Artist mum of Prince William's girl Kate paints the town red in Dublin
Wednesday November 19 2008
We had an artist with some serious blue-blood connections painting the town red this week. Kate Middleton's mum Carole jetted into Dublin yesterday to attend a glitzy lunch in Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud.
Although her pretty daughter has been dating hunky Prince William for more than five years, Carole couldn't have been more down to earth as she chewed the fat with other guests in the eatery. She was joined by her fellow artist pal Gemma Billington at the annual Cill Rialaig lunch, which was presided over by gallery owner Noelle Campbell-Sharpe.
Also spotted at the event in the Michelin-starred restaurant were Krystle co-owners Rangan Arulchelvan and Eileen Wright as well as Leigh Arnold and Marcus Sweeney.
One surprise attendee at last Saturday's depressing rugby match against New Zealand was Westlife crooner Shane Filan.
The pop star, who became a father of two after wife Gillian gave birth to a baby girl in September, was spotted at a VIP event in the O2 area of Croke Park on Saturday evening.
And he told the Diary how he couldn't wait to see the game as it was his "first time to see Ireland play live".
But despite the abysmal match, which saw Ireland defeated 3-22, Shane still agreed to hop up on stage to be interviewed by RTE's Des Cahill, who joked how he "felt like Pat Kenny" quizzing a celebrity.
The pop star explained how much he and the rest of the lads were enjoying a well-deserved year off from their hectic schedule -- but revealed that they might be back in the studio recording again, sooner rather than later.
- Melanie Finn and Lorna Nolan
