tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19550755531095607192024-03-19T04:01:21.633-07:00"Tweedland" The Gentlemen's clubJeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.comBlogger4165125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-71012693082623863812024-03-19T03:55:00.000-07:002024-03-19T03:55:00.134-07:00Boarding schools have a devastating impact on society, says Charles Spencer / SAD LITTLE MEN by RICHARD BEARD<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg7ALDXV_CJDNBnU1SUpkOTHol_nQsHQulJgAuYR0yGCPzKdD4aBVMq1X4ytOXNiTWRA9DIxwhyphenhyphen0aZzWrb8k2n_3lfWDpp1NwV7-fBWm8JAN847QoBwfRSkhCD_oB7SQx0xcpNPYxdfH5ZDHKwylHQ8nV6iHO162TOOVnVZDn53nXaNZdH8n1K7eMym4C4/s1746/Charles_Spencer_20171207_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1746" data-original-width="1481" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg7ALDXV_CJDNBnU1SUpkOTHol_nQsHQulJgAuYR0yGCPzKdD4aBVMq1X4ytOXNiTWRA9DIxwhyphenhyphen0aZzWrb8k2n_3lfWDpp1NwV7-fBWm8JAN847QoBwfRSkhCD_oB7SQx0xcpNPYxdfH5ZDHKwylHQ8nV6iHO162TOOVnVZDn53nXaNZdH8n1K7eMym4C4/s320/Charles_Spencer_20171207_02.jpg" width="271" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Boarding schools have a devastating impact on
society, says Charles Spencer</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Brother of Diana reveals he was sexually abused as a
child at Maidwell Hall and that a nanny would beat him and his sister<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Jamie
Grierson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Sun 17 Mar
2024 17.26 GMT<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/17/boarding-schools-impact-charles-spencer">https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/17/boarding-schools-impact-charles-spencer</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Charles
Spencer, the younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, has said the
brutalising effect of boarding schools on people who have come to power has
been devastating for society.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Spencer was
speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme after the release
of his memoir, A Very Private School, in which he revealed he was sexually
assaulted as a child at the boarding school Maidwell Hall in Northamptonshire.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">In an
extract, the 59-year-old detailed the sexual assaults and beatings he
experienced at Maidwell, saying they had left him with lifelong “demons”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">He said he
was abused by an assistant matron at the school when he was 11, leaving him
with such trauma that he self-harmed over the notion that she might leave the
school.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Elsewhere
in the book, Spencer suggested the impact of public school culture had made a
difference to some of the people who lead the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">When asked
about this, he told Kuenssberg: “When it goes really wrong, as it did in
Maidwell in the 1970s, you’re going to come out very damaged, and I know I did.
And I actually say in the book, you know, to survive that, a small but
important part of me had to die. And I think that’s true, you know, there was a
softness that had to be trampled on, because otherwise it would be too painful.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“So if you
extrapolate that and think of the damage it’s done to other people who have
ended up in powerful positions – and I’m talking over the centuries, not just
contemporaries – they have to have had their view of what’s acceptable
behaviour, what other people mean in terms of empathy, they have to have been
brutalised.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“And I
cannot think that all of the effects of these schools can have been good for
society, or for the empire, or whatever we were in control of at the time. I
think it’s been devastating in some ways.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">In the
wide-ranging interview, he revealed that his and Diana’s childhood nanny would
“crack our heads together” if they misbehaved, with a “cracking crunch” that
“really hurt”. He said it emphasised the “disconnect of parents”, but he did
not criticise his mother and father, saying it had been “normal” to “leave it
to the nanny to deal with”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">He claimed
that another nanny punished his two older sisters by “ladling laxatives down
them”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">In his
memoir, Spencer described reliving his experiences at boarding school as “an
absolutely hellish experience”, writing: “I’ve frequently witnessed deep pain,
still flickering in the eyes of my Maidwell contemporaries.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">On the
matron, Spencer wrote: “There seemed to be an unofficial hierarchy among her
prey … She chose one boy each term to share her bed and would use him for
intercourse.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“Her
control over mesmerised boys was total, for we were starved of feminine warmth
and desperate for attention and affection.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">As a result
of the experience, Spencer said, he lost his virginity to an Italian sex worker
at the age of 12.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“There was
no joy in the act, no sense of arrival, no coming of age,” he wrote. “I believe
now that I was simply completing the process set in motion by the assistant
matron’s perverted attention.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">He also
said he was beaten with the spikes of a cricket boot by the school’s Latin
master.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">In a
statement, Maidwell Hall said it was “sorry” about the experiences Spencer and
some others had had at the school.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“It is
difficult to read about practices which were, sadly, sometimes believed to be
normal and acceptable at that time,” it said. “Within education today, almost
every facet of school life has evolved significantly since the 1970s. At the
heart of the changes is the safeguarding of children and promotion of their
welfare.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbs5L8cwe2fnbLmNYQWeB9HHNpGWe4DarGiBeUZ5cz5Y2M4nsqG-Hj07yxQn3BV4OM5uUVAVi6QD7R_XmvejNUuNb5fVRl69y968ZV6n4CXddqoFTK8EAkLbx4HKkgGh9m8ssB9rKxExBg/s440/image+%252811%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="440" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbs5L8cwe2fnbLmNYQWeB9HHNpGWe4DarGiBeUZ5cz5Y2M4nsqG-Hj07yxQn3BV4OM5uUVAVi6QD7R_XmvejNUuNb5fVRl69y968ZV6n4CXddqoFTK8EAkLbx4HKkgGh9m8ssB9rKxExBg/w400-h400/image+%252811%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">SEE ALSO: </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://tweedlandthegentlemansclub.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-guinea-pig-1948-clip-on-bfi-blu-ray.html">https://tweedlandthegentlemansclub.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-guinea-pig-1948-clip-on-bfi-blu-ray.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://tweedlandthegentlemansclub.blogspot.com/2019/08/a-clique-of-pseudo-adults-britains.html">https://tweedlandthegentlemansclub.blogspot.com/2019/08/a-clique-of-pseudo-adults-britains.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://tweedlandthegentlemansclub.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-riot-club-official-trailer.html"><span style="font-size: medium;">https://tweedlandthegentlemansclub.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-riot-club-official-trailer.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUAbj-JcCs0DfHN5cZh5BHRWW1m0cl2VWOIReKbKlYlMWSMveTbP5jcpVFo-6EsklLcFv1MfVRiNpH4JzfjwhGVVSs7zQD-z57YyWr9lsBZybuDRFFMpOZpJ48D4JL7tlaq8CcHW65v8H/s970/2b9c6a8b-d25d-4713-ba55-f88900a775f7.__CR0%252C0%252C970%252C600_PT0_SX970_V1___.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="970" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUAbj-JcCs0DfHN5cZh5BHRWW1m0cl2VWOIReKbKlYlMWSMveTbP5jcpVFo-6EsklLcFv1MfVRiNpH4JzfjwhGVVSs7zQD-z57YyWr9lsBZybuDRFFMpOZpJ48D4JL7tlaq8CcHW65v8H/w400-h248/2b9c6a8b-d25d-4713-ba55-f88900a775f7.__CR0%252C0%252C970%252C600_PT0_SX970_V1___.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In 1975, as
a child, Richard Beard was sent away from his home to sleep in a dormitory. So
were David Cameron and Boris Johnson.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In those
days a private boys' boarding school education was largely the same experience
as it had been for generations: a training for the challenges of Empire. He
didn't enjoy it. But the first and most important lesson was to not let that
show.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Being separated
from the people who love you is traumatic. How did that feel at the time, and
what sort of adult does it mould?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is a
story about England, and a portrait of a type of boy, trained to lead, who
becomes a certain type of man. As clearly as an X-ray, it reveals the make-up
of those who seek power - what makes them tick, and why.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sad Little
Men addresses debates about privilege head-on; clearly and unforgettably, it
shows the problem with putting a succession of men from boarding schools into
positions of influence, including 10 Downing Street. Is this who we want in
charge, especially at a time of crisis?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It is a
passionate, tender reckoning - with one individual's past, but also with a
national bad habit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">© Richard
Beard 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Listen on
your Booktopia Reader App<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC8vuH1Av-Rr4ftxi2x6Mj81ImSd0nDU5u1PBTT7-dT7XHQ0VHHQSDcDTBFIw78Lgky9unF3bPP2TiLykYbOMK4Ye9u84_YU2Fa3pdgeQUulxmH4xb6jB-qPgl-8Gd_s5aimtxIZXtWzDK/s890/2658.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="890" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC8vuH1Av-Rr4ftxi2x6Mj81ImSd0nDU5u1PBTT7-dT7XHQ0VHHQSDcDTBFIw78Lgky9unF3bPP2TiLykYbOMK4Ye9u84_YU2Fa3pdgeQUulxmH4xb6jB-qPgl-8Gd_s5aimtxIZXtWzDK/w400-h240/2658.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><b><br /></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Richard Beard Q&A: ‘This is a very
private-school idea – you just have to live with social injustice’<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Author
Richard Beard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Author
Richard Beard. Photograph: Urszula Soltys<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/aug/08/public-schoolboys-boris-johnson-sad-little-boys-richard-beard?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0u-1O8sYoxjXRP0qkEL9ImB_5ecE0AcmsJKwqemcxWrUANP_bHQOPYnmM#Echobox=1628416840">https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/aug/08/public-schoolboys-boris-johnson-sad-little-boys-richard-beard?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0u-1O8sYoxjXRP0qkEL9ImB_5ecE0AcmsJKwqemcxWrUANP_bHQOPYnmM#Echobox=1628416840</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">How has
your schooling affected you?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">My relationship
with my own emotions was distorted from the moment it was taken as gospel truth
that it was good for me to be separated from my family aged eight. You’re doing
something that feels terrible, but everyone tells you it’s good. That leads to
further dislocations, which allow individuals to become fractured, divided, and
very good at leading a double life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Boris
Johnson and David Cameron attended similar schools at a similar time. How do
you think it shaped them?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In so many
ways. Almost every day I read the paper and think, yes, I recognise that.
Recently, it’s the idea that you just have to live with stuff – with Covid, for
example. Just as at school you just had to live with your parents leaving you
behind, with the daily authoritarianism, with not going home for weeks at a
time. This is a very private-school idea – you just have to live with social
injustice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There’s
also the extensive training in dissembling and putting up a front. I don’t get
any sense of authenticity from them, or genuine empathy. At some point, you
start feeling sorry for them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Do you feel
sorry for them?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Well I hope
it’s there in the title of the book – it’s not just the pejorative name-calling
of sad little men. I know that they had to create their own coping mechanisms.
And those coping mechanisms are what you see in these behaviours, which do seem
to me to start out from the sadness of little boys out of their depth, but who
learned early in their lives how to hide that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Johnson has
been described as confusing and contradictory, but you say that’s precisely
what boarding school produces… shapeshifters with fluid identities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">That
connection is made quite clearly by John le Carré – he often links this type of
education to the vocation of being a spy. I do think it’s different now,
because we’ve grown up through a period of peace and prosperity, and we haven’t
had that tempering that previous generations have had, when confronted by major
world events – being goaded into seriousness, but also into empathy for other
people in the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">You’re
pretty unambiguous about the hellishness of boarding school. Why do parents
send their children to these places?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It’s not
hellish on a daily basis. On the surface, it seems quite the opposite,
especially to the parents. When you see the tennis courts and the swimming
pools it looks fantastic. The problems are underneath the surface.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But a lot
of these parents have gone through it themselves, so they are well aware of the
damage it creates…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you’re
now in a position to send your children to private school, it means you either
managed your inheritance wisely or you’re a QC or an investment banker or the
prime minister and you can say: “What a great success!” It’s very hard to fight
back against that surface, against that lie.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Did you
ever consider sending your kids to private schools?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">No. I
wanted the kids to be coming home at night, and I wanted them to be in
co-education.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Did that
extend to sending them to state schools?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I lived
abroad a lot, where they were in lycées, French-speaking schools. In this
country, to keep the language going, that meant finding what’s now a free
school, so a state school but not a classic comprehensive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Do you feel
that by writing this book, and facing up to your schooling, you’ve exorcised it
in some way?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I think
facing and unpacking a past life is the antidote to some of its effects. But I
was deeply formed by these experiences. The lies create habits for life which
are, in many cases, detrimental to living well, and that takes a long time to
undo.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Interview
by Killian Fox<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXNbV28IViqc8py1-5RGsRUjsF6r3aAj17v7ShXubfj6FVRk-gRdMk8BbUCCkkPgrgtGaO5AlBBZwMuDc-H5xdSmvYHYEJgdSAtz_Yso69baTlQbTKdG0FtmXduaAH1DROrMhwCQtaTmon/s1290/4173.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="1290" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXNbV28IViqc8py1-5RGsRUjsF6r3aAj17v7ShXubfj6FVRk-gRdMk8BbUCCkkPgrgtGaO5AlBBZwMuDc-H5xdSmvYHYEJgdSAtz_Yso69baTlQbTKdG0FtmXduaAH1DROrMhwCQtaTmon/w400-h240/4173.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><b>‘Everyone who was not us, a boy at a private boarding school from the late 70s to the early 80s, was beneath us’: Boris Johnson, centre front, at Eton. Photograph: Richard Shymansky from News Syndication/Gillman & Soame UK Ltd / News Licensing</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><b>Why public schoolboys like me and Boris Johnson aren’t
fit to run our country</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Boris Johnson,
centre front, at Eton.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Our elite
schools foster emotional austerity and fierce clique loyalty. Here a privately
educated writer of the prime minister’s generation reveals the lasting damage
public schools do<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Scroll down
for a Q&A with Richard Beard<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Richard
Beard<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sun 8 Aug
2021 07.00 BST<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/aug/08/public-schoolboys-boris-johnson-sad-little-boys-richard-beard?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0u-1O8sYoxjXRP0qkEL9ImB_5ecE0AcmsJKwqemcxWrUANP_bHQOPYnmM#Echobox=1628416840">https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/aug/08/public-schoolboys-boris-johnson-sad-little-boys-richard-beard?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0u-1O8sYoxjXRP0qkEL9ImB_5ecE0AcmsJKwqemcxWrUANP_bHQOPYnmM#Echobox=1628416840</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I had a
feeling I couldn’t immediately place. I wanted to go out but wasn’t allowed.
Shelves were emptying at the nearest supermarket and instead of fresh fruit and
vegetables I was eating British comfort food – sausages and mash, pie and
beans. My freedom to make decisions like an adult was limited. I wondered when
I’d see my mum again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">March 2020,
first week of the first lockdown: I was 53 years old and felt like I was back
at boarding school. Which wouldn’t have mattered, but for the fact that at a
time of national crisis my generation of boarding-school boys found themselves
in charge.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">My first
night at Pinewood school was two days after my eighth birthday in January 1975.
A term earlier David Cameron had left his family home for Heatherdown
preparatory school in Berkshire, while also in 1975, at the age of 11,
Alexander Johnson was sent to board at Ashdown House in East Sussex. This means
I know how two of the past three British prime ministers were treated as
children and the kind of men their schools wanted to make of them. I know
neither of these men personally but I do know that they spent the formative
years of their childhood in boarding schools being looked after by adults who
didn’t love them, because I did too. And if the character of our leaders
matters then I’m in possession of important information.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At the age
of 13, after prep school, Cameron and Johnson progressed to Eton. I went on to
Radley College near Oxford. The exact school picked out by the parents didn’t
really matter, because the experience was designed to produce a shared mindset.
They were paying for a similar upbringing with a similar intended result: to
establish our credentials for the top jobs in the country. We were being
trained for leadership, or if not to lead then to earn. The most convincing
reason to go to a private school remains to have gone to a private school, with
the prizes that are statistically likely to follow.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It is
noticeable, and often noticed, that something immature and boyish survives in
men like Cameron and Johnson as adults. They can never quite carry off the role
of grownup, or shake a suspicion that they remain fans of escapades without
consequences. They look confident of not being caught, or not being punished if
they are. Cameron has his boyishly unlined face and Johnson his urchin’s
unbrushed hair, and his arch schoolboy’s vocabulary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But what
kind of boyhood was it, in our paid-for rooms in those repurposed mansions that
housed our schools? What of the distant past still works in us as adults and
can we pass on the harm to others? Are we the right people to steer the
country, either clear of trouble or in the direction of sunlit uplands? The
answer to these questions depends on lessons learned at an impressionable age.
Unless, of course, we learned nothing. And no one pays hundreds of pounds a
term, even in the late 70s, to learn nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I remember the feeling of desolate homesickness:
abruptly, several times a year, our attachments to home and family were broken<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of the
first things we learned – or felt – at prep school was a deep, emotional
austerity, starting from the moment the parents drove away. That first night,
and on other nights to come, the little men in ties and jackets reverted to the
little children they really were – in name-taped pyjamas with a single soft toy
(also name-taped), blubbing themselves to sleep and wetting their beds.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I remember
the feeling of desolate homesickness: abruptly, several times a year, our
attachments to home and family were broken. We lost everything – parents, pets,
toys, younger siblings – and we could cry if we liked but no one would help us.
So that later in life, when we saw other people cry, we felt no great need to
go to their aid. The sad and the weak were wrong to show their distress, and we
learned to despise the children who blubbed for their mummies. The cure was to
stop crying and forget that life beyond the dormitories and classrooms existed.
Concentrate instead on the games pitches and the dining hall and the
headmaster’s study. By force of will we made ourselves complicit in a
collective narrowing of vision.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In Richard
Denton’s BBC documentary Public School, filmed at Radley College in 1979, the
Radley headmaster Dennis Silk tells a daunted audience of new boys that they’re
about to pick up “the right habits for life”. Among these habits was cultivation
of the stiff upper lip. We could be ourselves – homesick, vulnerable, lovelorn
and frightened – or, with practice at putting up a front, we could pretend to
embody the idealised national character. We could perform being loyal and
robust and self-reliant. Wearing a commendably brave face we could distance our
feelings, growing the “hardness of heart of the educated”, as identified by
Mahatma Gandhi from his dealings with the English ruling class.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This wasn’t
healthy. In her 2015 book, Boarding School Syndrome, psychoanalyst Joy
Schaverien describes a condition now sufficiently recognised to merit therapy
groups and an emergent academic literature. The symptoms are wide-ranging but
include, ingrained from an early age, emotional detachment and dissociation,
cynicism, exceptionalism, defensive arrogance, offensive arrogance, cliquism,
compartmentalisation, guilt, grief, denial, strategic emotional misdirection
and stiff-lipped stoicism. Fine fine fine. We’re all doing fine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We adapted
to survive. We postured and lied, whatever it took. Abandoned, alone, England’s
future leaders needed to fit in whatever the cost, and we were not needy, no
sir. We could live without, and we convinced ourselves early that we had no
great need of love, in either direction. Acting like a grownup meant needing no
one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Discouraged
from crying out for help, frightened of complaining or sneaking, we developed a
gangster loyalty to self-contained cliques, scared to death of being cast out
as we had been from home. Of being cast out again. In the absence of family we
kept in with our chums, but also ingratiated ourselves with the teachers: God
knows what might come next after abandonment if we kicked up a fuss.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">From the
teachers we learned about mockery and sarcasm as techniques for social control,
with our boy hierarchies regulated by banter, ranging from a sharp remark to a
knuckle in the crown of the head. Attack was the best form of defence, and
ridicule was honed as a deeply conservative force, controlling by means of
fear, either of being the joke or of not getting the joke. There was plenty of
fear to go round. The author Paul Watkins, in his memoir Stand Before Your God,
remembers at Eton the huge amount of energy, in the time of Cameron and
Johnson, that went into “teasing and ignoring people”. “I felt a harshness that
I’d never felt before.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">George
Orwell, during his time at prep school, remembers being ridiculed out of an
interest in butterflies. The banter that day must have been immense. Nothing
was sacred, and once we found out what another boy took most seriously we were
ready to strike, when necessary, at its core. Our most effective defence was
therefore to act as if we took nothing very seriously at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We learned
to stay detached, some would say cold – “You had to have a coldness in
yourself,” writes Watkins. “Of all the rules I learned and later threw away,
this one I kept. If you did not know it, you could get hurt very badly at a
place like Eton.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Later in
life, these unwritten school rules could infect every type of relationship.
Prematurely detached from our parents, we had a preference for abandoning
others before getting abandoned ourselves. Jump ship. Also, to be on the safe
side, keep an emotional reserve.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Prof Diana
Leonard, who established the Centre for Research on Education and Gender at the
University of London, published research in 2009 showing that boys from
single-sex schools were more likely to be divorced or separated from their
partner by their early 40s. And mental health professionals, like Schaverien,
are convincing in their explanation that those years of disconnection mean we
expect too much, our fantasies rarely surviving contact with reality. Making up
for lost time, for example, we want sex but come to resent women for our
weakness for sex – as adults, erotic dependence becomes a new form of
vulnerability to be doubted and denied. Why couldn’t women be more like our
boyhood Athena posters?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At school
we tried not to feel foolish, angry, loving, stupid, sad, dependent, excited or
demanding. We were made wary of feeling, full stop. By comparison, children not
blessed with a private education must be fizzing with uncontrolled emotions and
therefore insufferably weak. How did the schools teach us this sense of
superiority? The language was always chipping away – in the documentary Public
School the boys casually refer to “the lower orders”, as if to a species
difference, reptiles considering insects. In our isolation we learned that we
were special. Everyone else was less special and often stupid – school was
where we went, aged eight, to learn to despise other people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Cameron,
Johnson and I absorbed attitudes once familiar to Orwell, who was confronted
with some realities about his Eton education when documenting the living
conditions of working-class households in Lancashire and Yorkshire. “Common
people seemed almost sub-human,” Orwell writes in The Road to Wigan Pier. “They
had coarse faces, hideous accents, and gross manners… and if they got half the
chance they would insult you in brutal ways.” Alien and dangerous, the working
class evoked “an attitude of sniggering superiority punctuated by bursts of
vicious hatred”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Anyone
underestimating the durability of this divide should consider the evidence of
the Radley College swimming pool, circa 1980. A story used to circulate that
the pool was a yard shorter than a standard pool, so that no local swimming
club would want to use it for practice or competitive events. Christopher
Hibbert’s history of Radley, No Ordinary Place, corrects this myth: the pool
was deliberately designed a yard longer. The same reasoning applied. The locals
shouldn’t be encouraged. Typically, in a summer term ending in early July, we
didn’t swim in it much anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the
early 80s, Radley’s non-teaching staff were known as College Servants. We had
cleaners, chefs, groundsmen, bit-part players and comic mechanicals. They
represented the proles, the plebs, the oiks, the yokels, the townies and the
crusties (a term Johnson continued to use 40 years later). Our special language
had its range of words to set these unfamiliar animals apart, meaning people
not like us, and if you didn’t know the language you were probably one of them.
As Orwell doubles-down in Nineteen Eighty-Four: “The proles are not human
beings.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In his
autobiography, For the Record, David Cameron admits that about Brexit he “did
not fully anticipate the strength of feeling that would be unleashed both
during the referendum and afterwards”. Of course he didn’t. Strong feelings
were involved, and also the common people. He was floundering in a pair of
blind spots, to emotion and the British public. He gorged on a double helping
of ignorance undisturbed since his schooldays.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Looking now
at old school photos, I find I can count the darker faces on the fingers of one
hand. At Pinewood we had two brothers recently arrived from Nigeria, and the
son of an Indian doctor who lived not far from my parents in Swindon. The only
other dark faces we saw were in our Saturday-night films, in Zulu and Young
Winston, where savage natives were subdued by the civilising force of white
British warriors. Did that turn us into racists? Yes, I think it did.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the
holidays I’d go to the post office on Victoria Road, to collect Mum’s child
benefit, and when the British Asian post office worker stamped the book I was
immensely pleased with myself for acting as if he were just like anyone else.
At Radley one boy in our year was possibly mixed race – we didn’t really know
but mocked him for it anyway – and the two of us played in the same rugby team.
In my end-of-year sports reports I make feeble gags about Brownian motion and
his “blacking” of other players. I don’t even know what that means, beyond the
racial slur. The supervising editor of the school magazine, a teacher, saw
nothing in need of editorial attention. And why would he? The racism was
institutional – with the evidence currently available online in the school’s
digitised archive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Girls,
swots, oiks, wogs and queers were synonymous with weakness, to be joshed
without mercy by the strong<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I find the
son of the Indian doctor on LinkedIn – Ravi is successful in business, though
he asks me not to use his real name. Whatever I think about private schools and
racism, what does he think? Initially he’s cautious. He writes back that
“frankly there are some very bad memories of that time that are very painful”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As
first-generation immigrants, he tells me later by phone, his Indian parents
wanted to give him a good education. Overall, Pinewood was “pretty decent”; his
public school less so. He asks me not to name it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I was
called a wog and a Paki. There was the National Front.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In his
school as at mine, public speaking was encouraged – good for the confidence –
and one boy was “passionate about the National Front”. Ravi regrets sitting in
the audience and at the end of a hate speech clapping politely, demonstrating
the good manners he’d been educated to value. There was also racism from the
teachers, in remarks that casually encompassed Ravi’s father and family.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Our
schoolboy vocabulary, with its stock of disparaging words, expanded to include
everyone who deserved our scorn, like poofs and homos. As long as we weren’t girls,
swots, oiks, wogs or queers, we could be jolly decent chaps. All those other
categories were synonymous with weakness, to be joshed without mercy by the
strong. And if a boy struggled with the spontaneity of banter, he could
memorise jokes about the Irish, who were unbelievably thick. We laughed at
anyone not like us, and the repertoire on repeat included gags about slaves and
nuns and women hurdlers. One September, after a boy came back from a holiday in
Australia, we had jokes about Aborigines. We internalised this poison like a
vaccine, later making us insensitive as witnesses to all but the most vicious
instances of discrimination. Everyone who was not us, a boy at a private
boarding school from the late 70s to the early 80s, was beneath us. Obviously,
we too were a minority, but of all the minorities we were the most important.
Of course we were. We’d end up running the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Single-minded
ambition became acceptable as a way of deadening the self. Get elected
president of the debating society. Edit the school magazine. Lobby to become
head of house, head prefect. Join a milkround company, get a column on a
national newspaper, write a book. For the worst afflicted, at the high end of
the greasy pole, become prime minister. The drive for success was an ongoing
plea for attention and affection, a condition described by Lucille Iremonger in
her book Fiery Chariot as the Phaeton complex. In Greek mythology Phaeton was a
frustrated child of the sun god Helios, who insists on driving his father’s
chariot just for one day. He crashes the chariot, turning much of Africa into
desert.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">According
to Iremonger, a hunger for power is the tragic fate of children abandoned by
their parents, and she developed her theory from a study of British prime
ministers between 1809 and 1940. No prizes for guessing where most of them were
educated, and many former boarders can be recognised as Phaetons.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In his book
The Old Boys, David Turner has the statistics for the “highly disproportionate
share” of public school alumni in the top jobs of the UK. These figures come
from 2014, to include boys at school at the same time as me in their
middle-aged professional prime: “seven in 10 senior judges, six in 10 senior
officers in the armed forces, and more than half the permanent secretaries,
senior diplomats and leading media figures”. Seventeen out of 27 members of
Johnson’s full cabinet in 2020 went to private school. Of the more visible
recent political buccaneers, leading English private schools have sent out Rees-Mogg,
Hunt, Mitchell, Cash, Redwood and Cummings: English boys with English minds.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A follow-up
report by the Sutton Trust and Social Mobility Commission, Elitist Britain
2019, paints a mostly unchanged picture. Private schools account for nearly 70%
of the judges and barristers in the country. To this list can be added more
than 50% of bishops and ministers of state and lord lieutenants and the England
cricket team, these doors not even half open to anyone else.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Johnson was
any boy who started boarding in 1975, only more so, because not growing up was
openly a part of his act<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When
deciding on a private school education for his children, my dad must have
envisaged useful connections for life that seem psychologically plausible as
well as professionally desirable: a segregated elite united by a common
uncommon experience. Cameron surrounded himself with like-minded people – of
the six men who worked on the Conservative Party Manifesto in 2014, five had
been to Eton. The other was an old boy of St Paul’s. Sonia Purnell, Johnson’s
biographer, says Johnson doesn’t have friends – his younger brother was best
man at his first wedding – but he knows what kind of person makes him feel
comfortable. He remains loyal to boys’ school boys like his friend Darius Guppy
(who famously asked Johnson for the address of a fellow journalist so he could
have him beaten up) and Cummings, rebels but public school rebels. Or loyal at
least for a while. Once Johnson and Cummings fell out, each was right to be
frightened of the other. Their schooling was more powerful in them than any
self-projection as icon or iconoclast: they knew how to hurt their own.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In her
biography, Purnell calls Johnson “an original – the opposite of a stereotype,
the exception to the rule”. Not quite. He was any boy who started at a private
boarding school in 1975, only more so because not growing up was openly a
feature of his performance. He flaunted shamelessly what the rest of us tried
to conceal: he was chaotic, unformed, cruel, slapdash, essentially frivolous.
When he messed up he was just a boy, with his boyishly ruffled hair, and
expected to be excused.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Cameron
likewise turned his back on the mess he’d made with the serenity of a public
school boy whose ancestors had been public school boys too. Between the lectern
and the door of yet another temporary home Cameron hummed a happy tune,
pretending to be fine. All is well, thank you and goodnight. Possibly he’d been
a bit naughty, but luckily England was arranged in such a way as to protect his
own best interests. Of course it was. Boys like us had arranged it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the end
we can’t take anything seriously.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In earlier
generations, Orwell and others like him were exposed by war and other
calamities to a seriousness that grew their stunted selves and tempered the
isolated and ironic cult of an English private education. They were goaded by
events into compassion, so that sooner or later, Orwell believed, even in “a
land of snobbery and privilege, ruled largely by the old and silly”, England
would brush aside the obvious injustice of the public schools.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The wait
goes on. Maybe in 40 years’ time, assuming the country survives Brexit and
Covid, a more enlightened nation might look back on Cameron and Johnson as a
self-erasing supernova, a final bright flare and a burning out, the dying of
the public school light in a burst of corruption and incompetence so
spectacular the glimmer will be visible from space.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Anyone
betting on that outcome, at any point in the past 600 years, would have lost.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-8551246722742601252024-03-18T04:00:00.000-07:002024-03-18T04:00:00.142-07:00Silence and Secrets: Charles Spencer’s Very Private School / ‘I don’t think I developed emotionally’: Earl Spencer on the pain of boarding-school abuse<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/U-vxdMSFTaw?si=ORT5oRBk11hxk1KV" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Interview<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘I don’t think I developed emotionally’: Earl
Spencer on the pain of boarding-school abuse<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Tim Adams<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The brother of Diana, princess of Wales, talks about
his difficult decision to write about being physically and sexually abused and
the resistance he faced from members of his own class<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4gnQCl09Nm3oWp6SMnsozW5tO9WydAWR4joUZLMhoEcq9HPXqXIuxT-_P6yzcpNTaa6oP31LaN40Og372kHQ3XxHG-i76aj-UyyzBifefICOVd0NrBeWa25b4-YK4vJ3oRN3LDW2GcXsKF-R9FeZZPTreZJwmVQyOq1qpm8xD5qCuCCtlcJxw1sltM9d0/s791/_methode_times_prod_web_bin_99186b5d-c6d9-4b7e-b3d8-282ef8cf627c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="791" data-original-width="618" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4gnQCl09Nm3oWp6SMnsozW5tO9WydAWR4joUZLMhoEcq9HPXqXIuxT-_P6yzcpNTaa6oP31LaN40Og372kHQ3XxHG-i76aj-UyyzBifefICOVd0NrBeWa25b4-YK4vJ3oRN3LDW2GcXsKF-R9FeZZPTreZJwmVQyOq1qpm8xD5qCuCCtlcJxw1sltM9d0/w313-h400/_methode_times_prod_web_bin_99186b5d-c6d9-4b7e-b3d8-282ef8cf627c.jpg" width="313" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOAHGg7GPyAMvlClmUvWjQ7VK9V_tCHeytMwe-4jiIBllQobwK_MEmq1YAldzjLVVW1NWexggky67hUGAISKWM-4zuz72vXeo0cqDVZd902_HBx6fRUcCpATSILdTz1rcRkE-Pr7LpSf0PqC45ABJK2bCrfQwbuOJdYqyyUsyZUpladFclAP1IoY5MzYha/s1600/_methode_times_prod_web_bin_4689d633-6016-4ccf-afc7-bd3a614a0a95.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOAHGg7GPyAMvlClmUvWjQ7VK9V_tCHeytMwe-4jiIBllQobwK_MEmq1YAldzjLVVW1NWexggky67hUGAISKWM-4zuz72vXeo0cqDVZd902_HBx6fRUcCpATSILdTz1rcRkE-Pr7LpSf0PqC45ABJK2bCrfQwbuOJdYqyyUsyZUpladFclAP1IoY5MzYha/w400-h225/_methode_times_prod_web_bin_4689d633-6016-4ccf-afc7-bd3a614a0a95.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqrVAsMU7uC0nL5tv4cRCVH7Q0mp4NRZd5-GWP3TdnIHxT1UbhctfVS0SgedUTBeiXau_zp-ixwt-0SscCFmyGfYHE_k4WZchToKId61peZa9DLmdR2GVjokuTh8xO4whKOildheYpnfPTgQwABRO9ThAMfkt5oUHRuqf8IXT7ai9Hs9qsvvaUybNXvmnB/s1500/220308-earl-spencer-ew-130p-b939c5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqrVAsMU7uC0nL5tv4cRCVH7Q0mp4NRZd5-GWP3TdnIHxT1UbhctfVS0SgedUTBeiXau_zp-ixwt-0SscCFmyGfYHE_k4WZchToKId61peZa9DLmdR2GVjokuTh8xO4whKOildheYpnfPTgQwABRO9ThAMfkt5oUHRuqf8IXT7ai9Hs9qsvvaUybNXvmnB/w400-h266/220308-earl-spencer-ew-130p-b939c5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Tim Adams<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sun 17 Mar
2024 14.00 CET<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/17/earl-charles-spencer-a-very-private-school-interview">https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/17/earl-charles-spencer-a-very-private-school-interview</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It was one
thing writing about the abuses of his childhood, Charles Spencer tells me, with
half an ironic laugh; it’s quite another talking about them with strangers.
When we meet in an office at his publisher, he is reeling a bit from this new
fact of his life. The more sensational chapters of his memoir of a deeply
traumatic five years at the Northamptonshire prep school Maidwell Hall had been
splashed all over the previous week’s Mail on Sunday. The following morning, he
had been a guest on Lorraine Kelly’s mid-morning TV sofa, raking over the
painful detail of that long-buried past for the viewers. As a result, he says,
apologising if he seems a bit strung out, he’s had two days of thumping
headaches followed by vivid nightmares.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The early
responses to his book about being sent away from home to be brutalised at
school at eight years old have been instructive. On the one hand he’s had a
mailbox of emails from fellow survivors, praising his courage in speaking up
for the generations of “privileged” schoolboys and girls who, like him,
suffered serial beatings and sexual assault in the closed world of boarding
schools well before puberty.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On the
other he’s experienced the default prurience of the tabloid press, which picked
over his book for clickbait (ever since Spencer stood up in the pulpit at
Westminster Abbey and blamed redtop journalists for hounding his sister, Diana,
to death, he seems to have been considered fair game). The Sun, for example,
thought the most appropriate headline for a book about the lasting harm of
childhood trauma to be “Di Bro’s sex at 12 with hooker”. The food writer
William Sitwell, a near contemporary of Spencer’s at Maidwell and Eton,
meanwhile, blithely dismissed the substance of the memoir in two columns in the
Telegraph. In the first, Sitwell branded Spencer a traitor to his class: “One
of their own – an earl, uncle to princes, seriously landed, stately housed,
replete with a deer park, fine furniture and fabulous paintings – is dishing
the dirt from within…” he wrote. In the second, he argued, bizarrely, that
“Spencer has not suggested that, beyond corporal punishment, he or anyone else
was a victim of abuse”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">While
professing to have long avoided any column bearing Sitwell’s byline, Spencer
shakes his head when I mention that sentiment. His book was written precisely
to challenge that stubborn, unhinged belief among his peers that school regimes
featuring daily beatings and endemic paedophilia “never did me any harm”.
(Reading Sitwell’s piece I was reminded of an observation by Alex Renton, the
journalist who has done much in recent years to shed light on the history of
abuse at many of Britain’s most exclusive private schools. Soon after Renton
revealed the worst of what had happened to him as a child, he ran into an old
school friend at a party: “Don’t stand near Alex,” the friend warned others
present, “he’ll put his hand down your trousers.”)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
affecting power of Spencer’s account lies in its description of the way
predatory violence was entirely normalised in his school years. Maidwell Hall
was presented to wealthy parents as a kind of term-time paradise for young
boys; once the family had departed down the gravel drive, Spencer writes, it
became a hellish place. The awful wound of homesickness was preyed upon by
fearful teachers who bullied and thumped and caned vulnerable boys, or insisted
on “special” naked swimming lessons; that was exacerbated by a senior matron
obsessed with humiliating bedwetters, and a junior matron who molested
10-year-olds and had sex with 12-year-olds after lights out. “I realised very
early on that this was a horribly ugly subject,” Spencer says. “And I made a conscious
effort to make the book as smooth a read as possible. As a result every now and
then the reader might tread on a landmine and think: what the hell was that?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The idea that such a thoroughly sweet boy has had to
live with that for the last 50 years is appalling to me<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Ritual
beatings were a timetabled part of the day. Every evening after tea, a senior
boy would read out the names of small boys who had committed some minor
transgression of opaque rules. They would be sent to line up outside the
headmasters’ office, inside which he would require boys to drop their trousers
and then choose the implement with which to inflict punishment, slipper or cane
or switch. Some of the contemporaries who have shared their stories with
Spencer still have the physical scars on their backsides to this day, 50 years
on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the
book, he says he first started to properly reflect on the psychological damage
of those years in his 40s, after his second marriage had broken down, and he
was questioning, in therapy, the roots of his destructive behaviour. In talking
about his parents’ broken marriage and his abandonment issues, he mentioned in
passing his time at Maidwell Hall. The therapist asked Spencer to expand and he
found he couldn’t stop. He’s now approaching 60 and has just become a
grandfather for the first time. I had a sense, reading the book, I say, that
the impetus for telling this story was that it was now or never.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I suppose
it was,” he says. “I started considering writing it when I was 54. I’d been
accumulating memories from the school as my own therapy, but then I started to
hear from other people who had gone through much worse than me [fellow pupils
he met by chance, or contacted specifically] and that activated a form of
survivor’s guilt. I had been quite mainstream in the school, academically OK
and decent at sports. But it was a ruthless place, very Lord of the Flies. And
these people who were truly brutalised were the quiet blokes who weren’t in the
sports team and were sitting at the back of the class. It sounds ridiculous – I
was a very small child – but I felt guilty that I hadn’t defended them more.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
identities of his fellow pupils are protected in the book (the historian in him
has given each of them the name of one of King Charles I’s regicides). He names
the teachers he knows to have died, including Jack Porch, the headteacher who
“retired early” at 51 for unspecified reasons.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“He was a
fascinating case of a very intelligent paedophile sadist,” he says, “because
he’d constructed a system that fed him little boys’ buttocks every night. He
had this ability to present to parents a sort of charm and humour. But he was
deeply deviant. A chilling presence. I received the audiobook [of A Very
Private School] today and I listened to the first bit again. The preface is
about this incredibly sweet kid being systematically made to feel like nothing
every day. I started crying, actually. The idea that such a thoroughly sweet
boy has had to live with that for the last 50 years is appalling to me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In among
the pictures in the book, there is one of the moment his life shifted, as he
waits to be driven to Maidwell for the first time. He stands in the stiffest
possible jacket, a mini-me of his father, the eighth earl, behind a large trunk
with his name written on it. His big sister Diana sits on the trunk smiling –
she is not to return to boarding school until tomorrow. Their nanny stands by
looking anxious. Before he went away Charles acquired the nickname Buzz, from
his estranged mother, because he had “all the happy effervescence of a bee”.
His book is dedicated “to Buzz”, the boy he believed to have died at the moment
he was handed over to the care of Porch.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One
question the book raises is: what can the parents who sent their seven- and
eight-year-old sons to these institutions have been thinking? One answer is
that they bought into in that curiously British notion that young boys,
particularly the children of privilege, must get used to pain and suffering,
must break their attachment to their mothers and homes in order to mature – to
embark on their destiny as leaders of men. Another is that the parents wanted
them out of the way to pursue their social lives (the priorities of some are
described here as “horses, dogs, children”, in that order). Spencer’s book
dwells on the choices of his own parents, without condemning them. Why is that?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Well,” he
says, again with that half-smile, “among the plethora of psychotherapies that
I’ve undergone, one of them has been understanding your parents and letting go
of any blame. So that probably comes across. My mother had a very tricky mother
herself. No doubt these things can get passed down generationally. And she was
so young. She went straight from being head girl of a private school to
marrying this very eligible chap, and a mother at 19. And she couldn’t navigate
the demands of that.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Frances
Spencer’s response was to divorce her husband to marry Peter Shand-Kydd and –
having lost custody of her four children – including two-year-old Charles, to
divide her time between the Scottish island of Seil and a sheep station in New
South Wales. He recalls visits to Scotland to stay with her in the holidays,
where he’d help out in the newsagents she owned in Oban. “She wasn’t at all a
mollycoddling mother, but she was fun at parties,” he says. “Her life ended
with intense Catholicism; she spent her time helping children visit Lourdes
every year. And at the same time, I think, there was massive guilt, which
manifested itself through alcoholism. She died young, at 68, and the last
decade of her life was one of sadness. So, no, I’m not angry with her.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">People who went to these schools at that time simply
had to become desensitised in order to survive<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There is a
sad moment in the book when the young Spencer escapes from some of the
attentions of his schoolmasters to be alone in a favourite place in a wooded
part of the school grounds; he sees his father drive past in his Rolls-Royce,
returning from some lunch or other. The ludicrously large family seat at
Althorp was only a few miles from Maidwell, but he felt like it could have been
on another planet. Once he seriously considered shooting himself in the foot at
the end of a holiday, to avoid returning to school. Could he not have told his
father how desperately unhappy he was?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“It never
occurred to me,” he says. “And I have to say, it never occurred to any of the
people I spoke to.” He supposes they didn’t want to disappoint their fathers.
“At the end of the term, I’d come home with a report, and he read it with me.
And that was our 15 minutes talking about school. He was very much a product of
his class.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">With his
own seven children, Spencer has tried to be far more present in their
education. They all went to day schools, though his two sons boarded at their
own choice in their late teens. He does the school run when he can with his
youngest daughter, Charlotte, who is 11, chatting with her in the car, “trying
to keep tabs on what’s happening,” the stuff he feels he missed out on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For all
these efforts at normality, there are, inevitably, several moments in the book
when you recognise him still to be imprisoned by his class, as much as his
memories of school. He is at pains throughout to say he is well aware of his
privilege, and that children in other circumstances clearly suffered far worse
than anything he experienced or can imagine. Still, for example, he includes
without much of a caveat the comment by one of his teachers to the idea that he
would be better off in a “normal” school: “You are too precious a flower” for
that (the implication being that you may live in daily terror of being
assaulted by various members of staff here, but that clearly pales beside the
horrors of being educated by the state).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The ground
rules of our interview are that Spencer will not answer any questions about the
royal family – knowing of old that any quote he gives will be immediately
stripped of the context and beamed around the world. I don’t therefore get to
find out, for example, whether he sees this book as a companion volume to his
nephew Prince Harry’s Spare – a cry for help from within the walls of inherited
privilege, a demand that things are done differently. In his book’s preface he
includes this: “It’s a fact that many of the leading figures in British public
life today – from prime ministers to royalty – have received just such a
private, boarding school education. While some thrived under benevolent
headteachers, others have been wounded by wretched treatment during formative
years. Some of that poisonous legacy they have unwittingly passed on to
society.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He was a
contemporary, among others, of Boris Johnson, whose schooling followed a
similar path. Does he see these traits, for example, in him? “I can’t actually
drill down on specific individuals,” he says. “But I think it has to be a
logical fact that people who went to these schools at that time, of which
Maidwell was one, simply had to become desensitised in order to survive.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He casts
his comments in the book mostly in the past tense – things have undoubtedly
improved since the 1970s, but of course 70,000 families still make the choice
to send their kids away at a young age.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I do know
a few people who have been through this more recently,” he says. “One who is
only now 25 or so. He’s a wreck and he told me his life was destroyed by having
to go to one of these schools at seven. He writes to his father saying just
please apologise, but the father cannot apologise because that choice was part
of his entire code. A lot of families ‘with an old name’ might be on their
financial uppers these days, but still for them to say, my son goes to a very
smart school, gives them social validation; they are prepared to put up with
whatever their child is putting up with, to be able to drop that at a dinner
party.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I wonder,
when he was writing his book, whether any part of him felt like a “class
traitor”, as some have suggested?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“One
thing,” he says, “is that school was very, very clever at inculcating thoughts.
One was that telling tales was a capital offence. And there were times when my
schoolboy conscience felt that strongly when I was writing. Of course,
logically, that’s ridiculous. But it goes deep. Quite a lot of people, most of
whom didn’t go to Maidwell, have sidled up and said: ‘You should drop this
book, because you’re feeding the enemy, giving ammunition to people who are
against what we do.’”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He welcomes
the fact that the current Maidwell Hall – where boarding fees can exceed
£30,000 a year – has in light of his book opened an investigation of its past
and invited former pupils to come forward. It is not alone. Renton has compiled
a database of abuse allegations against 490 independent schools and more than
300 named teachers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I wonder if
Spencer had qualms about naming the teachers who had died. Did he expect to
hear from their families?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I thought
long and hard about that,” he says. “And in the end I thought, actually, they
deserve to be named. Nobody’s going to pin the crimes of the father on the
children or the grandchildren. The point is, very sadly, their fathers did
terrible things.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of the
teachers who singled him out at nine years old for particular violence – a man
he used to fantasise about meeting up with later in life in order to return a
beating – is still alive. He calls him Goffie in the book (another of Charles
I’s regicides). He has sent him a copy: “He’s very old now. But I just want him
to know.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At one
point he thought of bringing a legal case against the assistant matron who
molested him and other boys in her care. Why did he decide not to do that?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I thought
about it when all the cases against Catholic priests happened in America,” he
says. “But I think what she did was so troubling to me that it’s sort of beyond
me to cope with it.” Those disturbing assaults on his innocence, interactions
he found impossible to process or understand, led to him using saved pocket
money to visit a prostitute while on holiday in Italy with his family when he
was 12. He believes those experiences damaged for ever his subsequent capacity
to form mature relationships.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I got a
private detective involved at one point, to find her,” he says. “She’s been
quite careful to stay off the internet, married a couple of times, had a kid.
There is nothing that the law could do that would make it OK for me. Having
said that, if others now come forward, I would certainly validate what they
say.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He has been
married to his third wife, Canadian-born Karen Villeneuve, the chief executive
of a charity that protects vulnerable children, for 13 years. Does he now look
back and see the damage of his childhood as a factor in his catalogue of
earlier failed marriages and relationships?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Put it
this way,” he says, “I don’t think I developed emotionally in those early years
as would have been the case in a loving home with actively loving adults.” Many
of those contemporaries, who like him “have demons sewn into the seams of our
souls” as a result of their experiences at schools like Maidwell, bear out that
belief, he says. “There is a lot of addiction and depression. The wife of a
great friend of mine at Eton – who surprisingly emigrated to Australia – got in
touch with me when news of the book came out to say: ‘I just want you to know,
he went to a place like Maidwell and had the most appalling time. He’s had
terrible depression over the years but I’ve never seen him so happy as when he
heard you were bringing a book out about all this stuff.’ Someone else I know,”
he says, “was a guy who was terribly bullied, three years older than me. And he
wrote to me a while ago and said: ‘You writing this book has let me tell my
wife for the first time what I went through at Maidwell. We’ve been married for
30 years – and we just spent the last hour crying together.’”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For himself
he suggests that the catharsis has probably been delayed. He has found the
experience of revisiting all this history for publication “quite nightmarish”,
but is proud that it is done.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Like many
of my contemporaries, I used to drink way too much,” he says. “Not on a
dangerous level, but certainly to anaesthetise things. I haven’t had a drink
since January.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I mention
to him something that Billy Connolly once told me in an interview about coming
to terms with the memory of sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his
father: “It’s not called emotional baggage for nothing – it means you can put
it down if you want to.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I totally
agree with that,” he says. “I do feel I might put it down now.” You sense he
believes he owes it to long-lost Buzz, to at least do that for him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A Very
Private School by Charles Spencer is published by William Collins (£25). To
support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com.
Delivery charges may apply<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-69016379935557645392024-03-17T00:38:00.000-07:002024-03-17T00:38:19.140-07:00Kate's photoshop mishap is 'naivety bordering on foolishness' |<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/0_mpuGECUyM?si=ikf0rBrrJMfmCeE1" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Where is Catherine, Princess of Wales? The
internet is rife with ‘Katespiracies’<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The royal’s absence has led to a proliferation of
conspiracy theories after announcement of a mysterious abdominal surgery<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT">Erum Salam<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT">Fri 15 Mar 2024 15.00 CET<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/15/where-is-princess-catherine-conspiracy-theories">https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/15/where-is-princess-catherine-conspiracy-theories</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It seems
that everyone has recently become fixated on one question: where in the world
is the Princess of Wales?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We’ve long
known the world is watching the royal family, but the visible absence of
Catherine has sent social media and US news outlets into a tailspin – driving
even those ordinarily not interested in the royals to pay attention.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The latest
saga surrounding the royal family began when Kensington Palace announced on 17
January that the future queen consort was due for a mysterious abdominal
surgery at the London Clinic. The world was told that she would be in the
hospital and out of commission for “10 to 14 days” – therefore out of the
public eye until Easter. Prince William postponed some engagements that same
day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Then a
series of coincidences made internet sleuths suspicious.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Victoria
Howard, a royal commentator and founder of a website devoted to the royal
family called The Crown Chronicles, offered some clarity on the princess’s
recent accidental entrance into the global spotlight.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“The length
of Kate’s absence is unusual which suggests a significant procedure, but the
lack of details is what is driving the rumor mill,” Howard said. “For those
abroad, who don’t have a royal family and liken them more to celebrities, they
can’t quite understand why the details aren’t being shared.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Shortly
after, on 5 February, it was announced that King Charles was diagnosed with
cancer. Now, two leading figures in the royal family have health issues around
the exact same time but only one of them has been seen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“There is a
bit of a vacuum in the royal family right now, because of both ongoing health
issues, so this lack of news and public visibility of royals is driving some of
this narrative,” Howard said. “The timing is unusual being so close together
but for me it’s an example of how the offices do not communicate that well, and
equally their different approaches with the level of detail provided.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But Howard
cautioned coincidences can happen and that “health often doesn’t align with
your schedule”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“As Kate is
not monarch there is no cause for concern. Charles has counsellors of state who
can be appointed and step in should he be incapacitated,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Still,
rumors are swirling and many outside the UK, particularly in the US, have
become obsessed with this Middleton mystery.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Theories,
or “Katespiracies”, about the princess’s whereabouts range from Kate being
revealed as the newest contestant on the TV gameshow The Masked Singer to
getting a Brazilian butt lift (or some other cosmetic work).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Howard
called some of these conspiracies “quite frankly ludicrous”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“To not be
away for so long due to real health issues would be highly risky and take
advantage of public goodwill,” she said. “No sensible communications team would
allow them to do that.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Middleton
was reportedly seen on 4 March in a car with her mother, but the poor quality
of the photo has not convinced some of her fans.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On 10
March, things reached a bit of an apex when it was revealed that a family photo
of Catherine and her three children posted by the princess on her Instagram
account was Photoshopped. Various discrepancies in the image led to even more
speculation, prompting major news agencies such as the Associated Press to pull
the photo from distribution “because at closer inspection, it appears that the
source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP’s photo
standards”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This proved
cataclysmic for gossip, which seemingly pushed the princess to issue a rare
statement explaining the situation: “Like many amateur photographers, I
occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any
confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone
celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
metadata of the file shows that the image was processed in Photoshop first on 8
March at 9.54pm local time and again on 9 March at9.39am local time, per an ABC
News report.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The very
next day on 11 March, William and someone who appeared to be Catherine were
seen leaving Windsor Castle together in a car. But faces were obstructed so
it’s not clear if it was actually the princess.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Still, the
princess’s spokesperson doubled down on Catherine’s perfectly normal condition:
“We were very clear from the outset that the Princess of Wales was out until
after Easter and Kensington Palace would only be providing updates when
something was significant.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
spokesperson underscored the princess was “doing well”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The US,
which has no royal family, is giving the princess the “celebrity-in-crisis”
treatment previously seen with the likes of Britney Spears or Amanda Bynes. If
not by those on social media like TikTok, the media coverage of Catherine’s
every move has shown no signs of letting up.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">US news
outlets like the Washington Post, ABC News and NPR have even weighed in on the
altered photo debacle. The Los Angeles Times likened Kate and sister-in-law
Duchess of Sussex’s drama to that surrounding Diana, Princess of Wales, who
dominated international news headlines in the late 80s and 90s.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The royals
expert and former BuzzFeed News reporter Ellie Hall told Nieman Lab last week
that she believed the obsession with Catherine stems from “distrust” people
have of the royals – in no small part to Diana’s legacy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“People
have started to really distrust not just the royal family – as an
institution/bureaucracy, not necessarily the individual members – but the
reporters and outlets that cover the royal family,” Hall said, adding: “A lot
of people still hold a grudge against the royals because of Princess Diana and
wonder about the circumstances of her death. I also feel like a lot of this
distrust stems from what Harry and Meghan have said since leaving working royal
life. Their descriptions of a back-stabbing, machiavellian organization in
interviews and Harry’s memoir Spare have definitely made an impact on the
public’s perception of the monarchy and the royal reporting beat.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, what’s
really going on and who has the answers?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Howard
noted that “Kensington Palace has been very reactive”, which is unusual because
they mostly don’t “comment or respond in other cases”. She says it’s “the wrong
approach if they wanted to ease people’s worries” and “doing so shows real
concern about the conversation and indicates their level of panic essentially”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Perhaps the
former Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger said it best in 2020, pointing
out: “It is unusually difficult to judge the reliability of most royal
reporting because it is a world almost devoid of open or named sources.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“So, in
order to believe what we’re being told, we have to take it on trust that there
are currently legions of ‘aides’, ‘palace insiders’, ‘friends’ and ‘senior
courtiers’ constantly WhatsApping their favourite reporters with the latest
gossip. It has been known to happen. Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t. We just
don’t know.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMbPDKATBkuug8tG2wtnpZJVsbWVwU1UyZSMKJEjKwNoamHXIpNqrjMJoSep4-QuPmTjGerhGcz3pfSF9p7EMkGZLLB7AnCon1vgcXK9nLWi129xdc8cuNB0cCqhoplgUCWdHwde0KVeQyBcRb7Nvgdn8OlHrzI3FTInneCY9g8IpFoqI9PtD3GS0Wgyrc/s1200/photo-Artboard_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="1200" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMbPDKATBkuug8tG2wtnpZJVsbWVwU1UyZSMKJEjKwNoamHXIpNqrjMJoSep4-QuPmTjGerhGcz3pfSF9p7EMkGZLLB7AnCon1vgcXK9nLWi129xdc8cuNB0cCqhoplgUCWdHwde0KVeQyBcRb7Nvgdn8OlHrzI3FTInneCY9g8IpFoqI9PtD3GS0Wgyrc/w400-h304/photo-Artboard_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Conspiracies and kill notices: how Kate’s edited
photo whirled the rumour mill<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">With Princess of Wales out of sight for health
reasons, impact of altered family photo has been magnified<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Esther
Addley<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Fri 15 Mar
2024 15.13 CET<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/15/conspiracies-and-kill-notices-how-kate-edited-photo-whirled-the-rumour-mill-princess-of-wales">https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/15/conspiracies-and-kill-notices-how-kate-edited-photo-whirled-the-rumour-mill-princess-of-wales</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On Tuesday,
as the crisis in Gaza continued, turmoil built in Haiti and Joe Biden and
Donald Trump were confirmed as their parties’ presidential candidates, the
White House press secretary was asked a question by a journalist that caused
her, briefly, to laugh.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Does the
White House ever digitally alter photos of the president?”, Karine Jean-Pierre
was asked by a reporter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Why would
we digitally alter photos? Are you comparing us to what is going on in the UK?”
she replied. “No – that is not something that we do here.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When
Kensington Palace released an apparently candid photograph last weekend of the
Princess of Wales and her children, timed to coincide with Mother’s Day, it no
doubt expected the usual warm reception, perhaps with a few approving front
pages.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One week
on, it is fair to say things have not gone to plan. After multiple clumsy edits
to the photo were identified, five leading photo agencies issued an almost
unprecedented “kill notice” of the “manipulated” image.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Since then,
not only the White House press corps but large sections of the world’s media
have been fascinated by the photograph – and what it may say about the
princess, who has been recovering from surgery – putting the royals at the
centre of a dangerous crisis of credibility.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you’re
caught being untruthful once, after all, why should anyone ever believe you? In
Spain, some outlets have repeated claims, rubbished by the palace last month,
that the princess is in a coma. On US talkshows, longstanding if highly
libellous rumours about the royal marriage, similarly denied, are being openly
aired and mocked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And on
social media, needless to say, the unfounded conspiracies are wilder still.
Kate has had a facelift, or she is in hiding, or has been replaced by a body
double. Most are easy to dismiss, but when even the ITV royal editor, Chris
Ship, one of the select handful of “royal rota” journalists who are briefed by
the palace, posts a tweet that begins: “I’ve never been much of a conspiracy
theorist but …”, the Firm undeniably has a problem.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Who would
be a royal? According to the palace, lest we forget, the 42-year-old mother of
three has undergone major abdominal surgery and is not well enough to appear
publicly. When the operation was first revealed on 17 January, Kensington
Palace said she was not expected to make any appearances until at least Easter.
That, they insist, has not changed. So why the frenzied conspiracies?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Perhaps
because Catherine remains media catnip, and is incredibly important to the
royal public image; three months without her was always going to be a
challenge. Things would arguably have been more manageable were it not for the
unhappy coincidence of King Charles’s announcements of his prostate treatment
and cancer .<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">While
Catherine had requested privacy over her diagnosis, the king and his Buckingham
Palace press team opted to be more open, though the type of cancer has not been
revealed. Most were happy to accept this as the princess’s right, yet the fact
the king has remained somewhat visible, even while undergoing cancer treatment,
made the absolute silence from Catherine all the more evident.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What tipped
online mutterings into febrile speculation was when the Prince of Wales pulled
out of the funeral of his godfather on 27 February, citing only a “personal
matter”. The Mother’s Day photo was evidently an attempt to settle the mood;
instead, its inept handling turned an uncomfortable drama into a full-blown
crisis. Even a brief apology, signed in Catherine’s name, did not help. Either
palace advisers had not grasped the gravity of their mistake, or – just
possibly – the royal couple, so protective of their children’s privacy, were
resisting their guidance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Can they
recover from it? Only if they change tack, says Emma Streets, an associate
director at the communications agency Tigerbond who specialises in crisis PR.
There remains a lot of empathy towards the princess, she says, adding: “I think
[the episode] proves that she’s only human. But it’s crucial that the palace do
not repeat a [mistake] on this scale.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">They will
have to provide some form of update on the princess’s health by Easter, says
Streets, whether or not Catherine is well enough to resume normal public
appearances. “I think they really need to maintain that timeline to avoid any
further controversy. So the pressure is on for the comms team to handle that
without putting a foot wrong, and really, meticulously, plan.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Streets
says the royal family’s long-practised strategy of “never complain, never
explain” is outdated. “That doesn’t work today, given the speed that this story
will spread online, and I think that massively needs addressing from a
strategic point of view.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">That view
is echoed by Lynn Carratt, the head of talent at digital specialists Press Box
PR, who says she has been “racking my brains” trying to understand why
Kensington Palace did not simply release the undoctored image. “They could have
put this to bed straight away,” she says.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“There
needs to be an overhaul of their comms strategy and a bit of honesty and trust
with the press. I kind of understand why there isn’t – but they need a whole
new approach to PR, to bring it into the modern world of the media.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“We’re not
just talking about print press and broadcast, when it’s now social media and
the digital space where people are consuming the news. It’s very different, and
you need to do PR differently for that space.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoa9WAVGqYhlEHSlp_mUAfV52_XdyZmYMO8NKAY_8JmP18Fa8_rtBYM6Bi9efZNnZaBnRiH9BjfD2PB609T_8VbBBtj7P0UO8FKylUmx18fyOq-xqxViZM933cMfP1B_yiSKrMZPOtZHzdaUzclPXAEsoRwVoPc8CJRVWMxW5dCT-JP0dvW39oBVD-iZ6B/s480/TELEMMGLPICT000370085052_17101113528890_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfSVWeZ_vEN7c6bHu2jJnT8.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="480" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoa9WAVGqYhlEHSlp_mUAfV52_XdyZmYMO8NKAY_8JmP18Fa8_rtBYM6Bi9efZNnZaBnRiH9BjfD2PB609T_8VbBBtj7P0UO8FKylUmx18fyOq-xqxViZM933cMfP1B_yiSKrMZPOtZHzdaUzclPXAEsoRwVoPc8CJRVWMxW5dCT-JP0dvW39oBVD-iZ6B/w400-h250/TELEMMGLPICT000370085052_17101113528890_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfSVWeZ_vEN7c6bHu2jJnT8.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Pranksters dupe Tucker Carlson into believing
they edited Princess of Wales photo<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Josh Pieters and Archie Manners posed as ‘George’, a
Kensington Palace employee, in interview with former Fox News host<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Richard
Luscombe<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sat 16 Mar
2024 16.58 GMT<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/16/pranksters-dupe-tucker-carlson-kate-middleton">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/16/pranksters-dupe-tucker-carlson-kate-middleton</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Pranksters
claiming to be a Kensington Palace employee fired over the Kate Middleton
edited photograph fiasco say they duped former Fox News host Tucker Carlson
into interviewing them for his streaming show.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In a video
posted on X that has already received more than a million views, Josh Pieters
and Archie Manners explained how they concocted a story about being released by
the Prince and Princess of Wales for “not doing a good enough job” in
manipulating a photograph of Middleton and her children that has stoked an
international furore and endless conspiracy theories.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
“disgruntled former employee” act was apparently convincing enough to fool
production staff at the Tucker Carlson Network (TCN), who invited Manners,
posing as the royal couple’s former digital content creator, to a London studio
and an interview with the rightwing personality.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“That was
great, and really interesting too. I didn’t expect to be as interested in it as
I was because you told a really great story,” Carlson tells Manners after
listening to a made-up tale about how the infamous photograph was actually
taken by Middleton’s uncle in December, and that a Christmas tree in the
background had to be edited out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
pranksters, whose YouTube channel Josh & Archie showcases a series of
celebrity hoaxes, told Deadline they “stroked Carlson’s ego” by offering their
story as an exclusive because “mainstream media in the UK wouldn’t touch it”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">They
convinced TCN researchers of their authenticity by creating a fake contract of
employment that featured the words Every Little Helps, the motto of the British
supermarket chain Tesco, in Latin on a Kensington Palace crest, and a clause in
which the royals reserved the right to “amputate one limb of their choosing” if
Manners failed a probationary period.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“If Tucker
Carlson’s people read this, why on earth would they let you on the show?”
Pieters says in the video.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Manners
told Deadline that following the interview, TCN told him it would be aired
early the next week, but that he and Pieters decided to break cover now to
avoid misinformation being broadcast to the network’s 530,000 followers on X.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“We didn’t
want to cause any more rumors, that are not true, to go out to lots and lots of
people,” he said. “We just didn’t want to be too worthy about that in our
video.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the
interview, Carlson questions Manners about the photograph, which was recalled
by several photo agencies when numerous anomalies were discovered. A subsequent
palace statement explaining Middleton was experimenting with editing “like many
amateur photographers do” failed to offer reassurance, and set in motion a
chain of headline-dominating events that even prompted questions at the White
House.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“When
William and Kate put that photo out, they knew that photo was taken at
Christmas, and they put it out alongside a statement wishing everyone a happy
Mother’s Day, and told the world that William took it,” Manners tells Carlson.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“He didn’t
take it. Gary Goldsmith [Middleton’s uncle] took it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In their
initial emailed approach to TCN, the pair posed as a palace employee named
George, who said he was “about to be scapegoated” for the furore and “in the
process of being let go”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I am all
too aware of the Royal Family’s ability to throw people like me under the bus
in order to protect their reputation,” the email states.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
Guardian has contacted TCN for comment.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br />Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-70823366147209862102024-03-15T04:00:00.000-07:002024-03-15T04:00:00.199-07:00Fast fashion: The dumping ground for unwanted clothes - BBC News<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/MHnDqelUh-4" frameborder="0"></iframe>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-87046129366140428612024-03-15T03:58:00.000-07:002024-03-15T03:58:00.303-07:00France’s lower house votes to limit ‘excesses’ of fast fashion with environmental surcharge<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUqF6fI2Zx2C3Wu-N7aBOoSjeUAHT8LxBlL2IYosT_LQ_VP1u15RRt1QZYgXKtXBtris9vRAmK0R7D5nyXnz2eRCzZ9-3xUY-nqc5xKHxzX2iy2zdVymDsBG01ALRMJTWadsFsinD5k5R_Y6ysliBtS3_762OayW0b8AJhiYoWB8YGtJOV1s98vrd224lJ/s800/f8dad636bc3d9a4deb719902e4a1c6a6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUqF6fI2Zx2C3Wu-N7aBOoSjeUAHT8LxBlL2IYosT_LQ_VP1u15RRt1QZYgXKtXBtris9vRAmK0R7D5nyXnz2eRCzZ9-3xUY-nqc5xKHxzX2iy2zdVymDsBG01ALRMJTWadsFsinD5k5R_Y6ysliBtS3_762OayW0b8AJhiYoWB8YGtJOV1s98vrd224lJ/w400-h266/f8dad636bc3d9a4deb719902e4a1c6a6.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">France’s lower house votes to limit ‘excesses’ of
fast fashion with environmental surcharge<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Measure is part of package aimed at limiting pollution
associated with cheap, imported clothes<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT">Agence France-Presse<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT">Fri 15 Mar 2024 02.41 CET<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/15/france-fast-fashion-law-environmental-surcharge-lower-house-votes">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/15/france-fast-fashion-law-environmental-surcharge-lower-house-votes</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">France’s
lower house of parliament has backed a string of measures to make low-cost fast
fashion, especially items from Chinese mass producers, less attractive to
buyers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Thursday’s
vote makes France the first country in the world “legislating to limit the
excesses of ultra fast fashion”, said Christophe Bechu, minister for the
ecological transition. The measures still require a vote in the Senate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Key
measures include a ban on advertising for the cheapest textiles, and an
environmental charge on low-cost items.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The French
clothes market has been flooded with cheap imported clothes, while several
homegrown brands have declared bankruptcy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But the
main arguments put forward by Horizons – the party allied to President Emmanuel
Macron submitting the draft law – were environmental.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Textile is
the most polluting industry,” said Horizons deputy Anne-Cecile Violland, adding
that the sector accounted for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions and was a major
polluter of water.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">France will
apply criteria such as volumes of clothes produced and turnover speed of new
collections in determining what constitutes fast fashion, according to the law.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Violland
noted Chinese company Shein and its “7,200 new clothing items a day” was a
prime example of intensive fashion production.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Once the
law comes into force precise criteria will be published in a decree.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Fast
fashion producers will be forced to inform consumers about the environmental
impact of their output.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A surcharge
linked to fast fashion’s ecological footprint of €5 (£4.20) an item is planned
from next year, rising to €10 by 2030. The charge cannot, however, exceed 50%
of an item’s price tag.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Violland
said the proceeds from the charge would be used to subsidise producers of
sustainable clothes, allowing them to compete more easily.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A measure
to limit advertising for fast fashion was also approved, although conservative
lawmaker Antoine Vermorel-Marques said “a ban on advertising for textiles,
especially fashion, spells the end of fashion”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">An
initiative brought by leftwing and Green party deputies to include minimum
penalties for producers breaking the rules as well as import quotas and
stricter workplace criteria in the industry into the new law was struck down.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">High-end
fashion is a cornerstone of the French economy thanks to leading global luxury
brands such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Dior and Cartier.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But the
French lower-end fashion segment has lost ground to European rivals Zara,
H&M and, more recently, to Chinese behemoths Shein and Temu.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-82431331407240032692024-03-14T13:30:00.000-07:002024-03-14T13:41:48.917-07:00Stumper and Fielding, Portobello Road. A quintessential Gentlemen's and ...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QenQ1y2c6rg" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.stumperfielding.co.uk/">http</a><a href="https://www.stumperfielding.co.uk/">s://www.stumperfielding.co.uk/</a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">107
Portobello Road<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">W11 2QB
London, United Kingdom<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
020 7229 5577<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />
“We are an
independent clothing store. Traditional English clothing with a contemporary
twist.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Stumper
& Fielding offers old school cool on London's Portobello road. With Harris
Tweed designed with Stumper & Fielding in mind, handmade Loakes shoes,
collegiate scarves and our own custom designs. Our boutique is filled to the
brim with elegant, classic looks for the modern gentleman with a healthy dose
of surreal British madness mixed in for good measure. </span>There's nothing
quite like Stumper & Fielding.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.stumperfielding.co.uk/our-london-store">https://www.stumperfielding.co.uk/our-london-store</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-9723023210849272082024-03-13T04:14:00.000-07:002024-03-13T04:14:46.655-07:00MERCHANT IVORY (2023) trailer | BFI Flare 2024 / The secret shocking truth about Merchant Ivory<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/F5R5otnQp3Q?si=StajaVo8ZZ_PI_Dn" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘I got you an Oscar. Why do I need to pay you?’
The secret shocking truth about Merchant Ivory<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">They were the box-office titans behind sumptuous
period masterpieces. Yet underneath, reveals a new warts-and-all film, they
were skint, stressed, prone to blood-curdling bust-ups – and ping-ponging
between lovers<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Ryan Gilbey<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Tue 12 Mar
2024 16.21 GMT<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/12/merchant-ivory-oscar-shocking-truth-emma-thompson-anthony-hopkins-howards-end">https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/12/merchant-ivory-oscar-shocking-truth-emma-thompson-anthony-hopkins-howards-end</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you were
asked to guess which prestigious film-making duo had spent their career
scratching around desperately for cash, trying to wriggle out of paying their
cast and crew, ping-ponging between lovers, and having such blood-curdling
bust-ups that their neighbours called the police, it might be some time before
“Merchant Ivory” sprang to mind. But a new warts-and-all documentary about the
Indian producer Ismail Merchant and the US director James Ivory makes it clear
that the simmering passions in their films, such as the EM Forster trilogy of A
Room With a View, Maurice and Howards End, were nothing compared to the
scalding, volatile ones behind the camera.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">From their
initial meeting in New York in 1961 to Merchant’s death during surgery in 2005,
the pair were as inseparable as their brand name, with its absence of any
hyphen or ampersand, might suggest. Their output was always more eclectic than
they got credit for. They began with a clutch of insightful Indian-set dramas
including Shakespeare-Wallah, their 1965 study of a troupe of travelling
actors, featuring a young, pixieish Felicity Kendal. From there, they moved on
to Savages, a satire on civilisation and primitivism, and The Wild Party, a
skewering of 1920s Hollywood excess that pipped Damien Chazelle’s Babylon to
the post by nearly half a century.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Merchant rose at dawn and stole telegrams that agents
had sent to their actors, urging them to down tools<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It was in
the 1980s and early 1990s, though, that Merchant Ivory became box-office
titans, cornering the market in plush dramas about repressed Brits in period
dress. Those literary adaptations launched the careers of Hugh Grant, Helena
Bonham Carter, Rupert Graves and Julian Sands, and helped make stars of Emma
Thompson and Daniel Day-Lewis. Most were scripted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who
had been with them, on and off, since their 1963 debut The Householder; she
even lived in the same apartment building in midtown New York. Many were scored
by Richard Robbins, who was romantically involved with Merchant while also
holding a candle for Bonham Carter. These films restored the costume drama to
the position it had occupied during David Lean’s heyday. The roaring trade in
Jane Austen adaptations might never have happened without them. You could even
blame Merchant Ivory for Bridgerton.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Though the
pictures were uniformly pretty, making them was often ugly. Money was always
scarce. Asked where he would find the cash for the next movie, Merchant
replied: “Wherever it is now.” After Jenny Beavan and John Bright won an
Academy Award for the costumes in A Room With a View, he said: “I got you your
Oscar. Why do I need to pay you?” As Ivory was painstakingly composing each
shot, Merchant’s familiar, booming battle cry would ring out: “Shoot, Jim,
shoot!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘You never
went to bed without dreaming of ways to kill Ismail’ … Ismail Merchant, left,
and James Ivory in Trinidad and Tobago, while making The Mystic Masseur.
Photograph: Mikki Ansin/Getty Images<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Heat and
Dust, starring Julie Christie, was especially fraught. Only 30 or 40% of the
budget was in place by the time the cameras started rolling in India in 1982;
Merchant would rise at dawn to steal the telegrams from the actors’ hotels so
they didn’t know their agents were urging them to down tools. Interviewees in
the documentary concede that the producer was a “conman” with a “bazaar
mentality”. But he was also an incorrigible charmer who dispensed flattery by
the bucketload, threw lavish picnics, and wangled entrées to magnificent
temples and palaces. “You never went to bed without dreaming of ways to kill
him,” says one friend, the journalist Anna Kythreotis. “But you couldn’t not
love him.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Stephen
Soucy, who directed the documentary, doesn’t soft-pedal how wretched those sets
could be. “Every film was a struggle,” he tells me. “People were not having a
good time. Thompson had a huge fight with Ismail on Howards End because she’d
been working for 13 days in a row, and he tried to cancel her weekend off.
Gwyneth Paltrow hated every minute of making Jefferson in Paris. Hated it!
Laura Linney was miserable on The City of Your Final Destination because the
whole thing was a shitshow. But you watch the films and you see no sense of
that.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Soucy’s
movie features archive TV clips of the duo bickering even in the midst of
promoting a film. “Oh, they were authentic all right,” he says. “They clashed a
lot.” The authenticity extended to their sexuality. The subject was not
discussed publicly until after Ivory won an Oscar for writing Call Me By Your
Name: “You have to remember that Ismail was an Indian citizen living in Bombay,
with a deeply conservative Muslim family,” Ivory told me in 2018. But the pair
were open to those who knew them. “I never had a sense of guilt,” Ivory says,
pointing out that the crew on The Householder referred to him and Merchant as
“Jack and Jill”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Soucy had
already begun filming his documentary when Ivory published a frank, fragmentary
memoir, Solid Ivory, which dwells in phallocentric detail on his lovers before
and during his relationship with Merchant, including the novelist Bruce
Chatwin. It was that book which emboldened Soucy to ask questions on screen –
including about “the crazy, complicated triangle of Jim, Ismail and Dick
[Robbins]” – that he might not otherwise have broached.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
documentary is most valuable, though, in making a case for Ivory as an
underrated advocate for gay representation. The Remains of the Day, adapted
from Kazuo Ishiguro’s Booker-winning novel about a repressed butler, may be the
duo’s masterpiece, but it was their gay love story Maurice that was their
riskiest undertaking. Set in the early 20th century, its release in 1987 could
scarcely have been timelier: it was the height of the Aids crisis, and only a
few months before the Conservative government’s homophobic Section 28 became
law.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Ismail
wasn’t as driven as Jim to make Maurice,” explains Soucy. “And Ruth was too
busy to write it. But Jim’s dogged determination won the day. They’d had this
global blockbuster with A Room With a View, and he knew it could be now or
never. People would pull aside Paul Bradley, the associate producer, and say:
‘Why are they doing Maurice when they could be making anything?’ I give Jim so
much credit for having the vision and tenacity to make sure the film got made.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Their films were dismissed by the director Alan Parker
as 'the Laura Ashley school' of cinema<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Merchant
Ivory don’t usually figure in surveys of queer cinema, though they are part of
its ecosystem, and not only because of Maurice. Ron Peck, who made the gay
classic Nighthawks, was a crew member on The Bostonians. Andrew Haigh, director
of All of Us Strangers, landed his first industry job as a poorly paid
assistant in Merchant’s Soho office in the late 1990s; in Haigh’s 2011
breakthrough film Weekend, one character admits to freeze-framing the naked
swimming scene in A Room With a View to enjoy “Rupert Graves’s juddering cock”.
Merchant even offered a role in Savages to Holly Woodlawn, the transgender star
of Andy Warhol’s Trash, only for her to decline because the fee was so low.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
position of Merchant Ivory at the pinnacle of British cinema couldn’t last for
ever. Following the success of The Remains of the Day, which was nominated for
eight Oscars, the brand faltered and fizzled. Their films had already been
dismissed by the director Alan Parker as representing “the Laura Ashley school”
of cinema. Gary Sinyor spoofed their oeuvre in the splendid pastiche Stiff
Upper Lips (originally titled Period!), while Eric Idle was plotting his own
send-up called The Remains of the Piano. The culture had moved on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There was
still an appetite for upper-middle-class British repression, but only if it was
funny: Richard Curtis drew on some of Merchant Ivory’s repertory company of
actors (Grant, Thompson, Simon Callow) for a run of hits beginning with Four
Weddings and a Funeral, which took the poshos out of period dress and plonked
them into romcoms.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The team
itself was splintering. Merchant had begun directing his own projects. When he
and Ivory did collaborate, the results were often unwieldy, lacking the
stabilising literary foundation of their best work. “Films like Jefferson in
Paris and Surviving Picasso didn’t come from these character-driven novels like
Forster, James or Ishiguro,” notes Soucy. “Jefferson and Picasso were not
figures that audiences warmed to.” Four years after Merchant’s death, Ivory’s
solo project The City of Your Final Destination became mired in lawsuits,
including one from Anthony Hopkins for unpaid earnings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Soucy’s
film, though, is a reminder of their glory days. It may also stoke interest in
the movies among young queer audiences whose only connection to Ivory, now 95,
is through Call Me By Your Name. “People walk up to Jim in the street to shake
his hand and thank him for Maurice,” says Soucy. “But I also wanted to include
the more dysfunctional side of how they were made. Hopefully it will be
inspiring to young film-makers to see that great work can come out of chaos.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Merchant
Ivory is showing in the BFI Flare festival at BFI Southbank, London, on 16 and
18 March<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-77836781390200744652024-03-12T02:53:00.000-07:002024-03-12T02:53:20.612-07:00How Kate manipulated the royal Mother's Day family picture / Even Photoshop Can’t Erase Royals’ Latest P.R. Blemish<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/y-sKPMJJgC8?si=hBLIT8MQol8OsYRu" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">NEWS ANALYSIS<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Even Photoshop Can’t Erase Royals’ Latest P.R.
Blemish<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A Mother’s Day photo was meant to douse speculation
about the Princess of Wales’ health. It did the opposite — and threatened to
undermine trust in the royal family.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGbFIpTIofPQGr01uedr4GWBHtgd7Vg2-7OrMAdhJx0qbyBqUKIdPz3W4t7Jf4N_NKrZ0tmoGqEEI82LXO4AxXA_xKrHy4_hUuosVI00sU1zUTGk6lsuNRiutnfEazrsKLKo1hg8wEn6t0VvPNBBjYTG_OV-DvsggSh8NmelMFEoC7lCSgny40j_Q5PrV/s1024/11uk-kate-analysis-03-mhcz-jumbo.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGbFIpTIofPQGr01uedr4GWBHtgd7Vg2-7OrMAdhJx0qbyBqUKIdPz3W4t7Jf4N_NKrZ0tmoGqEEI82LXO4AxXA_xKrHy4_hUuosVI00sU1zUTGk6lsuNRiutnfEazrsKLKo1hg8wEn6t0VvPNBBjYTG_OV-DvsggSh8NmelMFEoC7lCSgny40j_Q5PrV/w400-h266/11uk-kate-analysis-03-mhcz-jumbo.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5fwhfxYC6WpAxJAUxQvDk2nyrs8jOHqeihXkpFdRtRbNns2ZcpJyM26nkgI4xikI6T2MAboSQ6Q70c09HHnMByCCrQ3CG7e3DwePbups2ivGOxK44XxFvruY4g4fIJ7ytqTNUvu7CXs3CWthBbLxbvhn8FMbOYVta3eNis8yILioewqAuYbFx-JpE-NCJ/s1320/New-York-Times-emblem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="1320" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5fwhfxYC6WpAxJAUxQvDk2nyrs8jOHqeihXkpFdRtRbNns2ZcpJyM26nkgI4xikI6T2MAboSQ6Q70c09HHnMByCCrQ3CG7e3DwePbups2ivGOxK44XxFvruY4g4fIJ7ytqTNUvu7CXs3CWthBbLxbvhn8FMbOYVta3eNis8yILioewqAuYbFx-JpE-NCJ/s320/New-York-Times-emblem.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Mark
Landler<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">By Mark
Landler<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Reporting
from London<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">March 11,
2024<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/world/europe/kate-middleton-photo-princess-wales.html?searchResultPosition=4">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/world/europe/kate-middleton-photo-princess-wales.html?searchResultPosition=4</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If a
picture is worth a thousand words, then a digitally altered picture of an
absent British princess is apparently worth a million.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">That seemed
to be the lesson after another day of internet-breaking rumors and conspiracy
theories swirling around Catherine, Princess of Wales, who apologized on Monday
for having doctored a photograph of herself with her three children that
circulated on news sites and social media on Sunday.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It was the
first official photo of Catherine since before she underwent abdominal surgery
two months ago — a cheerful Mother’s Day snapshot, taken by her husband, Prince
William, at home. But if it was meant to douse weeks of speculation about
Catherine’s well-being, it had precisely the opposite effect.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now the
British royal family faces a storm of questions about how it communicates with
the press and public, whether Catherine manipulated other family photos she
released in previous years, and whether she felt driven to retouch this photo
to disguise the impact of her illness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It adds up
to a fresh tempest for a royal family that has lurched from one self-created
crisis to another. Unlike previous episodes, this involves one of the family’s
most popular members, a commoner-turned-future queen. It also reflects a social
media celebrity culture driven in part by the family itself, one that is worlds
away from the intrusive paparazzi pictures that used to cause royals, including
a younger Kate Middleton, chagrin.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Like so
many millennial celebrities, the Princess of Wales has built a successful
public image by sharing with her audience a carefully curated version of her
personal life,” said Ed Owens, a royal historian who has studied the
relationship between the monarchy and the media. The manipulated photograph, he
said, is damaging because, for the public, it “brings into question the
authenticity” of Catherine’s home life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Authenticity
is the least of it: the mystery surrounding Catherine’s illness and prolonged
recovery, out of the public eye, has spawned wild rumors about her physical and
mental health, her whereabouts, and her relationship with William.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
discovery that the photo was altered prompted several international news
agencies to issue advisories — including one from The Associated Press that was
ominously called a “kill notification” — urging news organizations to remove
the image from their websites and scrub it from any social media.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Mr. Owens
called the incident a “debacle.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“At a time
when there is much speculation about Catherine’s health, as well as rumors
swelling online about her and Prince William’s private lives,” he said, “the
events of the last two days have done nothing to dispel questions and
concerns.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Kensington
Palace, where Catherine and William have their offices, declined to release an
unedited copy of the photograph on Monday, which left amateur visual detectives
to continue scouring the image for signs of alteration in the poses of the
princess and her three children, George, Charlotte, and Louis.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The A.P.
said its examination yielded evidence that there was “an inconsistency in the
alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand.” The image has a range of clear
visual inconsistencies that suggest it was doctored. A part of a sleeve on
Charlotte’s cardigan is missing, a zipper on Catherine’s jacket and her hair is
misaligned, and a pattern in her hair seems clearly artificial.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Samora
Bennett-Gager, an expert in photo retouching, identified multiple signs of
image manipulation. The edges of Charlotte’s legs, he said, were unnaturally
soft, suggesting that the background around them had been shifted. Catherine’s
hand on the waist of her youngest son, Louis, is blurry, which he said could
indicate that the image was taken from a separate frame of the shoot.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Taken
together, Mr. Bennett-Gager said, the changes suggested that the photo was a
composite drawn from multiple images rather than a single image smoothed out
with a Photoshop program. A spokesman for Catherine declined to comment on her
proficiency in photo editing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Even before
Catherine’s apology, the web exploded with memes of “undoctored” photos. One
showed a bored-looking Catherine smoking with a group of children. Another,
which the creator said was meant to “confirm she is absolutely fine and
recovering well,” showed the princess splashing down a water slide.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Beyond the
mockery, the royal family faces a lingering credibility gap. Catherine has been
an avid photographer for years, capturing members of the royal family in candid
situations: Queen Camilla with a basket of flowers; Prince George with his
great-grandfather, Prince Philip, on a horse-drawn buggy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The palace
has released many of these photos, and they are routinely published on the
front pages of British papers (The Times of London splashed the Mother’s Day
picture over three columns). A former palace official predicted that the news
media would now examine the earlier photographs to see if they, too, had been
altered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">That would
put Kensington Palace in the tricky position of having to defend one of its
most effective communicators against a potentially wide-ranging problem, and
one over which the communications staff has little control. After a deluge of
inquires about the photograph, the palace left it to Catherine to explain what
happened. She was contrite, but presented herself as just another frustrated
shutterbug with access to Photoshop.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Like many
amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” she wrote on
social media. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family
photograph we shared yesterday caused.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Catherine’s
use of social media sets her apart from older members of the royal family, who
rely on the traditional news media to present themselves. When King Charles III
taped a video message to mark Commonwealth Day, for example, Buckingham Palace
hired a professional camera crew that was paid for by British broadcasters, a
standard arrangement for royal addresses.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When
Charles left the hospital after being treated for an enlarged prostate, he and
Queen Camilla walked in front of a phalanx of cameras, smiling and waving as
they made their way to their limousine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Catherine
was not seen entering or leaving the hospital for her surgery, nor were her
children photographed visiting her. That may reflect the gravity of her health
problems, royal watchers said, but it also reflects the determination of
William and Catherine to erect a zone of privacy around their personal lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">William,
royal experts said, is also driven by a desire not to repeat the experience of
his mother, Diana, who was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 after a
high-speed pursuit by photographers. Catherine, too, has been victimized by
paparazzi, winning damages from a French court in 2017 after a celebrity
magazine published revealing shots of her on vacation in France.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Last week,
grainy photos of Catherine riding in a car with her mother surfaced on the
American celebrity gossip site TMZ. British newspapers reported the existence
of the photos but did not publish them out of deference to the palace’s appeal
that she be allowed to recuperate in privacy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Catherine
and William are not the only members of their royal generation who have sought
to exercise control over their image. Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, posted
photos of themselves on Instagram, even using their account to announce their
withdrawal from royal duties in 2020.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Catherine’s
embrace of social media to circulate her pictures is a way of reclaiming her
life from the long lenses of the paparazzi. But the uproar over the Mother’s
Day photo shows that this strategy comes with its own risks, not least that a
family portrait has added to the very misinformation about her that it was
calculated to counteract.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On Monday
afternoon, Catherine found herself back in traditional royal mode. She was
photographed, fleetingly, in the back of a car with William as he left Windsor
Castle for a Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey. Kensington Palace
said she was on her way to a private appointment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Gaia
Tripoli and Lauren Leatherby contributed reporting.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Mark
Landler is the London bureau chief of The Times, covering the United Kingdom,
as well as American foreign policy in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He has
been a journalist for more than three decades. </span><span lang="PT">More about
Mark Landler<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-44368154476353677052024-03-11T03:00:00.000-07:002024-03-11T03:00:00.196-07:00BARBOUR'S WORLD. ( Click to enlarge )<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBpKC_HnQXFiAzl9t0DgbcMafz_b_TSMXq9m1NDwrIh3nHBrInS52XhQGt21IctzkjGRN2uH1ds32qXhzhiGz3Y6AM3anijvYW-h0Objvs326xM8rIkluowj5uMZbC5My65EicYZMtiwMCM-IfUSmroZ-3f-WPex5luOm-IAwF49mzx62C6Kz9CygKTMz/s650/Vintage-Barbour-Jackets-gear-patrol-5-jpg.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="650" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBpKC_HnQXFiAzl9t0DgbcMafz_b_TSMXq9m1NDwrIh3nHBrInS52XhQGt21IctzkjGRN2uH1ds32qXhzhiGz3Y6AM3anijvYW-h0Objvs326xM8rIkluowj5uMZbC5My65EicYZMtiwMCM-IfUSmroZ-3f-WPex5luOm-IAwF49mzx62C6Kz9CygKTMz/w400-h308/Vintage-Barbour-Jackets-gear-patrol-5-jpg.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7KoBD3el0rsPjBVXCvbXgz4W7LnxFeuHtscilfM1jbZo_AIm9Upq2I9ajjTSPOj3bRct3PTk_mC-KG-CKBH3TitLpzyneS_FXCR4b3pqClk0FaPW6fCQoKcoyhqB_QeRNVbnqyeO2Ar8Yl80x35r1-TBBWpLCpSgNlkN7y5ROo_Ol4pnPHg1cOLSWJ_7L/s1600/Untitled-20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><b>Herd Groyne
Lighthouse River Tyne.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">There is a
third lighthouse, just upstream of the pier, on the Herd Groyne at South
Shields (which was constructed in 1861–67 to preserve Littlehaven Beach, then
known as Herd Sands, which had begun to be washed away by the change of
currents caused by the new piers). This very unusual lighthouse resembling a
1940s sci-fi movie space craft was built by Newcastle-upon-Tyne Trinity House
in 1882 (ownership was passed to the Tyne Improvement Commission the following
year). It consists of an upper hexagonal part (including the lantern) of wood
and corrugated iron construction, sitting on twelve cylindrical steel legs. The
whole structure is painted red and stands 49 ft (15 m) in height.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The Barbour
story began in 1894 in the Market Place in South Shields, England. Today the
5th generation family owned business remains in the read, with Barbour’s
headquarters located in Simonside, South Shields. Although it sources products
from around the globe, Barbour’s classic wax jackets are still manufactured by
hand in the factory in Simonside and each year over 100,000 jackets are processed
via the central, subsidiary and local customer service operations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="https://www.orvis.co.uk/s/guide-to-barbour-history/2984">https://www.orvis.co.uk/s/guide-to-barbour-history/2984</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In 2004,
Barbour began to work with Lord James Percy, in the design and marketing of its
flagship shooting clothing range—the Northumberland range. Technically advanced
and highly acclaimed in 2005, the Northumberland Range won the Shooting
Industry Award for best clothing product, and the Linhope 3-in-1 won the
Shooting Industry Award for best clothing product, 2008. Percy was also
involved, alongside Vice Chairman Helen Barbour, in designing the new Barbour
Sporting collection launched for Autumn Winter 2011.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Barbour now
has 11 of its own retail shops in the UK, and a presence in over 40 countries
worldwide including the United States, Germany, Holland, Austria, France,
Italy, Spain, Argentina, New Zealand and Japan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">There are
now over 2,000 products across the two seasons and the collections now cater
for Men, Ladies and Children. Broadening out from its countrywear roots, today
the heritage and lifestyle clothing brand produces clothing that is designed
for a full lifestyle wardrobe. As well as jackets and coats, the Barbour
wardrobe includes trousers, shirts, socks, knitwear and a range of accessories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Nevertheless,
in whichever area the company now operates, it remains true to its core values
as a family business which espouses the unique values of the British
Countryside and brings the qualities of wit, grit, and glamour to its
beautifully functional clothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">HISTORY OF
BARBOUR WAXED COTTON: CLASSIC OUTERWEAR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">You can’t
think of the classic Barbour wax cotton jacket’s provenance without a nod to
England’s nineteenth-century marine industry. And if necessity is the mother of
invention, hat tip to hardworking 15th-century mariners who slathered their
sailcloth in fish oil. It’s the earliest known iteration of waxed cotton, the
textile we admire so much these days for its weather-resistant functionality
and timeless appeal. Resourceful ancient fishermen repurposed worn sailcloth as
capes for themselves: the same properties to make their sails more efficient in
dry weather, and lighter during storms, also kept their own backs dry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">A few
centuries hence, “oilcloth” had morphed into a linseed oil-saturated Egyptian
cotton, a flax plant derivative replacing the erstwhile smelly fish oil as a
weather deterrent. A cheap alternative to leather, oilcloth could be used in
many of the same applications. Problem was, linseed oil also made the material
stiff in cold weather (and thus prone to cracking), and turned it yellow. It
took a long time to dry once it was soaked, and it was toxic to some degree.
Still, it served its purpose in the marine industry and remained more or less
unchanged from the mid-nineteenth century until the 1930s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It was
then, over a period of two years and with the combined efforts of three
companies, a new generation of proofed cottons emerged, now impregnated with
paraffin-based wax instead of linseed oil. The result was a pliant and
breathable, water-resistant cotton that did not yellow. Manufactured
exclusively for outerwear, the newfangled waxed cotton in short order
supplanted oilcloth as the preferred material for heavy-duty foul weather gear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Although J.
Barbour & Sons Ltd. did not invent waxed cotton, the company was an early
champion and purveyor of it. Barbour called the first thick, waterproof waxed
cotton fabric Oilskin, and its clothing line Beacon Brand. Oilskin outerwear
answered the demands of sailors, fishermen, and river, dock, and shipyard
workers in coastal South Shields, a busy port in the North East of England that
is still home to Barbour. Waxed cotton also appealed to farmers and
gamekeepers, and even found its way into Barbour motorcycling apparel as early
as 1934, later popularized by American actor and cycling enthusiast Steve
McQueen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">THE MANY
FACES OF MODERN WAXED COTTON<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Nowadays
the terms “oilcloth” and “waxed cotton” are sometimes used interchangeably to
describe the same material, in spite of their real and historic differences.
Our partners at Barbour make outerwear of waxed cotton manufactured to
different specifications depending on its anticipated use:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Sylkoil is
an “unshorn” wax where the cotton comes straight from the loom while it’s
slightly fluffy and is then dyed and waxed. The natural imperfections of the
weave are reflected in the rich variations of color and finish. Over time, this
fabric softens into a lovely, slightly peachy looking cotton between waxes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Thornproof
is a lustrous wax with a deep color and even touch. The cotton is calendered
between rollers and then dyed. The resulting finish is smooth cotton which we
term Thornproof because it is extremely resistant to snags and pulls from spiky
plants such as brambles and hawthorn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In spite of
waxed cotton’s utility and appeal, modern polymers (GORE-TEX® is an example)
have threatened its extinction in recent years. And it is really no wonder:
they’re more practical and require less maintenance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This begs
the question, why choose a Barbour waxed cotton jacket? You could as easily ask
why a book holds sway over a tablet reader, a mechanical watch over a digital
one, or wood over laminate, and the answer would be the same: because it
possesses a depth of character its modern counterpart lacks. When you wear a
Barbour jacket, you are wearing a piece of history.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And in the
end, waxed cotton has rallied: while the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth
centuries may have seen its widest use in the marine industries, the classic
waxed cotton jacket has made a comeback as essential outerwear for the
discriminating country sportsman, fashion maven, and urbanite alike. It is a
garment that develops patina with age, each mark a reminder of a page in a
chapter, or a chapter in a story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For many of
us the waxed cotton jacket never went out of style. As stewards of a living
garment—one that will likely enjoy use by multiple generations—we proudly wear
this wardrobe beacon of our forebears.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
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<br />Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-19678017127183857562024-03-09T13:00:00.000-08:002024-03-09T13:22:30.276-08:00WUNDER-CRAMMER<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">INTERIORS<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">WUNDER-CRAMMER<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Ever
wondered how much you can squeeze into a petite end-of-terrace house where an
open fire is the sole source of heating? Well, here’s your answer. Furniture
restorer Guy Marshall’s mid-19th-century cottage in north Shropshire is all of
one room wide and two deep and yet he has still managed to accommodate an
abundance of mainly Georgian antiques, including a rather handsome four-poster.
Brimful, certainly; but it’s also beautifully – ahem – Marshalled<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">By Ros Byam
Shaw<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Photography
by Jan Baldwin<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.worldofinteriors.com/story/guy-marshall-house-shropshire-england?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhpinterest&utm_content=app.dashhudson.com%2Fthe-world-of-interiors%2Flibrary%2Fmedia%2F359358433">https://www.worldofinteriors.com/story/guy-marshall-house-shropshire-england?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhpinterest&utm_content=app.dashhudson.com%2Fthe-world-of-interiors%2Flibrary%2Fmedia%2F359358433</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">15 November
2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6E_3tZnTqtN4NUjgL1USfJAGrazTkQkoHj7UrEn0JH_UDfGaYQMJ5YklBHPn3FIA2CmfPWa8HxAad85TsIne112wPJ1aOHFSddpxMr26wWOCD1C_m2vjCnY52Zd7S0hn7JDg4CVFSF_8bsvhgf-PTqvtu9RHMLsKnattowosmgX-hSFgXTtsBq5NO5W3/s1920/22_020LivingRmDPS_011.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6E_3tZnTqtN4NUjgL1USfJAGrazTkQkoHj7UrEn0JH_UDfGaYQMJ5YklBHPn3FIA2CmfPWa8HxAad85TsIne112wPJ1aOHFSddpxMr26wWOCD1C_m2vjCnY52Zd7S0hn7JDg4CVFSF_8bsvhgf-PTqvtu9RHMLsKnattowosmgX-hSFgXTtsBq5NO5W3/w400-h225/22_020LivingRmDPS_011.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><i>View of the
living room where a portrait of William Pitt hangs alongside a fireplace<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span>Originally,
a front door led straight from the street into the living room, where a
portrait of William Pitt by John Hoppner now hangs. Just below it is Guy
Marshall’s evening roost – a wing chair covered in mattress ticking. He says
the advantage of the house being so small is that he can stretch out his legs
and toast his feet at the fire, which is the sole source of heat in the entire
place. On the tripod table in the foreground a Regency penwork tea caddy sits
alongside a Bow porcelain figure and creamware cauliflower teapot, both 1760s</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Ten years
ago, in his early forties, antique furniture restorer Guy Marshall bought his
first house, an end-of-terrace cottage dating from 1850 in a quiet side street
of a town in north Shropshire. Plain and modest in size – its frontage to the
street is little more than three-and-a-half metres across – it fitted his
budget, and his three further requirements: ceilings high enough for his
chinoiserie long-case clock of 1705, a bedroom big enough for his 1800
four-poster bed, and a usable fireplace. Guy didn’t like much else about it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
double-glazed windows had to go, and he replaced them with single-glazed
multi-pane ones. Up came the fitted carpet that covered the concrete downstairs
and the chipboard upstairs. He disconnected all the radiators, including the
heated towel rail in the downstairs bathroom, and dismantled the fitted
kitchen. And he made a simple wooden chimney piece for the fireplace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXJXosGz5AeSPX3Ut8qfOYG4mNQnpddorXKwY9EGXlxtJPfgSDY8VX4TtXZiecHBxYYutc9LI-F2LSU9Ugd46HCffNeppXZqYcZ-BQNUJii1CtJYlLgvOrPREtIUg4UJ1_TBKJUYjt8rkBQVgHuDw0NZ1OWldSv0Z9H9QXUgg_M188HJFhpgFY11fcK92/s2381/22_020LivingRmDoor_011.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2381" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXJXosGz5AeSPX3Ut8qfOYG4mNQnpddorXKwY9EGXlxtJPfgSDY8VX4TtXZiecHBxYYutc9LI-F2LSU9Ugd46HCffNeppXZqYcZ-BQNUJii1CtJYlLgvOrPREtIUg4UJ1_TBKJUYjt8rkBQVgHuDw0NZ1OWldSv0Z9H9QXUgg_M188HJFhpgFY11fcK92/w430-h640/22_020LivingRmDoor_011.webp" width="430" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><i>Tucked into
the corner, beside a mid-18th-century tea table, a faux-marble Solomonic
pedestal bears a plaster bust</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To say the
house can accommodate a four-poster and a tall clock might give the wrong
impression. It really is as small as it looks from the outside. A side entrance
opens into a hall not much bigger than a chessboard. Steep stairs rise to the
left, the bathroom door to the right is firmly closed (he plans to rip out the
modern fittings) and ahead is the kitchen built over the old backyard. Through
an open doorway is the front room. At the top of the stairs another diminutive
landing separates a box room, which might better be described as a walk-in
cupboard, from the bedroom, which is entirely filled by the bed. That’s it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">After
moving in, Guy met a lady in her eighties who had been brought up here with her
parents and brother. The house had yet to be extended at the back. There was
one room downstairs, one upstairs and a privy in the backyard. Her father
worked as a cobbler in a windowless cellar below the living room. She cried to
see its transformation from the cramped slum dwelling of her childhood. Her
reaction is hardly surprising.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTApZd00kbseMkfQSXNfNfdWRu5HfctQ3fxqvlC3lEYymCWJB0naVoMKkY8BaguQSBJvC3m7NJZKQh4c5i9HUr_qpizEvwsAEyWrJ73U1xFU1WvZyB4tk8rbsWWK0o59BEkQ6v9EMI-JYfOwnk-mAQYMI1UhORMWz0y9YhZUNNL_U1VcN88KqlGTVkRw-w/s2375/22_020Kitchen4_007.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2375" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTApZd00kbseMkfQSXNfNfdWRu5HfctQ3fxqvlC3lEYymCWJB0naVoMKkY8BaguQSBJvC3m7NJZKQh4c5i9HUr_qpizEvwsAEyWrJ73U1xFU1WvZyB4tk8rbsWWK0o59BEkQ6v9EMI-JYfOwnk-mAQYMI1UhORMWz0y9YhZUNNL_U1VcN88KqlGTVkRw-w/w432-h640/22_020Kitchen4_007.webp" width="432" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>A
painted-pine glazed cabinet houses a selection of 18th-century Leeds Pottery
creamware and, on top, a toleware egg boiler. The cutlery tray in front is late
Georgian</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Inside this
humble shell Guy has created a world of old-fashioned beauty, such that
stepping through the front door is like opening a cardboard box to find it
lined with Spitalfields silk. The two tiny downstairs rooms, slightly hazy with
wood and hand-rolled cigarette smoke, are filled by a notably refined array of
furniture, paintings, prints, rugs, clocks and china, mostly 18th-century, some
rare, some damaged, all covetable.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Convenience
is secondary to aesthetics. The kitchen has been invaded and more or less edged
out of existence by a Georgian chest of drawers, a grandfather clock and a
serpentine sideboard. What you might call the business end has been shunted
into a corner, where it cowers behind a damask-covered screen: essentially a
Baby Belling cooker on top of a fridge, directly above which hang four
luminous, gilt-framed oil paintings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVbHtZQMMCIXKcqb_QrW6XxkNdANvJPOSxkW-prD1kJAYV76HFH2MABUUExNBkhiFCmfQtaKhVzE0ImBhP-MvxDkmITb8DWljfR_PK3Apu2VXl3BNliN0vTAMkSjXB8c5eMGfqAuibOwyvT9dhDFFxOvaB8bt1RwJvn5W8neMNMrt0X01KkstLAjoZlSK6/s2418/22_020Kitchen3_003.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2418" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVbHtZQMMCIXKcqb_QrW6XxkNdANvJPOSxkW-prD1kJAYV76HFH2MABUUExNBkhiFCmfQtaKhVzE0ImBhP-MvxDkmITb8DWljfR_PK3Apu2VXl3BNliN0vTAMkSjXB8c5eMGfqAuibOwyvT9dhDFFxOvaB8bt1RwJvn5W8neMNMrt0X01KkstLAjoZlSK6/w424-h640/22_020Kitchen3_003.webp" width="424" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><i>Hidden by a
velvet-covered screen, Guy’s kitchen consists of just two appliances: a ‘Baby
Belling’ cooker – a present from a friend, the decorator Libby Lord – and a
fridge. Above them hang a country oak wall cupboard and a selection of oil
paintings</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span>The
stainless-steel sink under the window is the last remaining stub of fitted
kitchen, and is due to be ousted in favour of an antique Belfast job. Does he
cook, entertain? ‘I heat up a pie when I get back from the workshop, but I have
been known to cook pheasant for friends.’ At which point he opens the panelled
door of his Georgian store cupboard – not to reveal the Marmite, Tabasco, brown
sauce and packets of tea that are all it contains, but to show how its interior
is lined with layers of 18th- and early 19th-century hand-blocked wallpaper.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the
adjoining living room two wing chairs loosely dressed in ticking face the
fireplace – now the only source of heat in the house – which is flanked by a
bureau and a bookcase. There are three tripod tables, four broad-seated dining
chairs, a cellarette, a padded stool, a bust on a fat marbled column and the
chinoiserie longcase, its top grazing the ceiling. A glazed corner cupboard is
stuffed with blue-and white pearlware, walls are closely hung, and the various
surfaces are arranged with a choice selection of Georgian china. Full, but not
cluttered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnK79ds3s1a6-cXHKUYYm7rAD3A-WB3f8Fh4fNCoiWWT9bUo-RboCcn-h_QDf3edNgt1IljIM1ird9xsyBFlodFC2jqE16q_aJNaj131O-oiUU-D_evz2zrG7aJ7sd7I54XqLbALzrX2vINR7EicVzuBeIhvVsmKShKcefZySYnRurmwRc-Blrxeqp3H9R/s2400/22_020Bedroom2_002.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnK79ds3s1a6-cXHKUYYm7rAD3A-WB3f8Fh4fNCoiWWT9bUo-RboCcn-h_QDf3edNgt1IljIM1ird9xsyBFlodFC2jqE16q_aJNaj131O-oiUU-D_evz2zrG7aJ7sd7I54XqLbALzrX2vINR7EicVzuBeIhvVsmKShKcefZySYnRurmwRc-Blrxeqp3H9R/w426-h640/22_020Bedroom2_002.webp" width="426" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><i>Found in
pieces in a saleroom, the c1800 oak four-poster bed is now replete with
hangings made from old velvet curtains, as well as an 18th-century portrait of
a candlelit boy and a patchwork bedspread hand-stitched by Guy some 20 years
ago</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Every
object, from a chaste creamware jug to a 1730 walnut chair with its unusually
fine ‘cresting’ (more like it can be seen at Chatsworth), is placed for
symmetry and balance, creating a rare feast for the eyes; rich without being
indigestible. In the room above, Guy demonstrates a sort of back flip across
the bed to reach the inlaid chest of drawers on its far side – edging round the
posts inevitably knocks a picture crooked. He bought the bed in pieces ‘tied up
with baler twine and covered in sheep muck’ and used antique velvet curtains to
form the hangings and canopy. He also made the bedspread, a patchwork in large
squares of old fabric. ‘I sewed that by hand, 16 hours a day for a week,’ he
says, ‘to keep myself busy when I stopped drinking.’ The quilt is a nightly
reminder of recovery.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ir4Jt3MzF6SoscecZFmDv6ewecM7jAYk2wr2tV_YjzkR3sh-xlkDD3JGZm53wEGEBFvE92yn4TQjP06kqxBuurZs4VTOxwFD6fcclmrRvFmtrxe43Jrgklwdqe_IT8WZmNj6pMXuJxzMB87nyxXALn699m7pJf1pXpSIc-Fv-1fiCPUTzkxOfTtThLgK/s2411/22_020LandingBedroom_008.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2411" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ir4Jt3MzF6SoscecZFmDv6ewecM7jAYk2wr2tV_YjzkR3sh-xlkDD3JGZm53wEGEBFvE92yn4TQjP06kqxBuurZs4VTOxwFD6fcclmrRvFmtrxe43Jrgklwdqe_IT8WZmNj6pMXuJxzMB87nyxXALn699m7pJf1pXpSIc-Fv-1fiCPUTzkxOfTtThLgK/w424-h640/22_020LandingBedroom_008.webp" width="424" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><i>A selection
of Georgian engravings and mezzotints lines the walls of the tight staircase.
With no space for fitted bookcases, this is made narrower still by the stacks
of books piled on the right of each tread. Glimpsed on a chest of drawers
through the bedroom door is a c1740 ebonised-pearwood bracket clock</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘I went
through a rough patch,’ he says, ‘living in a series of bedsits and rented
flats. I even lived on the road for a few years after I was expelled from
boarding school. I had a copy of the poems of WH Davies in my pocket and
thought it would be romantic.’ Although he rebelled as a pupil, it was his prep
school, situated in a grand Georgian country house with some of its contents
still in place, that sparked Guy’s love of antiques. ‘My father was in the
army, so we lived in quarters with hideous military furnishings. I started
buying antiques when I was 12.’ The habit remains, fed by Ebay and contacts in
the trade who appreciate his taste, craftsmanship and respect for patina. ‘Even
when I was homeless I needed a few nice things to lay out and look at – an old
lighter, an antique cigarette case, a netsuke I kept in my pocket. Physical
comfort has never been as important – another prep school legacy!’<o:p></o:p></span></p>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-90734245910376939962024-03-08T03:00:00.000-08:002024-03-08T03:00:00.146-08:00RALPH LAUREN | The Polo Gazette | Requiem for a Speed Racer<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/UrepM2g1pl4?si=e8ZS8NOVFT0ScVXA" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2MRPWDh5d1vLwW6b90cRwk-ys7wY95iiDYX6CMb2HUffgcJVg-QdeKYPF_TSi0wai-EY-CTfXJp1AgSn3wzMRHfdOkWxgmQ3YG3yk1B_jwjPzALLGNvnYhXMNBDG42e7RRpN-jk-6KRdMvso_wbELm2z9ZaMD5GrhDW0tj1xtXIZe1KMtNUzcfllKc7SJ/s846/86bb5690335c948a51d910a46d2503de.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="846" data-original-width="564" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2MRPWDh5d1vLwW6b90cRwk-ys7wY95iiDYX6CMb2HUffgcJVg-QdeKYPF_TSi0wai-EY-CTfXJp1AgSn3wzMRHfdOkWxgmQ3YG3yk1B_jwjPzALLGNvnYhXMNBDG42e7RRpN-jk-6KRdMvso_wbELm2z9ZaMD5GrhDW0tj1xtXIZe1KMtNUzcfllKc7SJ/w267-h400/86bb5690335c948a51d910a46d2503de.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__jm2vo5vohnbJQoN2TPd7mdBwxMyxqyy218KxXB7JHWV8Nd3BYnTx9jBV769gRUZcliyTaHJ5qavY3R-HEERIVN71_n1fTJmUCnRGwj9UI-GbXuxyEm2ok2tJmFax0w6TK3eTYoVBRfSwck3rOTjEJzOxW9Z3pA11i_HhSnllD6w9MqjZlG_qK6ENdGq/s846/6deb841c9a1549d55b07d96db0438234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="846" data-original-width="564" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__jm2vo5vohnbJQoN2TPd7mdBwxMyxqyy218KxXB7JHWV8Nd3BYnTx9jBV769gRUZcliyTaHJ5qavY3R-HEERIVN71_n1fTJmUCnRGwj9UI-GbXuxyEm2ok2tJmFax0w6TK3eTYoVBRfSwck3rOTjEJzOxW9Z3pA11i_HhSnllD6w9MqjZlG_qK6ENdGq/w266-h400/6deb841c9a1549d55b07d96db0438234.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigp_t0IgcGFfG2XsUgoLDl-AZCm_TxYd5eKy8T6XLebo0Fuv0nPszI4MOP8IObZhrWyhnSshYyp2bZhbThsGXilBPqX65i1gF-DAkfhezfEcaLEIpS5QPHcgYVudWWidlo5bqkO2D_lIkMDnRF-Wr2DhaUn8CdB6l33u3-PtWmckAJ8tAopnBw20kINaHH/s846/418e10aab8050f4233c7edecb35d980c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="846" data-original-width="564" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigp_t0IgcGFfG2XsUgoLDl-AZCm_TxYd5eKy8T6XLebo0Fuv0nPszI4MOP8IObZhrWyhnSshYyp2bZhbThsGXilBPqX65i1gF-DAkfhezfEcaLEIpS5QPHcgYVudWWidlo5bqkO2D_lIkMDnRF-Wr2DhaUn8CdB6l33u3-PtWmckAJ8tAopnBw20kINaHH/w266-h400/418e10aab8050f4233c7edecb35d980c.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">It seems
Ralph Lauren and Lacoste are seen as “Preppy”(upper middle class) in many
European countries, is it the same in the UK or are there other brands instead?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Socio-economic<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskABrit/comments/170j1zg/it_seems_ralph_lauren_and_lacoste_are_seen_as/#:~:text=Ralph%20Lauren%20is%20definitely%20worn,by%20more%20current%20fashion%20trends">https://www.reddit.com/r/AskABrit/comments/170j1zg/it_seems_ralph_lauren_and_lacoste_are_seen_as/#:~:text=Ralph%20Lauren%20is%20definitely%20worn,by%20more%20current%20fashion%20trends</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Hey
guys,<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Definitions<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Preppy:
I would say “preppy” would be associate with the upper middle although not
exclusively. When I think about preppy in global terms would be private school,
private university and working a working a high paying job(law, finance) in a
big city.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Class: I
know the class system in the UK is different than in other countries, but I’m
using these terms much more in terms of wealth.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">US:
Brooks Brothers(Old Prep), Vineyard Vines(New Prep)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">In the
US I have seen people at elite and private universities wearing Vineyard Vines
a lot. Like frat guys, trust fund people and those in high paying jobs.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Europe:
For instance, in many European countries an American brand like Vineyard vines
is unknown because they primarily serve the local American Market. The same
happens with Brooks brothers.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Ralph
Lauren meanwhile is seen as a more “International brand” even though it’s
American. It seems in some European countries it would be the equivalent to
wearing Brooks Brothers.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">The same
with Lacoste though Lacoste doesn’t seem to have a historically solid
reputation as RL since they outsourced their production lesser quality
manufactures but at least they’ve been trying to make a comeback.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Spain:
Has their own local “preppy” brands like Scalpers and Pompeii.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">How is
it in the UK? So far the only brand which I found is Baracuta. The G9
Harrington Jacket would fit on the aesthetic I’m talking about. But where do
you guys get your Polo’s? Fred Perry’s has many negative associations. At least
some people from Europe(not the Uk) told not to wear it since it’s associated
with right wing groups..etc<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNcvdOgrflOcbtQ4O5IAAZyBNBFLSCT8HVehRUJuMKvD48pmiuxH-7atDmBsfDEUhb7gsLPPkfR08XG3EZFETGzd2VgnCGXcIK5OFxQLAZMVHH_LtkC0C1SpYaRN1Q0TUuJ_vxPqYCMR2lPZU5d9ISLvDBoBmaIfFDkKldMVolNnVW9LimNAeF0RyJBEXM/s1002/627f545fca2ccb91c8964f13f1d57b43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1002" data-original-width="564" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNcvdOgrflOcbtQ4O5IAAZyBNBFLSCT8HVehRUJuMKvD48pmiuxH-7atDmBsfDEUhb7gsLPPkfR08XG3EZFETGzd2VgnCGXcIK5OFxQLAZMVHH_LtkC0C1SpYaRN1Q0TUuJ_vxPqYCMR2lPZU5d9ISLvDBoBmaIfFDkKldMVolNnVW9LimNAeF0RyJBEXM/w360-h640/627f545fca2ccb91c8964f13f1d57b43.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuT0oDH5E5C0-_NQiAEMG242PEaEohXfHyWcWNhTr_pWwMAIFZefJ30kFMQ_R7ckn0H7q4jnGRWU7rwZfbuoTjsF6-dRuQtJcqbc1uSH2qb2HvXJkNX5FzVB2zYYoAZZgu8WE8Sf7gT_h2Lw8Gscpg1mqJT_rirz9yMG4h5TIM7uy1eUKGBJXX53M5gWKI/s846/a7c19afaac22c53c37b83abe59b577f5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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COUNTRY FAIR<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Gates open
at 9am<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">30 August
2024 –1 September 2024<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Featuring
grand ring displays in the air and on land, demos from celebrity chefs plus
family entertainment. </span><span lang="PT">Book now and save up to 20%.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMNBdmFl4rNkLBti2e_sNuyHS27idTu1qjR6c2Hx_W6blPyt0oBl1fUCzK6tYghNzPEr7FfSFVkO3thHLj8iHnZ-MOdUpICXReBnfXnX51ryOzauer7DjofMBaJ4uy4N5xdU-tmH3SyNgcsib78PxbgwTJ0MMNPjkhcFOvYilQSyDX4tUPUsanVBB6ZtQY/s873/Chatsworth-Country-Fair-873.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="873" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMNBdmFl4rNkLBti2e_sNuyHS27idTu1qjR6c2Hx_W6blPyt0oBl1fUCzK6tYghNzPEr7FfSFVkO3thHLj8iHnZ-MOdUpICXReBnfXnX51ryOzauer7DjofMBaJ4uy4N5xdU-tmH3SyNgcsib78PxbgwTJ0MMNPjkhcFOvYilQSyDX4tUPUsanVBB6ZtQY/w400-h214/Chatsworth-Country-Fair-873.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm3kuDE6kXRUIf3jxoikR-StNdwDviub05kGrh-XTFJf4Fcp3KbdjwlLpaGYFjCeKHhAeUe83txaohJyNKtvkrFvKUGP_BZO4HcsluFl6T8TOS2-fgIo1F7QMX71O2Y22HIgyNhEvJZpkdgHtwyQK5H3T3xf6Efm8wM8U2ti3_831bzEExCbAWLd1S674x/s915/chatsworth915x500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhixR8mJicNE7vEZKdw3V3PpYNVZk1XOpZolEj7GH-zpHA6GtBv_lIXP5lH3r38Eqz6YqjYP68DxifCCfUCfpU1LN7iRBbNdaS6tI5iLSKXdjQXtixrS31VWlngQ4ESF1344gyR9H-zjzMEnjbDvy4q9N-I9k41ZvznwbJiKFx-CE5wNWJIZIaxw6y1-CR6/s1500/91uKKiU4ecL._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1140" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhixR8mJicNE7vEZKdw3V3PpYNVZk1XOpZolEj7GH-zpHA6GtBv_lIXP5lH3r38Eqz6YqjYP68DxifCCfUCfpU1LN7iRBbNdaS6tI5iLSKXdjQXtixrS31VWlngQ4ESF1344gyR9H-zjzMEnjbDvy4q9N-I9k41ZvznwbJiKFx-CE5wNWJIZIaxw6y1-CR6/w304-h400/91uKKiU4ecL._SL1500_.jpg" width="304" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Beretta: 500 Years of the World's Finest Sporting Life
Hardcover – October 25, 2016<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">by Nicholas Foulkes (Author), Andy Anderson
(Photographer)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This
landmark volume celebrates five centuries of Beretta—bringing together the rich
history and experience of the world’s finest shotguns and purveyor of the
sporting lifestyle. Collectors, shooting sports enthusiasts, hunters, and those
who appreciate the finest aspects of the outdoor and sporting lifestyle have
one thing in common all over the world—they all carry a Beretta. Since 1526,
the Beretta name has been synonymous with uncompromising craftsmanship and
performance in firearms. These guns have been carried into the field by some of
the most iconic figures in modern culture, from Winston Churchill and Ernest
Hemingway to Sean Connery and Norman Schwarzkopf, as well as current U.S.
Olympic gold-medalist shooters. For the first time, the Beretta family opens
the doors to its family villa, properties, and factory in Gardone, Italy, to
show the world’s finest guns being made by hand. The book then immerses the
reader in the field, with sumptuous photography that shows the shooting and
sporting lifestyle at its best—from Argentina to Oregon, Scotland to Tanzania.
It truly spans the globe: from the Beretta galleries in Buenos Aires, Dallas,
London, Milan, New York, and Paris to celebrating the sporting life at
Beretta's endorsed lodges, including Blackberry Farm, Tennessee, upland hunting
at Highland Hills, Oregon, a traditional quail hunt at Pine Hill, Georgia, a
driven shoot on the moors of Scotland, a safari in Tanzania, and duck hunting
in Louisiana, Argentina, and Venice. This is the ideal gift for fine-gun
aficionados, a showcase of Beretta’s best work, and a bucket list for sportsmen
and sportswomen and all those aspiring to the pursuit of life afield at its
finest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQHO6kbIB0ZIpxuTZ-s3yEoYAkvtVw5z-SUGbmhwGBdNZT8sgs0PFkI_eSie-aJ7RJ3EkDUNafrifyO1ccyby-RyyeoTHnxGfz4W7xuX90oNSqqR3OkxClq35aRcZ5VnKyBu8x1Su4dWtW3Akr4GXnp9yI2aDqZ7qWzxTxbCZ6hxwGNOhl4lwFe7nmWXP/s1050/beretta_141101_2x7a4507%20(1).webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="700" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQHO6kbIB0ZIpxuTZ-s3yEoYAkvtVw5z-SUGbmhwGBdNZT8sgs0PFkI_eSie-aJ7RJ3EkDUNafrifyO1ccyby-RyyeoTHnxGfz4W7xuX90oNSqqR3OkxClq35aRcZ5VnKyBu8x1Su4dWtW3Akr4GXnp9yI2aDqZ7qWzxTxbCZ6hxwGNOhl4lwFe7nmWXP/w427-h640/beretta_141101_2x7a4507%20(1).webp" width="427" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkSfsPmGKdsU4KoET1b2-KzPGSfQk6RprdGPd2wgjmA8VQr9q35y6RdeQM0XgbUspuZiiKVY7LPON06-Lw-JJW_QbOVinNRUGAI9RutDrfb2jTIrc1vlleCDAJhDV0u6otHFnT0Wtf97UT_cD6dIEYzjvOwdsLAPqK9muTmI5dLpFQl7esEnhez3HQAYI5/s1050/beretta_130922__f6a6470.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="700" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkSfsPmGKdsU4KoET1b2-KzPGSfQk6RprdGPd2wgjmA8VQr9q35y6RdeQM0XgbUspuZiiKVY7LPON06-Lw-JJW_QbOVinNRUGAI9RutDrfb2jTIrc1vlleCDAJhDV0u6otHFnT0Wtf97UT_cD6dIEYzjvOwdsLAPqK9muTmI5dLpFQl7esEnhez3HQAYI5/w426-h640/beretta_130922__f6a6470.webp" width="426" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLYzXoKT417kebVSZ-mg0V1MI5YTf2-05AJGvH2_LsflH0kJNKbKXi4F1JLmgQWn34BopoYXUsm0iwzTmGgHAZVmG7Nu7OmVGic8l1hNcxIFqMy-kWDnYqQbo19yymyRNGv1HwzaQH8O9V0Avac6i0TWrgHEHFbj5IrZ7J0S8olz97ysBAUuQariNKW1ZL/s700/beretta_130919__f6a4734.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLYzXoKT417kebVSZ-mg0V1MI5YTf2-05AJGvH2_LsflH0kJNKbKXi4F1JLmgQWn34BopoYXUsm0iwzTmGgHAZVmG7Nu7OmVGic8l1hNcxIFqMy-kWDnYqQbo19yymyRNGv1HwzaQH8O9V0Avac6i0TWrgHEHFbj5IrZ7J0S8olz97ysBAUuQariNKW1ZL/w400-h266/beretta_130919__f6a4734.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9B36V51tQFf0Usl3ErqGlU4bAHObzS2P19Aw3Yt_vXUacGoGgiApSuwlT8C6iz_oUfz0Zgznc0fJ599FOnUpiqaxIQfkeLnk1cx72ZG3zdzzk8lugkAWeS-V4rmE2kEqxkMbPDtq8hCDKh91uDr-5Czd6fFoNLhyFasnoE4v5HrlqeyipRlwSEkkT6aM2/s700/beretta_141031_2x7a0689.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9B36V51tQFf0Usl3ErqGlU4bAHObzS2P19Aw3Yt_vXUacGoGgiApSuwlT8C6iz_oUfz0Zgznc0fJ599FOnUpiqaxIQfkeLnk1cx72ZG3zdzzk8lugkAWeS-V4rmE2kEqxkMbPDtq8hCDKh91uDr-5Czd6fFoNLhyFasnoE4v5HrlqeyipRlwSEkkT6aM2/w400-h266/beretta_141031_2x7a0689.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieBek7PZcnLBlAn1_RPS2UYfVwjTSvTvyH06Xk_VO7-uALltHrhPheprM_a4W-dSNERnk6raTgKQuEMmOig0vOlSV5KFO04LUmb4qJiEyWgry0skKCErgRtgjqjwRUX0gMU32WTy0Xwbmq-OzFclLOfmNlTJaweHYNAJS9tSzzEE9IehzGieZk32SuWEvT/s700/beretta_140112_2x7a3671.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieBek7PZcnLBlAn1_RPS2UYfVwjTSvTvyH06Xk_VO7-uALltHrhPheprM_a4W-dSNERnk6raTgKQuEMmOig0vOlSV5KFO04LUmb4qJiEyWgry0skKCErgRtgjqjwRUX0gMU32WTy0Xwbmq-OzFclLOfmNlTJaweHYNAJS9tSzzEE9IehzGieZk32SuWEvT/w400-h266/beretta_140112_2x7a3671.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">February
12, 2015 by Heather Elder<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">500 YEARS OF CRAFT AND TRADITION. ANDY ANDERSON AND
BERETTA<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Author:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rebecca Bedrossian<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://notesfromarepsjournal.com/2015/02/12/500-years-of-craft-and-tradition-andy-anderson-and-beretta/">https://notesfromarepsjournal.com/2015/02/12/500-years-of-craft-and-tradition-andy-anderson-and-beretta/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A
picturesque villa in the Italian countryside, the Scottish Lowlands dotted with
bespoke tweed, a lone set of tracks in the sand of an African game preserve.
These are beautiful images created for Beretta, a 500-year-old, family-owned
firearms company. (A far cry from Robert Blake, the first thought that popped
into my head when I heard “Beretta”.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It’s
obvious when looking at Andy Anderson’s pictures that Beretta is more than just
guns. This is a company rooted in the sporting life. Yes, firearms and rifles,
but also the outdoors, fashion, craftsmanship, legacy, engraving, and more.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This fall,
Rizzoli will publish Beretta: 500 Years of the Sporting Life, a large, 400+
page, coffee-table book, to be written by Nik Foulkes—with photographs by Andy.
Fifteen years ago, the last time Beretta published its showpiece, Peter Beard
made the pictures. For Andy, this journey began two-and-a-half years ago, when
he began traveling the globe to photograph the world of Beretta.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When I
asked about the project, Andy spoke less of the images he created and more of
the company that commissioned them. “Beretta is an amazing company,” he said.
“They believe in the creative process. They are loyal to their employees. They
are lovely people—like family.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And family
they are. Fifteen generations of Berettas have run this company that takes
craft very seriously. How seriously? In today’s connected, virtual world, where
business transactions happen at the speed of light, a Beretta engraver may
spend over 600 hours engraving just one gun. Engravers must apprentice for five
years. and there are generations of families—engravers—who’ve worked for
Beretta. And this is a company that commissioned a photographer to work more
than 150 days over the course of what will be almost three years.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At the helm
of the company is Ugo Beretta and his sons Pietro and Franco. The steward of
legacy brand is Franco, a man who will interrupt the international board
meeting he is in, to step outside and say goodbye to a photographer and his
son. Good relationships beget good business. Franco understands this, and as
the company has grown, acquiring other brands, the family hasn’t lost sight of
its core values.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When this
project began, Franco didn’t have a laundry list of asks, instead he simply
told Andy: “We trust you to go make pictures.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And he has.
Looking at Andy’s photographs, I feel as if I’ve caught a glimpse of days gone
by. Rich traditions I didn’t know still existed. You won’t find dead animals.
These pictures celebrate the sport, design, tools, quality, craft. From
camouflage to the suit and tie, this is a global view of the sporting life. I
can hardly wait to see more.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-91468682166637272662024-03-04T03:00:00.000-08:002024-03-04T03:00:00.143-08:00Business Owner Devastated by Brexit<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/xyDVQM7gbcg?si=GW1dzT_EZUmbhToJ" frameborder="0"></iframe>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-41400627182706857572024-03-02T23:11:00.000-08:002024-03-02T23:11:15.425-08:00CHAPS .<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqXaM6cXbhWIlWlM8TSHj62CG_DrVdsh8q1vMph8YHeHOIa3gzk8jMu7-WACtpL6-zo_tLqC0wI3KmBK5S_ytYX2URdqqd6zCp500-vyajqTPcLmnQkjd_br8Foiw5aXWlcCzDiMSrLAAwKMgSLIracxW4Os4TgEgVm3-fp51mZGPnaC_j0H_ayZUwsOKj/s638/2ee2af6b47a9345a935472a2b1688022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUzV83449nDpoXAoSbWtVqEIIeySnbMq2pAucblvXHRJZkK1ShEBzeWMpNLuz2dHLLIudEEbohnhAyXBWXqbrPz0eneS4BsH14XJWTBk80Z6sHxY2874jF8lrLCeGTkl-pH85IdGF9VNnTR4LR8dxCLH4L_6n-Io5qJ3KHpJiDPfD8z1n26rTVttlva0Ev/s2048/01Apfel-new-fvbg-superJumbo.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1736" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUzV83449nDpoXAoSbWtVqEIIeySnbMq2pAucblvXHRJZkK1ShEBzeWMpNLuz2dHLLIudEEbohnhAyXBWXqbrPz0eneS4BsH14XJWTBk80Z6sHxY2874jF8lrLCeGTkl-pH85IdGF9VNnTR4LR8dxCLH4L_6n-Io5qJ3KHpJiDPfD8z1n26rTVttlva0Ev/w339-h400/01Apfel-new-fvbg-superJumbo.webp" width="339" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM76uTUt5sUHAitIwfIVhpug00u4lBFyw5HfT0sFgfAZyAyz0kCr5bfaPKPdEa3sBS_oWeRC-1N9637hYk1Rts2XuVbj-3LKfbcDL0qSX2pOeVR8wK5JQgm9czD1L8n7svN43CSGB_azP0da8dawymEV-3C83sQNDxFnNbowTJZeshfYxjrw4NCe-QMPMZ/s1741/00Apfel1-cbjz-superJumbo.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1161" data-original-width="1741" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM76uTUt5sUHAitIwfIVhpug00u4lBFyw5HfT0sFgfAZyAyz0kCr5bfaPKPdEa3sBS_oWeRC-1N9637hYk1Rts2XuVbj-3LKfbcDL0qSX2pOeVR8wK5JQgm9czD1L8n7svN43CSGB_azP0da8dawymEV-3C83sQNDxFnNbowTJZeshfYxjrw4NCe-QMPMZ/w400-h266/00Apfel1-cbjz-superJumbo.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Iris Apfel, Eye-Catcher With a Kaleidoscopic
Wardrobe, Dies at 102<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She came to fame in the fashion world in her 80s
and 90s, and her wildly eclectic closet of clothes formed a hit exhibition at
the Metropolitan Museum of Art.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH-97xA9mOCH3IRIrJTEx5NxzjgTWoUb2Z817Jfu1y2dNuQlAUScds0x0yMRvXa6VtveK3IjYQWELKEZOqynuOT7i56UZL8RbvXESRiJsJzbotTmp9i1F3o5HFnMzqvQwNeHM-HbMKUIF8Mbao5tMTqiQ2symr_8S7sJBWA_zBDu6518UE3ZWgPHRhHair/s1000/new-york-times-logo-square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH-97xA9mOCH3IRIrJTEx5NxzjgTWoUb2Z817Jfu1y2dNuQlAUScds0x0yMRvXa6VtveK3IjYQWELKEZOqynuOT7i56UZL8RbvXESRiJsJzbotTmp9i1F3o5HFnMzqvQwNeHM-HbMKUIF8Mbao5tMTqiQ2symr_8S7sJBWA_zBDu6518UE3ZWgPHRhHair/s320/new-york-times-logo-square.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Robert D.
McFadden<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">By Robert
D. McFadden<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Published
March 1, 2024<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Updated
March 2, 2024, 2:25 a.m. ET<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/01/fashion/iris-apfel-dead.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/01/fashion/iris-apfel-dead.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Iris Apfel,
a New York society matron and interior designer who late in life knocked the
socks off the fashion world with a brash bohemian style that mixed hippie
vintage and haute couture, found treasures in flea markets and reveled in
contradictions, died on Friday in her home in Palm Beach, Fla. She was 102.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Stu Loeser,
a spokesman for her estate, confirmed her death.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Calling
herself a “geriatric starlet,” Ms. Apfel in her 80s and 90s set trends with
clamorous, irreverent ensembles: a boxy, multicolored Bill Blass jacket with
tinted Hopi dancing skirt and hairy goatskin boots; a fluffy evening coat of
red and green rooster feathers with suede pants slashed to the knees; a rose
angora sweater set and 19th-century Chinese brocade panel skirt.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Her
willfully disjunctive accessories might be a jeweled mask or a necklace of jade
beads swinging to the knees, a tin handbag shaped like a terrier, furry scarves
wrapped around her neck like a pile of pythons and, nearly always, her
signature armloads of bangles and owlish spectacles, big as saucers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She was
tallish and thin, with a short crop of silver hair and scarlet gashes on lips
and fingernails, a little old lady among the models at Fashion Week and an
authentic Noo Yawk haggler at a shop in Harlem or a souk in Tunisia. Many
called her gaudy, kooky, bizarre, even vulgar in get-ups like a cape of
gold-tipped duck feathers and thigh-high fuchsia satin Yves Saint Laurent
boots.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But she had
a point.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“When you
don’t dress like everybody else, you don’t have to think like everybody else,”
Ms. Apfel told Ruth La Ferla of The New York Times in 2011 as she was about to
go on national television, selling scarves, bangles and beads of her own design
on the Home Shopping Network.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For decades
starting in the 1950s, Ms. Apfel designed interiors for private clients like
Greta Garbo and Estée Lauder. With her husband, Carl Apfel, she founded Old
World Weavers, which sold and restored textiles, including many at the White
House. The Apfels scoured museums and bazaars around the world for textile
designs. She also added regularly to her huge wardrobe collections at her Park
Avenue apartment in Manhattan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">How The
Times decides who gets an obituary. There is no formula, scoring system or
checklist in determining the news value of a life. We investigate, research and
ask around before settling on our subjects. If you know of someone who might be
a candidate for a Times obituary, please suggest it here.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Apfels
sold their company and retired in 1992, but she continued to act as a
consultant to the firm and to be the otherworldly woman-about-town, a soaring
free spirit known in society and to the fashion cognoscenti for ignoring the
dictates of the runway in favor of her own artfully clashing styles.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In 2005,
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, facing the cancellation of an exhibition and
looking for a last-minute replacement, approached her with an audacious
proposition: to mount an exhibition of her clothes. The Met had exhibited
pieces from designer collections before, but never an individual’s wardrobe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The show,
“Rara Avis: Selections From the Iris Apfel Collection,” assembled 82 ensembles
and 300 accessories in the museum’s Costume Institute: Bakelite bangles from
the 1930s, Tibetan cuff bracelets, a tiger-pattern travel outfit of her own
design, a husky coat of Mongolian lamb and squirrel from Fendi displayed on a
mannequin crawling from an igloo.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“This is no
collection,” Ms. Apfel said. “It’s a raid on my closet. I always thought to
show at the Met you had to be dead.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Harold
Koda, the curator who helped organize the show, said: “To dress this way, there
has to be an educated visual sense. It takes courage. I keep thinking, Don’t
attempt this at home.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Soon the
show was the talk of the town. Under an avalanche of publicity, students of
art, design and social history crowded into the galleries with the limousine
society crowd, busloads of tourists and classes of chattering children. Carla
Fendi, Giorgio Armani and Karl Lagerfeld took it in.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“A rare
look in a museum at a fashion arbiter, not a designer,” The Times called the
show, adding, “Her approach is so inventive and brash that its like has rarely
been glimpsed since Diana Vreeland put her exotic stamp on the pages of Vogue.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Almost
overnight, Ms. Apfel became an international celebrity of pop fashion —
featured in magazine spreads and ad campaigns, toasted in columns and blogs,
sought after for lectures and seminars. The University of Texas made her a
visiting professor. The Met show traveled to other museums, and, like a rock
star, she attracted thousands to her public appearances.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Mobs showed
up for her bookstore signings after the 2007 publication of “Rare Bird of
Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel,” a coffee-table book of her wardrobe and
jewelry by the photographer Eric Boman.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Iris,” an
Albert Maysles documentary, opened at the New York Film Festival in 2014, and
in 2015 it was seen by enthusiastic movie audiences in America and Britain. The
movie critic Manohla Dargis of The Times called it an “insistent rejection of
monocultural conformity” and “a delightful eye-opener about life, love,
statement eyeglasses, bracelets the size of tricycle tires and the art of
making the grandest of entrances.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In 2016,
Ms. Apfel was seen in a television commercial for the French car DS 3, became
the face of the Australian brand Blue Illusion, and began a collaboration with
the start-up WiseWear. A year later, Mattel created a one-of-a-kind Barbie doll
in her image. It was not for sale.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In 2018,
she published “Iris Apfel: Accidental Icon,” an autobiographical collection of
musings, anecdotes and observations on life and style. As she turned 97 in
2019, she signed a modeling contract with the global agency IMG.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Iris Barrel
was born on Aug. 29, 1921, in Astoria, Queens, the only child of Samuel Barrel,
who owned a glass and mirror business, and his Russian-born wife, Sadye, who
owned a fashion boutique. Iris studied art history at New York University and
art at the University of Wisconsin, worked for Women’s Wear Daily, apprenticed
with the interior designer Elinor Johnson, and opened her own design firm.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She married
Carl Apfel, an advertising executive, in 1948. They had no children. Her
husband died in 2015 at the age of 100.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Their Old
World Weavers had restored curtains, furniture, draperies and other fabrics at
the White House for nine presidents, from Harry Truman to Bill Clinton.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Ms. Apfel’s
apartments in New York and Palm Beach were full of furnishings and tchotchkes
that might have come from a Luis Buñuel film: porcelain cats, plush toys,
statuary, ornate vases, gilt mirrors, fake fruit, stuffed parrots, paintings by
Velázquez and Jean-Baptiste Greuze, a mannequin on an ostrich.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The fashion
designer Duro Olowu told The Guardian in 2010 that Ms. Apfel’s work had a
universal quality. “It’s not a trend,” he said. “It appeals to a certain kind
of joy in everybody.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Robert D.
McFadden is a senior writer on the Obituaries desk and the winner of the 1996
Pulitzer Prize for spot news reporting. He joined The Times in May 1961 and is
also the co-author of two books. More about Robert D. McFadden<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-32726715139008313222024-03-01T03:00:00.000-08:002024-03-01T03:00:00.142-08:00REMEMBERING: Victoria Press’s Blithe Spirit<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggkXl_JgkaTe-axpBG_UlL1idX7aOn2KD15-T0QRVJ5zDcVPdmC2P9JkOUbeuNmsjGYg_7M2-UKuln4GUUCk4mb12q0jnP7xxz8jq3uO8BmxoIQXlb8XeJOUWz3DwLeNAMy2e47nczgT-cRw-XLn5Wd0RfKznwNsgeay5ilHPxUZtn53JF2ooLlkGcNH7a/s2048/12culture-well-victoria-slide-AA6Z-superJumbo.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggkXl_JgkaTe-axpBG_UlL1idX7aOn2KD15-T0QRVJ5zDcVPdmC2P9JkOUbeuNmsjGYg_7M2-UKuln4GUUCk4mb12q0jnP7xxz8jq3uO8BmxoIQXlb8XeJOUWz3DwLeNAMy2e47nczgT-cRw-XLn5Wd0RfKznwNsgeay5ilHPxUZtn53JF2ooLlkGcNH7a/w480-h640/12culture-well-victoria-slide-AA6Z-superJumbo.webp" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT">IMAGES CREDIT Henry Bourne<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Victoria Press’s Blithe Spirit<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">By Marella
Caracciolo Chia<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">April 7,
2015<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/07/t-magazine/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-house-interior.html?action=click&contentCollection=T+Magazine&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article">https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/07/t-magazine/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-house-interior.html?action=click&contentCollection=T+Magazine&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63fPP6hhy128SVLRkciXK6XlVPAuc8C23exS_D_Bq5SuzP-br5PUJKSqF2F7eycwzJ1EwI4QdEJHU5lOKZinIf74rnKQhB1N0e0Pup_fzfo7XcaqEMJFBXg1J0n9crSpBBF60T5BF9hZYNuvq4Gl0eR4bU4k0TiZvPujRa3VVWvrTPjUuqC5ZVxMdzkT5/s1024/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-022-768x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63fPP6hhy128SVLRkciXK6XlVPAuc8C23exS_D_Bq5SuzP-br5PUJKSqF2F7eycwzJ1EwI4QdEJHU5lOKZinIf74rnKQhB1N0e0Pup_fzfo7XcaqEMJFBXg1J0n9crSpBBF60T5BF9hZYNuvq4Gl0eR4bU4k0TiZvPujRa3VVWvrTPjUuqC5ZVxMdzkT5/w480-h640/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-022-768x1024.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtliiFi1NjPdOPcMoa7pQC4Fdyp8sBtCq42NMHuJxlrRSqRJu5yYXKk2WjxiPcx54iESeq90lo-Gbmd_lzUp8i39iW7SNgBiFS3D6bIWS3ugBvK_V9Aurz9_tog9eCHPvYc20ws3j7_S0QsnSyGeZzJMkualXjEZHDCdUoLO11pbtLNaQDW-2O0fmZOTzC/s1024/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-021-783x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="783" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtliiFi1NjPdOPcMoa7pQC4Fdyp8sBtCq42NMHuJxlrRSqRJu5yYXKk2WjxiPcx54iESeq90lo-Gbmd_lzUp8i39iW7SNgBiFS3D6bIWS3ugBvK_V9Aurz9_tog9eCHPvYc20ws3j7_S0QsnSyGeZzJMkualXjEZHDCdUoLO11pbtLNaQDW-2O0fmZOTzC/w490-h640/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-021-783x1024.jpg" width="490" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A true aesthete with a taste for imperfection, the
former fashion designer creates her decorating masterpiece — frayed carpets and
all — in a storied London townhouse.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">According
to Victoria Press, the golden rule of good decoration is to “just shut up and
stay put. If you learn to listen, the house will give you cues to what needs to
be done.” So says the 88-year-old self-taught aesthete and furniture
connoisseur, sitting in her house on Cheyne Walk, one of London’s most historic
streets, which everyone from Mick Jagger to Laurence Olivier to J.M.W. Turner
has called home at some point. Press’s residence is at number 4, the five-story
Queen Anne house where the novelist George Eliot briefly lived and died in
1880. In 1982, the coveted property was snatched up by Press, then married to
Sydney Press, a South African tycoon who founded Edgars, the largest department
store chain in South Africa.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc3ixrtfIU19VG1e0mMkZMdCg8Rxpj-sIk7YGWMTZFqmBT1vr1hSJuPZcHBjtWnlUyft5m-UDePgUSQBm6JVe8s_d6xG7JRiQAq0iN-3RxbTdXYuyNlhcMcJ6NwwtELTTw-snyMNwAzlwIrX8_R0zIPyaP9INlhpg_hZ7lF7VcZqXR68oeg2Lzn2aao9BJ/s1024/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-019-683x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="683" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc3ixrtfIU19VG1e0mMkZMdCg8Rxpj-sIk7YGWMTZFqmBT1vr1hSJuPZcHBjtWnlUyft5m-UDePgUSQBm6JVe8s_d6xG7JRiQAq0iN-3RxbTdXYuyNlhcMcJ6NwwtELTTw-snyMNwAzlwIrX8_R0zIPyaP9INlhpg_hZ7lF7VcZqXR68oeg2Lzn2aao9BJ/w426-h640/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-019-683x1024.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD0dXptyS3oEyWuDAKUdrbR5aMlzFDNF0oD9HP75cLDtA8__yUQk7b8NxTwVjykH6tMgwtX6aRb96fTdXXxgDeWekPpM2kxcb-pqCC8QV3aZ4LXMuxg8wcgTOCjLJbhxg0shbSagCRUkJiLcNjHj3AO8hwZhU0UrcU-koY2yRo4YtG1VPmq1bN1DouZ8gx/s1024/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-018-800x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD0dXptyS3oEyWuDAKUdrbR5aMlzFDNF0oD9HP75cLDtA8__yUQk7b8NxTwVjykH6tMgwtX6aRb96fTdXXxgDeWekPpM2kxcb-pqCC8QV3aZ4LXMuxg8wcgTOCjLJbhxg0shbSagCRUkJiLcNjHj3AO8hwZhU0UrcU-koY2yRo4YtG1VPmq1bN1DouZ8gx/w500-h640/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-018-800x1024.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">By the time
she arrived in Cheyne Walk, Press (she divorced Sydney in the mid-’80s but
still goes by her married name) was ready for the challenge of making her own
version of a Gesamtkunstwerk, a total work of art. Over the years, she had
renovated a brownstone next door to the Frick museum in New York, a Cape Dutch
house in Johannesburg, a Modernist-inspired farmhouse in the South African
countryside and two Regency-style homes in London. The Manhattan-born Press,
who had started off working in fashion in the 1940s under the legendary
American designer Claire McCardell, educated herself by going to museums,
reading design books, talking to antiques dealers and enrolling in art history
classes. (She juggled her studies with the raising of her seven children with
Sydney.) Furniture, mostly English, and Chinese porcelain, especially Blanc de
Chine, became her fields of expertise. “Of all my clients, Victoria is the most
knowledgeable in this particular style of Chinese porcelain,” says Ben
Janssens, a London-based dealer of Asian art. In fact, her Blanc de Chine
collection, most of which is now in her house on the Grand Canal in Venice, is
one of the most impressive in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ_-Kk8ZpiKthw_yVE-D5Z6QMiKQS30-v0Sd9Fq52FTd-AzcukuPaxEiS14u6Ags2vntudEUHKuCUGfL7_ZCVZdIM3euitYxa-ZNseC716p9yubw0PZi85PxamClRP0gbO6wOITmaaF8OmK8gy1exAvHw-WzXECmAno1EzEMlpYc9VgN7HR_0fzbhDsFVk/s1024/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-010-800x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ_-Kk8ZpiKthw_yVE-D5Z6QMiKQS30-v0Sd9Fq52FTd-AzcukuPaxEiS14u6Ags2vntudEUHKuCUGfL7_ZCVZdIM3euitYxa-ZNseC716p9yubw0PZi85PxamClRP0gbO6wOITmaaF8OmK8gy1exAvHw-WzXECmAno1EzEMlpYc9VgN7HR_0fzbhDsFVk/w500-h640/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-010-800x1024.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YjkLxslIkJPDNYH7qCq499jg_g3nI377CT9BeHqrg3Vnr-HhSu3ku74_hi8ewVT5oZzV0Nlz0gKug2nkCV2vRp1bdLFHt3X7LeM-HAn66bUhlbmelbTasfZov8jWYfihz7qY9F9ugsqnyCt8dHBCTpFA7QSICtujr2bU-19yW3fkcRmF3lyKaYJX8Xfb/s1024/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-009-1024x683.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YjkLxslIkJPDNYH7qCq499jg_g3nI377CT9BeHqrg3Vnr-HhSu3ku74_hi8ewVT5oZzV0Nlz0gKug2nkCV2vRp1bdLFHt3X7LeM-HAn66bUhlbmelbTasfZov8jWYfihz7qY9F9ugsqnyCt8dHBCTpFA7QSICtujr2bU-19yW3fkcRmF3lyKaYJX8Xfb/w400-h266/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-009-1024x683.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihNflzpIgYxQgpajUF16O8vzTRxlOQeb5gNK65l3s8z_iNih8MP_-CB1vGepXfmPbFDinGc-pm_UuAdIEFpQb10M5NuEhuwOO1eZ6Rm5YJQLEwn5FsBStLfxqr13KJ4bjV-69HmCBJh_gP4YIZBplWNdxFJy_uoDLR6Vb2tJ7_CJaHXF9gpSlM2-u_lWr/s769/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihNflzpIgYxQgpajUF16O8vzTRxlOQeb5gNK65l3s8z_iNih8MP_-CB1vGepXfmPbFDinGc-pm_UuAdIEFpQb10M5NuEhuwOO1eZ6Rm5YJQLEwn5FsBStLfxqr13KJ4bjV-69HmCBJh_gP4YIZBplWNdxFJy_uoDLR6Vb2tJ7_CJaHXF9gpSlM2-u_lWr/w500-h640/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-008.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYxEE4qbjk-tX19NUQRXbIZLxg5UtmlELzOkl_SVPuw_xTC5hYgDXF2WD1mGZIR2aktFSziqX0EVkts_71wbXu9NuQmOiK7L14gac4daYNn4gPjvK6iNiM3fE35oKbrbgGiqNwDf5lKv8nH-6XQ0B_fmj7mTOLeZExnnHCgDOKnbpmqTbQdcBCXeKUvES/s1024/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-007-1024x683.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYxEE4qbjk-tX19NUQRXbIZLxg5UtmlELzOkl_SVPuw_xTC5hYgDXF2WD1mGZIR2aktFSziqX0EVkts_71wbXu9NuQmOiK7L14gac4daYNn4gPjvK6iNiM3fE35oKbrbgGiqNwDf5lKv8nH-6XQ0B_fmj7mTOLeZExnnHCgDOKnbpmqTbQdcBCXeKUvES/w400-h266/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-007-1024x683.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRHbxm_tZHreH7LxR0YqWtccEtmCOGSL6Sq2YRWbwI1XRWWokfzye8jaiGnHE3MyMyJklcTfq0AfYy84VRAnGjNfaOajyzywPam0Vl_biqivFE26J7zBqvuAeoRzlVVWTqojQBryC5orQmF5uZqPm6p_MET2Avu-7KZ06b2VOLuPqEvOSe7ZQTZPSF6P7/s632/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="458" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRHbxm_tZHreH7LxR0YqWtccEtmCOGSL6Sq2YRWbwI1XRWWokfzye8jaiGnHE3MyMyJklcTfq0AfYy84VRAnGjNfaOajyzywPam0Vl_biqivFE26J7zBqvuAeoRzlVVWTqojQBryC5orQmF5uZqPm6p_MET2Avu-7KZ06b2VOLuPqEvOSe7ZQTZPSF6P7/w464-h640/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-004.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The house
on Cheyne Walk, with its perfectly intact, if fading, early-18th-century
interiors, presented Press with a multitude of architectural and decorative
cues. The main feature is a grand staircase, its original wooden balustrade
still intact. The walls of the entry hall are covered in murals depicting moody
landscapes by John Devoto, a Baroque painter, and on the ceiling Venus rises
from the sea, the brainchild of James Thornhill, an 18th-century English
artist. These works inspired Press to recreate the original color combinations
of the house. She enlisted Wally Carvell, the painter whom she has been working
with for 37 years. “Let’s make these rooms look 400 years old!” she commanded.
While Carvell glazed the living-room walls to give them a muddy patina, Press
took to scratching the layers of paint from the other rooms to uncover the
original colors: forest green in the dining room, pale ocher in the main hall
and powder blue in the master bedroom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Press
scoured the auction houses, antiques shops and warehouses in London at a time
when one could still find a wicked bargain. “I love things,” she says in her
husky New York accent. Among her most cherished possessions is a small
collection of pieces by Daniel Marot, the French architect and furniture
designer who was on the forefront of the opulent Louis XIV style. These include
a finely engraved commode in her design studio and a pair of appliqués that she
placed above the mantelpieces in the drawing room.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK6Sx_aDwabtkGRceMF8LnqLMtK07ES01VPRx3gLWyg7_XO4zl6KvQyhNCVROwnlLzNn-avgBhFBDdvuZcqmHsVqW0kq6ThqVllsHiZweqalh9o4AKXAYlUI7aEV_n6F26MU51UCzh8XROUSZpX7i9sUm2ccOt9kpX36etDiv12Ehlg18fB79iUzkYSGqb/s1024/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-015-1024x683.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK6Sx_aDwabtkGRceMF8LnqLMtK07ES01VPRx3gLWyg7_XO4zl6KvQyhNCVROwnlLzNn-avgBhFBDdvuZcqmHsVqW0kq6ThqVllsHiZweqalh9o4AKXAYlUI7aEV_n6F26MU51UCzh8XROUSZpX7i9sUm2ccOt9kpX36etDiv12Ehlg18fB79iUzkYSGqb/w400-h266/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-015-1024x683.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkHfvgOLS7I-Ni7BUcZgCUHW5x3nsRnt294ChuVSuIwXAi7IgMQd0RxDXm2PNh6Nvx4Z0NBSzp_KI1-gws4hLhyphenhyphen7nt2rRXLZRII8s28wZbZ1KbPM9EqFv0z81CvUWYR-wiGgB9K7Lj3JMSesPZNr-F2Ohi3-dzF_2tR1xftuy-cFW36fTbwD4-O-mUfKg/s981/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="981" data-original-width="736" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkHfvgOLS7I-Ni7BUcZgCUHW5x3nsRnt294ChuVSuIwXAi7IgMQd0RxDXm2PNh6Nvx4Z0NBSzp_KI1-gws4hLhyphenhyphen7nt2rRXLZRII8s28wZbZ1KbPM9EqFv0z81CvUWYR-wiGgB9K7Lj3JMSesPZNr-F2Ohi3-dzF_2tR1xftuy-cFW36fTbwD4-O-mUfKg/w480-h640/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-014.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Press has
never been tied down by one style or genre of decorating. She hired the Italian
architect Marco Zanuso to build her farmhouse in South Africa entirely out of
hand-cut stones. The modernist layout, with its large geometric buttresses
jutting out into the landscape, inspired her to fill it with furnishings by
Franco Albini and Giò Ponti. She hired the legendary industrial designer
Achille Castiglioni to make custom pieces for the house, including an elaborate
stereo system. Pietro Porcinai, the Italian landscape designer created wild
gardens of indigenous plants for her. “I liked him because he understood the
importance of including the house in the landscape,” she says, “and he
entertained the children by standing on his head.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Victoria
is someone who honors the spirit of the place, wherever that may be,” says the
designer and opera director Patrick Kinmonth, a frequent guest. Probably the
figure that has most informed Press’s narrative for the Cheyne Walk home is
that of Eliot. The novelist had first seen the house in the spring of 1880,
shortly after her marriage to John Walter Cross, 20 years her junior, and had
been captured by its quaintness. Eliot, who by then was not only one of the
most revered authors in Britain but also among the wealthiest, commissioned a
decorator to make the house comfortable with her “wallings of books” and “old
things.” But less than three weeks after moving into their new home, Eliot fell
ill with a throat infection and died, leaving her husband bereft and, as he
wrote, “alone in this new house we meant to be so happy in.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyxkRu6vWujLlbva-1t_zeSqY0Zh7o1AyxnL5xfendIFMIVx-cMBOc6OENUN8v9xaxKo1otwXn6VpfOpNdoU78vNbQ35M4sUbPxb_RSsQL8krC7W0iung2x4AH5NtpzgqSfed9m0okt9S7eep_22x8sdL4V2JMXPzazK9n6RsNTEUembBtT-UEnuMWSUQ1/s981/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="981" data-original-width="736" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyxkRu6vWujLlbva-1t_zeSqY0Zh7o1AyxnL5xfendIFMIVx-cMBOc6OENUN8v9xaxKo1otwXn6VpfOpNdoU78vNbQ35M4sUbPxb_RSsQL8krC7W0iung2x4AH5NtpzgqSfed9m0okt9S7eep_22x8sdL4V2JMXPzazK9n6RsNTEUembBtT-UEnuMWSUQ1/w480-h640/victoria-press-cheyne-walk-london-christies-habituallychic-016.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This sense
of wistful nostalgia seems to be woven into Press’s decoration: She has filled
the house with disheveled sofas, wilting flowers, worn velvets and carpets.
“Imperfection is what makes these interiors so inspiring,” says her jewelry
designer friend Vicki Sarge. She has a point. Despite the grand proportions of
the house and the museum-quality pieces, there is a work-in-progress atmosphere
that makes people feel immediately comfortable in these surroundings. “These
are not stable interiors,” says Kinmonth. “Victoria is constantly moving
furniture around and adding new pieces.” Or making them lovingly imperfect.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There was
the time she brought back two enormous, cheap, fake Blanc de Chine-like vases
from Venice. One afternoon, as she was sitting there with Kinmonth, Press
noticed they were too white to bear so she gave him a pencil and asked, “Oh
darling, please do some crackling effects for me, will you?” He complied.
Another time she woke up in the morning to find a crack in the ceiling above
her bed. Did she call in the builders? Never. It was much easier to cover the
offending line with a Baroque wooden frame and ask Carvell to paint something
pretty inside. Even the stunning staircase runner, which looks as though it has
been here forever, is made up of bits and pieces of tattered old carpets she
bought for a song and sewed into one long piece.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This
hands-on, practical approach may stem from her years as a fashion designer. As
Press explained: “The most useful thing I learned from McCardell was never make
a dress without good pockets.” A few years ago, Press produced a handwritten
booklet on the process of decorating 4 Cheyne Walk. She gave the design
manifesto to her children. In it, she wrote: “I know you are well aware of what
I do, but I want to explain why I do it. It amounts to an overpowering horror
of anything I consider unaesthetic. Since my life is dominated by beauty, I
have fallen into collecting beauty around me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-46328477922217962972024-02-29T00:19:00.000-08:002024-02-29T00:19:08.118-08:00Rumors Swirl Amid Concern Over the Princess of Wales<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikeIgEteexGA8p_oJJfcUhyphenhyphen8ok1QYJve8YooJJGVaSNK8jlVkG1gXyR9qpXSKhbgxltFZOICd5XbRuQi8Vf0pIkFUinL7wAyMy7h56zMm7N29bjfHrEZ-SniMS72cwN6cfCI5Ch7qHhiliugbQiSPiJiFNj_vdtXoPt39Mr8ZRSiueexsftOtcL6E8YN7I/s1024/28KATE-EXPLAINER-tchm-jumbo.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikeIgEteexGA8p_oJJfcUhyphenhyphen8ok1QYJve8YooJJGVaSNK8jlVkG1gXyR9qpXSKhbgxltFZOICd5XbRuQi8Vf0pIkFUinL7wAyMy7h56zMm7N29bjfHrEZ-SniMS72cwN6cfCI5Ch7qHhiliugbQiSPiJiFNj_vdtXoPt39Mr8ZRSiueexsftOtcL6E8YN7I/w400-h266/28KATE-EXPLAINER-tchm-jumbo.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFoQX7EORaTrV7C1rwDHFc5pUdFAC4XrVXDeJcfqznnPfNRQQN6JyZSo7L0VTwh9FV5lcEmAgcukDFbsPtYpGUTsl0CrzvsOezTtYYZC1Q28AAHq5l3VE_C_QpvTA8ZmVyOJ3CbVKdBIP7irSg-o4IIVJBYgBxlAlJg10UhFgOYFrh22zbvmkTTcN6kdcS/s1024/28KATE-EXPLAINER-lbvw-jumbo.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFoQX7EORaTrV7C1rwDHFc5pUdFAC4XrVXDeJcfqznnPfNRQQN6JyZSo7L0VTwh9FV5lcEmAgcukDFbsPtYpGUTsl0CrzvsOezTtYYZC1Q28AAHq5l3VE_C_QpvTA8ZmVyOJ3CbVKdBIP7irSg-o4IIVJBYgBxlAlJg10UhFgOYFrh22zbvmkTTcN6kdcS/w400-h266/28KATE-EXPLAINER-lbvw-jumbo.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Rumors Swirl Amid Concern Over the Princess of
Wales<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Prince William’s decision to bow out of a planned
appearance this week, citing an undisclosed personal matter, fueled feverish
speculation about his wife’s health online.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Steven Kurutz<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By Steven Kurutz<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Feb. 28, 2024<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/28/style/princess-kate-middleton-health.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/28/style/princess-kate-middleton-health.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4WYS2dpBX66Wt5L20pkpkbRSNFWX7P1zX7dREalQY5sN3xYI2h1VxVwMKke2L-f1G2dIQpZrZyRebapPdg-tUtTiYB3UJMkaH6MRn7_0Vo2GRmdaeinYi3FouzXg9sQOD7nC_AEQWnYokDBpRLzZ4BlSKgu5UcTdsuBeBTKUB8JGYKG5iWUcZEaxtgSIJ/s1000/new-york-times-logo-square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4WYS2dpBX66Wt5L20pkpkbRSNFWX7P1zX7dREalQY5sN3xYI2h1VxVwMKke2L-f1G2dIQpZrZyRebapPdg-tUtTiYB3UJMkaH6MRn7_0Vo2GRmdaeinYi3FouzXg9sQOD7nC_AEQWnYokDBpRLzZ4BlSKgu5UcTdsuBeBTKUB8JGYKG5iWUcZEaxtgSIJ/s320/new-york-times-logo-square.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">On
Christmas Day, Catherine, Princess of Wales, attended service at St. Mary
Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, England, wearing head-to-toe royal
blue. She walked to church with her husband, Prince William, and their three
children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, much like she had
in years past.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Greeting
the gathered crowds and the cameras, “She looked lovely for the occasion,” said
Town & Country.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The
princess has not been seen in public since.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Three weeks
later, on Jan. 17, Kensington Palace announced that Catherine, 42, formerly
known as Kate Middleton, had been admitted to the London Clinic to undergo “a
planned abdominal surgery.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The
surprise news about Catherine’s health was magnified by the fact that, just an
hour later, the palace announced that King Charles III, 75, would receive
treatment for an enlarged prostate the next week. Two of the most senior
members of Britain’s royal family were now facing health trials.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">As news
started to return to normal — on Wednesday King Charles was photographed being
driven from his home, Clarence House, and he has resumed some official
business, including meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak — rumors began to
surface again about the Princess of Wales. Although Prince William, 41, also
scaled back his royal duties during his wife’s recuperation, this week, he
bowed out of a planned appearance at a memorial service at St. George’s Chapel
in Windsor for his godfather, King Constantine of the Hellenes, who died in
January 2023.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">That led a
palace source to address the latest twist in the saga, and perhaps try to stop
the rumors, in language that did anything but. The princess, the source told
People, “continues to be doing well.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">William’s
absence at the memorial, and the reason given by the palace — an undisclosed
personal matter — only fueled continued speculation around Catherine’s health.
Little is known about her medical procedure, leading to plenty of conjecture,
concern and conspiracy theories.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What kind of surgery did Kate Middleton have?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">That
remains a mystery to the public. Abdominal surgery could be anything from an
appendectomy to laparoscopy. On Jan. 17, Kensington Palace said the surgery was
successful. It did not offer details on Catherine’s diagnosis or prognosis,
other than that her condition was “not cancerous.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The palace
added: “The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will
generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as
much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal
medical information remains private.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The palace
issued another statement at the end of the month, telling the public that
Catherine had been discharged from the London Clinic.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Where is Kate Middleton?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">At home,
according to a statement. The palace said the princess would recuperate at
Adelaide Cottage in Windsor Home Park after she left the hospital.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Her office
added that she was “unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">How are Kate’s family faring?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Prince
William visited his wife shortly after her surgery and was photographed leaving
the hospital. But according to People magazine, Catherine’s three children did
not see their mother at the hospital. That follows the London Clinic’s visitor
guidelines, which state that “we do not permit any children or babies to
visit.” (Special requests must be approved by hospital staff.) Instead, the
princess is said to have connected with her children over FaceTime.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The palace
has called various conspiracy theories “total nonsense.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The lack of
information around Catherine has given rise to wild speculation about her
health. A Spanish journalist named Concha Calleja claimed that she spoke with a
source within the Royal Family. The source supposedly told Ms. Calleja that
Catherine faced serious complications after surgery, requiring “drastic”
actions to save her life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“The
decision was to put her in an induced coma,” Ms. Calleja told the Spanish news
show Fiesta. “They had to intubate her.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">In its
initial statement, Kensington Palace said it would provide updates on the
princess only when there was “significant new information to share.” But the
palace was moved to address Ms. Calleja’s claims, calling them “total nonsense”
and “ludicrous.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Steven
Kurutz covers cultural trends, social media and the world of design for The
Times. </span><span lang="PT">More about Steven Kurutz<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div><p><br /></p>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-72447927432298794922024-02-27T14:08:00.000-08:002024-02-27T14:08:31.942-08:00Crooked House: Owners of 'Britain's wonkiest pub' ordered to rebuild it after 'unlawful demolition'<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/YF_pg-DCndM?si=jef9BZU4VVcQTAjm" frameborder="0"></iframe>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-60621459185117136572024-02-27T11:58:00.000-08:002024-02-27T11:58:28.331-08:00Developers Who Leveled ‘Britain’s Wonkiest Pub’ Ordered to Rebuild<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT5jv14gbfr4Ip9G8xeVHh7mA9za2TAODsJgU4pHEJo2uUVGzNsk7LkwvzH8FHb9bEGMgQu6Ffk4ujsmtyE2T5YD1TFFnSs4jEEMhLhPTzZ5HC7_DneURmaXuuqTmR3n7pwKNaxOr9DplSsT90r98J7hpEik9AtQiWmSBGnSwOFS-fQNy8nSXe398zE7q6/s1024/27uk-pub-01-gmbf-jumbo.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT5jv14gbfr4Ip9G8xeVHh7mA9za2TAODsJgU4pHEJo2uUVGzNsk7LkwvzH8FHb9bEGMgQu6Ffk4ujsmtyE2T5YD1TFFnSs4jEEMhLhPTzZ5HC7_DneURmaXuuqTmR3n7pwKNaxOr9DplSsT90r98J7hpEik9AtQiWmSBGnSwOFS-fQNy8nSXe398zE7q6/w400-h266/27uk-pub-01-gmbf-jumbo.webp" width="400" /></a></b></div><b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6xQIB-jcvTzFeTV9HzTdVa-WBxUy-lnDLBUQpVb1J3hMo_q4H-8Wcp3bz08SXXqhS8IrsFUltXvwsCZK1peF6-QHnx3d23jz2LJIf5BwMq8wWWRftH1zSIxdFGZyBkn1TYZR7b6sSn1P_QVHBMMY8FbQI1vMwtQuau7F7BoM51Xh7rPmQ_HmyiMzT6kk/s284/download%20(21).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="284" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6xQIB-jcvTzFeTV9HzTdVa-WBxUy-lnDLBUQpVb1J3hMo_q4H-8Wcp3bz08SXXqhS8IrsFUltXvwsCZK1peF6-QHnx3d23jz2LJIf5BwMq8wWWRftH1zSIxdFGZyBkn1TYZR7b6sSn1P_QVHBMMY8FbQI1vMwtQuau7F7BoM51Xh7rPmQ_HmyiMzT6kk/s1600/download%20(21).jpg" width="284" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Developers Who Leveled </span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Aptos",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">‘Britain’s
Wonkiest Pub’</span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Ordered to Rebuild</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Crooked House was knocked down last summer after a
suspicious fire. Local authorities have now ordered that the owners reconstruct
the site brick by brick.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Megan
Specia<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">By Megan
Specia<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Reporting
from London.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Feb. 27,
2024, 12:13 p.m. ET<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/27/world/europe/uk-crooked-house-fire-rebuild.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/27/world/europe/uk-crooked-house-fire-rebuild.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Crooked
House, a pub in England’s West Midlands that was demolished last year after a
suspicious fire, could soon be rising from the rubble after its owners were
ordered to restore the pub to its former lopsided glory.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The tavern,
known as “Britain’s wonkiest pub” for its slanting walls and floors, was sold
to a private developer in July 2023. Around two weeks later, the pub caught
fire in a suspected arson attack and the developers who had bought it brought
in the bulldozers. Locals were outraged. With the support of local politicians,
they launched a public campaign to see the building restored and someone held
accountable for its destruction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now, they
may be one step closer to those goals becoming a reality. South Staffordshire
Council, the local authority for the area where the pub once stood, on Tuesday
ordered the owners to rebuild the pub within three years, restoring it using
original materials and with its original character maintained.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The council
said in a statement that it had “engaged with the owners since the demolition,
but has reached a point where formal action is considered necessary.” An
initial attempt to reach the owners by phone and email went unanswered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The pub,
located in Himley, a small village just west of Dudley, was not a listed
building, which would have given it legal protection. But it was considered a
“heritage asset” and registered on the Historic Environment Record as a
building of local importance, according to the council.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Roger Lees,
the leader of South Staffordshire Council, said in a statement that a “huge
amount of time and resources” had been put into investigating the unauthorized
demolition of the pub, and the enforcement order had not been taken lightly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“But we
believe that it is right to bring the owners, who demolished the building
without consent, to account,” he said. “And we are committed to do what we can
to get the Crooked House rebuilt.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
building, constructed in 1765 as a farmhouse, began to slouch in the 19th
century because of coal mining under its foundations. For generations, its
window frames had slanted sideways and its walls seemed to tilt at a near
gravity-defying angle, delighting both patrons and passers-by.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Despite its
wobbly looks, the building was structurally safe after being shored up by steel
bars and other supports. But its fate had become as precarious as its
appearance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In recent
years, the pub had faced financial hardship like so many others across Britain
in the wake of the pandemic and amid a cost of living crisis. The developers
who bought the building planned to convert it for “alternative uses,” local
authorities said at the time. Then last August, a suspicious fire broke out one
Saturday night partially destroying the building. Before the locals even had a
chance to take stock, it was leveled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Last year
Staffordshire Police said it had arrested six people on suspicion of conspiracy
to commit arson, but no one has been charged and those suspects remain on
conditional bail.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Marco
Longhi, a member of Parliament who represents the area where the pub was based,
Dudley North, said the demolition of the beloved pub “shook our community.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“So it’s
fantastic news that an enforcement notice has been served on the owners for
demolition without consent,” Mr. Longhi said in a statement posted to Facebook
on Tuesday.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He added
that the owners would be required to “rebuild the site back its former glory,
and I will not rest until the Crooked House is built back brick by brick.” Mr.
Longhi concluded with a warning: “Let this serve as a warning to anyone who
wants to launch an attack on our heritage sites — you will not get away with
it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Those
involved in the awareness campaign were hopeful but realistic that it would
still be some time before the pub was restored.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Marie
Stokes, 62, who lives in nearby Wolverhampton, has taken part in protests at
the site since the pub’s demolition and said she was “over the moon” to hear
the news of its potential restoration.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I am so
proud to have been a part of it,” she said through tears when reached by phone.
“It was a lovely pub, I had many great memories there with my husband who has
now passed.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The order,
she said, was a testament to the power of a small group of committed people. “I
am in for the long haul, and we aren’t going anywhere,” she said of the locals
who demanded the return of the pub.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
enforcement notice that ordered the owners to rebuild the pub can be appealed
within 30 days, and if the order is not appealed or the restoration completed
within three years, the owners could be prosecuted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Campaigners
may find some hope from other communities that have fought similar battles
before. The Carlton Tavern, a 1920s pub tucked away between newer buildings in
London’s Maida Vale neighborhood, was also unceremoniously destroyed in 2015,
igniting local outrage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">After a
long public campaign, the developers who had knocked down the Carlton Tavern
were also ordered to rebuild brick by brick. They may have had a slightly
easier task, though.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Firstly,
the building was not slanting. Secondly, the preservation society English
Heritage had done an earlier survey of the Carlton Tavern as it was being
considered for historical status.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">During that
process, the society had created a detailed record of the pub’s rooms and taken
molds of its distinctive architectural features. When it was time to rebuild,
there was a clear blueprint.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Six years
later, as Britain was emerging from a pandemic lockdown, the pub finally
reopened its doors.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Megan
Specia reports on Britain, Ireland and the Ukraine war for The Times. </span><span lang="PT">She is based in London. More about Megan Specia<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-1659935164686807972024-02-25T23:53:00.000-08:002024-02-25T23:53:23.031-08:00WICKED LITTLE LETTERS - Official Trailer - Starring Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/fgqQvmbP-UU?si=Z4FFm3VVrWEsiE6o" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGi4kzwigv0Hp_nf0-2yqUevvH0AUZyRSxGh_ZUUrQI23ZN4ddXj6i0iF8ZwiWl2umHZgYeDKekg-twD2rXgvXZ5gU2BVZ9HmuUhJdIZGXVBHjxzq_vJ8N4KdpueuPRjFrmNPTfp3XsKhfYTU4gs0PfTzo5Q2YO8RwccAtJtP5OJ6p_bNHbUOhoqVW31Zo/s382/Wicked_Little_Letters_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGi4kzwigv0Hp_nf0-2yqUevvH0AUZyRSxGh_ZUUrQI23ZN4ddXj6i0iF8ZwiWl2umHZgYeDKekg-twD2rXgvXZ5gU2BVZ9HmuUhJdIZGXVBHjxzq_vJ8N4KdpueuPRjFrmNPTfp3XsKhfYTU4gs0PfTzo5Q2YO8RwccAtJtP5OJ6p_bNHbUOhoqVW31Zo/s16000/Wicked_Little_Letters_poster.jpg" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Wicked Little Letters</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> is a 2023 British black comedy mystery film
directed by Thea Sharrock and written by Jonny Sweet. The film stars Olivia
Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Joanna Scanlan, Gemma Jones, Malachi
Kirby, Lolly Adefope, Eileen Atkins, and Timothy Spall.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Wicked
Little Letters premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on 9
September 2023, and was released in the United Kingdom by StudioCanal on 23
February 2024. The film received mixed reviews from critics.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Based on a
true scandal that stunned 1920s England, the story centres on neighbours Edith
Swan and Rose Gooding in the seaside town of Littlehampton. One day, a series
of obscene letters begin to target Edith and the other residents, with
suspicion falling upon Rose. As the outrageous letters continue to escalate,
Rose risks losing both her freedom and custody of her daughter. Police Officer
Gladys Moss is determined to find the real culprit, and along with a group of
other women, seeks to solve this perplexing mystery.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUcGx3ZhJ_PaH-R7InGJAuCBcO6RDxMoHJlcO5tyUfHBIkKEBHfdd5hb2Pifvs8VcVVQ2sU_HeyYN6qV62kKw__iMUZD4Iutmqw8rsraCbrd1URfgRLKlzgrfhUNB6CLyKdo7dnlEYN6ZTrnmG9lD56el5kXiw3-guZ1tBVhyphenhyphenrDPnvrWb30cKJ92feloG5/s1280/wicked-little-letters-1705516124363.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUcGx3ZhJ_PaH-R7InGJAuCBcO6RDxMoHJlcO5tyUfHBIkKEBHfdd5hb2Pifvs8VcVVQ2sU_HeyYN6qV62kKw__iMUZD4Iutmqw8rsraCbrd1URfgRLKlzgrfhUNB6CLyKdo7dnlEYN6ZTrnmG9lD56el5kXiw3-guZ1tBVhyphenhyphenrDPnvrWb30cKJ92feloG5/w400-h225/wicked-little-letters-1705516124363.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Wicked Little Letters review – a deliciously
sweary poison-pen mystery<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The true tale of a foul-mouthed scribbler in 1920s
Sussex is given nuance by a stellar cast including Olivia Colman, Jessie
Buckley, Anjana Vasan and Timothy Spall<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: NL;">Ellen E Jones<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sat 24 Feb
2024 16.00 CET<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/feb/24/wicked-little-letters-review-thea-sharrock-olivia-colman-jessie-buckley-deliciously-sweary-poison-pen-mystery">https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/feb/24/wicked-little-letters-review-thea-sharrock-olivia-colman-jessie-buckley-deliciously-sweary-poison-pen-mystery</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Before X or
Twitter or even YouTube, if you wanted to vent your rage at an unjust world on
a blameless bystander you had to go to the trouble of actually writing a letter
and posting it. These were the days of the poison pen letter, an early
20th-century socio-criminal phenomenon here revived by comedian Jonny Sweet’s
gleefully sweary script and a competent ensemble of British comedy’s finest
directed by Thea Sharrock.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Swearwords,
you see, can be very funny – especially when primly pronounced by a pious
spinster such as Edith (Olivia Colman), who seems to be the letter writer’s
primary target. Or when spurting forth from a potty-mouthed slattern such as
Edith’s neighbour Rose (Jessie Buckley), on whom suspicion immediately falls.
And these swearwords are particularly funny – a collection of naughty non
sequiturs and rococo rantings that derive from the real letters of the
Littlehampton libels, a forgotten scandal that terrorised this small Sussex
town in the early 1920s. “Piss-country whore”? “Foxy-assed rabbit-fucker”?
Epithets this fruity are clearly beyond the wit of man to invent. (And there’s
your first clue to the letter writer’s identity.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Some credit
should therefore go to Christopher Hilliard, author of the well-researched 2017
book that brought the case back to public notice. It’s Sweet’s script, though,
that successfully folds the true crime tale into an eminently exportable
period-drama package. And it’s the cast – notably Anjana Vasan as the county’s
lone female police officer and Timothy Spall as Edith’s domineering father –
who allow for deeper exploration of the underlying motives for such aberrant
behaviour. Swearing can be comic, but it might also be the way that a highly
pressurised, repressive and patriarchal postwar society lets off a bit of
steam.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzLo2dgi4TqRH1gYSdmV3MtbB3imqeV_Unu-j9i65g8KB_9uLdLKQKp5pfbvjlZ3vMMbbV2L9uW1YiRHmAU3O5FNUCXcFUM06HU8rkJyx7B4hlPFOtxNlIkpLX9n67sgW9mZ17LigU9ibLOMby_7SGBiccD8KZhllwOXMUYbgppkcR70wY0x1V_xu6vz5T/s550/9780198799658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzLo2dgi4TqRH1gYSdmV3MtbB3imqeV_Unu-j9i65g8KB_9uLdLKQKp5pfbvjlZ3vMMbbV2L9uW1YiRHmAU3O5FNUCXcFUM06HU8rkJyx7B4hlPFOtxNlIkpLX9n67sgW9mZ17LigU9ibLOMby_7SGBiccD8KZhllwOXMUYbgppkcR70wY0x1V_xu6vz5T/s16000/9780198799658.jpg" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Littlehampton Libels<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A
Miscarriage of Justice and a Mystery about Words in 1920s England<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Christopher Hilliard<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Recounts
the story of a poison-pen mystery that led to a miscarriage of justice in a
seaside town in the years following the First World War<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Offers a
convincing account of a painstaking and ingenious police investigation into a
libel case<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Recovers
the words and word-play of working-class people in the early twentieth century<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Examines
the psychological dynamics of a working-class community<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Provides
the most substantial interpretative account of criminal libel in the twentieth
century<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZL5hRYlFsprpQD5dyn6hwbPJYIRR2GwJRsOEfr07azsy2L758JG18PQCcm-R-qLD2KFHNDtQbQHTJmCFusiLjDs_osTjaDmAbr2X3W4rZH3BVq1PTyon7z6BNgcOTJfEB6xRCY81VpbGMlG0oY4eX1PSf0x7HX7Cbh4_nW8h36AW8aQ1qhjjzjBWsz19y/s1280/Wicked-Little-Letters.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZL5hRYlFsprpQD5dyn6hwbPJYIRR2GwJRsOEfr07azsy2L758JG18PQCcm-R-qLD2KFHNDtQbQHTJmCFusiLjDs_osTjaDmAbr2X3W4rZH3BVq1PTyon7z6BNgcOTJfEB6xRCY81VpbGMlG0oY4eX1PSf0x7HX7Cbh4_nW8h36AW8aQ1qhjjzjBWsz19y/w400-h225/Wicked-Little-Letters.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Interview<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley: ‘Never repress
a woman – because it will come out’<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Claire
Armitstead<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The actors star in a true-life 1920s tale of a
snobbish small town upset by poison-pen letters. They discuss falling in love
with one another, the f-word and the parallels with today’s internet trolling<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Claire
Armitstead<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">@carmitstead<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Fri 23 Feb
2024 06.00 CET<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/feb/23/olivia-colman-and-jessie-buckley-never-repress-a-woman-because-it-will-come-out">https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/feb/23/olivia-colman-and-jessie-buckley-never-repress-a-woman-because-it-will-come-out</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On 23
September 1921, a letter arrived at the home of Edith Swan, a laundress in the
seaside town of Littlehampton, addressed to “the foxy ass whore 47, Western
Rd”. One of the milder letters that had been plaguing the Sussex community for
three years, it continued: “You foxy ass piss country whore you are a
character.” Swan blamed a neighbour, Rose Gooding. But the post-office clerk
and the local police had other suspicions, which drove them to rig up a
periscope to spy on deliveries to the town’s post box and marking postage
stamps with invisible ink.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
combination of filthy poison pen letters and DIY sleuthing in a quaint
small-town setting is a gift for the star pairing of Olivia Colman and Jessie
Buckley. Directed by Thea Sharrock with a screenplay by Jonny Sweet, and
stuffed with classy character actors, Wicked Little Letters blows a raspberry
at the Agatha Christie tradition of cosy crime stories. It also undercuts the
Downton Abbey image of British social history which, says Buckley, “gives
everybody the idea that people are kind of lovely when actually there’s a
little bit of dirt under everybody’s pretty teacup. Everyone loves a good
swear, even the ones that say they don’t.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Colman and
Buckley are in high spirits when we meet, having just spent half an hour
filming Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, in which they discussed the
different forms of rudeness with a group of five-year-old boys. Colman,
familiar to them as the conniving innkeeper Mrs Scrubbit in Wonka, bounces in
first with a “fart” app, which she has installed specially for the occasion.
“It’s so good, I can’t stop,” she says, letting off a peal of whoopees, as
assistants scurry around ensuring she and Buckley have everything they need.
“Oh sorry, that’s too much,” she apologises, after miming along to a
particularly sonorous one. “OK, I promise I’ll stop,” she says, giving vent to
another as her co-star settles into the seat next to her. It’s an impromptu
improvisation of delighted gaucherie reminiscent of the one that propelled her
2019 Oscar acceptance speech for The Favourite into the best-ever league.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Colman and
Buckley became best friends after meeting through a Letters Live event at a
festival in Oxfordshire, at which Colman’s contributions included a humorous
letter from a 17th-century naval officer to a creditor, and Buckley read a
declaration of love from Maud Gonne to WB Yeats. “We stayed up late doing
karaoke,” says Buckley. “Yes, we just sort of fell in love with each other,”
adds Colman, who went on to recommend her new friend to play her younger self
in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s award-winning adaptation of the Elena Ferrante novel The
Lost Daughter. Though the separate timelines meant they didn’t have any scenes
together, they continued their after-hours bonding, “singing, playing guitar,
swimming in the sea and drinking rosé,” says Colman. “I’m sure we are kindred,”
adds Buckley. “Yes,” replies Colman. “It should happen more often – outside and
inside work.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When Wicked
Little Letters came up, on which Colman and her husband, Ed Sinclair, are
producers, she suggested Buckley again, though this time for a character who is
the exact opposite of her own. While middle-aged Edith tends to the town’s
laundry and dutifully keeps house for a tyrannical father, Rose is a free
spirit who roisters with the sailors in the pub when she is not waging domestic
war on her sister and her seaman husband, who is known not to be the father of
her young daughter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
Littlehampton libels became a national sensation, debated in parliament and
filling the newspapers with prurient outrage. As filming began, the apparent
outlandishness of the drama was put into perspective by a more recent scandal:
the Wagatha Christie case – which pitted Coleen Rooney against Rebekah Vardy,
highlighting the offstage enmities of the footballing world – erupted into the
courts and the press with its own barely credible story of female betrayal and
amateur sleuthing. “Ooh, we were all gripped by that,” says Colman.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the
film, as in life, it doesn’t take long to work out that Rose is not to blame
for the letters, which are gleefully recited at length from the originals that
were produced as evidence in the resulting court hearings. The mystery in both
cases is not whodunnit, but why – and how it could be possible for those
charged with upholding the law to be so snobbishly prejudiced that they refused
to believe the evidence in front of their eyes. When Edith Swan was put on
trial, the judge ordered a jury to “consider whether it was conceivable that
she could have written this document” given that her “demeanour in the witness
box was that of a respectable, clean-mouthed woman”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">By the time
the truth was accepted, Rose had spent two spells in jail. Her only fault, says
Buckley, was her refusal to conform. “She was basically judged for being a
single mother, which is hard enough without having the whole rest of the world
condemn you for it. She wanted to be as uncompromisingly free and full and
joyful as she possibly could be, and that does come with consequences.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Though the
language of the letters might appear startlingly extreme, it reflects a real
shift that social historians have attributed to the stresses of the first world
war. Swearing accelerated at a such a pace that, by 1930, the editors of a
collection of British songs and slang noted that, among soldiers particularly,
the word “fucking” was so common that it was merely a warning “that a noun is
coming”. The same licence was never given to women, and in many quarters still
isn’t. Buckley, who is 34 and grew up in Ireland, has an early memory of being
banished to the back step for swearing. “I remember feeling half ashamed and
half like it’s just a word and I probably meant it. I was going for gold: this
was my revenge, my revolt against the back step.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Colman, who
has just turned 50, had a different experience growing up in Norfolk: she can’t
remember a time when she didn’t know the F-word. “My mum or dad always swore
and it was never in anger, just in normal conversation. Dad would say:
‘Where’ve I put the fucking car keys’, or mum would say: ‘Shall we have a cup
of tea? Yes, fuck it, let’s have a cup of tea.’ So I’ve got no time for people
who would happily watch a murder on telly but whose sphincters tighten at the
idea of some woman swearing in the 1920s.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She does,
though, add a caveat: “If you hear someone in the street who’s really angry,
swearing at another person, of course that’s scary and shocking.” Wicked Little
Letters treads this line: the language might be funny, but the emotions
powering it are not. Though in some ways it tells a story of its time, which is
handled with “a dollop of artistic licence”, in other ways it is a startlingly
resonant portrayal of the rage unleashed in women who are subjected to coercive
control.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Never
repress a woman – because it will come out,” says Colman. “Rose manages to
escape. But Edith is stuck in this place where she’s still under the thumb of
her father in her late 40s. And it was only through writing these letters that
she got some sort of a release. So it is serious. It’s the way women were
treated in that period. And how far we have come, I suppose, is open for
discussion.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In
particular, Colman points out, there is a parallel with the internet trolling
of today. “I think Edith sees Rose and thinks: ‘Oh my God, life could be
different.’ And, you know: ‘Fuck you for being what I want to be.’ She probably
feels bad initially, but then it’s like a drug and she can’t stop. It’s so
gratifying. It’s trolling. She has anonymous power and a thrill from hurting
someone, which is awful. And it’s happening now on a much greater scale.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">People are
complicated, agrees Buckley. “I guess ultimately everyone wants to be seen. As
Frankenstein’s creature says: ‘I’m malicious because I’m miserable.’ If you
lock somebody up, they’re going to become lonely, and they’re going to cause
damage.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Partly
because of a fear of trolling, neither actor uses social media. “I don’t want
to see all that. I don’t want someone I’ve never met to be unkind. I don’t
understand it, and I wouldn’t be able to cope with it. And I really feel for
our youth,” says Colman, who has three children. “As a teenager I was able to
make my mistakes in private, you know, but now, you’ve got to be so careful. I
feel sorry for them. And I want to tell them to just walk away from it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Which begs
the question, what exactly do two such successful actors think they might find
themselves trolled for? “We’re not going to tell you that,” they chorus, while
agreeing that doing work that makes them cringe is part of any performer’s lot
because mistakes happen all the time, even if nobody else notices.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Buckley,
whose first break was as one of the hopefuls in the TV reality show I’d Do
Anything, auditioning to play Nancy in the West End musical Oliver (she came
second and turned down the consolation prize of an understudy role), now
alternates between music, theatre and film. The soundtrack of the 2018 film
Wild Rose – which drew all her strengths together in the portrayal of a
Glaswegian wannabe country-and-western singer – reached the top of the UK
country albums chart. She won an Olivier award in 2022 as Sally Bowles in the
West End production of Cabaret, but is now on a film roll that will shortly
include a Frankenstein film, The Bride, directed by Gyllenhaal, and a screen
adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet. But it’s not all plain sailing, she
says. “You spend most of your time trying to convince people to give you a job.
And then you’re like: ‘Oh my God, I was terrible.’ Or: ‘This is awful’, but you
just keep going.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Colman, who
became a national treasure with TV roles including DS Ellie Miller in the crime
series Broadchurch, and Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, has developed such bad
stage fright that she thinks she may never act in the theatre again. Her last
appearance was at the National Theatre in 2017, as the stuck-at-home daughter
of an ailing mother in Lucy Kirkwood’s drama of science and sibling rivalry
Mosquitoes. “I started in theatre and loved it so much,” she says. But when her
children got to the “pyjama-time-cuddle-on-the-sofa-before-bed age”, she
stepped back. “And I think I’ve left it too long – the fear is too great. Oh,
God. I feel it’s so far to fall now. And then there’s my menopause brain, and
the fear that I wouldn’t be able to remember an entire play. When you’re
filming, you can look and learn on the day, get it wrong, and get to go again.
But if you’re on stage, and you’ve forgotten your soliloquy … everyone knows
that fear, but I don’t know if I can face it again. Maybe when I’m in my 80s with
an earpiece …”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Both actors
are fiercely protective of the Edith Swans of this world – difficult women
whose circumstances have driven them to challenging behaviour. “What does that
even mean?” demands Buckley. “Are you challenging or difficult because you
actually want some autonomy and want to be part of a world that engages you
instead of putting you in the corner and pretending that we’re all parlourmaids
who witter away to each other and drink tea? Because that’s never been my
experience as a woman.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Buckley has
the wind in her sails and is not going to stop there, as Colman looks
admiringly on. “First of all,” she pronounces, “we should all be able to take
space and stand up and educate our minds and have autonomy of our bodies and
feel like we are entitled to pleasure and desire that is ours and not bound by
a system that decides those things for us. And so if that is challenging to
you, it shouldn’t be, because the other option is crippling and actually causes
more damage across the board.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For all the
pain and havoc caused by the Littlehampton libels, they did have a positive
outcome of sorts. Gladys Moss, the dogged PC who investigated the case and is
played in the film by Anjana Vasan, recently had a blue plaque dedicated to her
in the Sussex town of Worthing, in recognition of her pioneering work as the
county’s first woman police officer. Edith Swan was finally freed from her
father, even though it took a jail sentence to do it. This thought sends the
two friends off on a reverie about what sort of prisoner she would have been.
She would have been a mother hen who taught the younger prisoners how to read
and write, says Colman. “Yeah,” picks up Buckley, “she’d be like: ‘You know
that F-word? I want you to write it out a hundred times.’”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wicked Little Letters is released in the UK on
23 February<o:p></o:p></span></p><br />Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-62887367526613457322024-02-24T01:45:00.000-08:002024-02-24T01:45:24.101-08:00TATE BRITAIN EXHIBITION SARGENT AND FASHION: This is a terrible and unfair review by Jonathan Jones, followed below by a send Letter by Cally Blackman, who takes issue with the ‘dismissive’ review by Jones.<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWw9UiuKOdnf4PW58QkGNtlA5V40JmpfNfBRhVqSeleJAmFrdwHc0T6na5cVThAhXhqFjWew2DNAAiauhH2G7vubZay-YrqMmhOunNo6ay_gtlr7uarHgoTbzIHYbsPYWDMgsoRIBgCSCXCdDlGj-1UDD7g0GRfyII1iTTaZh0kuGB0pgE7KPFipMHhyphenhyphen9Y/s556/sargent-and-fashion-hb-exhibition-book-28384.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="556" data-original-width="556" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWw9UiuKOdnf4PW58QkGNtlA5V40JmpfNfBRhVqSeleJAmFrdwHc0T6na5cVThAhXhqFjWew2DNAAiauhH2G7vubZay-YrqMmhOunNo6ay_gtlr7uarHgoTbzIHYbsPYWDMgsoRIBgCSCXCdDlGj-1UDD7g0GRfyII1iTTaZh0kuGB0pgE7KPFipMHhyphenhyphen9Y/w374-h371/sargent-and-fashion-hb-exhibition-book-28384.jpg" width="374" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">TATE
BRITAIN<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">EXHIBITION<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">SARGENT AND FASHION<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Fashion, identity, painting: explore the unique work
of John Singer Sargent<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/sargent-and-fashion">https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/sargent-and-fashion</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Celebrated
for his striking portrait paintings, this exhibition sheds new light on John
Singer Sargent’s acclaimed works. It explores how he worked like a stylist to
craft the image of the sitters he painted, who he often had close relationships
with.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sargent
used fashion as a powerful tool to express identity and personality. He
regularly chose the outfits of his collaborators or manipulated their clothing.
This innovative use of costume was central to his artwork – for example,
tugging a heavy coat tighter around a man to emphasise his figure or letting a
dress strap sensuously slip from a woman’s shoulder. It was these daring
sartorial choices that allowed him to express his vision as an artist.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Almost 60
of Sargent’s paintings will be on display, including major portraits that
rarely travel. Several period garments will also be showcased alongside the
portraits they were worn in. The show examines how this remarkable painter used
fashion to create portraits of the time, which still captivate today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Lead
support with a generous donation from the Blavatnik Family Foundation.
Additional support from the Sargent and Fashion Exhibition Supporters Circle
and Tate Americas Foundation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Organised
by Tate Britain and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Both MFA Boston and Tate
Britain received generous support for international scholarly convenings and
for the exhibition from the Terra Foundation for American Art<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrI137Kc03nhUaaNuWSEMg2l5hj9WEY_ElDY0sUSVeGunZpzn6szHkZ8gJiWgAHlxAq5gFQOzZcOKUY7yWTkNrDceIHIqh99O30XP094lEY241vwH_kI3hSpeFaJZHHx8HGmUCxnxruu6qAN7ZRdWk5Xf1Y3fvEuN3xUVhDWXO6i_DCGNijExFJ2N45u_h/s1828/Lady_Agnew_NEW_web_image.width-1440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1828" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrI137Kc03nhUaaNuWSEMg2l5hj9WEY_ElDY0sUSVeGunZpzn6szHkZ8gJiWgAHlxAq5gFQOzZcOKUY7yWTkNrDceIHIqh99O30XP094lEY241vwH_kI3hSpeFaJZHHx8HGmUCxnxruu6qAN7ZRdWk5Xf1Y3fvEuN3xUVhDWXO6i_DCGNijExFJ2N45u_h/w504-h640/Lady_Agnew_NEW_web_image.width-1440.jpg" width="504" /></a></div><br /><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is a terrible
and unfair review by Jonathan Jones, followed below by a send Letter <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">by Cally
Blackman, who takes issue with the ‘dismissive’ review by Jones.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">TWEEDLAND<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Review<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sargent and Fashion review – tragicomic travesty
is a frock horror<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Tate
Britain, London<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sargent’s gloriously rich and subtle paintings can’t
be reduced to dreary facts about hats, dresses and opera gowns. Sadly, that’s
just what’s happened<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jonathan
Jones<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Tue 20 Feb
2024 10.00 CET<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/feb/20/sargent-and-fashion-review-tate-britain-london">https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/feb/20/sargent-and-fashion-review-tate-britain-london</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is a
horrible exhibition. The American painter John Singer Sargent is a great artist
of identity, fascinated with the nature of social being. He paints people not
in isolation but as players in a social world in a way that is startling,
modern and so truthful it hurts. Trained in 19th-century Paris, he brought
brushwork tinted by Manet and Monet to portraying late Victorian and Edwardian
British society, and was especially drawn to those who didn’t fit the old order
– such as the young Jewish women joyously proclaiming their individuality in
Ena and Betty, Daughters of Asher and Mrs Wertheimer. But was he, above all, a
painter of fashion, as this show claims? No way – what on earth are they
talking about?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This daring
artist of modern life is turned into a stuffed shirt by a show that puts the
dress before the face, the hat before the head and the crinoline before the
soul in an obsessive, myopic argument. A painter with much to say to us
becomes, here, a relic with no relevance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The first
thing you see on walking in is an old opera cloak, magnificently preserved and
beautiful in its day. But this black lacy artefact is leaden next to the first
painting, Sargent’s portrait of Aline de Rothschild, Lady Sassoon, whose keen
face is full of life and wit. That’s the difference between a work of art and
an ancient frock: the painting is as old as the dress but in it, a person
lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Throughout
this show, Sargent’s scintillating works are wretchedly displayed. There are
clothes in glass cases everywhere obstructing sightlines, distracting from the
art instead of illuminating it. One hilarious example is his portrait of Lord
Ribblesdale, a positively Sadean image of an aristocrat in top hat, black coat
and boots holding a riding crop he might be about to use on a horse or
housemaid. Instead of letting this fascinating portrait speak for itself, it is
displayed next to a case containing a top hat, made in the late 19th century by
Cooksey and Co of London, as the pedantic label explains.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
curators have gone to the trouble of borrowing this topper from the Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston, but I have no idea what its presence adds to our
appreciation of Sargent. Reconstructing the clothing his sitters wore seems as
perverse as digging up their skulls and displaying them complete with forensic
reconstructions of their faces to see how accurately he painted them. The
crinkled silks look as macabre as that to me. They belong in an attic with a
rocking horse that moves of its own accord.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The canvases are not only crowded by old clothes but
shouted down by intrusive labelling and hideously set against ever-changing
wall colours and lighting<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
meticulous sartorial scholarship is misplaced. A painting is a fiction, not a
jumble of facts, and no artist knew that better than Sargent. Born to American
parents living in Europe, he was cosmopolitan, ironic and sophisticated – like
a character in a Henry James novel. James, in fact, became a friend, and there
are subtle connections between their artistry. Both might be mistaken, by an
idiot, for conservatives. But James probes the tremulous complexity of the
human psyche and the nature of morality with a shimmering, yet heartbreaking
power. Sargent, too, is a portraitist of subtlety and mystery, bringing out the
“character” of his people – with inverted commas as James might put it – in
wisps and dashes of impressionistic brushwork. Sargent and James would make a
much better exhibition.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Instead,“Fashion
was central to John Singer Sargent’s achievements as a portraitist”, declares
the opening wall text. No it wasn’t. Painting is. It’s the way he paints that
makes his art breathe. Yet here it’s hard to see that. The canvases are not
only crowded by old clothes but shouted down by intrusive labelling and
hideously set against ever-changing wall colours and lighting. Worst of all
there, is no narrative logic. The display sacrifices any sense of Sargent’s
life as an artist to its essayistic theme.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is all
the more tragicomic because so many of Sargent’s finest works have been lent.
If I was the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, I’d have a serious
complaint about the way its treasure, Madame X, is displayed. This portrait of
Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau in a shoulder-baring dress was daring for the
1880s, even in Paris, where its contrast of dark material and pale, slightly
blueish flesh horrified the 1884 Salon exhibition. But far from being given the
grandstand it deserves, it is shown under a forgettable quotation painted in
huge letters.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Worse, it’s
just dropped in without any buildup or history (other than fashion history). We
learn nothing about the Paris in which Sargent started his career: the capital
of the avant garde where Manet and the impressionists were locked in artistic
civil war with the conservative Salon. Sargent knew the modernist rebels, had
met Monet as early as 1876 and his later portrait of the impressionist at his
easel shows how attracted he was to such ideas. Madame X brings that knowledge
into the establishment Salon and plays on the border of respectability and
outrage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sargent
slightly miscalculated, and people were more upset than he hoped. Is it the
black dress that shocked the Salon? No, it was sex. Gautreau, not the frock, is
the star, as she exudes sophisticated glamour, knowingly self-possessed as she
turns her sharp profile away. It is a novel compressed into a portrait. Sargent
provokes us to wonder who this magnificent character is, where she’s been and
might go next. Gautreau collaborates with him in creating the fiction, inciting
the fantasies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This
portrait of a lady shows how Sargent is as elusive and complex a fabulist as
his alter ego, James. Each painting in this exhibition is just as rich, but the
curators keep hammering home their narrow clothes-based interpretation. It’s
extremely hard to see past that in the chaotic non-narrative display. An artist
as good as Sargent needs space, decent light and not much more – certainly not
quotations and props.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you love
historic millinery, this may be for you. If you love great art, stay at home
and read The Portrait of a Lady.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sargent and Fashion is at Tate Britain,
London, from 22 February to 7 July<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8x68YVOkb_LukmM5q10Erzdufyc67PmHwK7QTt6SZn2FcAfTOaNe_FBIm1wb1esLzLsu5WuMPTe5CBrsLul6B1TEMFVL5N_iSf4BOVVk7K1J6tiRnYAnVUeciNaLeKTTBqr2iXgUeQj_Qdu6sN-QJakilShTTft3ViMNlnIIwreBiA1D8bHXaW7tTAX4m/s2048/03SARGENT-superJumbo-v2.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="995" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8x68YVOkb_LukmM5q10Erzdufyc67PmHwK7QTt6SZn2FcAfTOaNe_FBIm1wb1esLzLsu5WuMPTe5CBrsLul6B1TEMFVL5N_iSf4BOVVk7K1J6tiRnYAnVUeciNaLeKTTBqr2iXgUeQj_Qdu6sN-QJakilShTTft3ViMNlnIIwreBiA1D8bHXaW7tTAX4m/w311-h640/03SARGENT-superJumbo-v2.webp" width="311" /></a></div><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">( This is the reaction from Cally Blackman to the
terrible review published above.) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Letters<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Throw off the cloak of snobbery and treat fashion
as a serious art form<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Cally Blackman takes issue with a ‘dismissive’ review
of the John Singer Sargent exhibition at Tate Britain<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Fri 23 Feb
2024 19.24 CET<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2024/feb/23/throw-off-the-cloak-of-snobbery-and-treat-fashion-as-a-serious-art-form">https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2024/feb/23/throw-off-the-cloak-of-snobbery-and-treat-fashion-as-a-serious-art-form</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When I read
or hear the word “frock”, my heart sinks and my hackles rise: when will fashion
be taken seriously? As the most powerful form of non-verbal communication,
clothes tell us a lot about people – from their occupation, to religion, to
their Indigenous heritage. The now thriving academic discipline of fashion
studies rose from schools of anthropology, ethnography, sociology, philosophy,
curatorial scholarship and art history. The first postgraduate course in the
history of dress was set up in 1965 at the Courtauld Institute – a bastion of
the art establishment – to enable curators and art historians to date paintings
and describe garments in them accurately. Sadly, many of them continue to get
it wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jonathan
Jones’s review of the Sargent exhibition at Tate Britain (Sargent and Fashion
review – tragicomic travesty is a frock horror, 20 February) was typical of the
snobbish and dismissive attitude often taken towards anything to do with
fashion, including the multitrillion-dollar fashion industry that, for better
or for worse, ranks as one of the biggest in the global economy, a fact that is
seldom recognised. If it was called “garment manufacture” instead of “fashion”,
a complicated word freighted with negative connotations, it might be.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Museums
such as the V&A and the Tate well know the pulling power of fashion
exhibitions and can hardly be blamed, in their currently straitened
circumstances, for wanting to cash in on it: on Thursday this week, the Tate
exhibition was packed, demonstrating the level of public interest. However, the
exhibition is more than just an exercise in ticket sales. Sargent was a great
painter who had an affinity with dress and fabric, like Dürer, Holbein, Van
Dyck, Rembrandt, Velázquez, Gainsborough and Lawrence before him, and traces of
their influence resonate throughout his work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Whatever
the distress caused to Jones the by lighting, wall colours and glass cases in
wrong places, it is a very rare thing indeed to see garments displayed next to
the paintings in which they are depicted, and a special joy to see these same
garments interpreted on the canvas with Sargent’s consummate skill and
aesthetic judgment. Some of the gowns on display are by Charles Worth, the most
prestigious couturier in Paris (not “designer” – the word had not been invented
then). Compared with these, Ellen Terry’s beetle-wing-embellished Lady Macbeth
stage costume (“costume” is the term for clothing worn for performance, not for
garments worn in everyday life) looked dull and lifeless, yet scintillated in
radiant, glowing colour from Sargent’s portrait, a testament to his quality as
an artist.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Yes, some
of the objects displayed to accompany a painting seemed arbitrarily
helicoptered in, such as the top hat Jones mentions in his review, but this is
not an exhibition about “historic millinery” as he puts it, but one that offers
a new approach to a brilliant and prolific artist, just as the National
Portrait Gallery’s exhibition Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends in 2015
did. This generous, sumptuous array of Sargent’s work tells us much about
class, society and fashion at the end of the 19th century, an era of great
privilege for some, before the impending rupture of war. As the historian and
philosopher Thomas Carlyle wrote in his book Sartor Resartus (1831), one of the
first to address the significance of dress with any degree of seriousness:
“Clothes, as despicable as we think them, are so unspeakably significant.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT">Cally Blackman<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT">London<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-8376883227734988952024-02-23T03:00:00.000-08:002024-02-23T03:00:00.135-08:00The Fife Arms Braemar United Kingdom<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/EBR9cfV32QM?si=4ct_qm3znjbP6iHa" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">HOTEL
REVIEW<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.thehotelguru.com/en-eu/hotel/the-fife-arms-aberdeenshire">https://www.thehotelguru.com/en-eu/hotel/the-fife-arms-aberdeenshire</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9-QuLLhza4az_PgQIRIaRHXY88MZuuXPyZymmHV-bAULFS2NNcoq-9p5mmDxRSqwIv6cP86VfZ5p3w3sCOtR5Bac9cR5W4d39e35pVspSMRDCXPVcg8CcKx1zTwHbedF_ROe9mRI5PcAspdRQSfTDuXz67fUUMpKpTqxFqO-hx8RHkYS-uTTnqYtjShu/s1180/the-fife-arms-s1180x560%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="1180" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9-QuLLhza4az_PgQIRIaRHXY88MZuuXPyZymmHV-bAULFS2NNcoq-9p5mmDxRSqwIv6cP86VfZ5p3w3sCOtR5Bac9cR5W4d39e35pVspSMRDCXPVcg8CcKx1zTwHbedF_ROe9mRI5PcAspdRQSfTDuXz67fUUMpKpTqxFqO-hx8RHkYS-uTTnqYtjShu/w400-h190/the-fife-arms-s1180x560%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSHpaPfS3ox0DPx-vba77ZnvEQS7qXuJ-yRERAS9OVyQDPjBgI7PYPlo_Lt5x-ZMBqYNCfPcOOFlbHDsjBK7bF2kR1YTlKd2iPPTN5Un72ubmMLSqlIggq5iF_nL3jDijhpFT7E_jtt-0Xy2v644QgAPjW0py5l9xym7wOOFAdPZYOUOxawLyeL7lEE5T/s1180/the-fife-arms-s1180x560%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="1180" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSHpaPfS3ox0DPx-vba77ZnvEQS7qXuJ-yRERAS9OVyQDPjBgI7PYPlo_Lt5x-ZMBqYNCfPcOOFlbHDsjBK7bF2kR1YTlKd2iPPTN5Un72ubmMLSqlIggq5iF_nL3jDijhpFT7E_jtt-0Xy2v644QgAPjW0py5l9xym7wOOFAdPZYOUOxawLyeL7lEE5T/w400-h190/the-fife-arms-s1180x560%20(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">High
Victoriana meets modern luxury at the miraculously reinvented Fife Arms in
Braemar, unveiled for Christmas 2018 with much press and bagpiping after a
magnificent multi-million-pound makeover by art dealers Iwan and Manuela Wirth,
the Swiss co-presidents of Hauser & Wirth. (They own galleries in London,
New York, LA, Hong Kong, Zurich — and Bruton, Somerset, where they also have
proved their form in the hospitality business with Durslade Farmhouse). To find
such a luxury hotel in Scotland, let alone in the remote Highlands, is about as
rare as a budgerigar in the Arctic. This will be a huge boom to tourism and the
locale. With 46 eye-poppingly amazing rooms (individually themed and as
eclectically wonderful as is possible within the bounds of good taste and
design), and 95 staff to service the place, virtually the whole community has
been involved in some way or other. Local grandee Araminta Campbell designed
the house tartan and tweed (brilliantly used on walls, floors, uniforms and
curtains), the local deer horn specialist has created cornucopias of antler art
and practical objets, Picasso, Bruegel, Freud and HRH Prince Charles hang cheek
by jowl. No need to go to the National Gallery when you can stay here and
marvel at the masters up close and personal! Beware if you are frightened of
stuffed things, this is a taxidermist’s paradise – there is a red deer in the
dining room, a mobile of flying snipe in the stairwell, and every sort of
furred and feathered creature under glass – including a life-size waxwork of
Queen Vic herself settled in a wingchair in the library. (“Our mystery guest”
as front of house like to call her). There are grandiose suites, all royally
named and appointed, but also a number of less expensive rooms which are no
less luxurious. The Artist’s Studio room is a charming concept – up in the
eaves with a cosy box bed, pots and brushes on the windowsills and amusing
paint spatters on the floor. A very talented design team has been at work here.
It may be a little over the top and about as far from minimalist as you can
get, but the whole is expertly choreographed. You can eat smart in the Clunie
Dining room which features wood smoke ovens and cubist muraled walls by
Guillermo Kuitca, drink an inventive cocktail in the bar or try one of the
hundreds of carefully curated whiskies, or even have a pint of bitter and fish
and chips in the bustling Flying Stag pub. Come here to celebrate and relax, or
to walk, stalk or fish. Majestic mountains surround you and the River Dee
rushes past. Don’t be put off by the winding ascent past Scotland’s famed
International Ski Resort, Glenshee, the journey is all part of the adventure.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And why
might you ask would you ever want to come to Braemar (population 400) unless
tossing a caber at the Gathering? Well, a visit to this incredible hotel alone
will suffice. You will not be disappointed, whether with family, friends or
your own good self.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Written by Caroline Townsend</p><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP6bRQfpBSlfq9tM5s1_aoK1LE9iBHcUuMR795LUp-OA8-y1inIouDEm78rtg0CTkunsgS_JIGPYqjEmW0svLHonHfQ7xEUmtiUj3gOL47Fjpt01O8cKY7mGYFr0Pw-A6kWBmi8gUwJu7Ya2Cr2U1RZ09SI680meFBHB8CW-HMtygwAP91T0p71geGCiFg/s1180/the-fife-arms-s1180x560.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="1180" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP6bRQfpBSlfq9tM5s1_aoK1LE9iBHcUuMR795LUp-OA8-y1inIouDEm78rtg0CTkunsgS_JIGPYqjEmW0svLHonHfQ7xEUmtiUj3gOL47Fjpt01O8cKY7mGYFr0Pw-A6kWBmi8gUwJu7Ya2Cr2U1RZ09SI680meFBHB8CW-HMtygwAP91T0p71geGCiFg/w400-h190/the-fife-arms-s1180x560.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho157HEUnSEs0hLWCi-sAkYA0u4vM0_Vw-KhIN8OE1p7PUIJFg9trkD0u2erIJiYamhfN4VG6GSRPjZtSMIoi7oQUbMn8nLeNSPTSU-CpOr9FSMVWI1upkw5GtQIwvYUuqicC3Zedwxx50krELjR8UsdE10wHfFE_B9gr9Te8jFDLv2Ypr8LjnxSN9G86l/s1180/the-fife-arms-s1180x560%20(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="1180" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho157HEUnSEs0hLWCi-sAkYA0u4vM0_Vw-KhIN8OE1p7PUIJFg9trkD0u2erIJiYamhfN4VG6GSRPjZtSMIoi7oQUbMn8nLeNSPTSU-CpOr9FSMVWI1upkw5GtQIwvYUuqicC3Zedwxx50krELjR8UsdE10wHfFE_B9gr9Te8jFDLv2Ypr8LjnxSN9G86l/w400-h190/the-fife-arms-s1180x560%20(3).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1955075553109560719.post-79365962269470492072024-02-21T04:59:00.000-08:002024-02-21T04:59:00.144-08:00The Vintage Showroom - The Artistry of Vintage Design Inspiration by Doug Gunn.<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/gEhi_amrXBM?si=f6oJdckmVWPIsi9c" frameborder="0"></iframe>Jeeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386587138188870792noreply@blogger.com0