Etiquette
Mary solves your problems: what’s the right response to a request for no presents?
Q. We have reached the age when we are receiving invitations from our friends for Golden Wedding celebrations. All the…
Mary answers your problems: The tactful way to get rid of a drunk guest
Q. I was recently at an informal dinner given by two dear friends, but returned home seething with rage against…
Mary solves your problems: A family friend stays over all the time – but never actually asks us out
Q. We have a family friend we don’t see nearly as much as we’d like. This is because he’s so…
Dear Mary
Q. A newish friend who has very good manners lent me a DVD of his grandfather at the Olympics. I…
Dear Mary
Q. We have moved from London into a rural area where we are preparing for the first visit of a…
Dear Mary
Q. How can I avoid becoming seen as an ‘Instagram creeper’? My well-meaning niece tells me that I’m in danger…
Dear Mary
Q. My partner and I recently had two close friends — one a Peer, the other a former Member of the…
Dear Mary
Q. Some rather flashy new neighbours of ours — I won’t mention their names as his will be familiar to…
Dear Mary
Q. I am in my seventies and my husband is in his nineties. The other night we had two couples…
Dear Mary
Q. I’m shortly to host a very large family gathering. Everyone will be related to the same ancestor, so we…
Snapping point
Our family holiday snaps used to be slides. We’d gather in the sitting room while Dad clicked through each one.…
Dear Mary
Q. Is there an etiquette regarding security gates? My wife and I were invited to dinner by new neighbours who…
Dear Mary
Q. ‘Alfred’ is a friend of 30 years’ standing who has just married for the first time. Alfred retains all…
Your problems solved
Q. We moved recently and new neighbours invited us to join them for dinner at a nearby restaurant. I planned…
Your problems solved
Q. What is the etiquette regarding asking to drink the wine you have brought to a dinner party? The man…
Your problems solved
Q. My super successful son kindly gave a birthday dinner party for me in a glamorous London club. I have never…
Queue
The language that President Barack Obama used was evidence of skulduggery, Nigel Farage declared. ‘The UK is gonna be in…
Your problems solved
Q. A friend of mine’s husband is in his nineties. They are a delightful couple but the husband has started…
Dear Mary
Q. What should a host do when a guest says something so embarrassing in front of the assembled company that…
Your problems solved
Q. Twice recently our host has clinked his glass, required us to stop relaxing and instead take part in a…
Your problems solved
Q. My niece, who came to stay with me in the country for the weekend, arrived without cash and asked…
Your problems solved
Q. I recently rediscovered a wonderful 22-year-old godson. He came to shoot for the first time and was a marvellous…
Your problems solved
Q. My husband-to-be and I both work full time. We are getting married from his family HQ and his kind…
Your problems solved
Q. For the past two New Year’s Eves we have ducked an annual party given by some acquaintances, who are…
Your problems solved
Q. Although I have met most of the fellow occupants of my building at residents’ meetings, we don’t socialise. However…
