Parties

Dear Mary: How can I hang out with smokers at parties without freezing?

11 January 2020 9:00 am

Q. As a young woman I tend not to wear that much to social events in the evening, but I…

Dear Mary: I’m disabled – how can I stop my carer being so controlling?

18 May 2019 9:00 am

Q. I am a disabled man with a good brain and an independent bent. However, I need help to wash…

Down with kissing!

13 April 2019 9:00 am

It’s out of control! If I play doubles first thing, have a lunch, then go to perhaps two parties in…

Dear Mary: how can I make my timid husband ask for a longer haircut?

13 April 2019 9:00 am

Q. We sent out email invitations to our drinks party and have had too many acceptances. The venue has said…

Dear Mary: How to get out of a neighbours’ dinner party invite?

31 March 2018 9:00 am

Q. A couple who live directly opposite us in London have sent a save-the-date notice for a big party they…

Dear Mary

15 July 2017 9:00 am

Q. Is there an etiquette regarding security gates? My wife and I were invited to dinner by new neighbours who…

Dear Mary: What can you do when your new neighbours stiff you on a restaurant bill?

4 June 2016 9:00 am

Q. We moved recently and new neighbours invited us to join them for dinner at a nearby restaurant. I planned…

Cannes, exclusive? I’ve met classier crowds in brothels

28 May 2016 9:00 am

New York Let’s face it, sleaze is to professional party-givers what jail is to a burglar, an occupational hazard. I’ve…

Oxford is full of overindulged whiners. It wasn’t like that in my day

23 April 2016 9:00 am

I was in the attic killing some Taleban on Medal of Honor when Girl interrupted and said: ‘Dad, what’s this?’…

Dear Mary: How can I make a conversation-stopping gaffe go away?

9 April 2016 9:00 am

Q. What should a host do when a guest says something so embarrassing in front of the assembled company that…

Is it rude to run out of cartridges?

Dear Mary: How can I escape the New Year party that just won’t give up?

30 January 2016 9:00 am

Q. For the past two New Year’s Eves we have ducked an annual party given by some acquaintances, who are…

Dear Mary: How can girls avoid freezing in cold marquees?

10 October 2015 9:00 am

Q. What do you do when you are so cold at a party that you cannot enjoy it? At a…

‘About time too!’: Joan Collins curtseys to Prince Charles

25 April 2015 9:00 am

The day of my investiture at Buckingham Palace dawned bringing freezing rain and fierce winds, which lashed at the windows…

Dear Mary: How can I keep my retiring husband out of the house?

11 April 2015 9:00 am

Q. For ten years, I have made a reasonable freelance income working from home. During this time my husband has…

Dear Mary: How can I stop friends staying after a 21st?

24 January 2015 9:00 am

Q. A neighbour is hosting a party for his daughter’s 21st birthday. Adequate provision has been made for anyone who…

Nicky Haslam’s diary: Marie-Anna Berta Felicie Johanna Ghislaine Theodora Huberta Georgina Helene Genoveva and other big names

10 January 2015 9:00 am

I was once bundled into a police car in Palm Springs to explain why I didn’t have snow-tyres on my…

Dear Mary: What can I do about my neighbours’ downmarket recycling?

3 January 2015 9:00 am

Q. Since recycling was introduced in our village, the wall at the end of our drive has become the depositing…

Dear Mary: Do I really have to take my shoes off indoors?

29 November 2014 9:00 am

Q. There has been a marked increase in the number of people who have pristine flooring and are so keen…

Joan Collins’s diary: Why I gave up on Ascot – and where I go instead

12 July 2014 9:00 am

Can there be anything more perfect than early July in London, when the sun is shining, the sky a cloudless…

Dear Mary: Do men really have worse table manners when they’re on their own?

5 July 2014 9:00 am

Q.  My 16-year-old son, who has recently had his first experiences of Clubland, has observed to me, his mother, that…

Dear Mary: How will I know if he really loves me?

17 August 2013 9:00 am

Q. To ask for money in lieu of a wedding present (Dear Mary, 3 August) is ghastly, but an established…

Dear Mary: How can I stop my friends giving me Christmas presents?

6 July 2013 9:00 am

Q. Over the years my close friends locally have been giving each other birthday and Christmas presents. Now, as I…