Honorificabilitudinity
My husband told me with glee that Nicholas Byfield had a great big stone ‘like flint’ in his bladder, weighing…
Barometer
The end of an emperor — 82-year-old Emperor Akihito of Japan has announced that he wants to abdicate, partly, he…
Dorset’s winning formula
Dorset Opera seems to receive far less coverage than the rest of the country-house summer shows, although it is in…
Rome’s border policy
Whether the EU commission knows what is good for it or not — always a tricky call — post-Brexit Britain…
Bridge
Here’s a bridge tip you won’t find in a book — one which the wonderful Gunnar Hallberg gave me. You’re…
Holding on
From ‘Restless politicians’, The Spectator, 12 August 1916: Even those journals which a few months ago were most zealous for…
Letters
The hate is real Sir: It is clearly an exaggeration to call Britain a bigoted country (‘We are not a…
The Spectator’s Notes
Those who want to revive grammar schools are accused of ‘bring backery’ — the unthinking idea that the past was…
Recycling the avant-garde
One overcast afternoon in late July I took a train to Norfolk. It seemed a good time and place to…
Real life
The builder boyfriend colicked for a week after eating a falafel kebab as he and I sat up all night…
Christopher Biggins and the fall of civilisation
Suppose you’d invited me round to dinner to celebrate my engagement to your daughter, which do you think would be…
Surreptitious subversion
After the vote to leave the EU it is time to reclaim the good old English names for traditional openings…
Why not use RBS as an experiment in narrowing the top-to-bottom pay gap?
Theresa May sent a strong message to the corporate world when she criticised the ‘irrational, unhealthy and growing gap’ between…
Heads in the cloud
Ask me what I had for lunch yesterday and I couldn’t tell you. Names disappear as swiftly as smoke.-Birthdays, capital…
Dear Mary
Q. I live in Balham but work in Mayfair. Twice recently I have had to take whole days off work…
Trump holds the aces
Last week, the New York Times ran the page one headline ‘Pence Supports Ryan, Showing GOP Turmoil.’ There was turmoil…
Cartoon heroes
While non-Aboriginal Australians squirm with guilt over their ‘privilege’, a cabal of middle-class Aboriginals have proven adept at pretending their…
Mad and bad
On a warm summer night in London’s Russell Square a young, Muslim migrant randomly stabs members of the public. He…
The rainbow election
Cape Town South Africa has just seen her most encouraging election results ever. The general election of April 1994, which…
Australian letters
Costello for PM? Sir: John Stone’s prediction that Liberal MPs will soon revisit the cutlery draw and stab Turnbull in…
Straight talking
Thirty years ago this week, Queen performed what would turn out to be their last gig, at Knebworth. Their penultimate…
The decade of Delia
Proof that someone has really made it as a TV historian comes, I would suggest, when they join the likes…
In defence of dinner parties
In or out? Almost two months on and I’m afraid the great debate shows no sign of abating, certainly not…
Funny is dangerous
‘I’m off now,’ says Michael Heath, signing off from his selection of Desert Island Discs on Radio 4, ‘to go…
The first favela
Where are you going?’ demanded the boy on the wall. A walkie-talkie clipped to his denim shorts crackled, but there…
