She was the châtelaine of three of the most beautiful stately homes in Britain, Boughton, near Kettering in Northamptonshire, Bowhill near Selkirk and Drumlanrig, Dumfriesshire, in the Scottish Borders; they were also among the best organised for tourists.

Great songs, respected politicians...this must be 1951

Dakota Fanning will play Princess Margaret in an upcoming film.

A Chelsea girl (and more) offer intimate memories

To Private Eye he was "GLE" – Greatest Living Englishman – and after their row he was sneered at as "Humpty-Dumpster". To a subordinate on his column he was "Caligula". One of his wives named a python after him – and that was before the divorce.

Colin Tennant, the third Baron Glenconner, had a permanent place in the gossip columns for most of the second half of the 20th century, largely because of his intimate friendship with Princess Margaret; but also because of his Faustian compact with fame – or, perhaps, notoriety. Throughout the 1980s in particular it seemed as though Nigel Dempster had a hot line to Glenconner's bedside phone. Given to extravagant gestures – for his 60th birthday party in 1986, the likes of Jerry Hall, Raquel Welch and Princess Margaret flew to Mustique at his expense for a Peacock Ball – he was seldom out of the limelight. And yet for all these fitful wonders he was an essentially honest and charming man in whose company one was often reduced to helpless laughter.

Divorced from reality

Heathrow Airport's Terminal 2 closed yesterday in a £1bn plan to replace the building.

Stephen Byers is one of a small group of prominent Blairite "ultras" who have been a thorn in the side of Gordon Brown since he became Prime Minister.

Rowan Atkinson is set to bring crowds flocking to Oliver! again. And though the show's history has its tragedies, the potent mix of fun and misery is perfect for our times, says Michael Coveney

Arc could be on agenda after a superb performance which landed trainer Aidan O'Brien his 14th Group One success of the season

A snappy portrait of a royal scoundrel

A new mother was unlawfully killed when an epidural drug was mistakenly fed into her arm via an intravenous drip, an inquest jury found today.

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