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| Diana: matronly |
Humid. YP dull. Saw a few photographs on the wire of the christening at Buckingham Palace. The Princess of W in a hat which made her look 'matronly'. Like someone on the platform at the Brighton conference. In her defence she cannot have had much free time to go out and buy one since her accouchement.
I sat outside writing this evening. Ally was assaulting the sitting room with the vacuum cleaner. News at Ten. Poor. Bed.
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Extremely hot. Norman [our neighbour] told me that the temperature in his greenhouse is over 100 degrees F. "Too hot for my tomatoes", he grunted. Who cares about tomatoes?
Master Glynn is 28 today. We sent a silly card, but heard nothing. Plagued with filthy flies in the office. Margo squirmed every time one buzzed past.
Received a peculiar letter from Malcolm Fawbert who told me he can trace the Fawberts back to 1400, to one Alexander Titus Myles ffawbert de Grantley. Nonsense. It sounds like something out of 'Kind Hearts and Coronets'. The man woffled on, filling five large sheets of paper, without actually telling me anything. Ally furious and imaptient. She likes people to get straight to the point and 'our Malcolm' isn't one of this kind. ________.
Steaming hot. We had steak and kidney with dumplings. Good summer food. A mistake really. I cleaned the windows. We are the tidiest people on Club St. Too hot to go to bed. We sat looking at a book of impressionist paintings.
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Bank Holiday in Scotland & the Republic of Ireland
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| Duke of York? |
YP dismal. Sat contemplating my next published genealogical work. Could I fool Jonathan Margolis into thinking that Prince Andrew is to be created Duke of York on his return from the Falklands? I looked into the history of the dukedom and passed a few hours.
Hung more polystyrene lining paper whilst listening to someone on ITV blabbing on about police corruption. Annoying. Lynn phoned and asked whether it's wise to include David G in Dad's leaving party on Sept 14. I said it is. She wasn't impressed. Women. Giovanni's is booked. Bed. Hot and clammy. Restlessness.
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8th Sunday after Trinity
So-called Yorkshire Day. Up with the larks. Ally managed to last out for the whole day. I hung polystyrene lining paper over the bare walls and before long we were cocooned inside a dazzling white sponge. Bessie phoned. She has a new car the colour of Cashmir [sic]. Does Kashmir begin with K?
We are to have a 'Thursday Night' session on Thursday. It is quite difficult to have a Thursday night session on a Friday. I phoned Hilda and asked if she and Tony would be the 'star' guests. Much diary consulting was done and eventually I could hear Tony shouting: "I'm free". Thursday might be a good opportunity to move the piano. My maternal grandmother, Levinyer Wilson, could move a piano from room to room, quite unaided, at St James's Crescent when the whim took her. Not so much will-power as manpower. She weighed 16 stones.
We sat cuddling this afternoon swilling lager and moving books from the bookcase to the bedroom. Ate fish at 8. At 9 we watched Marilyn Monroe in 'Some Like It Hot'. She died 20 years ago next week. Ally thinks that she [Marilyn] is fat and revolting. I must admit that the ideal and desirable figure for a woman was different in the 1950s than today.
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A promising start at 9:30. Eggs and toast, &c. Ally was off it from the start and after cleaning away the breakfast things she went back upstairs and climbed into bed. I went outside with a paint brush and finished the windows which I began three months ago. Ally emerged at about 3 just in time for Dave and Lynn's arrival with a blond, bronzed Frances. They came to inspect Ally and make sure I am not maltreating her. Frances drank milk and gobbled a biscuit and says 'tick tock' and 'pick' for picture. She has fat little brown legs, but doesn't use them. She's still a replica of Dave. They left after an hour.
I went to buy fruit and veg from a Pakistani. Carried on painting. TV. Sleeps.
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Ally's neck has recovered, but it's her tummy that's the culprit now. __________.
I returned from a hard day at the office to find her oblivious of the time reclining on the sofa beneath the ridiculous Susan Howatch tome. Her inner clock had switched off at 3 o'clock. We ate beef burgers in buns with chips and beans - good stodgy food.
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| Freda Dudley Ward |
I varnished the new wood, and squabbled with Ally. We always fight when I work. She went off to bed quite jaded. I followed covered in varnish.
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Photographs are released of Prince William of Wales with his beaming parents today celebrating one year of marriage. God willing, the infant will be wearing the crown of St Edward well into the 21st century.
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Ally woke this morning and couldn't move her head. She fell asleep nursing Susan Howatch. It's given her a stiff neck. I went to work leaving her paralysed and in great pain.
Kathleen off. I told the EP newsdesk about the engagement of Viscount Ingleby's daughter, Sarah, to a Hervey-Bathurst.
I took a half day and returned to Piggy at 1 o'clock. I walked in and she took one look at me and burst into tears. It's hideous to see her so. I took a walk to the chemist and bought a tube of something to rub on the painful spot, and before long I was stripped to the waist rubbing away upon her like a Turkish masseur. She found some relief, but cut a sorry figure.
_______. Afternoon TV is most odd. Things about wild birds followed by family quiz shows.
Spoke to Mum who expressed concern at Ally's condition. I think Lynn might have been spreading doom and despondency.
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Ally came home from work this afternoon feeling sick and faint. The girls in the office were giving her 'funny, knowing looks'. She staggered out and managed to get a bus home. I found her at tea time snuggled down with a book looking pale and tired. __________. Lynn phoned, and hearing that Ally was 'off colour' asked whether she's pregnant.
To bed early. Ally reading the ghastly Susan Howatch who she says, is 'good to read when you aren't really reading'.
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Up and out leaving John and Janette in bed. Today is Maria's 24th birthday. We didn't send a [birthday] card. This has nothing to do with her current marital status. She didn't send us cards, and so we returned the slight. Buggered all day. Phoned Mama who was cool about Janette. Her mind is made up ________. Ally and I think differently. Dad had been sent to the Stones concert, in an official capacity, and was very unimpressed and particularly took offence to Mick Jagger's bad language. He had to work overtime, poor man.
_________. Ally and I had a peaceful dinner and sat in the quiet of our tiny parlour watching TV. Dave G phoned to ask about the [Rolling] Stones.
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Up at 8. A hot day. Ally felt sick and looked like death. Oh, dear! We seem to have done it again. Bacon sandwiches and mugs of tea later things were no better. John and Janette do not agree with this dawn start to this historic day but I am adamant. We were out at 9:45 and joined Sarah and Trevor at Horsforth, and they took us on to Roundhay Park. The scene there was incredible. I did not know what to expect but found the stage an amazing sight. We spent the day sitting around eating sandwiches and laughing at the crowds of fans filling the park. A constant stream of people until after 5pm. Not many weirdos or hippy types, but the majority seemed to be 20-30 year-olds. Saw warm up acts including George Thorogood and the Destroyers, the J Geils Band, all good, and yet very far away like ants. The [Rolling] Stones came out at 6 and were incredible. The only experience that might come close to the power of this is perhaps the Coronation of the Sovereign. [Mick] Jagger looking out at the crowds like Christ must have done at the feeding of the 5,000. We were all tip-toed with eagerness as Jagger strutted and leapt around covering hundreds of yards during each number clad in his baseball trousers and various jackets. We clapped and danced knowing we'll perhaps never see the likes of this again. John's face was a picture. He beamed like a child. We left Sarah at 8:30 after incredible fireworks and drove to Bradford and the Fire Brigade for a much needed pint, all wearing our 'Stones at Roundhay' T-shirts, and all eyes were upon us. Janette had been quiet as a mouse all day, but back in Bradford she brightened up _______. An old girl in the pub asked how the concert had been and said; 'He's such a talented boy [Jagger], and such a pity that not many people think so.' Oh dear. On to a Chinese fish and chip shop and then home for coffee and 'Emotional Rescue'. Say goodbye to Janette.
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A warm, gentle day. Ally and I took off to town with Samuel at 1pm. We didn't take the pram and I carried baby for two hours, by the end...
