Dr Nigel Fletcher

Having gone “out out” on a Saturday night for the first time in ages to go to two - TWO! - lovely birthday parties up in London, I could have done without my car tyre bursting on a random side street. Several hours and quite a few quid later, I got home at 4am.
But the parties were FAB!

Can confirm that the cake at this party is absolutely astonishing

Oh no!
I’m frankly still in shock at that unbelievable creation.
And regretting giving up cake for Lent…

Off with her head…
Sacrilege! Treason!
(And I’ve chosen the wrong year to have given up cake for Lent…)

At a friend’s birthday party and THIS is the cake.
I’m pretty speechless.
Bar. Raised.

😨

OMG - I can feel the anxiety rising as I start to imagine the many ways in which an ordinary day can suddenly turn into a real-life episode of Casualty.
Deadly bee-sting on a towpath anyone?

Yes. The abdication crisis was one, because it raised fundamental questions of the Monarch's willingness to accept formal advice tendered by their ministers. Had the King dug in and rejected it, they were clear they would resign. Instead, he did. That resolved the crisis, but it certainly was one.

There might be some constitutional *questions* down the line. Some I can think of involve the gathering or giving of evidence from the Royal Household, determining the status Andrew had when acting as Trade Envoy, and so on. But this is not a "constitutional crisis".

If this results in a trial, there will much comment about the fact that legally the case will be the Crown vs Andrew - and thus the King prosecuting his brother. And were he convicted, yes he might end up in one of His Majesty's Prisons. But that doesn't raise any constitutional issues either.

Constitutional issues only arise if it were the Sovereign themself involved. As they are His Majesty's courts and the police are His Majesty's constabulary, it is somewhat tricky to proceed against a reigning sovereign. That might be counted a constitutional crisis. But Andrew is not the King.

It might be a "crisis for the Royal Family", but there are no real constitutional issues at stake. The legal process can and will proceed in exactly the same way as with any other suspect, just as with Princess Anne, who was convicted of a criminal offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act in 2002.

I'm somewhat puzzled by the insistence of several news outlets on describing the arrest of Andrew M-W as a "Constitutional Crisis" (and even the worst such in a century).
With all the authority I can muster as a constitutional geek, let me just say - it's not a constitutional crisis.

bsky.app/profile/nige...

I used to think the number one rule of local doorstep campaigning should be: always close the gate.
Seriously.

Quite the day to be having lunch with Andrew Lownie, author of “Entitled”, last year’s astonishing book on the rise and fall of the former Duke and Duchess of York.
He says a sequel is, unsurprisingly, in the works…

Well, the lunch event I'm about to attend is either going to be EXTREMELY topical. Or cancelled.
We'll see.

Gosh.

I have the honour of knowing and having served alongside the legend that is Geoff Brighty. And he is indeed more than just a political legend.

Then last year, we moved house and I found the voucher. Claridge’s kindly agreed to honour it, so for my 46th birthday, my husband & I finally got to enjoy this lovely treat, made extra special by the reminder it provided of a thoughtful gift given what seems like an age ago, in the pre-Covid world.

A 40th birthday celebration - six years late!
Back in February 2020, some lovely friends gave me a voucher for afternoon tea at Claridge’s to help celebrate my four decades on this planet. But then, a few weeks later, the pandemic shut everything down. The voucher was put away, expired and unused…

I shall try my best to be more Queen Mum than Edina today.

As I wake up to the realisation I am now over halfway to the age of 90, I’m just taking a moment to say that the Queen Mother’s 90th is very much the vibe I’m looking for in my birthday celebrations.

Nearly a year after moving to the countryside, and I still haven’t got over the novelty.
This morning’s example: Walking down the stairs, glancing out of the window and exclaiming:
“Oh, the sheep are back! Hello sheep!”
This didn’t happen in suburbia.
🐑

Urgh. I want an option for “No, absolutely not”.
No “maybe” about it.

If the threatened rise of misanthropic AI is accompanied by the persistence and craftiness with which Yahoo keeps making itself my default search engine without asking me, we're all in deep trouble.

Perhaps the President being head of state makes a difference? I don’t know.
Also, it used to be everyday courtesy to refer to people you don’t know as “sir” or “madam” in formal contexts. I feel that’s getting rarer, but it shows it can connote politeness as well as obsequiousness.

For someone like me who loves archives and specialises in postwar political history, it’s a real joy, and one of the most rewarding things I do. I’m so proud and grateful to be able to continue working with brilliant colleagues, including today’s new appointees. Here’s to four more years!

We are independent of the National Archives, but work closely with the staff there, and it’s a delight to see the care with which they and archivists across the country meet the challenge of preserving our nation’s history and making it available to all.

This involves advising on the public interest test when departments apply to close records under FOI exemptions. It is fascinating work, balancing the interests of archive-users with the Government interest in protecting national security, international relations and the wellbeing of individuals.