Fings ain't wot they used t'be

It's funny how Life has a way of kicking you in the teeth. We were watching the fillum "Mrs Brown", starring Dame Judy Dench (whose late husband's surname I am striving to remember - his Christian name was Michael*) and Billy Connolly. Damned good fillum - well cast, great scenery and all the rest of it. It got me thinking of how my Granny reminisced about the day she saw Queen Victoria drive past in her carriage, and her surprise at how tiny She was. Now Granny was only 12 when Victoria died, and wasn't very tall herself, but obviously the Queen was such an important person that her spiritual stature far overcame her physical one.

Anyway, I was relating to Ned the story she told me of when she was on a train, with several prep-school boys in her carriage. They were very polite little boys, and she was one of the most open-minded and tolerant people I have ever known, and she delighted in chatting with these lads. They discussed many things, and the conversation touched on her reminiscences of the national celebrations on hearing the news of the Relief of Mafeking. The boys were duly impressed with her information (top marks due for a future history essay). One litle boy was so impressed that he asked her for her memories of the Crimean War (which was over 34 years before she was born). Somewhat crestfallen, she confessed that she wasn't that old ...

It was at this point that Ned informed me that the 'King of Sweden' was born the year I achieved my majority. Ostrich. Surely that wasn't so long ago that people born then are now adults? Where is my life going?

*I've just remembered. His surname was Williams.

CNPS: 81