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Gian van Veen said Luke Littler was “out of order” after he celebrated his opponent’s miss during the deciding leg of their Premier League match in Manchester. 

Van Veen beat Littler, the world No1, 6-5 in the opening round of night nine at the AO Arena, but not before there was bad blood between the youngsters on stage. Van Veen had not won a match since the fourth round of the competition, whereas Littler had won back-to-back editions in Dublin and Berlin to top the eight-player league, and was playing in front of a home crowd. 

In the deciding leg, Van Veen was throwing for the match when he missed double 15. As he turned his head away from the board in frustration, Littler — who had just missed double seven — appeared to be celebrating the error. Littler gestured towards Van Veen to get on with his next dart.

As the Prince of Wales, his views were well-known. The proposed extension to the National Gallery in 1984, he said, was a “monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend”.

Behind the scenes, Charles sent scores of handwritten “black spider memos” to cabinet ministers, in which he appeared to lobby on subjects ranging from the state of British beef farming to the plight of the Patagonian toothfish.

Since acceding the throne, however, he has been cautious not to influence government decisions.

Except, perhaps, on one occasion. A column in Private Eye, the satirical magazine edited by Ian Hislop, has claimed that the King warned Sir Keir Starmer against hiring Lord Mandelson to be the ambassador to the US.

Sir Nick Faldo believes Tiger Woods must be held accountable for his actions as he dubbed the PGA Tour response to the golf icon’s latest problems as “weak” and remarked: “We’re not meant to be on the street with two pills in our pocket.”

Woods passed a breathalyser test after rolling his car in Florida on Friday last week and has pleaded not guilty to charges including driving under the influence and refusing to provide a urine sample. He has since announced he is stepping away from golf to receive treatment, presumably for his use of painkillers. A police report said he had two pills of a semi-synthetic opioid at the scene. 

Faldo, recuperating from heart surgery, said: “I feel sorry for Tiger because he’s living in 24-7 pain. I asked him [about] that years ago, even before the LA accident [in 2021 when he broke his leg in high-speed car crash], but it’s all been self-inflicted.