Happy Birthday, Your Majesty!

One of my neighbours [Her Majesty and I are merely separated by Buckingham Gate] celebrates her birthday in a very public way. During the week the usual channels supplied me with a ticket to enable my attendance at the spectacle on Horse Guards Parade this morning. As you know, I rather like uniforms! I imagine there were a few uncrowned queens present (not just spectators) and perhaps even a few divas on the parade ground? Well, I thought I had a fairly decent seat. I arrived punctually. There were four empty spaces adjacent to me (I was on the end of the front row in the block). I thought, what a waste. Maybe somebody slept in? A rather pompous looking fellow came along to do a "recce" and just before the ceremony began a couple of awkward looking chaps (wired up) came along and asked me to stand aside a second. I felt slightly miffed that I was going to be "squashed in" by these latecomers and bang goes my leg room! Then suddenly I spotted The Lady in-tow. I thought I recognised her. Ah yes, my old friend, Lady Thatcher. So there you are, Maggie sat next to me! Maggie, The Queen and Me. [For those of you who occasionally get a little confused, Maggie is the one on the right!]. The similar apparel* reminds one of the occasion when the Private Secretary at Number Ten telephoned the Private Secretary at BP to suggest that it might be a good idea to exchange notes about dress sense for certain public occasions to avoid a "clash" or the possibility of the two dames appearing at the same event similarly (not scantily - Heaven forbid!) clad. Her Majesty's "man" replied icily "Her Majesty never notices what other people are wearing". Quite so.

The perk to having a former Prime Minister seated next to you is that you become the second person to take leave of Horse Guards; with the military top brass, admirals, generals and the like, trailing behind. As I stepped into Whitehall behind Lady Thatcher, where the traffic had stopped to facilitate her, I heard someone mutter, with a hint of emotion; "She's still the real Prime Minister, you know". My sentiments exactly. Good old Maggie. [11 days to go, TB].

*I have a rather "exotic" hat that I contemplated wearing today. My father would have been furious and I resisted. The Hat will be the subject of a future posting!

Mr Louis Walsh

"F**k off. I don't know what you are doing sitting next to me anyway. I normally get a row to myself". My charming fellow passenger Louis Walsh on an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin a few weeks ago, just before he was axed from The X-Factor. [I have sensitive hearing and can't bear Ipods - a great curse - and I politely asked Louis to turn down his]. The Sunday People shared the story with a wider audience and Graham Norton asked Louis about his behaviour on his show. I asked the boy from Kiltimagh if he was auditioning to become the rudest man in Ireland!

Archbishop Dermot Clifford

"Martin Shaw is the greatest bore that ever walked, or at the very least, the greatest bore I ever met. Whenever I hear his name or see his face, I am reminded of a very long evening in Rome". +Dermot Clifford, Archbishop of Cashel & Emly

Dr Clifford is seen here in full flight - lecturing the Faithful - on what appears to be a very hot* day in Tipperary.

*Dr Clifford is probably working up a thirst. He is a successor of Archbishop Croke, the great temperance campaigner, you know!

Mark Field MP

When I began blogging, our wonderful local MP, Mark Field, had this to say; "I must confess I generally find blogs pretty self-indulgent but I was rather taken by your piece on the largely unrequited love in your life. Best wishes for a healthy, happier, love-filled thirty-ninth year!". Mark Field 17 July 2006

I have a huge amount of time for Mark. He is a very assiduous constituency MP. If ever the electors of the Cities of London and Westminster were daft enough to vote for someone else doubtless Mark could get a job modelling Lewin's shirts!

I am 39 on 30th July but the vacancy remains in the intimacy department ...!

Cardinal Thomas Winning 1925 - 2001

This Sunday also marks the sixth anniversary of the death of the late Cardinal Thomas Winning. I knew Tom Winning and last met him in Rome in February 2001 at the Consistory at which Desmond Connell of Dublin and Cormac Murphy-O'Connor were created members of the Sacred College of Cardinals. He was thoroughly good company despite displaying an antipathy to all things English, an unfortunate characteristic in my fellow Scots! I do regret his politics and some of his statements were a bit over-the-top. But there was no doubt where he stood - and you knew he was there. You might want to read Stephen McGinty's biography Turbulent Priest to get more of a flavour of the man and his story.

Cardinal Basil Hume OSB OM 1923 - 1999

This Sunday marks the eighth anniversary of the death of the late Cardinal Basil Hume. When I applied to the Diocese of Westminster in 1987 to be considered for training for the Priesthood, Cardinal Hume advised me to "go off and learn about the world you seem so anxious to preach to". He added "If you must come back; leave it for at least five years; no hurry!".

I considered Basil to be a saintly man and I observe the beginnings of a cult at his tomb in Westminster Cathedral - candles, flowers and petitions. Perhaps one day a future Archbishop of Westminster might be petitioned to initiate a Cause for sainthood?

"Always see the Gospel like a personal love letter from the Lord to yourself ". Cardinal Hume.