A friend “very high up in the media world who has been tapping the phones in Australia House for many years” gave Barry Humphries an inkling. “I can’t tell you his name; he is married to a Chinese girl. He said it was between me and Julian Assange and it turned out to be me.”

In his acceptance speech after being named Australian of the Year in the UK, comedy legend Humphries borrowed a celebrated quote from that same unnamed friend’s comments to a British parliamentary committee on phone hacking in 2011, “This is the most humble day of my life.”

He won the award, presented at a ceremony at Australia House in London, after a 50-year theatre career, highlighted by his alter egos “priapic and inebriated cultural attaché” Sir Les Patterson, archetypal Aussie bloke Barry “Bazza” McKenzie and housewife “gigastar” Dame Edna Everage.  The latter would be jealous, he said. “Well it’s about time really, I think.”

Seventy-seven-year-old Humphries already holds the title of Officer of the Order of Australia. Wine writer Matthew Jukes was named Honorary Australian of the Year and the Young Australian of the Year award went to fashion consultant Yasmin Sewell.

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Born and raised in west London, Hollie became a professional actress, singer and model at a young age, before – at the behest of family friend and Slits singer Ari Up – joining the band as its “second singer” on tour and in the recording studio. Now solo, she sang two of the songs off her own album, Body Beat and Milk & Honey, on the long-running BBC music programme Later with Jools Holland in November. Hollie’s parents, Sex Pistols drummer Paul and nutrition consultant and raw food chef Jeni, have a home in Marbella and regularly visit the Coast to relax away from the spotlight.

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Oh yes… and the winner was Leila Lopes from Angola. Miss Australia Scherri-Lee Biggs, who was also reprimanded by the organisers for an “offensively see-through” evening gown and a “way too sexy” bikini, finished in the top 10.

IT MIGHT be a mystery for the Punch columnist but here in Spain we are all-too familiar with the dear soul with the “furrowed” lines. It’s the indomitable Doña María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, 18th Duchess of Alba de Tormes, a grandee of Spain and current head of the House of Alba. According to the Guinness Book of Records, she is the aristocrat with the highest number of titles recognised by an existing government.

A favoured target of Spain’s TV gossip programmes, the 128-year-old socialite duchess is due to marry 61-year-old civil servant Alfonso Díez Carabantes in October. She reportedly overcame the objections of her children by giving them their inheritance in advance.

Okay, the photo is not of the furrowed noble but rather “Cayetana, Duquesa de Alba”, one of the characters in the satirical TV show La Escobilla Nacional that aired on Antena 3 in 2010.

Marriage of InConvenience

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MARC GENE joined local authorities and 200 guests for the official inauguration of the new Ferrari and Maserati showroom at C. de Salamanca. The first Spaniard to win the Le Mans 24 Hours race (with Alexander Wurz and David Brabham behind the wheel of a Peugeot 908 HDI FAP.5 in 2009), Gene arrived at Marbella’s premier luxury car dealership in the new FF.

The Sabadell-born driver made his Formula One debut for MInardi in the 1999 Australian Grand Prix, and went on to gain a best career place of fifth in the 2003 Italian Grand Prix, before becoming Ferrari’s test driver in 2005. An economics graduate who speaks five languages, he also commentates on Formula for Spain’s La Sexta and Sky Sports in Italy.

Also on show at a special exhibition launched in conjunction with the inauguration was the F2003-GA driven by Michael Schumacher when he won the 2003 world championship, as well as historical photos showcasing special relationships over the years between Maserati and international celebrities.

The inauguration ceremony was presided over by C. de Salamanca manager José Carlos de Salamanca, Marbella mayoress Ángeles Muñoz, deputy mayor for San Pedro Alcántara Miguel Troyano, fellow town hall councillors José Eduardo Díaz and Antonio Espada, and C. De Salamanca president Cristina Toda.

Technically speaking…

The FF comes with the first GDI V12 engine to be coupled with the seven-speed F1 dual-clutch gearbox. The V12 unleashes 660 CV at 8,000 rpm, and maximum torque of 683 Nm at 6,000 rpm, with 500 Nm already available at just 1,000 rpm. It covers 0-100 km/h in 3.7 seconds and has a top speed of 335 km/h.

Efficiency has been significantly boosted with fuel consumption of 15.4 litres per 100 kilometres, and CO2 emissions at 360 g/km, a 25 per cent reduction compared to the previous V12s, thanks in part to the HELE (High Emotions-Low Emissions) System – which incorporates Stop&Start technology.

The price of the FF ranges from €295,000 to €425,000. Four models currently being manufactured for C. de Salamanca have already been sold. Extending over 1,000 square metres, the new installations feature an innovative touch screen enabling clients to configure the car they want, with a direct connection to the manufacturer.

(Photo: Volvo-Getty)

THE PLAYER who did more than any other to raise golf’s profile in Spain has died at his Pedreña home after a valiant battle against the debilitating effects of a brain tumour.

In a press statement released by his family, it was announced that he had passed away at 2.10 am (Spanish time) “peacefully surrounded by his family”.

(Photo: Jorge Andréu)

The family said they were “very grateful for all the support and gestures of love that have been received since Seve was diagnosed with a brain tumour on 5 October 2008 at Madrid Hospital La Paz.” The day before, they had announced that the 54-year-old’s “neurological condition has suffered a severe deterioration”.

When José María Olazábal and Miguel Ángel Jiménez – competing in the second round of the Open de España at El Prat in Cataluña, were informed of this they reportedly broke down in tears and were unable to speak.

Open de España spokeswoman María Acacia López-Bachiller told Associated Press, “We tried to talk to them after their rounds but they couldn’t even speak because they were crying. They couldn’t even talk. This had to be the saddest competition in terms of ambience today. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

(Photo: Jorge Andréu)

Other players on the US PGA and Champions Tours added their tributes.

Nick Price said, “He did for European golf what Tiger Woods did for worldwide golf. The European Tour would not be where it is today if not for Seve Ballesteros. The guy, he was an icon, just an incredible golfer. I always said most of us could shoot 65 about 30 to 40 different ways. He had about 10,000 ways of shooting 65.”

A tearful Paul Casey said, “He really blazed the trail for Europeans, not only in the Ryder Cup, but also on the PGA Tour in how he played at Augusta and his victories over here. We owe a huge amount to him.”

Sergio García added, “He was a game-changer, not only for Europe, but for golf itself when he came out. Obviously, there was Jack and Arnie and all those guys, but he played differently. To be able to come from Spain and do what he did, it was something amazing.”

“He had a remarkable effect on us,” said Padraig Harrington. “That’s why we wanted to play golf.”

With the king's late father, the Conde de Barcelona, at Novo Sancti Petri - the first course Seve designed in Spain. (Photo: OzinSpain.com)

Recalling Seve’s last Ryder Cup match in 1995 at Oak Hill, his opponent in the singles that day, Tom Lehman, said the Spaniard had not hit a single fairway on the front nine but remained in the match and eventually only lost on the 15th.

“Nobody could have done it form the places that he hit it. It’s the best nine holes of golf I’ve ever seen, that front nine. He shot even par. I would have shot probably nine-over. I think his body language was the strongest of anybody, maybe save Tiger in recent years. I’ve always said that his body language said, ‘Hey, I may have hit a really crappy shot right there, but if you miss this next one, you’ll miss the greatest shot ever hit.’ That’s just the way he walked, the way he acted, the way he carried himself. He never seemed to ever doubt his ability.”

Players at El Prat asked if they could wear black ribbons during the third round of the Open de España, and it was announced there would be a minute’s silence at 2.45 pm and the flags would be at half-mast.

European Tour chief executive George O’Grady said, “This is such a very sad day for all who love golf. Seve’s unique legacy must be the inspiration he has given to so many to watch, support and play golf, and finally to fight a cruel illness with equal flair, passion and fierce determination. We have all been so blessed to live in his era. He was the inspiration behind the European Tour.”

Ballesteros won 87 titles worldwide during his career, including three British Opens (1979, 1984 and 1988) and two US Masters (1980 and 1983). He played in eight Ryder Cups, winning 20 points from 37 matches, and captained Europe to victory against the Americans in 1997 at Valderrama – the first time the competition had been held outside the UK or the US.

He was the second world number one (after Bernhard Langer) when the official world rankings were launched in 1986, holding top place for a total of 61 weeks during his early career; and headed the European Tour order of merit five times.

Seve appeared in public for the first time following the surgery, in May 2009, receiving a standing ovation when he went to watch his local football team Racing Santander. He had called his battle against the tumour the “hardest challenge of my life” but also remained ubeat under the circumstances, referring to being given the “mulligan of my life”.

He underwent four operations to remove the tumour and reduce swelling in his skull, as well as chemotherapy. He made various public appearances in 2009, looking thin and pale, but had rarely been seen in public since March 2010, when he fell off a golf cart and hit his head on the ground.

During this time, he focused his efforts on promoting the Seve Ballesteros Foundation in its fight against cancer.

Born on 9 April 1957, of humble origins – his father was a greenkeeper during an era when golf was still considered an elite pursuit in Spain – he honed his skills near his Pedreña (Santander) home, at seven years using a cut-down seven-iron to hit stones on the beach.

He won a caddies tournament at 12, with a score of 79; and while still a teenager finished second in the 1976 British Open. Three years later, he became the youngest winner of the British Open; a feat he matched in the 1980 US Masters (before a 21-year-old Tiger Woods beat his record by two years). He was the first European winner of the Masters.

Seve was divorced from his childhood sweetheart, Carmen (of the Botín family that owns Banco Santander), in 2004 after a 16-year marriage. They had three children, Baldomero (1990), Miguel (1992) and Carmen (1994). Their relationship deteriorated irrevocably in the late 1990s, when it was said he was unable to accept that his career was on the wane.

Early in July 2007 he denied reports that he had tried to commit suicide following the death of a close female friend in a car accident. He officially retired on 16 July 2007 after a long struggle with recurring back pain, concentrating on his business interests through Amen Corner , the tournament promotion company he and his three fellow golf pro brothers set up in 1986.

“I no longer have the desire and I am no longer willing to give away the things I did before,” he said at the time. “I gave away all my teenage years and fought day and night to give my all and focus 100 per cent on my golf game.”

Rather poignantly, bearing in mind the tragedy of his last three years, he added, “I have a number of good years ahead of me and want to spend some time with my three children and friends and family.”

Unlike other contemporaries, he was denied the chance of competing on the seniors tours and further embellishing the Seve legend.

PENELOPE CRUZ has become the first Spaniard to be honoured with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

Accompanied by her husband (and father of their recently-born first child) Javier Bardem and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides co-star Johnny Depp, the 36-year-old actress recalled her earliest days in Hollywood. “Let me tell you about the man with the hat. I came to Los Angeles for the first time in 1994. I spoke no English. I only knew how to say two things, two sentences. One was, ‘How are you?’; the other one was, ‘I want to work with Johnny Depp.’ In the last 10 years I have worked with him twice and that has improved my English, so now I know how to say, ‘I want to work with Johnny Depp again!’ Thank you Johnny for your friendship and your talent; you are such an inspiration to so many of us, always.”

Cruz, who was the first Spaniard to be nominated for a best actress Academy Award (Volver in 2006) and the first Spanish actress to win an Oscar (supporting actress in 2009 for Vicky Cristina Barcelona) was the 2,435th star to be honoured on the famous “Walk” outside the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.

(Bardem was the first Spaniard to win a best supporting actor Oscar, in 2007 for No Country For Old Men.)

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FORMER UN secretary general Kofi Annan will be the VIP guest speaker at the third World Conference on Climate Change and Wine in Marbella on 13 April. His speech will be directed to businesses and companies about the importance of adopting sustainable practices and development. Attendance is open to business people and members of the general public.

After the speech, titled “The Global Compact: Challenging Business to Become Leading Actors in Sustainable Development”, there will be a 30-minute question and answer session followed by an official gala dinner at Los Monteros Hotel, in aid of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation.

Annan is president/founder of the Global Humanitarian Forum, an international arena created “to foster dialogue and broker partnerships that strengthen the international community’s ability to effectively address current and emerging humanitarian challenges, including sustainability and the effects of global warming on people of the world, especially the poor”.

A report released by the forum in May 2009 estimated that climate change is responsible for the deaths of 300,000 people every year, with 325 million of the poorest suffering most. According to the forum, “All its work ultimately aims to be of benefit to the most vulnerable, particularly those living in least developed countries.”

“In an address to the World Economic Forum in 1999, Annan challenged business leaders to join an international initiative – the Global Compact – that would “bring companies together with UN agencies, as well as labour and civil society, to promote and respect universal environmental and social principles”.

Organiser Pancho Campo

In his speech in Marbella, at the Palacio de Congresos y Ferias, he will reiterate “the responsibility of businesses and individuals to address environmental challenges, undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility, protect human rights and encourage the development and transfer of environmentally-sustainable technologies”.

The conference has been organised by Pancho Campo, president of The Wine Academy of Spain.

Campo believes the climate situation should have been prevented decades ago and therefore the solution “is now way too late… The fact is that the great majority of the wine sector in Spain should adopt a much more responsible and proactive attitude… Those people who still cast doubt on the existence of climate change are outdated and have not documented themselves accordingly.”

He warns that climate changes will affect the wine making process, which could result in a change in quality level produced by some grape varieties.