Checking out of the Holiday Inn after a poor night and then a long morning at Hamleys in Regent Street for the kids and then Dickens and Jones for Diana’s gift buying before home to find the builders had been busy and to a humble sandwich tea as the last of 28 GCHQ servicemen charged were acquitted after a waste of £4m persecuting them and Prince Charles and his advisor are in a row with the press after printing his private comments and Diana for giggling at his safety helmet
A very poor night. The so called ‘double’ beds in our hotel room were too cramped and narrow and the sheets and blankets even so too small to effectively tuck in. Furthermore, our room was too near the main road and, with lorries trundling past and a stuffy hotel, there was an unsatisfactory choice between the noise from the air conditioning or open window. Up and down all night and then a calamity as I strained another part of my back getting out of bed! Up at 6.15am new time and washed and dressed, waking the others, who also had restless nights. Diana was not too pleased. Down to another nice breakfast, the family loving the choice, and then we get ready to leave as I tell them I could not stand another night like that. I check out, we load all of our baggage into the Jaguar, and then leaving the car in the hotel car park, we set off by taxi to Hamleys toy shop in Regent Street. A long morning looking at all five floors of toys, but starting early enough, it was not too crowded at this time of year. Debbie enjoyed it immensely, but Daniel ended in tears as we would not buy him a computer game for £10.
Morning drinks upstairs and then along Regent Street to Dickins and Jones department store, where Daniel and I trailed around, whilst Diana bought a number of presents and enjoyed the visit. By now we were all tired and so took the taxi back to Swiss Cottage and started the drive home from there. A lunch stop at the Happy Eater, which is now sporting a brand new menu, which we will have to get used to. Poor Daniella woke up as we arrived and Di was rather upset and taken aback as she wailed a bit. Home via St Neots afterwards to let Di get some food from the Co-op and Daniel to see if his bicycle had been fixed. No luck there and they will not finish it before Thursday, which is a shame for Dan. Home at last and the building was cold after three days away. Next door, Eastern Electricity had disconnected the power and taken away the meter, the builders had put the guest room balcony door frame in, the plasterer completed the basic plastering for the dining room, guest bedroom and box room and the carpenter had put up the frame for the central front balcony. Now that the clocks have gone back, the darkness comes earlier and the workmen had all left by 4.30pm. I walked around the site with a torch and then came in to tea – a humble affair of sandwiches and ice cream to follow. Daniel had spent the rest of the day with Gary and scampered back in the dark, which he does not like. This evening I rested my new back strain, updated my journal, and we all sorted ourselves out. I had fed some hungry ducks, but the doves seemed to have been well catered for with the seed dispenser. News today is of the final two servicemen accused of spying in the GCHQ Cyprus secrets trial being cleared. Now all 28 were acquitted, £4 million has been wasted in the investigation, and a growing row is developing over this “pointless and humiliating charade.” Fear is being expressed that the service police were draconian and oppressive in their interrogation of the subjects and forced untrue confessions from them. A minister is to make a statement in the House of Commons tomorrow, in what promises to be a lively session. The Prince Charles row develops, as the publicity threatens to divide Prince Charles and his ‘advisor’, Dr Rod Hackney. Also certain newspapers have taken to printing his ‘off the record’ remarks and risk being shunned by the Palace. Meanwhile, a relaxed Princess Diana giggles uncontrollably when an ill-fitting safety helmet is perched on Prince Charles’s head during a factory tour.