Dear Sir
Richard Ryder (‘The poor man in his castle’, Apr.26) confines Queen Mary’s war-time tyranny at Badminton to the house, but it also extended to the estate. ‘ “ Now, Aunt May”, her niece the Duchess of Beaufort told her, “ remember that those shrubs outside the stable wall are not to be touched”; the next day Queen Mary took her out and every shrub was gone, revealing a naked wall which then had to be cemented and painted. “I’m so glad to see you like my yesterday’s work”, she said’. Surely her spirit should be powerful enough to quell the outbreak of gay orgies with which the estate is currently afflicted.
Yours faithfully
Alistair Lexden
House of Lords