A scented candle in her bathroom may have provided the Duchess of York with a little aromatherapy, but it also landed her with a £20,000 ($40,000) bill after nearly burning down her new home, Dolphin House.

The Duchess of York’s Windsor property, Dolphin House

Fergie had left the house yesterday for a business appointment when her housekeeper found smoke billowing from the bathroom.

Ten firefighters arrived on the scene and put the flames out, but not before considerable damage had been done by fire and smoke. Neither of the Duchess’s children, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, were thought to be at home at the time.

A fire brigade officer said, “The Duchess may not feel that lucky right now but this fire could have been very much worse. If the housekeeper had not been there to react so quickly, it could have destroyed much more than a bathroom suite.”

Fergie moved into the house last year following the sale of Sunninghill Park. It is less than a mile from her former husband Prince Andrew’s home at Royal Lodge, Windsor.

So will Fergie be lodging with Andrew again, albeit temporarily? Only if she leaves the candles behind, I would imagine.

Yesterday, the Queen was presented with an unusual gift — a pair of ripe bananas.

Betty Taylor explained that back in 1943, when bananas were unknown in Britain due to wartime restrictions, the Queen Mother arrived at the hospital where Betty was recovering from shrapnel wounds and gave her a brace of bananas.

The four-year-old was delighted with the unusual present and, yesterday, 65 years on, repaid the kindness by returning the favour to her daughter.

The Queen received them with her customary gracious manner, but was said to be a little dubious about the bananas’ state of advanced ripeness.

No doubt the corgies had a treat with their evening meal.

Royal Anecdotes moving
Royal Anecdotes will be moving home and office next weekend. There will be an inevitable hiatus in posting from Friday (Feb 1) through Monday, depending on how quickly we can get the communication lines up and running. The comments section will, of course, be open as usual.

We are moving to the beautiful Quay district of Exeter, with a much larger office and extended space all round.

The Quay district at Exeter’s Watergate

Business as usual until Friday.

Prince William has arranged for his girlfriend Kate Middleton to be taught the art of photography by Mario Testino, who was the favourite photographer of his mother Princess Diana.

Testino, who has taken many shots of the Princes, has agreed to let Kate work as an intern at his studios in New York in March. It’s reported that Kate and the photographer have already had one meeting to discuss the assignments.

Kate, who has endured much suffocating attention from the paparazzi — as did Diana — is said, nevertheless, to be interested in a career in photography, especially tending toward the artistic end of the spectrum. Her speciality is thought to be abstract photography.

Mario Testino, 53, has become close to both Prince William and Prince Harry since their mother’s death. The Princes chose his photographs to illustrate the successful Concert for Diana last year marking the 10th anniversary of her death. He was also in the congregation at the service at Guards Chapel on the anniversary.

Other Royal work has involved photographing the Princes on their birthdays and the shots for the official Christmas card sent by the Prince of Wales.

Let’s hope this story has more substance than the Tom Ford connection last year. Also that Kate’s close protection squad will be available by March.

Meanwhile, Prince William apparently celebrated his first solo flight this week with a night at the Pitcher and Piano pub in Nottingham, which is a fair way to go from Cranwell, Lincs. Maybe he borrowed a plane for the occasion.

Rumours abound as Chelsy Davy breezed into Heathrow, apparently on her way back to Leeds University, where’s she’s a post-grad in business and law.

The conspicuous absence of Prince Harry at the airport has drawn a lot of speculation, but none more so than Chelsy’s private life. Mention is made of a liaison with “a certain rugby player at Leeds Carnegie”, and another hints darkly that Chelsy is not back in Britain “to see the hapless Harry”.

We can only await developments on this one. Harry may be on special duties with the Army and simply not available for social activities right now.

Kate Middleton
Meanwhile, back in the Home Counties, Prince William’s girl Kate has been spotted at the O2 Arena (think Millennium Dome) watching the hit show Afrika, Afrika, featuring wonders like the Snake Girl contortionist and a man who wriggles bodily through the head of a tennis racket. Rivetting stuff, doubtless.

It’s said that William asked some close friends to accompany her to the show. They were the ubiquitous Guy Pelly — with girlfriend Susanna Warren — and Thomas van Straubenzee.

Kate dazzled the crowd with her leopard-print outfit in her trademark black and white. The event shows yet again how attentive William is to her comfort while he’s away at RAF Cranwell training to be a pilot.