To clear up the confusion about who is, and who isn’t, the new beau of Kate Middleton, we can identify the two sturdy fellows in the pictures below.

Both are friends of Prince William, and neither is said to have a romantic attachment to Kate, who is living with her sister Pippa in Chelsea and determinedly single.

On the left is Charles Morshead, who denied any relationship, “I was just being a friend to her. I’m not her boyfriend. She doesn’t have one at the moment.”

To the right is Henry Ropner, another old friend of William whose mother, Lady Ropner, the wife of Sir John, a shipping magnate, said of the romance rumours, “The story is so, so wrong”. It was, she said, a mistake to confuse friendship with romance.

So, that’s as clear as clay, then. Strange, though, how William’s friends are forming almost a Pretorian guard around a girl who would surely be snubbed by his circle if she truly had been dumped.

Watch this place.

The Sun is saying that Kate Middleton is now seeing an old Etonian friend of Prince William, Henry Ropner. It’s not clear if this is the same man Kate was pictured with leaving the Mahiki Club last week on their way to Boujis, but there is some resemblance.

Shipping heir Henry Ropner, 25, is the former boyfriend of Jecca Craig, whom William dated after she split from him.

A source told The Sun: “Henry is delighted to be there for Kate now that she’s split from William. They’ve been meeting up and enjoying themselves. There’s been a lot of flirting. Now she’s single, Kate is enjoying Henry’s company regularly.

“Henry is very wealthy. He has moved in William’s circle for years.”

Or is he just “looking out” for Kate while William has other duties? I do wish they’d tell us.