Wednesday March 11, 1981

 _. Sunny day. Left the YP at 12. How splendid it is, to be able to take a 'half day'. Ally joined me at 1pm and we trundled over to Horsforth to pay £115 to Denny for the Ios honeymoon, and then did a bit of shopping at Morrison's. We collected Lynn at 4:30 and brought her over to Pine Tops for dinner - prawn curry. Lashings of wine. At 7:30 Ally and I went [in drizzle] to Pudsey to see Auntie Mabel. She had her gas fire belting out like Port Talbot Steelworks. We had supper and went on to Club St at 11.

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Tuesday March 10, 1981

 _. Received a letter from Denise asking for £115 to cover our Ios accommodation. I phoned Ally. We decided to withdraw the cash from a building society account and pay Denise tomorrow. I marched around Leeds in the rain.

Sir Geoffrey Howe presented his budget. Petrol goes up by 20p a gallon from 6pm, and he's put 4p on a pint on beer, 14p on a pack of cigarettes, and £10 on car licenses. I refuse to become morose and miserable about this.

Queen: 1952, and Diana 1981

I spoke to Fred Willis on the EP newsdesk about a good picture story. The dress worn by Lady Diana last night is almost identical to one worn by the Queen in July, 1952, when she sat for a portrait by Dorothy Wilding. He was very enthusiastic. Stephanie Ferguson was amazed by the likeness, and for some minutes the three of us discussed high fashion to the backdrop of Sir Geoffrey Howe droning on and on. Stephanie says the wedding dress is to be made by a Mayfair fashion house, and is now besieged by the press. On the subject of the royals: Prince Edward is 17 today. One day will he be Duke of Sussex, Cambridge, or even Clarence? I'm beginning to doubt whether he'll ever be a royal duke. I do not think that the Queen enthuses about dukedoms.

Ally phoned tonight. She says Auntie Mabel phoned her to say thank you for the birthday card, and they planned that we should go to Pudsey tomorrow. She was all alone at Club St, knitting by her fire. At least she now has a telly to break the monotony of her secular existence.

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Monday March 9, 1981

 _. Up at 6:45. Ally took Dave G and I to Kirkstall from where we walked into town and I said farewell to the lad as we reached the YP. He disappeared into the grime of Wellington Street carrying his large, blue bag. It was an easy day because I completed most of my mundane tasks working on Saturday. 

Home at 6. Ally came to dinner again and afterwards sat knitting with Mum. The clicking of knitting needles was almost deafening. Lady Diana was on the 9 o'clock news, attending her first official function. She accompanied the Prince of Wales to a charity performance at Covent Garden clad in a black chiffon dress which brought the glamour of the 1950s back to the Royal Family. Obviously, Lady Diana will be criticised. Should a future Queen display her bossoms? But we who know differently, and have access to thousands of historic photos, know that Her Majesty wore an almost identical and revealing dress when she was in her 20s. We haven't had a teenage bride at the forefront of the Royal family since Alexandra of Denmark in 1863. I find Lady Diana's awkward shyness, and sudden blushes quite enchanting. 

Ally brought four books we've bought from a book club, including the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, which I buried myself in for the remainder of the evening.

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Sunday March 8, 1981

 _. 1st Sunday in Lent

Auntie Mabel is 62 today, and Dave B is 25. We slept late, until about 11. I took a cup of coffee up to Dave G in the 'Brown Suite' , and found him in a state of undress and looking extremely nervous. The wardrobe and collapsed in the middle of the night, and onto his bed, and for some time he was entombed in a pine sarcophagus. He thought someone with a grudge had put a brick through the window. 

We ate scrambled eggs on toast and then lounged around doing absolutely nothing until after 3 when we went to Guiseley to see Sue and Pete. He was sitting in an armchair saying little, and looking more angry than ill. He was wading through a pile of his old school exercise books which I thought looked very odd. Dad appeared and at 5 we took him on to Pine Tops for dinner. No 'outsider' fits into our family like Dave G does. It's as if he's been here all along. 

Yet another TV session. Watched Cheryl Campbell and a brilliant Sir John Gielgud in Agatha Christie's 'The Seven Dials Mystery'. David pointed out that Agatha must have been sober when she penned that tome. Then we watched Joe Orton's 'Loot' starring Sir Richard Attenborough and Hywel Bennett. I laughed until I cried. 

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Saturday March 7, 1981

 _. Rain and damnation. Up at 6:45 for boiled eggs and toast. Ally joined me for coffee looking delightful with shaggy hair, and wearing one of my striped shirts. I got a bus into town and then on to Leeds and the YP. Drab and dreary, yet industrious until 1:45. Ally and Dave collected me. [They'd spent the morning preparing dinner. Dave had been given the job shredding mushrooms]. We went to the Ling Bob pub at Wilsden, via an antique shop in Armley, and then on to Haworth. David had never been to the latter. As usual it rained. We bought cream cakes and ate them in the street. Back to Club St for 5pm. 

Lynn and Dave came at 8:30. A tearful Sue phoned to say Pete is violently ill after a vodka session last night and they cannot join us. We had beef goulash with rice, then cheese and biscuits, &c. Lynn ate like a horse and is looking big and fit. Afterwards she sprawled out on the sofa, and to quote her ~ 'like a walrus with a thyroid problem'.  They stayed until after 12. I had far too much wine.

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Friday March 6, 1981

 _. New Moon

Lynn is twenty three today. I phoned her at 11:30. David bought her a Kenny Rogers LP for some reason, and is taking her to the cinema tonight to see 'Airplane'. Such bad taste.

At 5 I met Dave G at the railway station and we got a train through to Bradford and met Ally at 5:45. We took Dave to Club St for dinner. Lasagne washed down with white wine [bought by Dave]. I thought Dave might want to go out for a drink but he was content to sit by the fire watching our snowy TV. After dinner we listened to the 'Emotional Rescue' LP by the [Rolling] Stones, then watched Huw Wheldon's 'Royal Heritage', including a rare 'interview' with the Queen Mother. Before bed we watched Robert Donat's 'The 39 Steps' - hilarious in parts - especially the very end where the dying memory man asks: 'Was I right, Sir?' At that point the telly went on the blink, losing sound and picture, and so we shall never know.

David was given the newly decorated 'Brown Suite'. He stood aghast looking at the flying pigs. We have named them Charles, Diana and George. [George is the baby].

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Thursday March 5,1981

 _. Ally, bless her, eats banana on toast. She's besotted with this peculiar delicacy. I cannot enthuse or share her taste.

To Club St at 6 for dinner with Ally,who was feeling gloomy. We had a casserole with kidney and dumplings, quite excellent, and reclined afterwards. A life of domesticity. It must be a relief to the neighbours. For two years they've seen and heard us bombing around in the dead of night in varying states of alcoholism. It must be a shock for them now we behave like lieutenants in the Salvation Army. We have yet to tell Mrs Greenwood of our coming nuptials.

At 11:30 we went to bed to escape Sir Robin Day.