Life
Aussie life
The international popularity of the gladioli-waving, board-wobbling, knife-wielding caricatures of Barry Humphries, Rolf Harris and Paul Hogan was so great…
Language
I ran into James Morrow in the corridor the other day – and he told me that he thought he…
Whoops, I’ve given my children a gambling problem
The problem with my gambling, Caroline has always maintained, is not the fact that I nearly always lose. I only…
‘Through ecstasy I say: it’s perfect’: The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop reviewed
The obvious thing to say about themed restaurants is that they are usually bad. The Rainforest Café in London, for…
Spectator Competition: Four play
For Competition 3454 you were invited to encapsulate a well-known poem in four lines. I found this entertaining parlour game…
Still life
Provence ‘Painting is a stupid job. Do something useful and train to be a nurse,’ commented a man beneath a…
Who needs a baby when I’ve got my terrier?
Back in the day, Chelsea Flower Show was regarded as the beginning of the Season. Queen Alexandra opened the festivities…
In praise of Peter Murrell
When people ask me what my politics are, I have to explain that I support a dwindling faction you might…
The NHS believes in fairness – they treat everyone with equal contempt
Edward Gibbon was troubled by a swelling in his lower abdomen. I have the same condition. ‘Wow. That’s huge,’ said…
Dear Mary: What should I do if the view’s no good with my free tickets to Wimbledon?
Q. Around this time of year a friend, who somehow gets hold of tickets through an agency, usually asks me…
Aussie life
‘Chloe’, Young and Jackson’s famously elongated dining room nude is a Rorschach test for people who say they know a…
Language
‘Codswallop’ means ‘Nonsense, rubbish, drivel’. The experts at the Oxford think they have nailed it down. They write, ‘Popularised in…
Embrace the squidge of a custard slice
Ihad a culinary revelation this week. I like to think I’m an egalitarian when it comes to food – I…
The Derby is the most interesting race of the year – and I missed it
In 1949, the 18th Earl of Derby revived the tradition of the Derby Club dinner in London, three days before…
Was I too right-wing for MI6?
Like many people, I’ve been bemoaning the woke capture of our security services for some time. In 2024, Sir Richard…
My beautiful friend’s beautiful manifesto
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna When I was still beautiful, a famous Italian TV art historian and politician chose me to be…
Why do Americans always want to have ‘the talk’?
‘I’m Native American,’ said one half of the honeymooning couple from Plattsburgh, holding out a small gift as they left.…
The horror of being offered a seat on the Tube
It would have been my mother’s 84th birthday on 29 May. I thought about her as I clattered down the…
