The where were you meme

Handed over from Norm

Princess Diana's death - 31st August 1997

Woke up in the middle of the night, couldn't get back to sleep so I turned on the radio and listened to a Prom for about forty minutes, then during the interval they announced that Princess Diana had been injured in a car crash in Paris but had walked from the scene with only cuts to her legs [Conspiracy theory alert!]. About fifteen minutes later they interrupted to say she had died. Went downstairs and turned on the tv. Saw the first flowers being laid at the gates of Kensington Palace by two gay men. Looked along the darkened street and thought, am I the only person in the world who knows this?

Margaret Thatcher's Resignation - 22nd November 1990

In a queue at the greengrocer's where it was announced on the radio. People stayed silent, but broke into smiles.

Attack on the Twin Towers - 11 September 2001

At home. My sister rang me from Washington and told me a plane had hit the World Trade Centre and I should go and turn on the tv. Did, and saw the second plane go in. An American friend in London rang me hysterically crying after the Pentagon attack - her ex-boyfriend worked there and she had no way of finding out if he was ok. At the point at which the US closed its borders and declared itse;f in a state of war, I knew that the world had decisively changed. Looking at the sky, thinking, London is next.

England's World Cup Semi-Final against Germany - 4 July 1990

What?

President Kennedy's Assassination - 22 November 1963

Watching children's television. They interrupted the programme to announce it, and sensing this might be something important, went and told my mother.

Autumn and cashmere

It's Autumn, it's time to get back into your cashmere. I just ordered this from Pure. They have 10 per cent off everything if you click on the banner at the top of the page. And I get 8 per cent of your purchase, and that means I can buy more clothes and write about them. They ship internationally.

We've had this discussion before, I think Pure makes very good (if not the absolute tops) cashmere in a huge range of styles at a good price. I no longer buy cashmere anywhere else. What I like best are the colours, because they dye the yarn, not the garment.

Harry, your daughter is going back to a student flat soon in a cold rainy, city. . .

Where did you get that hat, where did you get that hat?

Vivienne Westwood wants to design an ethical alternative:

Peta campaigners had spoken to people watching the guards at Buckingham Palace about the use of the skins of Canadian black bears to make their hats.

"Most people think it's fake fur and when they find out it's real and it takes one bear to make a hat, they are appalled."

A spokeswoman for the MoD said: "The MoD is not opposed to the use of synthetic materials as an alternative to bearskins, provided such materials meet the requirement for a high quality product that performs adequately in all weather conditions. Regrettably, a suitable alternative continues to prove elusive."