Hooky still plays a diplomatic service .sx JUST over a year ago Our Man In Baghdad , Sir Harold Walker , was one of the busiest and best known faces in Britain - scarcely a news bulletin went by without word of his efforts to placate Saddam Hussein on our behalf .sx But what has happened to Sir Harold's career since he returned from Iraq earlier this year ?sx With the prospect of official retirement only 13 months away , Winchester-educated Walker appears to be in limbo .sx In a typically cryptic reply to the question of what Sir Harold is up to , the Foreign Office says :sx " We don't know what his next job will be as he's still officially in his post .sx However , there's no Ambassador in Baghdad .sx " .sx Walker is by no means wasting his time :sx he has swopped the diplomatic champagne cocktail parties for the G&T stockbrocker belt of Woking and its socially ambitious tennis circuit .sx Since he came back to Britain 'Hooky' - so called because of the gold hook his father Admiral Sir Harold Walker wore after losing a hand in the First World War - has been busily improving his game and taking part in county matches and local tournaments .sx Melinda makes it to the West End .sx .. AUSTRALIAN singer and dancer Melinda O'Connor will be opening a few tinnies to celebrate landing her first West End part - as the butcher's wife in Mike Batt's adaptation of Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark which opens at the Prince Edward Theatre next month .sx After leaving her home in Melbourne last year to tour as a backing singer for pop star Jason Donovan , 24-year-old Melinda decided to stay on in England and try her luck on the stage .sx " It's like a dream come true , " she tells me .sx " Most Australian performers want to come over and star in a West End musical .sx There isn't the scope back home - there are far too many people and far fewer shows .sx " .sx Aspiring Romeos will be glad to know that Melinda is still unattached :sx " I'm looking for any nice eligible Englishman , " she says .sx " If love walks into my life I'll be happy , but I've got a strong nucleus of friends .sx " .sx But any boyfriends should be aware they might have to take a back seat in Melinda's life .sx " My ultimate ambition is to be a rock star - with all-male backing vocals !sx " .sx We're getting married all over again , says Travolta .sx From DAVID CLARIDGE in Paris .sx HOURS after his wedding ceremony to actress Kelly Preston , John Travolta announced last night that they would be doing it all over again .sx The couple , who exchanged vows in a midnight ceremony at a Paris hotel on Thursday , will go through another ceremony in America next week .sx " We have to get married again in the United States for legal purposes , " said the actor .sx " This was more of a blessing .sx " .sx For a marriage to be valid under French law one of the partners has to have lived for a month in the area where the ceremony takes place .sx Asked whether the wedding was legal Travolta replied :sx " Well , I don't know , we'll see , but we'll back it up with the real one when we get back home .sx " .sx The couple spent much of yesterday locked in their hotel room with a Do Not Disturb sign on the door , emerging late in the afternoon for Travolta to take part in a French TV chat show .sx Before stepping into the lift he cupped Kelly's face in his hands , stroked her cheeks and kissed her as he whispered :sx " Bye , baby , see you later .sx " .sx Travolta , 37 , said he had chosen Paris for the ceremony because " It's the most romantic city in the world .sx " .sx And he revealed :sx " I planned it about five months ago .sx It was my idea because Kelly had never seen Paris before .sx " Now we are looking forward to going home .sx I have just bought her a lovely new home in Maine .sx " .sx Fantastic Kelly , who is expecting a baby in April , showed off the earrings and bracelet he had given her as a wedding present , and said of the ceremony :sx " It was fantastic .sx " .sx There were four witnesses to the ceremony at the city's Hotel Crillon .sx Staff there knew nothing of the couple's plans until Kelly , 28 , arrived in her bridal gown .sx The group celebrated with champagne before Travolta and Kelly , who first met on the set of the film The Experts , returned to the five-star Plaza Athenee .sx The couple will fly back to the U.S. tomorrow after a stay in Deauville , Normandy , for a charity screening of Travolta's film The Tender .sx AND A CLOSE CALL FOR THE DUCHESS .sx .. Fergie dashes to the court of King Jimbo .sx THE Duchess of York showed a turn of speed to watch an old friend triumph at tennis yesterday .sx She dashed from her last official engagement in New York - at the mayor's residence - back to her Manhattan hotel .sx After changing into informal clothes she virtually sprinted to her car before taking the Van Wyck expressway to Flushing Meadow stadium , where Jimmy Connors was on court .sx The Wimbledon favourite is attempting , at 39 , to become the oldest Grand Slam winner in modern times .sx The Duchess , aided by a police escort , arrived for the last ten minutes of his quarter-final victory in the U.S. Open .sx She was ushered to a courtside box reserved for Connors' entourage .sx " She said she'd had a prior engagement and I joked with her that she'd arrived at the right time , " said British tennis star John Lloyd .sx " She was obviously well into it and kept turning round to her bodyguard and saying how exciting it all was .sx " .sx The four-set victory over Dutch opponent Paul Haarhuis behind him , Connors met the Duchess in a private room beneath the grandstand .sx " Yes , we're friends , " he said afterwards .sx " We've known each other for a few years and she's a very nice lady .sx " .sx Vitas Gerulaitis , a former tennis rival of Connors and his best friend , said :sx " The Duchess is friends with Jimmy and Patti ( his wife ) and she invites them for dinner when they are in London .sx She got to know Patti first after they had met at Wimbledon .sx " .sx Last night the Duchess , whom American TV commentators have been comparing to a young Jackie Kennedy , was jetting to Los Angeles for a glittering dinner party with a superstar cast .sx First stop was at the Beverly Hills home of Hollywood's richest man , Marvin Davis , and his wife Barbara , the town's premier party-giver .sx The guest-list of more than 60 is a closely guarded secret but Sylvester Stallone , Liza Minnelli , Angela Lansbury and Frank Sinatra are reported to be on it .sx Davis , a power-player in nearly every major showbusiness merger in the past 20 years , is reported to be worth pounds1billion .sx " His invitations are the ones people die for , " said one socialite .sx The Duchess has been accompanied on her American tour by Princess Bea , an equerry , a royal detective and private secretary .sx A Buckingham Palace spokesman said she had been invited to New York by the British American Chamber of Commerce .sx " They have paid the cost of the flights to New York , " he said .sx " The trip to Los Angeles is a private visit and under these circumstances the Duchess would pay for the cost of this .sx " .sx Last year the Duchess had to pay her own bill for a pounds1,000-a-night suite at the Plaza Athene hotel in Manhattan after organisers of a fund-raising dinner were understood to have balked at picking up the cost .sx Ol e !sx They're on a Royal holiday .sx FOLLOWING growing unrest among their concerned friends at the amount of time they spend apart , the Prince and Princess of Wales have suddenly changed their holiday plans :sx they will now be spending a week together on Majorca in August .sx The couple have spent four previous vacations on the Balearic island , but this year their plans for a similar break were dropped .sx Now , at short notice , their host King Juan Carlos has altered his schedule and will join Charles and Diana midway through their stay at the Spanish monarch's Marivent palace in Palma .sx Charles will fly to Majorca after joining the rest of the Royal Family at Sandringham on August 4 to celebrate the Queen Mother's 91st birthday .sx He will be on his own for two days , sketching and painting watercolours , before Diana arrives with William and Harry .sx Last year's holiday on Majorca was not a particularly happy one :sx Charles was unable to join in much of the fun - his arm was still strapped up following his polo accident and he was in agony .sx Then there was the unfortunate matter of The Sun publishing a picture of the Prince embracing " old flame " Lady Romsey - in fact he was comforting her after she had told him her five-year-old daughter Leonora was suffering from cancer .sx The Murdoch rag had to print a grovelling apology .sx Amanda springs a surprise .sx AFTER living blissfully together for three years , photographer Willie Christie , 41 , and Derek Nimmo's only daughter Amanda revealed at their weekend wedding reception they had further good news - she is expecting a baby .sx Willie , first cousin of Jockey Club stalwart and Yorkshire landowner the Marquis of Zetland , was previously married to Grace Coddington , fashion editor of American Vogue , and has a daughter Scarlett , 13 , by another liaison .sx Amanda , 32 , was attended at the Chelsea register office ceremony by her Guards-costumed five-year-old son George from her first marriage to Nicholas Howard , whose family owns Castle Howard and 10,000 Yorkshire acres .sx " I feel I am going to have another son - anyway that's what Willie wants , and I'm thinking that way too , " said Amanda , whose former husband is also getting married - their 1983 wedding was at the ultra-fashionable St Margaret's Westminster and the union lasted four years .sx The couple spent their honeymoon night at The Dorchester , but are delaying the honeymoon proper until next month - where they will stay in The Hamptons , Long Island with Willie's sister Carolyne and her husband Roger Waters , co-founder of Pink Floyd and composer of most of the supergroup's hits .sx Martha keeps her distance .sx .. IN the highly unlikely event of any romance between Prince Edward and his fifth cousin , Princess Martha Louise of Norway , the two did their best to distance themselves from each other when Edward joined a gathering of the Norwegian Royal Family in Oslo at the weekend .sx The petite princess , 19 , pointedly invited both her past boyfried Thomas Salvesen , and her current escort Navy cadet Per Gunnar Haugen , to a banquet marking the 18th birthday of her brother , Crown Prince Haakon Magnus .sx Edward spent much of the evening talking to Martha-Louise's father , Oxford graduate King Harald .sx " There is absolutely no question of anything going on between the Prince and Martha Louise , " says a British courtier .sx " Edward was there representing the Queen at what was a significant event in the Norwegian royal calendar .sx " .sx Proposal accepted :sx Andrew and Rachael .sx HAVING reached 40 without succumbing to marriage , would-be Tory MP Andrew Robathan - the man selected to take over Nigel Lawson's safe seat of Blaby , Leicestershire - took just two months to propose to girlfriend Rachael Maunder .sx " Would you call that a whirlwind ?sx I don't think so .sx I think by this age I know what I want !sx " says retired Coldstream Guards officer Andrew who met his fiancee at a dinner party a week after finishing service in the Gulf war .sx Devon farmer's daughter Rachael , 29 , a City fund manager , will make an ideal MP's wife - at Bath University she was chairman of the Conservative Association .sx " I've always been interested in politics and thought about it as a career myself , " she tells me .sx " But I love my job and intend to continue with it after marriage .sx " .sx Planning a Christmas wedding , Andrew is also preparing for high office by driving a bus - a job for which John Major was rejected - as part of his special interest in the politics of Transport .sx " I don't think I'll be co-author of another economic revolution , " he says modestly , " but you've got to start somewhere .sx Right now I just want to get elected .sx " .sx And the first step is to take a wife .sx ..