FAMILY AFFAIR

Even mad, attention-starved superstars have soppy moments. Backstage at the last London Spice Girls concert of 2007, David Beckham – looking delicious despite his Rhydian-hued hair – sat in the wings throughout the performance with at least one, sometimes three, of his babies snuggled on his lap. Team Beckham sang along to all the songs, even the solo ones by the other girls, and Becks looked proudest when the missus teetered down the catwalk and lip-synched her way through hers. What a sweetly clunky camera he used to take pictures of everyone. By the opening chords of Mama, when all the children – Baby’s new one, Mel B’s kids and the Beckham boys – went on to sing along, I was ready to rush the stage and cuddle each of them. Probably a good thing that I didn’t, though.

FRIENDS LIKE THESE

I needed an outfit for tomorrow night, so I strolled along to the Alexander McQueen sample sale. I was in demon-shopper mode, and didn’t hold back with my elbows. My prize was a black strapless dress with a grand tulle skirt, a bargain at the giveaway price of £1,100. The girls’ changing room was fashion armageddon – babies lay in mangers of pencil skirts and lamb’s-wool jumpers as their mothers struggled into discounted crinolines before the parking meter ran out. The dress was a size too small and the zip got stuck halfway up. “Ooh, get it anyway,” urged a stylist I recognised from the Paris shows. “Yes, it’s stunning. It’s worth it,” agreed another, smiling warmly. At the till, I came to my senses in the nick of time. Fashion enablers – you really have to watch out for them.

SUPERFLY GUY

I’m flying to New York to shop and drink too much. I feel just terrible about the carbon footprint, but, well, I’m going anyway. To assuage the guilt, I went on a climate-change protest, organised by www.enoughsenough.org . Alain Robert, the “French Spider-Man”, was to free-climb a 30-storey office block. By the fifth storey, the police had set up a wide cordon “in case he fell”. (What? Could he fly as well as climb?) When he got to the top, we all cheered. Worra hero. Next year, I will do better. Next year, I will do better. (Repeat to fade.)

AGE OF INTENT

Further evidence, if any were needed, of the darkness at the heart of men. Overheard at a Camden gastropub popular with the under18s, a 15-year-old saying weepily to an enterprising bouncer in charge of keeping minors out: “But if I slip you a tenner, I won’t have any money left to buy a drink inside...”

Explore Celebrity

• People

Times recommends

• The grim reality of life as an air stewardess
• 50 of the world's best design blogs
• Video: Georgia Jagger on fashion and her mum's clothes