead with a girl for his debut smooch — and her judgment was withering. ‘My first kiss was horrific,’ he says. ‘I had to ask her. I said, ‘Look, can I just have a kiss, I just want to experience snogging’. And God bless her, she did. She went, ‘That was horrific’. Quote unquote, ‘It’s like kissing a washing machine.’ Ellie dares to bare at pal’s Barbie hen-do Barbie-mania has been and gone, but Ellie Goulding and her chums are still in the pink. For her friend’s Barbie-themed hen-do, the pop star was dressed head-to-toe in pink, wearing a mini-skirt and a vest-top with a Ken doll badge pinned on. Although temperatures were hardly Mediterranean at the weekend, Ellie, 37, and an unnnamed pal sunbathed topless with the singer sharing snaps online. Ellie confirmed the collapse of her four-year marriage to the Eton-educated art dealer Caspar Jopling earlier this year. The couple, who were introduced by their mutual friend Princess Eugenie, have a two-year-old son, Arthur. The star has since struck up a romance with surf instructor Armando Perez. Is Sir Keir Starmer taking his ‘man of the people’ act too far? Julie Etchingham, who moderated ITV’s Leaders’ Debate, says: ‘It was quite noticeable with Starmer, there was a moment when I looked over and thought I bet he stood like that at the bar.’ The presenter added: ‘I mean as a barrister, his former life as a lawyer… Murder most fowl for Belvoir birds Razed by Parliamentarians during the Civil War, Belvoir Castle is used to bloody battles. But now the Duke and Duchess of Rutland face a wily new foe at the 15,000-acre Leicestershire estate. The duchess, Emma Manners, has voiced her distress after the castle’s flock of bantam chickens was savaged by a fox. ‘I am heartbroken at the news from our bantam chickens,’ the duchess says. ‘Unfortunately, a fox has broken into their pen and we have lost all of our flock.’ She adds: ‘Such sad news, but we won’t let this break our spirits. The bantams will return (with extra security).’ Sir Paul Smith has revealed his ‘frustration’ with fashion. ‘Everything’s about speed and fame and cash and celebrity,’ claims the designer. ‘People get paid to sit on the front row. ‘Before, you designed clothes that came into your head and your heart, and you hoped that somebody liked them.
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