The busiest week in London, I love October. Frieze, Fiac, Paris Fashion week and now TATLER's 300's Birthday. Last night we had dinner with Charles and Sidney Finch who are the owners of Finch's Quarterly. Earlier this year I mentioned that I loved their rag, but no more than I love Tatler. Tatler is an historical work of art. When I mentioned to Italian Casa Vogue's Editor, Carlo Ducci, some years ago, he said to me that it was Britain's greatest magazine. I feel the same. It gives us a comprehensive insight into the way the upper and middle classes have lived their lives for 300 years, and is better than any census. It shows the characters, the intellects, the politicians, the socialites through the ages, with humour and sensitivity. The editors have all been interesting too: Mark Boxer, Tina Brown, Jane Procter, Geordie Greig and now Catherine Ostler. With different ideas, making a marked presence on the coffee table. This magazine is read in hairdresser's, dentist's surgeries, on trains, the Eurostar, and in a rather Beano-like way we love it. Nobody admits its true impact on society, but I run to check who is in and out each month, not with a heaviness, but with a lightness. Come on, don't lie, we love to check and see if there is a good picture of us each month. The articles are equally fascinating and compete with anything in Vanity Fair; in fact they might be more fun. It is truly British, and that is why I love it - and even when I am not part of the scene, it still gives me the feeling I am. With newspapers going broke, and most magazines finding it difficult to find advertising, I congratulate all the past editors for keeping a coffee house gossip rag alive with style and a future.
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