That is just so bloody typical of Charles. He’s always been jealous of my brother, always trying to outdo him, engage in one-upmanship, steal the limelight. Typical. So when we were kids and out in the car with mum and dad, Rich waved at someone through the window of our Ford Consul. Charles heard about that and has been waving out of car windows ever since! There was always a fierce rivalry between the two of them. Even though we lived in… Conway Palace in Ilford and he lived in Buckingham Palace. And Windsor Castle. Balmoral. Sandringham. Richard built the first stereo amplifier I ever heard, in 1967, and we listened to Sargeant Peppers (the first album produced in ‘stereo’) through headphones. Charles got the Beatles to come to the Palace and play for him. And now this! He can’t let Richard even be really, horribly sick and on life support without trying to get one over on him.

Sorry. What I meant was: I wish the King a full and speedy recovery.

They bumped my brother’s surgery yesterday. They had an ‘emergency’. A kidney transplant to do. I mean; really? Just put the kidney in the fridge and do it tomorrow. Not like you want to eat it. But they chose to do that ahead of my poor brother, who remains sedated, breathing through a tube and with a gaping hole in his tum. Ok, I get that someone has probably been waiting for 3 years for a ‘suitable organ’ to arrive and when it does, there’s a ‘time window’ which is probably very short, in which to insert said organ into the recipient. But still…

As I write this he has in fact gone into surgery. Which is a good thing.

Whereas I had the misfortune to be ‘stuck’ on my morning tube journey talking to someone I ‘know’. Terrible thing. But worst of all… he’s a Manchester City fan!!! Its like traveling with Hannibal Lector. Who spent half the journey telling me how ‘innocent of all charges’ his football team are, more importantly, how ‘they can’t prove anything beyond reasonable doubt’, and how ethically sound it actually is having an Abu Dhabi bunging suitcases full of cash into the club accounts every year. That’s not the start to a day anyone wants. But I didn’t punch him, so the anger management must be working.

Happy Tuesday; keep prayin’

A xxxx