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The bishop and the princess

Damian Thompson

Saturday, 11th January 2003

Damian Thompson believes that The Rt Revd Richard Chartres has some questions to answer

The Bishop of London, The Rt Revd Richard Chartres, does not much care for journalists, who complain about his majestic manner and general unapproachability. They might be surprised to learn that, as a young priest, he was briefly religious affairs correspondent of the Daily Telegraph - which presumably means that, however much he abominates the press, he can still recognise a good story.

Such as, for example, Tatler's investigation into the way the family of Diana, Princess of Wales set aside her instruction to leave her godchildren a quarter of her possessions and fobbed them off with tacky mementos. The piece doesn't appear until the February issue, but the Sunday Times filleted most of it at the weekend, and Monday's Daily Express gave it the splash ('Diana Shame'). One can imagine Bishop Chartres tut-tutting as he read the articles - but also, perhaps, breathing a prayer of thanks that no one has delved into his own mystifying part in the affair.

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