Tuesday 28th April 2020

It suddenly occurred to me that as well as being nobodies we’re all Princess Margaret now. When Harry Rollo was a student in the 1990s, he sat on a sofa with Princess Margaret. It was after dinner in one of the Cambridge colleges. Perhaps Princess Margaret was visiting Norman St John Stevas, that old Queen. A select few of the students were invited in after dinner. She was very welcoming. She said to Harry: ‘You’re too sitting too near. Could you move further away? It’s rather warm.’ In the same way, she said to Nicky Haslam on another occasion, ‘No kissing, Nicky. It’s far too hot.’

Social distancing. Princess Margaret was a pioneer of the art. If only she’d lived to see today.