Royal tours

In 1956, at the age of 10, I fell for Deborah Kerr, who played Anna, the Governess, in the musical The King and I. This was one of my early introductions to the cinema and to that genre.

It was many years later when I discovered that Kerr was miming and not singing. It was, in fact, a substitute’s voice: Marni Nixon. Not that it was hidden it was just that I hadn’t noticed. Shattering news, it knocked me sideways.

I can, therefore, sympathise with those fuming Amy Winehouse fans who have been robbed of her voice in the new biopic Back to Black.

Having said that, Amy had a stunning singing voice, and Kerr never did. Audrey Hepburn also had a voice from the subs bench when playing Eliza in the 1964 movie, My Fair Lady. Guess who? It was Nixon again.

Now you can visit Balmoral Castle for £100 a pop or Buckingham Palace which is not far off the same amount.

Are these grand palaces not funded by you and I? Surely we shouldn’t have to pay for something that we, the tax payer, funds.

More fool anyone that decides to pay for this tour.

Yorkshire Water offers tips on how to use less water while it continues to lose 283m litres of water a day through leaks.

Yorkshire Water states that it has invested £4.7bn into its infrastructure in the past ten years but fails to mention that it has paid out a similar amount to shareholders over the same period.

If that money had been used instead to improve the sewers etc, our rivers and coastal resorts wouldn't be full of raw sewage!

It was many years later when I discovered that Kerr was miming