There was no doubt that in the early and mid-eighties that many of us in broadsheet newspapers felt that we still had a responsibility to try to protect the Royal Family or if you like protect the Monarchy from the assaults of the media.

As George Orwell wisely observed a generation later, the only way swiftly to end a war is to lose it.

I'm a wet liberal really, and always have been. But I'm sort of an aggressive wet liberal.

You cannot write down how people are good; you just know it, and cannot get away from it.

We're taking part in a divine comedy and we should realise that the play is always a comedy, in that we're all ultimately ridiculous.

People who get on at school are the ones who play by the rules, and no one's going to get far in later life playing by the system.

There was no doubt that in the early and mid-eighties that many of us in broadsheet newspapers felt that we still had a responsibility to try to protect the Royal Family or if you like protect the Monarchy from the assaults of the media.