After last Sunday’s damp squib of a World Cup final, preceded by a low-key Royal wedding, it was a relief to see a rain-free start to Wimbledon. But that nice Tim Henman, idol of millions of teenage girls, caused some controversy by calling women players “a bit greedy” for wanting the same prize money as men (they only play three sets to men’s five). It’s doubtful the 14-year-olds who bunked off from their Derbyshire school to watch him on the first day really cared.

Prince William, dubbed a “dish” by the tabloids, found himself unamused by the photographer taking an official snap at his uncle’s wedding. The Earl of Wessex thought young Wills was “not looking his absolute best” and ordered his head to be replaced with a smiling face, taken earlier.

At least the Prince speaks the Queen’s English, unlike John Prescott, Tony Blair and Chris Evans, according to a disparate group of luminaries asked by Collins, the publisher, to name the grammatical mistakes that annoyed them most, and the worst offenders. The Prime Minister was castigated for using sentences without verbs and his deputy for failing to string one together.

British families are not together either: they don’t sit down together and eat, a survey by a frozen-food company has found. Four out of 10 families with teenagers nibble the day’s main meal in front of the telly. But most confessed they would like to revert to traditional meals as it was a useful way to catch up on family news and problems. A family that eats together is likely to stay together, said David Lewis, a consumer psychologist.

Dads have emerged as heroes, revealed a poll coinciding with Father’s Day (another American commercial import). Nearly 60 per cent of the 1,000 men interviewed nominated their father as the man they most respected and admired.