Dearest Gentle Reader, this Friday brings a monarch baring his tax bill to the nation, a government minister telling his superior to 'stay classy' from the digital salons, and forty hospital staff whose curiosity has proved rather more dangerous than their patient's reptilian assailant. This Author's lorgnette has been working quite the overtime - read on, if you dare.

Dearest Gentle Reader, this Tuesday finds royalty addressing foreign assemblies, landlords weeping over empty coffers, and oil barons quietly toasting a war they did not start. This Author has observations - some grave, some wickedly arch, and one or two that shall require a steadying cup of something strong before you proceed.

Dearest Gentle Reader, this Monday brings royalty venturing into uncertain territory abroad, a river reduced to something a chicken would blush to admit responsibility for, and a Kenyan gentleman who has made a mockery of the very concept of two hours. This Author has also received intelligence on the state of the nation's health that is rather less diverting - and a tale of courage from the Northern Province that demands every reader's attention.