20260820

Saturday February 14, 1987

 Moorhouse Inn, Leeds LS11 5NQ

St Valentine's Day

Samuel and I were up at dawn writing a card for mummy. He was using real ink and dipping his pen into my Quink ink bottle. We went in to see Mummy with tea and biscuits, and for a cuddle. Ally gave me a card with a particularly sloshy verse. What a fun day this is. Good old St Valentine. Who was he anyway? Back to it. With Samuel to Linfood. I did lunch alone. Quite busy. Martin Mullen came behind the bar at one point to pull his own pint of beer which I frowned upon. He pleased innocence and said he wasn't intending stealing beer, but only helping. Just the two of us tonight too. Cosy. 

I am told a story about a woman who asked whether there were any books on euthanasia at an Ipswich library. The assistant then paused for a moment and replied: "No, but I believe we have a book called 'Young Man in India'".

-=-

Friday February 13, 1987

 Moorhouse Inn, Leeds LS11 5NQ

Three years ago this day my standard was hoist for the first time above this prosperous ale-house. May God keep and preserve me for further labours. I am very tired with a headache. At 2 I slept for an hour which helped revive me. Clemmie has a cold and is hot and snotty.  Samuel and I had our usual excursion to see Mr Myers at the NatWest bank, and to Morrison's. Tonight Margaret worked. She too is now complaining, good humouredly, of stress. She and Maureen are the only staff until Margaret R returns on Tuesday. Ally came down at 9 looking superb in a Laura Ashley creation. Bed late. the video has a grip on us these days. 

The Duchess of York was presented with her "wings" in a ceremony at Kidlington Airport, near Oxford, yesterday, and commented: "We'll certainly qualify as a two-plane family." The duchess piloted a Piper Warrior  aircraft to Kidlington  from RAF Benson for the ceremony with her husband, a Naval helicopter pilot, as a back-seat passenger. She is the first woman member of the Royal Family to gain a private pilot's licence and has now expressed a wish to fly helicopters. The Duchess, nicknamed Chatterbox One by air traffic controllers qualified after passing her final test last month. To pass she had to complete a minimum of 40 hours at the control and sit written tests in aviation law, meteorology, principles of flying and navigation. The Duke smiled as his wife was presented  with her licence by Mr Christopher Tugendhat, chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority. The duchess also received a helicopter-shaped bouquet of flowers and she said: "I just wonder what Andrew wants me to do - flying or flower arranging?"

A village cricket club has thrown away its supply of "boxes", used to protect the testicles of batsmen, because of the fear of Aids. The players must in the future bring their own. "Putting on a protective box that someone else has worn is the equivalent of sexual contact," said Mr Roy Scaife, chairman of the Newlyn East club in Cornwall. He urged other clubs, and the MCC, to follow Newlyn's lead.

The parish magazine of Meopham, Kent, carries a notice in its February addition which says: "Churchyard maintenance is becoming increasingly difficult and it will be appreciated if parishioners will cut the grass around their own graves."

-=-

Thursday February 12, 1987

 Moorhouse Inn, Leeds LS11 5NQ

Lincoln's Birthday

Samuel called Maureen a 'stupid bastard' today  in my ear-shot ______________. He was deposited in his bed until lunch when he emerged chastened. LG came at 2. Very jovial. He took a list of the usual things we want doing, but seeing is believing. He told us that Graham & Carol were sacked for the misappropriation of company money. Some managers fail to bank money on a Monday. He checked our bank book and I held my breath because we owe the safe at least £100. I suppose it's all down to fate. When you gotta go, you gotta go. Ally went to town later and I prepared a quiz for next week, using Brewer's, Whitaker's Almanack, and the Dictionary of Insults. This evening Andrew Cromack told me that Richard Clarke stole my cig machine and that Cheetham is innocent. Oh poor Cheesy, doing hard labour for nothing. Don't make me laugh. Tracey [Edna's daughter] told Ally that Cheesy is doing 6 months , but we've heard nothing official. Bed at 12.

The Prince and Princess of Wales began a four day visit to Portugal yesterday designed to  commemorate the ancient Anglo-Portuguese alliance and to boost flagging British exports. They were met at Lisbon airport by President soares.

Question of Precedence? Arranging the order of precedence for the Sovereign's parade  at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, on April 10, is turning into a protocol nightmare for the academy's authorities. The salute is to be taken for the first time by the Princess of Wales, but at least two and perhaps as many as four other Royal Families will be attending the commissioning ceremony. King Hussein of Jordan, himself a Sandhurst graduate, will be there to watch his daughter, Princess Ayesha pass out from the Women's Royal Army Corps course and ex-King Constantine of Greece will see his son Prince Pavlos commissioned into the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Queen Sofia of Spain - Constantine's sister - may also attend the ceremony and it is thought that Sultan Qaboos of Oman, another old Sandhurst hand, may go down to watch Omani candidates receive their commissions. As representative of the Sovereign, the Princess of Wales will take precedence over other royalty. But how the rest are to be seated as spectators at the parade and as guests at the commissioning lunch is a problem more complex than with which the academy has ever had to deal.

A packed House of Lords heard the Duke of York take his oath of allegiance to his mother, the Queen, yesterday when he was introduced. He took his seat not only as duke but as Baron Killyleagh, and Earl of Inverness. With the Dukes of Gloucester and Kent  as his supporters he was watched  from the equally crowded galleries by his wife, the Duchess, his younger brother, Prince Edward, and other family members.  The Earl Marshal [Duke of Norfolk] and the Lord Great Chamberlain [the Marquess of Cholmondeley] joined him and his supporters in procession with Black Rod [Air Chief Marshal Sir John Gingell] and the Garter King of Arms [Sir Colin Cole]. Lord Hailsham, the Lord Chancellor, seated on the woolsack, received the Duke and accepted his writ of summons.  Then his patent of creation was read by the Lords' reading clerk before the oath was taken and the Lords roll was signed.  With his supporters, the Duke climbed the steps to the royal dias to take a seat next to the throne from which he rose three times in an exchange of bows and salutes with the Lord Chancellor. For his part of the ceremony Lord Hailsham stood in the place next to the woolsack from which he normally addresses the House while taking part in debates. After leaving the chamber to disrobe, the three Royal Dukes returned to seats on the cross benches to hear Question Time.

Mr Robin Janvrin, 40, deputy head of personnel operations at the Foreign Office, has been appointed assistant Press secretary to the Queen. He succeeds Mr Victor Chapman, 54, a Canadian, who will leave the post this summer after five years.

-=-



-=-

Saturday February 14, 1987

 Moorhouse Inn, Leeds LS11 5NQ St Valentine's Day Samuel and I were up at dawn writing a card for mummy. He was using real ink and dippi...