Dearest Gentle Reader, this Tuesday brings a sentencing scandal that has endured far too long, a maternity inquiry that found rather more embedded disgrace than the establishment would prefer, and a political speech so carefully unpinned from detail that one scarcely knows whether to applaud or merely ask a follow-up question. There is also, naturally, more heat on the horizon - and a doorbell camera that has done more for justice this season than many a magistrate.

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.

Dearest Gentle Reader, this Sunday brings a royal security drama that would make even the most seasoned novelist blush, a football farewell signed in fresh ink, and a golden medal that fetched a sum quite sufficient to fund a small principality. This Author has opinions on all of it - and she is not, for once, keeping them to herself.