Undeterred by criticism of Prince Charles's love of shady billionaires, Buckingham Palace has taken the dangerous step of courting some of the world's richest tycoons to plug a shortfall in the finances of the Royal Collection Trust, which looks after the Queen's million precious art works.

Charles is chairman of the trustees, who are hiring a team of fundraisers to tap up the super-rich for donations of up to seven figures to hit 'ambitious financial targets'.

According to an advert on the Royal Household website for one of the four jobs, the fundraisers will establish long-term relationships with donors 'with a view to making high-value asks'.

Charles is chairman of the trustees, who are hiring a team of fundraisers to tap up the super-rich for donations of up to seven figures

The trust's finances have become increasingly threadbare since the lucrative 'Kate effect' waned in the aftermath of the royal wedding in 2011.

When Kate Middleton married Prince William, sales of souvenirs boosted Palace coffers by £4 million.

However, the most recent accounts for the Royal Collection Trust show the charity suffered a £6.2 million drop in income on the previous year.

Incoming funds fell to £48.8 million for the year to March 2015, due to a decrease of 82,000 in the number of visitors to the palaces and a 19 per cent fall in retail sales.

A spokesman for the trust tells me: 'The charity's role is to secure philanthropic gifts to reduce its overall dependence on income from visitors to the palaces and galleries in times of fluctuating levels of inbound tourism.'

Royal donations from the wealthy have been a source of controversy since Prince Philip gave Charles a dressing-down in front of other family members in 1999 for taking millions of pounds worth of largesse from rich acquaintances, some of whom had decidedly shady backgrounds.

The heir to the throne nevertheless continued to court the wealthy, and was criticised in 2013 for allowing a rich Indian-born couple to pay for a £500,000 black tie gala evening at Buckingham Palace to celebrate his 65th birthday.

The lavish banquet was attended by some of the richest — and most generous — people in the world, such as billionaire Labour Party donors the Hinduja brothers, steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and Daimler-Benz heir Muck Flick.

Going cap in hand to billionaires is not the only way the Royal Collection Trust is seeking to boost its finances. It is selling a majestic selection of dog accessories and plans to launch a tea range 'for the Japanese market'. Trouble could be brewing.

Tory MP who earns as much as Jamie Vardy

There aren't many politicians who can boast that they earn almost as much as Premier League champion Jamie Vardy — but Tory MP Geoffrey Cox is the exception.

For just one of his second roles outside Parliament, Cox earned £1,833 per hour.

In total, the QC was paid £146,668 for unspecified legal services for a little-known firm, CGS Legal, for just 80 hours (although the poor chap did have to pay 13.5 per cent for the costs of his chambers).

Jamie Vardy (pictured during Thursday's friendly between England and Portugal) earns £80,000-per-week

That works out at more than £73,000 for a 40-hour week — close to Vardy's £80,000-per-week deal. In total for the 2016/17 parliamentary session, Cox, who receives a relatively paltry £74,000 annual salary as an MP, has recorded payments totalling almost £720,000 in the Register of Members' Financial Interests — although not all of these were made this year.

In February, Cox was forced to apologise after admitting a serious breach of the rules by failing to declare £400,000 of legal work. The embarrassment was heightened by the fact that he had been a member of Parliament's sleaze watchdog.

Carla: Why did Macca marry Mills?

Bread writer Carla Lane, who has died aged 87, was a great friend of Sir Paul McCartney, but less keen on the former Beatle's second wife, Heather Mills.

'Paul twice invited me to his house when Heather was there,' Carla told me in 2008. 'When I first saw them together, she seemed all right.

The second time, they seemed reasonably happy, but she was pushing me to write something for TV for Paul. I thought: 'Why is she doing that? Paul is not a television man.'

Bond: Sir Paul and Linda McCartney (left) pictured with their friend TV script writer Carla Lane (right)

Carla, who founded the charity Animaline, shared a love of animals with Sir Paul and his first wife, Linda. Of his marriage to Heather, she said: 'Obviously, it wasn't a match — that's all one can say. I expect he was lonely, but I don't know why he married her.'

She added at the time: 'Heather got a huge divorce settlement, a part of which she was expected to give to charity… well, Animaline is supposed to be one of the charities she loves and we've never got any!'

Long-suffering commuters may see it as the final insult. A train on the London to South East coast route, one of Britain's most overcrowded services, is to host a special dinner by top chef Richard Corrigan, at a cost of £510 per person. 'The evening will begin with a champagne reception at London Victoria station at Belmond British Pullman's private lounge, followed by dinner and entertainment on board the train,' gushes the ad for the vintage railway service. Unlike on their usual journeys, passengers might even get a seat.