2, STRATHEARN PLACE, LONDON W2 2NQ

0171-723 2220

13 December 1995

Dearest Jims,

I can't tell you how thrilled I am with my wonderful
little Roman bust, which I'm keeping by my computer as I
write. Exquisite thing to have. So sweet of you to think
of sending it to me - & to have gone to all the trouble of
wrapping it up & posting it when you're still in the grip
of 'flu.

I'm finishing off Wallis book during next two weeks -
am not in the least proud of it but publishers (Ariane)
seem to be happy. Have just been reading my first book on
the subject which now strikes me as unreadably prolix &
hagiographical: thank heavens all the copies in existence
will be disintegrating soon owing to acid in the paper.

I'll be thinking of you on Friday & praying you'll be
all right. Shall ring you during week-end. Please don't
go to Venice if you're not feeling the thing.

0171-723 2220

4 March 1996

Dearest Jims,

It was sweet of you to ask me down for the week-end &
I did enjoy myself enormously despite the murky weather.
It was quite like old times. I must say, I think you are
coping amazingly well with all your problems &
difficulties, & I hope I didn't madden you too much by
thoughtlessly jabbering away while you were trying to
concentrate on driving & other operations. I'm so glad
you're staying on in that lovely house surrounded by yr
memories & familiar things & that you have such a treasure
you attend to your domestic wants. & I did like Desmond
Briggs, a very energetic & knowledgeable & witty & life-
enhancing character I thought: do hope to see him again.

I enclose (1) photocopy of picture of Wallis & Edward
with mystery woman whom you may be able to identify (if not
Molly Buccleuch, other possibilities are Eileen Sutherland,
Eva Rosebery, May Marlborough, Princess Marina & Edwina
Mountbatten); & (2) the correspondence with Simon Brett
which may amuse you.

Simon Brett
WOOD ENGRAVER

prints illustration bookplates

12 Blowhorn Street, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 1BT

0672 512905

27 December 1995

Dear Mr. Parris,

Thank you for your letter of December 12th about Lord Esher. The changes you
suggest would certainly be fairer in a future edition of your book, but they do not address the
substance of your charge against my great-grandfather, nor do they answer the point of my
letter.

You wrote that Lewis Harcourt "was an enthusiastic practising paedophile" and then,
after a couple of sentences introducing Esher, "Reggie shared his friend's sexual tastes but
preferred boys to girls". This does not mean that Esher liked the company of boys or that he
wove romantic and sentimental fantasies about them, both of which he undoubtedly did, but
that he went the further step into child abuse. The language of Esher's letters to his son and
grandson, my father, was very caressing and could indeed give rise to wrong interpretation in
our more literal age; but I am sure that Michael Bloch, an experienced historian, is not making
such a mistake and is well used to the adjustments of sensibility required.

The principal request in my previous letter was to be given chapter and verse on your
allegation of child abuse.

In your letter, you say that Mr. Bloch is very confident of what he wrote. I wonder
therefore why he is prepared to alter it because "given the available evidence, it would be
fairer" (your words) to do so. That would suggest to me that, on the evidence, he is _not_
wholly confident of what he wrote.

Would the simplest thing be for you to give me Michael Bloch's address so I might write
to him directly? You may assure him I'm not going accuse him of being cavalier with the truth if
I cannot agree with the grounds of his confidence, or steal the research which may be the
source of it. It's a purely private matter. If he has evidence which contradicts both our general
received impression and the specific documents in our possession, we would, with all due
respect, like to know it.

I look forward to hearing from you.

yours sincerely,

Simon Brett

WOOD ENGRAVER

0672 512905

12 January 1996

Dear Mr. Parris,

Thank you for your letter of January 9th and for passing my letter on to Michael Bloch, from whom I have had a very kind reply which fully answers my question. I expect you have been sent a copy but I attach one in case.

You ask me a question in return which I am happy to answer at once. I know little about Harcourt's relationships apart from what is in the Lees-Milne book, though it seems less likely that you are jumping to conclusions about him in the way I believe you are over Esher. Lees-Milne shows Harcourt interfering or attempting to interfere with young Maurice Brett while he was at Eton; we know he interfered with Dorothy Brett (though not to the point of seduction) in a way she found unpleasant enough for her relations with men to be severely (not totally) affected for life. So yes, there is published evidence that Harcourt interfered with boys as well as with young women and girls. The evidence is concrete, not inferential.

The difference between Harcourt and Esher, as I've said before, is indicated in the way Esher reacted with shock to being bracketed with his friend in this regard, a bracketing you repeat without including his response. Esher wrote letters to my father (his grandson) which were at times as lavish in their expression of affection as those written to Maurice (his son) in earlier years. My father, knowing the tendency of a later age to misinterpretation, left explicit testimony with the letters that he experienced no kind of homosexual behaviour from his grandfather; and the overall tenor of the letters makes this perfectly obvious.

In the light of Michael Bloch's reply, I think I can ask you, in any future edition of your book, to omit the two sentences *Reggie shared his friend's sexual tastes... Eton schoolfriends*. You could rewrite the next sentence accurately as *Reggie would have known of his friend's sexual tastes but was deeply angered when Loulou attempted to interfere with his second son Maurice as well as interfering with Reggie's daughter Dorothy (the 'Brett' of D.H.Lawrence) damaging her relations with men for life*. I am sure this is juicy enough for a book of scandals without setting untruths into the historical record. It would be appropriate to insert a footnote: *This entry has been altered from the first edition in respect of Lord Esher*.

Thank you for the offer of the chance to respond in a subsequent edition, but I feel this would draw too much attention to the matter. I am trying to avoid this for the sake of the older members of my family. My chief concern is that future writers should not pick up and write into history something that is seriously misleading - as already occured in John Mortimer's Spectator review. I should be content if you act on the suggestions set out above, togeteher with a brief note of apology, which I suggest you include in the Acknowledgements.

Simon Brett
WOOD ENGRAVER

0672 512905

20 January 1996

Dear Mr. Bloch,

Thank you for your kind and good-humoured letter.

You have caused no embarrassment. I think Matthew Parris's allegations would hurt my aunts, who knew Lord Esher well, but I do not think they have seen the book or need to. Had you in fact any new and independent evidence which contradicted both what Lees-Milne records and what family anecdotes lead us to believe, I would have greeted it with a little sadness and only mild interest on Esher's behalf, but I would have been upset for my father's sake: he worshipped his grandfather and it would be painful to think he had been deceived or wrong in his judgements. He was well aware of possible interpretations and was anxious to preserve his grandfather's memory and to safeguard it from wrong conclusions.

In the present climate, to which you refer, Mr. Parris's allegations seemed somehow fashionable or opportunistic.

The horsewhip stays in the cupboard. Remembering Lionel Jeffreys' wonderful performance as Lord Queensberry, I think it is a weapon of last resort, isn't it, when you think the suspicions are true and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it?!

Yours sincerely,

0171-723 2220

6 March 1996

Dearest Jims,

I was infinitely touched by yr sweet letter which came
this morn. I really did enjoy my two nights under yr roof:
it was fun being with you in yr habitat & & seeing the
principality again. You were very tolerant of me, the
world's most inconsiderate guest. It's extraordinary the
way you cope with everything & continue as a literary &
social animal, rural & metropolitan.

Don't worry about me. I've always been a daydreamer
& fantasist, but try to control these tendencies & harness
them for literary purposes. Even my interest in low life
is really fantasy: I'm not really one to take Jamesey-
style risks. I'm much happier at forty than thirty &
despite my reclusive habits life is intermittently exciting
does proceed according to a routine of sorts.

I spent this morning at the Daily Mail discussing my
agreement with them. Unfortunately they have decided that
their serial of my bloody book in mid-May will be their top
publicity stunt for the coming season & they are demanding
the right to put me in a cage & exhibit me to the world.
This afternoon I had tea with Ruth Montefiore at the Parrot
Club, odd establishment in Basil Street enabling the female
membership to put up their feet after shopping in
Knightsbridge. She's wonderful but very mischievous &
still at me to demolish her brother & others in an Eminent
Victorians style satirical work.

Thanks for confirming Molly Buccleuch. I hope you'll
let me give you lunch at Savile or elsewhere when you're
here some time & though I know you're not much interested
in meeting new people these days, I'd love you to meet
Stephen Carrol, my great romantic friend (married & hetero)
of the last two years with whom I'm going to Venice next
month & who is a fan of your works.

0171-723 2220

25 March 1996

Dearest Jims,

Herewith copies of snapshots I took at Bad in case of
any interest. I'm afraid none of the human beings have
come out too flatteringly.

Despite weather, I had a nice week at Reigate, with
good company in form of David Cairns (Sunday Times music
critic who has spent 25 years so far writing Berlioz's
biography & is nowhere near finished), a pop singer & a
thriller writer. I reacquainted self with Jeremy notes &
also tried to learn Italian verbs: I've made some progress
since I first opened the book in your drawing room 3 weeks
ago & asked you how to pronounce 'gli'.

The day I got back a large man greeted me in the
street & turned out to be Hugh Massingberd. He seemed his
characteristic self & looked all right to me, though
stammering very badly. Said he had had to leave Lincs to
be near London doctors, & give up all work, & now lived in
Hyde Park Square. I'm not sure whether to ask him to tea
or leave him in seclusion: perhaps when you're next in
town you'll come here before catching your train & I can
lure him in for a cuppa.

I'm off to Venice for a week on 10 April, & my book
comes out on 14 May: I'm madly looking forward to former
& no longer dreading the latter.

Hoping you're all right,

Re: Review you sent are Excellent!
Can see where you have to worry about.

0171-723 2220

8 October 1996

Dearest Jims,

I got back last night & it was lovely to get your two
letters this morning. Orsay sounds great fun with the two
sisters.

My Mum is making excellent progress & has discharged
herself from hospital, & my father seems less crazy, so one
hopes all will be well. I did feel horribly useless, not
driving a car or being able to get through to them much,
though they did seem glad of my presence in a sort of way.

The Thorpe book is awful & I'm rather glad to have
something else to take my mind off it. It's true in a way
but a nasty & twisted piece of work - on a par with the TV
programme suggesting you conspired to pervert the National
Trust to shore up a decadent aristocracy! People say it
will be useful for me as it will 'create interest' - but
it's more likely to fill readers with such disgust that
they will never want to read anything about it again. I
suppose it is just possible that it will encourage the Ts
take me into their confidence more.

It's naughty (though characteristic) of Simon to write
to you as he did. He does sound desperate. You are most
generous to think of sending him £200 & I don't think your
motives could possibly be misinterpreted. You should be
stern however in your injunctions to silence, otherwise he
might talk about it *pour encourager les autres*.

Jims, I'm thrilled that Murray want James Knox to
write your biography - & can't believe you aren't too. A
biog is bound to be done sooner or later & far better that
it be undertaken now when the author can get to know the
subject & you can enjoy & to some extent influence it. No
one could be more suitable & sensitive than James, &
working with him (as & when you feel like it, as he is
bound to understand) will surely bring pleasure & interest
into your life.

Regarding your postscript, your literary executor
would be grateful to be guided by Nick in any publication
matters. But if you're to give your blessing to a
biography, it would be understandable if you wanted to make
new arrangements for a lit. exec.

0171-723 2220

20 October 1996

Dearest Jims,

Nice to speak to you on the blower & hear you sounding quite chirpy. I understand your feelings of dread about a biography but it sounds as if Murray feel there ought to be one of you sooner or later and James Knox would be so very suitable.

I'm still frightfully chuffed after hearing from Jeremy that he greatly liked my chapter on his career at Oxford - which was by no means hagiographical. It's nice of you to say you will have a look at it when you have so many other things to attend to & I enclose copy herewith.

I'm longing to get out of London to the hideaway in Reigate & hope the writing will flow there: I can't really get down to things in the big city at the moment. I'll be there until Friday 8 November but plan to return now & again for the odd night & may ring you up.

All the best,

0171-723 2220

20 November 1996

Dearest Jims,

It was lovely to spend a night with you & I'm full of
admiration at the way you keep going & the fortitude with
which you are facing current ordeal. It's sweet of you to
give me that ravishing statuette which I'm thrilled to
have: I hope you'll come & see it soon in its new habitat.
& the Brooke picture too: I remember you going off to get
it a few years ago. & it was too generous of you to give
me that delicious dinner after that adventurous drive.

I'm slightly sad though that you have turned so
completely against the things which used to bring you
pleasure & friendship & laughter, & that you dread the
biography you so richly deserve. But it's bound to happen
anyway, & I'm glad you think J. Knox would be a suitable
person to do it, & that you ought to participate in it, so
to speak, while you have the chance. If I'm still your
lit. exec., I should be tempted (in the absence of contrary
instructions from you) to give him every encouragement &
facility.

Off to Paris on Friday: I'm not much excited by the
prospect of going there any more but enjoy seeing my old
friends. On my return, I'll see if I can find a smaller
magnifying sheet for you. & meanwhile I'll be thinking of
you.

0171-723 2220

27 November 1996

Dearest Jims,

Herewith pictures taken in your Book Room. Not very good, I'm afraid: I need to get my camera cleaned.

I had an odd feeling of sadness in Paris as I often do these days, it being rather like going back to a house in which one spent one's formative years. I did however get to see most of my old friends, including Stuart, with whom I lunched on Monday at our favourite bistrôt, the Petit St-Benoît at St-Germain-des-Près. He was full of entertaining gossip & drank a bottle & a half of Côtes du Rhone - for which I greatly admire him as my own capacity to absorb alcohol seems almost to have packed up in my mid-forties. He was very chuffed at having seen you & Diana & Selina at Brooks's, & come across your library (including Spender's naughty gift) at Heywood Hill. He told me he had seen Simon Blow in Paris quite recently, who was robbed by some boy he picked up at a night club: poor S, the gods do not seem to be favouring him at the moment.

I got back here to read in the papers that France is in a state of total chaos with striking lorry drivers, choked roads & blockaded ports: but when I was there I wasn't aware of this at all.

I meant to retire into purdah for several weeks to have a good crack at Jeremy - but am getting invited to all sorts of amusing things & haven't the will power to refuse. Do come & have a cup of tea here when you're next in town & see Narcissus in his new habitat.

0171-723 2220

29 December 1996

Dearest Jims,

I do hope you had a nice stay at Chatsworth & were not
too troubled by your 'secret sorrow'. I meant to hibernate
here & have a quiet & industrious Xmas, but ended up
accepting quite a few invitations to parties & meals. My
only achievement has been to read all of A. N. Wilson's
Proustian (or Powellian) quintet of novels *The Lampitt
Papers*, the first of which was brilliant & the others
rather disappointing - he's very opinionated, & tends to go
off into long theological disquisitions which rather bore
me, though his characters & plots are amusing.

I've decided to go (for first time) to California for
two weeks on 8 January: several friends are going to be in
San Francisco & while I'm out there I thought I might also
go to Los Angeles (Sodom & Gomorrah) as well as San Diego
where the young Duchess of Windsor lived with her first
husband the sadistic naval officer. (I've written to the
Victorian hotel where she used to hang out there - angling
for special terms!) It's rather crazy to go all that way
for so short a time when I have a book to write, but I
somehow feel I want to get far away for a bit & reorient
myself.

Since writing the above two paras I've spoken to you
& told my news, but shall send this anyway. Do let's speak
again before I go. Have you had the proofs of your new
diaries yet?

0171-723 2220

5 February 1997

Dearest Jims,

Herewith the second vol of the A. N. Wilson, should
you be interested. Rather inferior to the first in my view
but nevertheless far better than most of today's rubbish.
My own current reading is your *Tudor Renaissance*, obtained
for me by Heywood Hill (where I have slightly lost my heart
to the handsome Indian), which I am finding frighteningly
erudite. I do love the slightly cross tone in which you
write which the late Sir J. Betjeman found so endearing.

At last I'm writing away at Jeremy, though wondering
what ever possessed me to choose him as a subject in the
first place. After four years, I'm still mystified as to
what he was up to most of the time & what made him tick.

You must be exhausted after your two ops & taking all
those pills & your priapism I pray you are currently having
a respite from your various problems. I can't wait to see
you on the telly talking about the aristocracy.

0171-723 2220

21 February 1997

Dearest Jims,

It's frightfully good of you to read this & let me have your views & suggestions. As I mentioned, it was so difficult to do that I've done this crude draft in note form & bunged in more-or-less everything, though a lot of the stuff will obviously have to be taken out or expressed in a more discreet form. You must have known quite well at one time two of the people I've mentioned, David Carritt & Tony Armstrong-Jones: the former is long dead & I'm not too concerned about sparing the latter after rather disobliging things he said about me which Lady C. Blackwood repeats in her book!

I'm concerned to hear about your 'secret sorrow': are there no drugs to control the twinges & deaden the pain?

0171-723 2220

31 March 1997

Dearest Jims,

Thanks so much for letting me see these cards,
fascinatingly informative & a splendid preparation for the
Loulou Diaries which I see in Oxford on Friday. What a
curious mixture he was - unnaturally close to his father,
spoilt by luxury, pathetically anxious to please his
friends, full of intrigue & manipulation in a classically
queer way & like Regy better suited to 'behind the scenes'
than the glare of office.

I've had quite a pleasant Easter week-end, London
being fairly deserted for a change & weather splendid. I
have seen several old friends & dine at Rules tonight with
Andrew Best. Jeremy grinds slowly along but the pace will
quicken I hope when I get to Reigate next week. Do let's
speak before then.

No need for you to consume notes as
you kindly offered: the cards say it all.

0171-723 2220

2 August 1997

Dearest Jims,

This is to wish you much love on your birthday & thank
you for so many wonderful things over the past 18 years.
I'm sending some Belgian chocolates (as you mentioned you
had a sweet tooth these days) & hope they arrive in an
unmelted state.

I've been reading & re-reading *Ancient as the Hills*
with utmost delight. They are your best diaries so far -
a stylistic masterpiece & a witty & poignant testament of
one who feels civilisation crumbling around him. It's bad
luck that it should have come out at this moment of inane
egalitarianism which has infected even literary editors &
reviewers but you mustn't be put off by that.

Jeremy is at last pouring out: I deliver half of him
to the publisher on Monday the 11th & then go off to my
country retreat for two weeks. I long to catch sight of
you on one of your rare trips to London (infernal with
tourists at the moment) some time after I get back.

0171-723 2220

1 September 1997

Dearest Jims,

I was desperately sorry to hear about your recent
ordeal & hope it will set you up for many months.

Here is the copy of *The Week* I told you of, featuring
your diaries on the inside back pages. True fame at last!
Do let me know if you like The W. - a delightfully witty &
politically incorrect journal in my view - & I'll give you
a subscription.

What do you think of the tragic news? I joined the
grieving crowds outside Kensington Palace yesterday & got
the feeling that mine were the only dry eyes. I'm highly
relieved in a way, as it really does seem that she was
about to marry the son of my worst enemy & there's no
telling what mischief would have arisen from that. But she
is now being turned into an Evita-like saint & I fear the
worship of her will mean bad news for 'the Family'.

I saw Philip Mansel yesterday (who also takes a
jaundiced view of the late young woman). He's becoming
wierder than ever & I fear that even after four years he
has not got over his friend's death. But he spoke
rapturously about your diaries & wondered if we might motor
down to Badminton some day to spend an hour with you
(combining this with a visit to Oxford where we both have
friends to see). Would this be possible - perhaps some
time this month before or after Chatsworth? Do say frankly
what you think: I long to see you however briefly.

0171-723 2220

18 September 1997

Dearest Jims,

It was an utter delight to see you yesterday & you
were in sparkling form, full of wit & energy & altogether
amazing. Philip & I both enjoyed ourselves enormously &
couldn't stop talking about you for the rest of the day &
telling everyone we met how incredible you were! As you
will have observed, he has gone a little wierd since his
friend died; but he is so clever & civilised & nice. We
both had such a good day & are wondering whether you will
let us invade you again in a couple of months. We adored
our lunch: do congratulate Ian from us on his cuisine. We
went on to have tea with John Cambridge, a nice queer ex-
ambassador friend of ours who lives near Burford, & then
had supper in Oxford with P's friend Mrs Xan Smiley & her
sister in Oxford, a very amusing & attractive pair who are
the daughters of Lord Acton.

Thanks so much for my birthday present - one of the
few acquisitions I really wanted to make to my library
when I'm ultra-cautious about adding to it owing to space
crisis. I found Nigel delightful on the two or three
occasions when I met him with you & he writes brilliantly.

The Cotswolds looked glorious in the sunshine & we
rather regretted not having asked to see your garden. As
a landowner who is always anxious to see how others do
things, Philip insisted on driving round the entire estate,
& we ended up getting stuck behind a tractor on some rough
track, though the natives were most helpful in getting us
out of our difficulties.

Bless you, Jim, & do keep well.

0171-723 2220

26 November 1997

Dearest Jims,

I've just spoken to Frieda B. who passed on your sweet message & said you were much better when she left you on Sun than when she had first seen you on Fri. I was so relieved & grateful to hear that. It must have been awful for you suffering so much discomfort & those exhausting treatments & I pray you'll now have a good spell.

I spent a very interesting week-end in Paris & saw
several of our mutual friends. The Sarge was in heaven
having just spent a week in the company of Didier. He was
however most concerned about you, & spoke emotionally of
his first meeting with you in 1938, through HN, & showed me
a vol. of Donne you inscribed for him at the time. I also
saw Charlotte & Alexander who treated me as an old friend
& not someone who has seen them perhaps half a dozen times
in the last ten years: C told me something about your
ordeal but said she had had a nice letter from you which
had reassured her about your state.

I'm desperately in love at the moment with a godlike
individual, a mature philosophy student who used to row for
Great Britain. He's a great disciplinarian & says I am
getting on far too slowly with my book & he wants to see
results! This as you can imagine is galvanising me in the
most extraordinary way. I'm meeting him tonight & can't
think of anything else. Meanwhile I saw Jeremy a week ago
& had the first really frank & interesting talk we have had
in the four & a half years I've known him: Mrs T arrived
half way through but I just ignored her & carried on! I
somehow feel I've broken through, though I didn't really
learn much that was new.

Well, J, that is my news. I know you're incommunicado
at the moment but hope you'll be more like your old self
soon. God bless you.