Wednesday October 31, 1984

 5, Club St, Lidget Green, Bradford

Hallow'een

Up with the larks on this bright, autumnal morn. Bacon sandwiches again, and hot baths. Switched on the news to hear that Mrs Gandhi has been assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. I do feel sorry. The poor Queen must have liked her because the monarch's recent meeting with Mrs G dominated her Christmas message last yuletide in a most uncomfortable manner. Princess Anne is in Delhi now and is staying for the funeral bonfire on Saturday. I suspect that many people think that Mrs Gandhi is related to that tiny bald person with the loin cloth who featured in a recent Attenborough epic. However, from New Delhi to Winchester.

Chillandham Cross

We left Bradford at 10 and picnicked on a Northamptonshire housing estate at 12. Samuel with cheese sandwiches and chocolate. He behaved beautifully in the car. Near Oxford we met Frank and Bessie in the Mercedes returning from Anne Rayner's, and we drove on together. Very odd. Such mild weather in Hampshire. Just sat and did nothing tonight. We presented them with a portrait of Samuel , and it now adorns the TV set. Mrs Gandhi dominates the news, and the Indian riots make such a change from Arthur Scargill.

-=-