Monday March 17, 1980

_. St Patrick's Day

Out of bed at 7:10am and to my horror the lane is shrouded in a blanket of snow. Ally woke up with a glowing nose, heavy eyes and a cold. I gave her a cup of tea and a couple of asprin, and she disappeared into the blizzard driving a car with next to no petrol in the tank. I went out with a spade and cleared the drive before moving on to Jim's to perform my good deed of the day for my chauffeur.

At the YP I expected a raging, screaming mob, but was thrown into confusion by the silence and complete lack of interest in my so-called sudden illness on Friday.  I phoned Ally at 12:30 and she says Derek Jenkins has been similarly quiet on the subject of her absence.

The Daily Mail this morning reported that the Queen is to pay a state visit to Liechtenstein in May primarily to organise a marriage between the Prince of Wales and Princess Nora of that pin-prick of a principality. This is outrageous. Princess Nora is 30 years old, far too old for our Wales, because his bride must necessarily have many years of child bearing years ahead of her, and of course Nora is a Roman Catholic. The Prince of W has said that if he marries a RC he is technically 'dead' and no way will he rock the apple-cart. Just imagine 'Queen Nora'. Mum would be ecstatic, I do suppose. They, Mum and Dad, returned from snow-bound Grassington at 9:30 looking bedraggled, but healthy.

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