13th May 2018

The French are puzzled...No, not about Eurovision but about when Harry meets Meghan next week. The one thing the French envy about Britain - and it is probably the only thing - is the royal family. Ever since the last tumbrils rolled up to the Bastille in the 1790s, they’ve bemoaned the fact they no longer have a royal head of state. They, like the Americans, love the splendour and pomp that only a royal family can bring. So, all French eyes have been fixated on the wedding next Saturday. But, what’s this they read? That a family worth £400 million can find no budget for feeding the 2,000 peasants so carefully selected to fill the otherwise empty grounds of the chapel at Windsor. “Bring your own sandwiches” decreed the embossed royal invitations.  What? said the French, the land of le bien manger. Where’s the royal cuisine?  Quel catastrophe! Even Marie Antoinette would have provided cake....