So Conrad Black's latest appeal against his six and a half year sentence has been rejected. No surprises there. But it's not surprising either to read that the Lord Black of Crossharbour has settled down into prison life pretty well.

Black has been dubbed "Lordy" by his fellow inmates and has a cell mate acting as a gofer, cleaner and butler, reports Kathryn Knight at the Daily Mail. He has even been giving lectures on American history to inmates and guards. Quite a little fiefdom he has got going there.

Still, it hasn't been easy for him. Like having to endure the New York Post running stories that Black had to endure a "full body cavity search". The mind boggles. Black has since been forced to deny the story.

But then, he would.