I well remember the christening of Baby Beetroot, as her mother, the author of this delightful tome, likes to call her. We, the godparents, had gathered in St George’s Chapel and were ‘talking among ourselves’. On my left was the popular singer and all-round family entertainer Mr Des O’Connor, to my right that veritable doyenne of magicians, Mr Paul Daniels.

As parents, relations and godparents fore-gathered around the font, I made every attempt to ‘soak in’ all that I saw, ready to record the scene for posterity in my celebrated commonplace book. This was, indeed, history in the making, and Wallace Arnold was its dutiful– and greatly privileged – chronicler.

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