Letters: Briefly

Henry Porter suggests we should accept Prince Charles's mistress as his live-in partner ("The calamitous road to Highgrove", 15 June). On the contrary, Prince Charles should follow his Uncle Edward's action and resign from his present position in order to marry "the woman he loves". That way he would give us all a break and could even get a proper job, to support her.

P Cotton, Berkhamsted, Herts

Monkey as a slang term for money is much older than any possible connection with an ape at Dudley Zoo in the 1960s ("Doctor on the house", Travel and Money, 15 June). The Oxford English Dictionary suggests it's Victorian. Pony is even older, with an OED citation from 1792. How these words came to mean what they do will probably forever remain obscure.

Michael Quinion, Bristol

Since it is now clearly safe to "out" the Chatterers, (15 June) may I propose a simple way to identify this genus in print by the simple addition of the letters CCM to their names, standing for for Chattering Classmate. Tony Parsons might merit the superior HCCM for Honest Chattering Classmate.

John Collier

Benenden, Kent