“THIS has made me question God’s existence” was the front-page headline in The Sunday Telegraph about the Archbishop of Canterbury’s response to the tsunami.

A headline above an article written by Dr Rowan Williams only made matters worse. “Of course this makes us doubt God’s existence,” it stated.

Lambeth Palace was dismayed as the thoughtful article had actually restated the Archbishop’s faith in God rather than questioned it. But the headline went worldwide and triggered a heated debate on the internet. The newspaper has not published a correction and the headlines are unamended on the newspaper’s website.

Dominic Lawson, the Editor, has sent a written apology to the Archbishop marked “private and confidential”.

“Having returned from holiday I want to thank you and apologise. The thanks are for a very thoughtful and moving article which I suspect struck a chord with the very many Christians who read The Sunday Telegraph. I am sure that they also would have derived much solace from the article. The apologies are for the headline on the front page which, apart from misrepresenting the nature of your argument, was also theologically obtuse. The only consolation is that anyone reading the article would understand the real point that you were making . . . letters received on the topic blame us rather than you for the confusion, which is as it should be.”

The forgiving souls at Lambeth Palace are no doubt grateful for Lawson’s confession. As a penance he should be banned from publishing any missives from the Archbishop for a year.

Branson bangs on

NEVER one to be outdone, even on a most remarkable day in flight, the launch of the A380 superjumbo in Toulouse, Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Atlantic publicist in chief, announced that his fleet would be customised to have private double beds.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, he admitted that he had joined the Mile-High Club. “It was a very lovely lady from Los Angeles and we got quite amorous on the flight and one thing led on to another. As a result we’re not the type of airline that bangs on lavatory doors when a couple slip in there,” he said.

Branson, speaking at the launch of the giant aeroplane, said: “With double beds and casinos you now have two ways of getting lucky on Virgin. You can do it on a cruise ship, you can do it at home, why can’t you do it in the air?

Tory's EU hitlist

THE Tory peer Tristan Garel-Jones, who was John Major’s Deputy Chief Whip, still ventures into the MPs’ dining rooms to stir up trouble on the euro.

His latest declaration: “When we win the referendum on the constitution, leading Tory Eurosceptics will be rounded up, tried and shot for their disloyalty to the European Union.”

High on Lord Garel-Jones’s hitlist are the Thatcherite Eric Forth, Owen Paterson, who was Iain Duncan Smith’s bag carrier, and John Redwood, high priest of Euroscepticism.

Garel-Jones would exclude fellow Eurosceptics David Heathcoat-Amory and Lord Cranborne. They would be allowed to board a plane to a safe country outside the Union . . . because they’re “toffs”.

Hilarious, isnt he?

• Angelina Jolie was rumoured to be the reason that Brad Pitt’s marriage to Jennifer Aniston has ended. Robin Lane Fox, the Oxford historian who advised on the Alexander film, became friendly with Jolie during filming. “There is no question of Angelina interfering,” Fox told an audience at the Royal Geographic Society. “My money is on Val Kilmer, who was making a very clever run for Jolie on the inside track.”

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• Christina Ricci, a star of Monster, hated being blonde and has dyed her hair back to its original colour. “I think it’s true that people think blonde people are dumb. Guys would try things on me that they would never have tried if I had my natural colour.”

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