Bubbles,
Either the HLF or Dr P are not telling us the whole truth.
The FOI request I did late last year was explicit in responding to one of my questions. The HLF said in the FOI that "No requests for further funding, formal or informal, have been made."
As for the wife, I am in Northumberland and perilously close to the border so maybe their has been some "mad wife" gene leakage since Hadrian's Wall fell into disrepair.
(That's actually a joke before anyone takes offence and as 1/4 Scots it is not intended as a racial slur. The interest of your wife in not being made may go down as well as down. Take advice before investing.)