Whatever Next!

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As a wife, she became a master in the art of keeping the peace, knowing when to pick her battles, when she needed help—and when to take a lover.

Lady Glenconner has suffered more than her fair share of tragedy – her eldest son died of heroin addiction, the second of Aids, and the third was involved in a terrible motorbike crash that left him with serious head injuries.Some of what my grandmother tried to teach us seemed outdated and formal to us, but most of the core values and behaviors stand the test of time. For someone with such privilege, she has also endured a lot of tragedy (including horrific physical abuse from her childhood nanny and her terrible husband Colin, the deaths of two of her sons from hepatitis C and HIV, and a third son’s coma after a motorcycle accident). It was Lady Glenconner who introduced the Princess to Roddy Llewellyn and soon they had press photographers on their tail, but in those days, they could easily be identified by their long-lens cameras.

I am often asked for the secret of a healthy old age, and I’m not claiming this is in any way scientific but I do walk properly every day, making sure I lift my feet. Find a big cardboard box or plastic storage containerfor therocket and gather ‘space boots’ and a helmet, a favourite toy and supplies for the journey. When writing about her life, I couldn't help many times but be amazed at what it must be like to have such wealth: "We had an excellent staff, and though I felt terribly busy at the time, I never cleaned a bath or made a bed.

But most important, as we can see from this book, is to be as open-minded and entertaining as she clearly is. When asked for the secret of a healthy old age, she advises people to sit up straight, to lift their feet when walking and not shuffle, and to make lunch their last meal of the day.

After reading "Lady in Waiting", also written by Lady Glenconner, I didn't know what else she could have added to top it but I was actually surprised by what I read: it was a more thorough approach to facts she lightly touched on her first book, and I get why she did it. Find out about the history of space flight and the different astronauts who have landed on the moon. She says that the role of Lady in Waiting is now almost extinct – Princess Anne still has one but the younger Royals and the King and Queen Consort have “a more professional team”. That was only the first of his outrages – he expected her to carry his luggage through airports – but soon he was swept up in the excitement of creating his own island paradise, Mustique, and she saw less of him.If the author came out with another book I will definitely read it and I will definitely recommend it to others. The people I was talking to all seemed to be the size of postage stamps, and I could hardly see them. Bracing honesty, rare insight, and more revelations: the New York Times bestselling author of Lady in Waiting shares everything she's learned from her extraordinary and unexpected life. Some letters are forwarded to me by my publisher, but quite often they come addressed to ‘Lady Glenconner, The Farmhouse, Norfolk.