Dearest Gentle Reader, this Monday has served up a most remarkable platter - an unelected would-be prime minister who declines to answer questions, a Navy that has quietly retired an entire class of warship in favour of something rather more futuristic, and the loss of a lady who played a snob so magnificently that an entire nation wept with laughter for decades. This Author has her lorgnette trained and her quill sharpened - do read on.