Wednesday October 17, 1979

_. Princess Margaret is having a good time in Chicago where she is on a tour to boost the fortunes of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. On arriving in Chicago [my kind of town] she enquired after the health of the mayor, Mr Richard Daley, and was told that he had sadly died in December, 1976. Her meeting with the current living mayor, Jane Byrne, has had its moments too. At a dinner someone mentioned Lord Mountbatten's funeral, and the princess is alleged to have snapped: "The Irish, they are pigs!" Mrs Byrne is an Irish-American and newspaper reports this morning state that she made a quick exit from the party following Margaret's retort. However, this evening the press office for Mrs Byrne said that HRH has referred to Uncle Dickie's murderers as "pigs", without insulting our Irish friends. ________.

A cold day. Autumnal to say the least. The trees are just about stark naked. A slightly better day at the YP. Home and five and ate with Susie. Mum & Dad went off to Lynn's for dinner. Dad was on the verge of collapse because he finds it impossible to hang on until 7pm to dine.

Watched Michael Palin's 'Ripping Yarns' on the BBC. Fantastic. Peter and I howled with laughter so much so that Sue pleaded with us to belt up so that she could hear what they were saying. To bed with Hitler again. I'm still only half way through this huge tome.

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