ON THIS DAY
March 15, 2017
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE MARCH 15, 1967
WOMEN in trousers are still officially banned from the Savoy, but it seems everything depends on who is wearing them. When Lady Whitmore sailed into the hotel wearing a trouser suit, no one said a word. Lady Whitmore is the Swedish wife of racing driver Sir John Whitmore, and a model.
No such luck two days later when TV show host Cathy McGowan (pictured) phoned for a table for her and Cilla Black. A polite voice reminded her: ‘No trouser suits here, Miss McGowan.’
Sir John thinks his wife got in because she is Lady Whitmore. This, he says, is ‘damned oldfashioned, stuck up and pompous’.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
MIKE LOVE, 76. A founding member of American rock band The Beach Boys, he has meditated twice a day every day for more than 50 years, after learning the technique from the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who achieved fame as guru to The Beatles.
LYNDA La PLANTE, 74. The Liverpool-born screenwriter and novelist (pictured) began as an actress at Rada, alongside Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt. The creator of TV series Prime Suspect says she is unhappy about her face ‘caving inwards’ with age, but adds: ‘The trouble is, I don’t just want a little bit of Botox, I’d like the full Monty — bags away from under the eyes, skin peel, great big white teeth, which would all take about 18 months, and who has the time to take 18 months out?’
BORN ON THIS DAY
SIR CHARLES WHEELER (1923-2008). The Panorama and Newsnight presenter worked alongside Bond author Ian Fleming collecting intelligence ahead of the Allied invasion of Europe. After the war he joined the BBC, going on to become its longestserving foreign correspondent.
known for being outspoken, Wheeler was once overheard saying of the Queen, after a gruelling day covering a royal tour, ‘I wish that bloody woman would go home.’
WILLIAM LAMB, Lord Melbourne (17791848). The Whig MP first became famous due to the scandal of his wife Lady Caroline’s very public affair with the poet Lord Byron. He later became prime minister and one of Queen Victoria’s closest advisers.
ON MARCH 15 . . .
IN 44BC, Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated — on the Ides of March — by a group of his own senators.
IN 1964, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton married for the first time. It was her fifth wedding and his second.
WORD WIZARDRY
NEW WORD OF THE DAY Normcore: Fashion trend for bland clothes. GUESS THE DEFINITION Accidie (coined from French c1230) A) To spend one’s money before it has been earned B) Spiritual torpor, world weariness C) A chance or opportunity Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED By the skin of one’s teeth — refers typically to a narrow escape from disaster and comes from the Book of Job, in which Job is subjected to horrible trials by Satan, only finally to be relieved by God.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
THEY say Rome wasn’t built in a day — but I wasn’t on that particular job. Brian Clough, football manager (1935-2004)
JOKE OF THE DAY
A FAMILY of tomatoes were walking down the street. The baby tomato was falling behind so the papa tomato squished him and said, ‘ketchup! Guess The Definition answer: B