RICHARD MADELEY AGONY UNCLE

The author and broadcaster answers your questions. Write to DearRichard@telegraph.co.uk

the bar too high from the off. Opera is an acquired taste. Your own love for it was sown in childhood, wasn’t it? But your boyfriend doesn’t have that advantage – you’re expecting him to “get it” straight away, and that’s a big ask.

I suspect his daft rant about class betrayal was just his way of trying to justify and excuse his incomprehension. He probably felt embarrassed that he simply couldn’t understand or appreciate something – especially something that gives you such pleasure.

So, baby steps. Swallow your pride and take him to some popcorn musicals. Get him used to stories told through song. I’d start with The Phantom of the Opera. Then maybe Les Misérables. If that goes well – and I don’t see why it shouldn’t, they’re both fabulous shows with excellent scores – get him to some Gilbert and Sullivan (very much the working man’s operetta back in the day, so that should shut him up on that score). Then try full-blown opera again – but go for popular ones, the shortest you can find.

Brevity and accessibility is all.

I’m reminded of the woman overheard during the interval of some interminable work, wearily asking the barman: “How long is the second half?”

“About an hour and threequarters.”

“I think I’ll go home and watch the King of Denmark’s funeral on television.”

Dear Richard

I am an affluent retiree with a happy marriage and two grown-up kids. My wife is still working, and loves her job. I am in good health. I engage with my local community, and live in a beautiful house with a wonderful garden in a part of the country that I love. I couldn’t ask for more.

The trouble is, as I move into the next chapter of my life I want to embrace the future not the past. I don’t watch television and I have no smartphone, but I read a great deal. I have tried voluntary work, but I like to take time away travelling and this makes me unreliable. How can I avoid ending up as a contented, but fossilised, OAP? JONATHAN, GLOUCS

Dear Jonathan

You say you enjoy reading – so try writing! A memoir, novel, local history… it could be anything, really. The research will keep you busy, especially if you eschew the internet and do it in person on location, or in libraries.

And you can write anywhere, so it won’t stop you travelling. I completed most of my last novel in France.

Good luck! On the face of it, your son seems content to live the life of a parasite. You strive in your letter to keep a neutral tone, but I sense underlying disappointment and even suppressed anger.

His “own” money from renting out his house is, of course, basically laundered from the sale of the property you bought for him and his sister, so essentially it’s a recycled handout. Even if he did chip in with the bills (which he should) you’d be getting bits of your own money back. He’s never worked, so financially it’s a closed circle.

On the plus side, he didn’t squander his good fortune, did he? He didn’t fritter it away on dead-end pursuits, madcap schemes, drugs, drink or gambling. He sensibly reinvested it in bricks and mortar, so as well as a reliable rental income he has a capital nest egg which can only grow over time. In fact you could argue he’s been quite canny, including moving back in with his parents to avoid those bills the rest of us have to pay. I suppose the Master of Business Administration degree came in useful for