An Intrusion of Tiaras.

The 2013 Almanach de Gotha has arrived and not a moment to soon because in the past year I have encountered more fake tiaras flitting about than there are grifters.

I squarely place the blame with Uptown Downstairs Abbey Beyoncé (have I got this right?) and the blatant fantasizing of the life of the British uppers classes.

Psst, a scoop.  I am convinced that Julian Fellowes is planning to kill off the entire cast!  Yes, all of them: upstairs, downstairs, the whole lot. I'm not a bit surprised.  For this will only rival “The Oscars”, 1929–present 85 seasons and counting, as longest running show.  At the end of which EVERYBODY will want to become the Kennedy's of Yorkshire.  

Gothaists hide your tiaras. 

“The Stately Homes of England,

How beautiful they stand,

To prove the upper classes

Have still the upper hand;

Though the fact that they have to be rebuilt

And frequently mortgaged to the hilt

Is inclined to take the gilt

Off the gingerbread,

And certainly damps the fun

Of the eldest son-

But still we won't be beaten,

We'll scrimp and scrape and save,

The playing fields of Eton

Have made us frightfully brave-

And though if the Van Dycks have to go

And we pawn the Bechstein Grand,

We'll stand

By the Stately Homes of England…”

lyrics by Noel Coward

Miau.