Up the chimney

Fewer children send handwritten letters to Father Christmas, we report, preferring to tap their demands for presents into an email. This is a bad idea, for broadband speeds at the North Pole are known to be almost as bad as those in the Home Counties. More importantly, it is part of our way of doing things (a British value, perhaps) that personal missives – love letters, thanks, condolences – are written by hand. The keyboard is less directly connected to the heart. Here, Prince George gave a good example. Though only four, he spelt his name correctly, ensuring delivery by reindeer to the right prince, and wrote the hopedfor present clearly: “police car”. Careless lettering could have landed him with a “polite cat”, at best an early lesson in being pleased with less than he’d always wanted. Good handwriting pays off.