Sunday December 3, 1978

First Sunday in Advent

Bad hangover. Up at 11:30. Devoured a couple of boiled eggs and masses of toast. Mummy said I looked awful.

Spent the afternoon in a coma and only revived at 8 o'clock to watch Patrick Ryecart and Rebecca Saire in 'Romeo & Juliet' on BBC2. Very enjoyable, and just the thing to clear my pickled, pathetic brain. Watched another film with Daddy from 11, and so I didn't hit the sack until after 1am. This was mad I know, because I really needed the sleep.

Pictures in the Sunday papers of the Prince of Wales and Lady Jane Wellesley in Spain. The Duke of Wellington is saying that the couple are just friends, but I expect he's been groomed by Capt Mark Phillips's parents who said exactly the same thing in '73 throughout Anne and Mark's secret courtship. What else can His Grace possibly say though? He can hardly say they've been screwing for three years and that HRH is virtually one of the family. To say such things would put his KG in jeopardy. We shall just have to wait and see, eh? Blimey, how many times have I said this on the subject of the prince and his lady associates? I'm growing steadily worse as a royal pundit. Before long I'll be a male Audrey Whiting, the so~called expert on the royal family, who knows absolutely bugger all when it comes down to it.

-=-

Thursday November 30, 1978

New Moon 08:19

St Andrew's Day {Scotland}

It's late so I'm going to be brief. Didn't venture out for the usual orgy of ales and delights of the female form ~ party due to the poor state of my finances, but mainly due to the heavy fog. Very dense and nasty it was.

Jim and Margaret came here at 8:30 and we watched a Greta Garbo film on the BBC.

The Prince of Wales is in Brussels on a visit to the EEC headquarters and tonight he dined with King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola at Laeken Palace. Princess Marie-Astrid was not present though she frequently stays with her uncle, the Belgian king. I do not want HRH to marry a foreign princess when these islands of ours are swarming with English roses. It is heart rending to know that the prince is going on to Spain for the weekend with the Duke of Wellington and Lady Jane Wellesley ~ reputedly a 'shooting weekend'. I do wish he'd pull his finger out.

Bed at 12 o'clock. Susan was in all evening.

-=-

Monday November 27, 1978

Phoned Carole at B.S. & W. Whiteley's at Pool~in~Wharfedale this morning. We discussed her 21st birthday party on Saturday at the Cow & Calf. She said it was a drunken affair and that everyone who should have attended had done so and then she giggled slightly. I told her I had been to Stranraer and she asked about Maria. I told her that she had been the topic of discussion on Saturday when we were pissed up and she exclaimed "Oh God, I can imagine what you were talking about". She told me that she and Fogarty had split "for a fortnight so that she could have a break". Now was my chance surely to get hold of Carole, but after ten minutes of natter down went the phone having made no plans to meet.

Christine phoned later. She told me that now was my chance to pursue Carole again. I will contact her later in the week. Christine said she is free on Saturday, and so I might be escorting one of the region's most glamorous females._____________.

I wrote to David L in Hockley Heath. I fear I have been neglecting him. I don't think he'll be home until after Christmas.

Saw in some of the newspapers that the Prince of Wales and Lady Jane Wellesley have been together in Spain over theweekend at the estate of the Duke of Wellington. This is a weird relationship. They have been on and off since 1972. Lady Jane will be 28 next. A Princess of Wales is going to have to be young enough to produce a few children, and Lady Jane is on the verge of becoming an ancient relic. John MacMurray saw Lady Jane in the flesh a few months ago at a NUJ meeting and he was far from impressed. Mind you, nothing much impresses John.

Lady Sarah Spencer's dad is critically ill following a cerebral haemorrhage and I do suppose he'll shortly be giving up the ghost. The heir to the earldom is the 14 year-old Lord Althorp.

Just watched TV tonight. Mum and Dad went to Lynn and Dave's at 8 and stayed until 10. They returned virtually frozen to death.

-=-

Tuesday January 24, 1978

A provisional booking has been made at the Hotel S'Estanyol, San Antonio, but on the far side of the bay. Michelle's done really well to find places for 7 of us when everything is so booked up. I phoned Dave G who likes the idea but is unhappy with the flight times (1:30am going out, and 7:30am returning). Martyn is a different kettle of fish though. _____________.He is also unhappy with the dates (July 7-July 21) and says he'd prefer to go at the end of July. __________.

Got a letter from Jacqui. The party is still set for Feb 4, and Peter Sate's party is on March 18. I replied, but only in brief. I was in no corresponding frame of mind today.

Lady Jane Wellesley and the Prince of Wales.

Interesting items: Lady Jane Wellesley has been at Sandringham with the Prince of Wales over the weekend and was ferried about with much secrecy by the Queen. Will HRH be spliced by his 30th birthday? Oh God. After all I've said about Lady Jane. Poor Davina Sheffield - I always thought she would make a lovely fixture on the palace balcony.

Other news: Margaret Thatcher's voice has altered radically in recent times. In her three years as Conservative party leader the pitch of Mrs T's voice has changed from that high-pitched school ma'am drawl to one of depth, humour and level headedness. Am I perhaps imagining this?

Bed at 12 with Lord Peter Wimsey.

-=-

Tuesday September 6, 1977

Lady Jane Wellesley

Chatting with Uncle Harry tonight we decided to form a new political party. The National Rhodes Party, or the NRP. I'm going to be chancellor, Mum is going to put on her big hat and make history by being the first woman Home Secretary, and Uncle H is earmarked for Prime Minister. The small moustache and grey hair are his credentials. We haven't yet decided just what job Dad will fill, but no doubt we'll come up with something. A good idea, don't you think? We would do a damn sight better than Mr Callaghan and Company, of this I'm sure.


The YP was up to its usual standard. Kathleen was a pain in the neck and Sarah was in a ghastly mood all day. So we had quite a cheerful time of it.

Harry: Prime Minister.

One of the papers (the Sun, I think) says Lady Jane Wellesley is back on the scene with the Prince of Wales. The woman is in her 27th year and I hardly think she's up to any rigorous sessions of child-bearing which will of course be necessary if she marries the heir. Besides, we don't want a Queen with ________.Will she do for Prince Andrew, perhaps?


Watched TV tonight. Mum, Dad and Harry went to the Commercial for a quick one, and it was on their arrival home at 10.30 that the plans for Britain's new political leadership emerged.

-=-

Wednesday March 30, 1977

Princess Marie-Astrid.

More in the papers about the Prince of Wales and Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg. The Daily Mail announces that Misses Sheffield and Eastwood and Lady Jane Wellesley are all 'decoys' and that the prince has been 'in love' with Marie-Astrid for a number of years. A load of bullshit. The very organ that has led us to believe that the prince is having an affair with Davina Sheffield is now saying we've all been fooled. You wait and see, the next time HRH is within six hundred yards of anyone remotely female the Daily Mail will be ringing wedding bells and proclaiming 'this is it!'.

The princess is of course very eligible. Granddaughter of Leopold III, King of the Belgians; daughter of the ruler of Luxembourg, but Roman Catholic. Dr Cobweb, the Archbishop of Canterbury is meeting Pope Paul next month. What will crop up in their discussions?  Comment from Mama: "Oh he will marry a princess - it's as plain as the nose on my face."

Work unspectacular. No Sarah. Spoke to Delia on the phone and she reminded me about my birthday tea next week. Yes, 22 years - aarrghh! Who cares anyway? Moses supposedly lived a long and active life and died at the grand old age of 450 or something.

Ruth: 24 years old

Sit in front of the television until 10.45pm when the England v. Luxembourg football match drives me from the room to the sanctity of my chambers.

Nothing on the news. Saw Sir Geoffrey Howe make a reply to Denis Healey's Budget. No phone calls tonight. Tony told me, on the quiet, that Ruth is 24 and has been separated from her husband for 2 years. Blimey, the girl only looks 18. Martyn has yet to be informed of this. Does Ruth know that Martyn is only 18? Age doesn't matter though.

Have a P.G. Wodehouse session after wallowing in the bath. Must write to David of Gloucester.

-==-

Monday March 1, 1976

St David's Day. Quite a busy day at work without Kathleen or Carol J. Arrange with Sarah for Mum to visit Delia tonight to discuss floral arrangements for the wedding.

See in 'The Times' that Georgiana Russell, an old girlfriend of the Prince of Wales is joining the ranks of the betrothed. The prince really should start thinking about finding a wife because all the elegible young ladies are falling. The likes of Rosie Clifton and Lady Henrietta FitzRoy and many more. Jane Wellesley won't do at all, and Angela Nevill is just about the only dish on the hot-plate.

Home at 5. Dad shows me a report from his accountant about the Henry Jenkins pub. He's been advised to offer £30,000 for it. They're going over tomorrow to sort things out and I wish them all the luck.

Go to the Yorkshire Rose with Mum & Dad and they book Lynn's party for Saturday for definate. We then go up to West End Lane to Sarah's and Mum does some arranging with Delia whilst Lucy the dog mauls me and Dad. Leave at about 8.30 - 9 o'clock.

Back at home Carole rings. We arrange to meet for tea at our place tomorrow. I see a clapped out old film on the BBC and watch the late night news before going off to bed at about midnight.

Well, March is upon us once more and I would never have imagined that this month could hold so many events of historic consequence.

--==--

Monday June 16, 1975

The numbness in my face is going off slightly, but I ring and make an appointment with old (Dr) Ludlow all the same. I might as well get my moneys worth out of the National Health Service.

Nothing of great interest in the news other than the re-opening of the sensational Lucan Case in London. I doubt very much whether any of us will ever hear of the Earl (of Lucan) again, and so it's an open and shut case, as it were.

Last Friday's Daily Mail had a piece about the Prince of Wales and Lady Jane Wellesley again. The will insist on linking the poor prince romantically with that ____ Radio Times researcher, who disgraces the very name of the august Iron Duke. If he, the prince that is, ever makes Lady J his princess I will take off all my clothes and parade around the garden in a nude form as a sign of protest. I'm not joking either.

Go see old Ludlow at 5.20. He sticks a massive metal instrument up my nose and peers up it and gives the occasional grunt. He then gives me a large jar of brown pills - quite the biggest things I've ever seen - and a few capsules to inhale. Hate going to the doctors. But the numbness was quite disturbing really. At work Sarah laughed when I said I probably had only six months left to live. I know it'sa terrible thing to say. I'm quite tempting fate in saying things like that, but one should always look non the funny side of life, and even more so the funny side of death.

-==-

Tuesday March 4, 1975

Another busy day. The bloody builders are making even more noise, and we could all be deaf, daft, or blind by the end of the week - if we're lucky that is. We'll all go mad unless it quietens down. Leave at 4.30 again and I didn't start until 9 o'clock. Kathleen realises we are all working flat out.

On my arrival home Mum is slumped in an armchair. A chill or something. One of her colleages at work went down with something the other day and so I suppose the poor old thing has caught it too.

See in The Times that the Prince of Wales said in a speech yesterday that he almost married Lady Jane Wellesley last year due to pressure from the Press. He was actually brain washed into believing reports that he was having a romance with Lady Jane. Poor beggar. We must pester the Royal Family until they don't know whether they're coming or going.

I'm going to break off now to writea letter to you know who in London. Then I'm going to watch 'The Great Dictator' starring Charlie Chaplin, who was knighted this morning. Normally I hate Chaplin films, but this is a satire on the Nazi regime under Hitler - so it should be interesting. I'll let you know what went on in the next paragraph. Bye Bye.

Hello again. The film was exceptionally good actually, and never again will I say that Chaplin is a usless article. Thoroughly enjoyed the film, and Paulette Goddard can make a pass at me anytime she wants to. Whether she's dead or not is another matter. Bed at 11.30 after entertaining Naomi.

-==-

Tuesday January 7, 1975

Wake at about 8.30 feeling slightly better, but do not intend going back to the office until it has cleared up entirely. Mum, in her infinite wisdom, says that the doctor really ought to visit me instead of vice versa, but on ringing she discovers that he's far too bogged down with other cases to find the time for me.

I lay in bed with the radio banging away in my left ear 'ole until lunch. In the midst of Johnny Walker's show one of the news features holds a story on the horror of horrors, Anthony Wedgwood Benn. I was relieved to hear a top authority on politics say that Mr Benn is far too rebellious ever to become Prime Minister. A sad day it would be indeed if it dawned with Lord Stansgate behind the door in no. 10 Downing Street. Even fat, little Harold Wilson is better than him one hundred fold.

See in the morning paper that little Lady Jane Wellesley is now escorting James Balfour, the estranged husband of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia. Over in France the Paris newspapers still carry futile, impossible stories about her and the Prince of Wales. There is no doubt in my mind that His Royal Highness gave her the push months ago - and rightly so. Never did like the idea of her being Queen Jane. (Correction: I have just called the husband of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia James Balfour. In fact he's Neil Balfour, and I apologise deeply to all the relatives of the 20th century Prime Minister).

Later: a plane hijacked at Heathrow by a mad Arab is, at this moment, preparing to fly to Stansted Airport which has been disguised to look like a 'typical French airport'. The demented Arab wants to go to Paris, but Mr Giscard d'Estaing won't let the plane enter France. How they are going to make Stansted look like France I do not know.No doubt they'll get a crowd of men in berets, bicylces, and festoon them with strings of onions, playing old Maurice Chevalier records over the loud speakers. We shall see.

-==-

Monday December 9, 1974

The morning papers carry a sad story indeed. It seems that the Greeks don't want King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie back in their rightful place on the Hellenic throne. A referendum held last week shows that the majority are in favour of a republic. Obnoxious it all is. A sad day for monarchists everywhere. The crown in Ethiopia is even more insecure. The imperial family there are being executed right, left and centre, and fears for the life of the tiny emperor, Haile Selassie, are growing. Two thrones collapsing in one year is too sad. The late King Farouk of Egypt told Lord Boyd-Orr in 1951 that 'soon there will be only five kings left. The Kings of Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs and Spades, and the King of England.'

YP all day. Kathleen is better tempered after the weekend. Don't do pictures at all, and just do cuttings. Much more pleasant.

Denny rings at 4.30 to say she is finishing with Adrian tonight because he is being cowardly about the dinner dance.

The Sunday Express yesterday said that the Prince of Wales continues to visit Lady Jane Wellesley at her Fulham home - disguised beneath a false black beard.

-==-

Tuesday September 24, 1974

Typical Autumn day. Very bright, sunny, but cold and chilly.

Nothing in the newspapers worth mentioning, though the electioneering bumf is once more rolling off the Press. Anthony Crosland attacked dear old Margaret Thatcher, who, if I remember correctly, abolished school milk and performed a great, kind service to the millions of little milk-haters throughout the United Kingdom.

Mother says she's lost heart with creepy little Harold (Wilson), and intends placing her vote with Mr Thorpe on Oct 10th.

Marita rings me at the YP in the morning and says she'll be at the Generation Bar in order to celebrate John's birthday tomorrow, and Denny rings in the afternoon to say the same thing. Quite looking forward to Wednesday's birthday gathering in that small ale cellar beneath the Jubilee pub close to Leeds Town Hall. With some relief on my part, though not on John's, tomorrow will see the legalisation of his drinking habits, which have gradually increased over the past 2 years.

Sit watching TV all evening. Nothing other than election rubbish, which deals with speculation that another so-called Labour peer is planning to defect to the Liberals. Harold Wilson refuses even to accept that Lord Chalfont is a member of the Labour party. Cowards way out I say.

That aristocratic drunkard, Lady Jane Wellesley, is making a name for herself in electioneering circles. Her brother Lord Douro is a Tory candidate in the Islington constituency, and she's going round the streets singing slogans and handing out leaflets. The Prince of Wales can hardly marry a girl who has led an active political life, and I suppose this is the straw that'll break the camel's back. Her drinking was bad enough, but this?


-==-

Friday June 21, 1974

My half day. Work 9-12. Busy but not unusually hard. See in the papers that the poor desolate Lady Jane Wellesley was taken to a police station in London after failing the breathylyser test in her Lancia car. No doubt that full of remorse over losing the Prince of Wales, she went out and got herself pissed. Good bloody luck to her Ladyship, that's what I say.

Go to Bradford at 12 where I meet Denise for lunch. Go to The Queen's, a new pub near the new hotel (Norfolk Gardens?) and we have a couple of drinks. A very warm day, and it feels wonderful to get into the shade of the little, cool tavern. At about 2 I go and have my hair cut, and it certainly needed doing - Denise thinks it looks wonderful. We have a coffee together.

Later: Jackie rings for John, but nothing comes of it and I decide not to contact Judy. She isn't a very nice girl_____. Very good looking of course, but that is all.

John and I go to the Hare (and Hounds) where we are soon joined by Bruno, Andy, Christine W and Linda. Where is Carol? No mention of her is made and I suspect Bruno and she are no longer intimate. Denny comes very late, and Chris even later. To Wikis at 10.30. Home 2.30. Helen Willis ignored us all night.

-==-

Monday May 27, 1974

Bank Holiday in England, Northern Ireland & Wales. Poor Lady Jane Wellsesley is not going to be the next Queen Consort of England after all. In yesterday's papers the Prince of Wales is reported to have made comments about his so-called relationship with her Ladyship and he said he had never had any romantic interlude with her, adding something about all the publicity being: "awful." Getting Britain's heir to the altar is going to be more difficult than I imagined.

Back to the YP. Leeds looked dead, almost as if a nuclear war is about to take place. Felt sick seeing people standing about with suitcases waiting to be rushed away to holiday retreats - not that I wish to go anywhere in particular, but anything is better than sitting in the office all day. Just Sarah and Carol in - Anne is off and Kathleen is still on holiday & I don't care where the hell Janice is. Feel sick with work and get headache with the heat.

Home at 6. Ring poor Denny who says she finished with her latest love on Saturday_____. Judith rings and says she'll come to the Hare and Hounds for a late drink, but I don't really know whether she will or not. Chris says he'll also be at the Hare. John and I go at 8.15. Sit near the juke box with George and Jane having a tremendous time. Chris and Laura eventually join us, Laura being very charming for a change. Keith and Christine sit in another part of the pub. Judy and her friend Jackie come in at 11.30 and we stay at the Hare until 12.15. Back to Pine Tops for coffee and whatever else you, dear reader, thinks should have happened.

-==-

Monday April 22, 1974

Boring day. Kathleen and I are working Thursday evening again & we are both taking Wednesday for a half-day. Carol and Janice were green with envy at our arrangements - such horrid girls they are! Come home on the 33 bus which makes a happy diversion from the usual rigmarole on the train every night.

No one rings and I spend a quiet evening in front of the tv. 'Lord Peter Wimsey' by Dorothy L. Sayers is very good indeed. It follows on next week.

The Prince of Wales is docking at Portsmouth on HMS Jupiter tomorrow and I can forsee a revival by the Press of the 'Will he marry Lady Jane Wellesley before or after Christmas?' theme.

Bed after a bath at 11.30. Saw a terrible programme about (Christopher) Ishwerwood, the homosexual who wrote 'Cabaret' in which Judy Garland's daughter rose to fame as 'Sally Bowles'.____.

-==-

Monday January 7, 1974

Interesting day at the YP. Now that I've finished typing I find I can plod along with the work much more efficiently and I find I take more interest in what I'm doing.

See some new pictures to file of Lady Jane Wellesley, and quite an attractive thing she is too. File the obit. of Lord Nunburnholme, who died on New Year's Day. The files will be completely taken over by the peerage before I'm finished.

Poor Chris went to London today for one week on a banking course. The poor blighter will simply dissolve without his usual ale at the Emmotts.

Dave went back to Worcester. He rang late yesterday to see if I was going out - however, I decided to remain indoors. I must remember to write in a few weeks time - he gets horrid fears that we will lose touch completely.

Miss W was in a foul mood today, probably because it's her 60th birthday tomorrow, and she must be feeling older.

Generally a terrible day weather-wise. Rained constantly.

Walk home with Judith, that vivacious creature from Fieldhead Rd. I can't understand how she manages to be so lively.

See tv all evening. Mum and Dad go to Esholt. Retire at 12.15 and have a shower. Bed 1.30.

-==-

Thursday January 3, 1974

Awake feeling terrible. A runny nose, watery eyes, dry throat, blocked ears. Terrible. Stagger to Guiseley for the 8.20 train. See Judith who says I should not have ventured out in my condition. The weather is also terrible. Icy wind and very thick frost. I can feel it getting on to my chest. A nasty cough is round the corner.

Poor Dad spent the day in bed after being horribly sick in the night. The meal at the CW cannot have agreed with his digestive juices. However, Auntie Hilda has also been violently sick recently, but her case can be diagnosed very easily. If you drink an entire bottle of Bacardi you cannot expect to feel bright and breezy for a couple of days. She denies that the drink is the culprit, saying it must have been something she ate at our buffet!

Stagger home from the YP and go early to bed.Decide not to go in tomorrow because I do not intend killing myself for the sake of a cheap little newspaper.

Sit, propped up by pillows, until 8.20 when I fall asleep.

The papers are still full of the Prince of Wales and Lady Jane Wellesley. Somehow I can't see anything coming out of this affair at all. The Mail says Charles is only using her as a cover for Lady Cecil Kerr, a Catholic. I don't know what to think.

-==-

Saturday December 29, 1973

Get up at 6.30 shower and dress and leave for the YP at 8. Every national newspaper has Lady Jane Wellesley on the front page. She's staying with the Prince of Wales for the New Year at Sandringham. The Telegraph predicts a New Year engagement, which I think is absolutely ridiculous. Both Miss W and Janice are off - we spend a quiet morning. Only the second Saturday on which I have worked for the YP. Finish all my my work at 12.10 and bid farewell to Kathleen and Sarah. Go down Wellington Street to the Railway station buying a 'Private Eye' on the way. Home by 1.0. Do absolutely nothing all afternoon and see 'Dr Who' again - the greatest series on tv. See 'The Generation Game'. Bruce Forsyth married Anthea Redfearn in Windsor on Christmas Eve. He's a fantastic wit - when he and Frankie Howerd get together it's totally hilarious. Chris rings at 7 and asks us, meaning John, Denny and myself, to go to the Fleece. We carry out his orders. We find Andy propping up the bar where he's been since 7.30! He isn't pissed either. Denny's been supping since 8 o'clock. Chris, Pete, Laura and Maggie come ages after and I am feeling very uncomfortable in the heat of the bar. At 10 we set off for Chris's house. David and MM are outside the Fleece, and Denny (who is sick of Laura) drags me into the back of MM's Datsun and we go to the Ratcliffe residence. Plenty of drink - and Tamla - as usual. I remain quite sober but we all have a good time until about 5am. Andy, John and me crush into Chris's bedroom, where I fall immediately to sleep until the following afternoon - fully clothed too. -==-

Tuesday December 11, 1973

An interesting morning filing the obits. The Prince of Wales was yesterday made a personal Aide-de-Camp to the Queen. The other ADCs are the Dukes of Gloucester and Kent, and Earl Mountbatten of Burma.

See in the Express that another of Prince Charles's girlfriends is engaged. Lady Henrietta FitzRoy, a daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Grafton. However, Jane Wellesley is still tipped for the top.

-==-

Wednesday November 28, 1973

The first of the winter snow fell in Leeds from about 11 o'clock this morning onwards. It was fantastic. The snow always deadens the noise, and the traffic moved silently down Wellington Street, for a change.

Ian Appleyard was on the train this morning. His sister Margaret is getting married again next month.

A busy, but pleasant day at the YP. A journalist wanted to know if I would play rugby on Sunday but I told him that I loathed the sport. He says it's the YP versus the EP. They'd kill me! All those 16 stone grizzly reporters - never!

At lunchtime I researched the genealogy of Lady Jane Wellesley. She is, of course, descended from the 1st Duke of Wellington, victor of the Battle of Waterloo, and she is a fifth cousin of the Queen. Yes, she's suitable enough and quite attractive - probably a bit plump, but nothing to get tangled about. Whatever happened to Angela Nevill?

Get the 5.17 train with Helen Willis. We discuss old school days especially the sociology lessons. What fun we had way back in those good old wintry days of December 1971. Home at 6 for tea.

See 'Coronation Street'. Albert Tatlock and Minnie Caldwell are thinking about getting married! I'll not venture to comment on that thank you very much.

You are well aware of my views on the subject of monarchy, but I'm going to break from tradition in order to say something very rude about one of the lesser royalties. King Feisal of Iraq is a "silly bugger", and I mean it. He's been very stubborn with his oil supplies at the moment and, as a result, petrol rationing books will be issued tomorrow.

-==-