Dearest Gentle Reader, this Wednesday brings a most extraordinary harvest of intrigue - a prime minister abandoned by his own financial patrons, a cruise ship haunted by a medieval-sounding pestilence, and a princess who has reduced an entire Italian city to rapturous hand-painted signage. This Author has observed much in her time, but today's dispatches are truly something to savour.

Dearest Gentle Reader, this Tuesday has delivered an embarrassment of riches - a Prime Minister under siege from his own ranks, a shadowy smuggling king unmasked, and a politician whose houseboat has proved considerably more costly than advertised. This Author has all the details, and not a single one is dull.

Dearest Gentle Reader, Monday has delivered a blast furnace of news - nationalisation, a most alarming cruise ship, a record-breaking television triumph, and the death of a man who once commanded the Death Star. This Author has opinions on all of it, and restraint has never been among her virtues.