Thursday March 18, 1982

 I do not feel in the rudest of health today. My throat is still playing up, and taking a closer inspection in the mirror I see a terrible abrasion close to my tonsils. All day I felt hot and listless.

I check the Court Circular every day to assess the royal engagements in the summer to pin down when the baby prince/princess is due. President Reagan and the Pope are visiting the Queen in early June, and HM goes to the Palace of Holyroodhouse on June 28, and so the middle of the month appears to be free. I feel sure that the Queen will be in London for the birth of her heir of line. We shall see.

Home to Piggy at 6. Cracked open a couple of bottles of beer and sat watching Esther Rantzen doing a programme on childbirth.

Salad sandwiches. Robin Day's 'Question Time' which always sees me blowing raspberries and shaking my fists at the TV. Silly old Baroness Wootton of Abinger, CH, is one for instance who never fails to draw raspberries and rude gestures from me.

Bed after 12.

-=-

Wednesday March 17, 1982

 St Patrick's Day - Bank Holiday in Ireland & the Republic of Ireland

Bugger St Patrick. A man on the radio this morning stated that St Patrick was in fact Welsh. Very dubious.

Bacon sandwiches and tea for breakfast. The suspense about Ally's condition is on our minds all day. We try not to think about it and promise not be disappointed if a baby isn't on the way. In quiet moments though, supping tea at work and buried behind the Daily Telegraph, my thoughts drift over to Bradford and that litttle woman, without whom life would be pointless and not worth living.

YP: Carol's diarrhoea. Kathleen's mum diarrhoea. Went out and bought waders -just in case. 

James Anderton says the country is being undermined by Marxists and that nothing is safe. I couldn't agree more, Jimmy. I filled in some coupons from the national papers and despatched them to the Police Federation agreeing with them that capital punishment should be restored. Obviously, not a snowball in Hell's chance, but at least I've expressed my opinion. I am all for hanging, flogging, cutting off ears, fingers, toes, noses, anything to bring peace and quiet back to our streets. We've all gone soft in the head.

-=-

Tuesday March 16, 1982

 YP: Carol's diarrhoea continues, and to make matters worse Kathleen's mum is now overcome by the illness too. Kathleen had to go home early to muck out Brooklands Close.

Sarah was amiable and almost like her old self.

On March 11 and March 13 PHS of the Times Diary was speculating about the Garter. He reported that the last occasion upon which the Queen made a single appointment was Lord Ashburton in 1969. This is incorrect. Lord Casey was also appointed a KG in 1969. The last single appointment was Viscount Cobham in 1964. I wrote to this PHS chappie enclosing a list of all Garter knights appointed since 1952. Am I becoming a crank?

Ally and I dined by candlelight at 6:30, chicken soup, bacon, sausages and eggs. The phone rang. It was Sarah asking us to dine on Saturday. Startling. __________.

Watched TV. Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and Edward G. Robinson. Ally is unimpressed by these old John Huston films and cannot understand my fascination. She says I only like them because I'm supposed to. Sorry, but that isn't me.

To bed at 9:30 with Lord Mountbatten.

-=-

Monday March 15, 1982

 Ally is the most beautiful creature in the whole world. I sit and fix my eyes on her, soaking every bit in until she spots me, becomes restless, and looks up from her book. Luscious.

YP dull. Carol has diarrhoea, and leaves at 12. Margot suffers from some affliction which prevents her working after lunch. Sarah spent the afternoom grousing about Trevor's sisters, who are very annoyed that their children haven't been invited to their wedding. Nephews are a little too close to be ignored, I fear. Cousins, yes.

Diana: pale and thin

Home for chicken stew and dumplings at 5:30, still in daylight. Ally has a delicious tale of Frank and Bessie's weekend trip to Le Harve with the ghastly Winchester Rotary Club people. Apparently, one of their number, an alcoholic, went berserk on the rough Channel crossing and had to be kept under close guard locked in his cabin. What's more, the incarcerated gent is president of the club. Bessie giggled like a schoolgirl when she related this tale to Ally this afternoon. Gillian was absent today, and so Ally had a better day.

The Princess of Wales looks pale and thin on page 1 of today's YP. Pregnancy doesn't suit everyone, does it? Lord Spencer, we are told, is hoping for a grandson to solve the 'succession problem' and kill Michael English's Bill stone dead. Johnny is such a sensible man and I feel sure that his KG will be well received. Bed at 10.

-=-

Sunday March 14, 1982

 3rd Sunday in Lent

Out of bed at 11:30. I made an enormous fried breakfast and large pot of tea. We sat smiling at one another over our cups. Ally loves and admires my fried creations. She compares then to the photos one sees in glossy food magazines. The way to make a good fried breakfast is not to let the frying pan think it's in charge. Always show the kitchen utensils who is the boss. Romantic, that is until the handle snapped on my china cup, sending a deluge of hot tea over the mahogany table. The breakafast things were cleared away very quickly.

An afternoon of tranquil repose. Watched 'The Cruel Sea' on the BBC. A good, sloppy naval tale with a cast of thousands. Donald Sinden so young he had acne, &c.

Chicken for dinner. We are so greedy. To bed at 10. Mum phoned just as I turned out of the light. They are safely returned from Scotland. JPH is growing up. They bought him a belt of which he is very proud.

-=-

Saturday March 13, 1982

 John and Maria were joined together in Holy Matrimony six years ago this day. I sent them a card bearing the following verse:

'Sing, dance and cheer, for our John and Maria,'

'Who now for six years have been wed'

'To Scotland they went'

'Now the money's all spent'

'And I don't think they get out of bed'

Mum and Dad went to Stranraer yesterday with Jim and Margaret. I can picture the mad, heaving party at Port Patrick. Ally foolishly spent all day doing housework and then at 4:00 we went to Morrison's and spent £16, quite a lot for us.

[Deletion of personal and graphic medical details]

Jackie and Barry came at 8. We had a pub crawl to the 'Fiddler's Three', the 'Fire Brigade', the 'Drop Kick', and the 'Royal'. Barry is such amiable company. I attempted to play on the 'Space Invader' machine and give Barry a game, but blew myself up every time. Jackie seems so happy. They are going to join us with Dave L on April 3 for my birthday. Home at 11:30 and had a curry from over the road.

We closed the evening with lemon wine and Advocaat. Pissed. Jackie and Barry left after 1:45am.

-=-

Friday March 12, 1982

 Stubbornly refused to climb out of bed until the very last moment. Felt slightly rough after Mary's ridiculously extravagent measures of whisky. We were lectured on race relations last night. We were told that the Indians and Pakistanis are a far superior race to the rebellious West Indian and Caribbean types. The latter, we were told by the mindless ladies, all carry enormous chips upon their shoulders, and will never let us forget that they were once enslaved. The recent Toxteth rioters were not the turban-wearing types.

Ally and I are disgustingly boring this evening. Spaghetti for dinner [very unsubstantial]. We sat snuggled together until 9 o'clock when the ice skating championships from Copenhagen drove us upstairs to bed.

-=-