Acting is what I do

"I had that accent which prejudices people against you so instantly, or makes them respect you so falsely... I had a driving ambition to be an actress. Like so many actors, whatever their class or race, I kept feeling there must be something more. I had this urge to dig deeper."

"Acting is what I do with who I am."

"I've been taking lessons in Damehood from Judi Dench. Being a Dame is useful in restaurants, hotels, and restaurants, Judi says, but you have to get someone else to do the booking."

Many happy returns today to the marvellous Dame Harriet Walter, award-winning Shakespearean actress - her significant screen roles in the likes of Sense and Sensibility, Downton Abbey, Killing Eve, Poirot, The Crown, Midsomer Murders, Succession, and more recently she played Margaret Thatcher in Brian and Maggie - whose 75th birthday it is today!

All Hail.

Dame Harriet Mary Walter (born 24th September 1950)

The Duchess

RIP, Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley, Duchess of Kent (22nd February 1933 – 4th September 2025)

The jeweller of kings and the king of jewellers

Aquamarine Tiara, Cartier London, c1937

We went along to the V&A yesterday, to see the much-anticipated Cartier exhibition. A sumptuous feast for the senses - this was definitively the biggest collection we have ever seen of some of the world's most valuable and sought-after jewellery, and we were in awe.

Just a few of the priceless pieces we saw:

Above, left to right: the Patiala Necklace, featuring the 234.65 carat yellow DeBeers diamond, commissioned by the Maharaja of Patiala in 1925 - the largest ever single order Cartier has received to date (about £2 billion/$2.5 billion in today's money); diamond and 143.13 carat emerald necklace, made in 1932 and formerly owned by Beatrice, Countess of Granard; Duchess of Windsor Wallis Simpson's famous flamingo brooch - apparently she had several of her own pieces unmounted so that the stones could be re-used in this clip; the 57.31 carat "Star of the Golconda” necklace, commissioned by the Maharaja of Nawanagar.

[left to right, above]: The Manchester Tiara, 1903, commissioned by Consuelo, Dowager Duchess of Manchester - she supplied over a thousand brilliant-cut diamonds and more than 400 rose-cut diamonds for its construction; Dame Elizabeth Taylor's ruby and diamond "Red Fire" necklace, a gift from husband Mike Todd; the 61.50 carat "Eye of the Tiger" diamond turban aigrette, commissioned by the Maharaja of Nawanagar; the platinum and diamond Oriental Tiara, 1911, worn by Queen Elizabeth II.

One of the most breath-taking items (among miles and miles of breathtaking moments!) was this - a snake necklace, ordered by the extravagant Mexican actress María Félix n 1968. From the Cartier Collection catalogue:

"The ingenuity of the design makes it a unique piece in the history of jewellery. Thousands of hours of work and great expertise were put into making this 57-centimetre long reptile, with an entirely articulated structure paved with 2,473 diamonds. A jewellery piece that has since become emblematic."

It certainly was that!

HM The Queen Elizabeth’s 23.6 carat Williamson pink diamond brooch. Princess Anne's Pineflower tiara. Grace Kelly's diamond engagement ring from Prince Rainier of Monaco. Gloria Swanson's Art Deco bangles, as worn in Sunset Boulevard. Egyptian sarcophagus vanity cases. The Countess of Essex's 1902 tiara and choker worn by Rihanna for her 2016 W magazine photo-shoot. Items owned and worn by Elton John and Freddie Mercury. A whole gallery of Cartier's iconic watches. Another of their famous "mystery clocks". A whole room of just tiaras. Case upon case of sparkles of every hue...

...the sheer number of exhibits on offer meant that we spent several very rewarding hours studying it all - and I'd gladly go again tomorrow!

Cartier at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) is on until 16 November 2025.

Sometimes being clothed is more sexy

"There's a scary moment when you realise you're no longer the youngest person in the room. Especially if you've been a successful young person. That's followed, of course, by the realisation that you're actually the oldest person in the room."

"I still have a Gypsy sense of adventure. I don't think I have slept in the same bed for more than three or four months my whole life. I am always planting vegetables that I never get to eat and flowers that I never see flower. I have always moved around the world."

"Two phrases I hate in reference to female characters are 'strong' and 'feisty.' They really annoy me. It's the most condescending thing. You say that about a three-year-old. It infantilises women."

"Sometimes nudity is sexy. Sometimes it's not. Sometimes being clothed is more sexy than being nude."

"I was never that kind of star. I was never cast because I was gorgeous."

"The trick in life is learning how to deal with it."

The utterly magnificent Dame Helen Mirren is 80 years old!

All hail.

Many happy returns, Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov (aka Helen Mirren, born 26th July 1945)

You decide what's right, you decide what's good

Another sparkling diamond in the vocal world has "booped" her last "doop" and departed for Fabulon, to join the pantheon of jazz greats - Dame Cleo Laine!

Famed for her long, long professional as well as personal relationship with husband Johnny Dankworth as much as for her singing, together they carved out a niche for themselves in the oft-fractious world of post-war British jazz, she with her remarkable multi-octave voice and he with his musical talent and business savvy. She successfully straddled classical and pop cross-overs, as well as the scat-jazz vocalese for which she was famed, made numerous guest appearances on TV over the years [indeed, on hearing of her death today in the office I reminisced that she was probably the first prominent black person I remember seeing on telly apart from on children's programmes like Play School], became successful Stateside, and together in 1970 the couple founded the Stables Theatre at the back of their family home near Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, which has helped develop the careers of many generations of performers.

By way of a fitting tribute - and a prime example of why we adored her so much - here is a selection of the divine Miss Laine's interpretations of the work of house fave Mr Stephen Sondheim:

Cleo Laine - No One Is Alone

Cleo Laine - Losing My Mind

Cleo Laine - Anyone Can Whistle

Cleo Laine - Everybody Says Don't

Cleo Laine - I Remember

Cleo Laine - Liaisons

Cleo Laine - Send In The Clowns

Cleo Laine - Not While I'm Around

RIP, Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth DBE (born Clementine Dinah Hitching, 28th October 1927 - 24th July 2025)

And finally... What on earth?

Eartha Kitt, Phyllis Diller and Cleo Laine playing cricket!

Always, always coiffed and dressed

[The late, much missed Miss Diahann Carroll would have been 90 years old this week. By way of a tribute, I'm reposting this from when she departed for Fabulon six years ago.]

"If you're not invited to the party, throw your own."

"For each and every performance, I was always on time, always prepared, and always, always coiffed and dressed."

“You cannot be a legitimate nightclub performer, as far as I’m concerned, in sensible shoes. To me, high heels have always been symbols of sensuality... I like the way I feel in them. And when you become a senior citizen, there’s great pleasure to be had in the fact that even when the tummy isn’t as taut as it used to be, the legs are still shapely and slender. They really are the last things to go, you know.”

"I like to think I opened doors for other women, although that wasn't my original intention."

"All I ever wanted to do was sing. What happened was more."

Diahann Carroll (born Carol Diahann Johnson, 17th July 1935 – 4th October 2019)

An inspiration.

'Twas the night before...

...Gay Xmas!

On the cusp of London's Gay Pride celebrations tomorrow, we have a visitor from across the channel to the Dolores Delargo Towers Museum of Camp...

Guilda - Quand on se Retrouve

Zut Alors!