When the diaries of Sir Henry ‘Chips’ Channon, the former Conservative MP for Southend-on-Sea, first appeared in 1967, they scandalised London society and created a national sensation.
But who exactly was he?
~thread
But who exactly was he?
~thread
Friend and confidant of the titled, rich and famous, Channon loathed Churchill, admired Hitler and thought Wallis Simpson should have been Queen.
His one-liners about his friends and acquaintances, peppered through his diaries, are by turns crushing and amusing
His one-liners about his friends and acquaintances, peppered through his diaries, are by turns crushing and amusing
As many of his subjects were still alive when the 1967 edition was published, only now, 63 years after his death, is the unredacted version of the diaries being published, in three edited volumes
telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fict…
telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fict…
In the first volume (1918-1938), which we have serialised starting tomorrow, Channon provides fascinating insight into two royal marriages – those of George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother), and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor
The gossipy diarist was king of the one-liner. Here's what he wrote about some of the most high-profile people of his day... 👇
🔹George VI
‘[He is] good, he is dull, he is dutiful and good-natured. He is completely uninteresting, undistinguished and a godawful bore!’
🔹George VI
‘[He is] good, he is dull, he is dutiful and good-natured. He is completely uninteresting, undistinguished and a godawful bore!’
🔹Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother)
‘She is fundamentally lazy, very lazy and charming, always gay and pleasant and smiling. She has some intelligence and reads a lot, but she is devoid of all eye, and her houses have always been banal and hideous’
‘She is fundamentally lazy, very lazy and charming, always gay and pleasant and smiling. She has some intelligence and reads a lot, but she is devoid of all eye, and her houses have always been banal and hideous’
🔹Duke of Windsor (‘The ex-king’ in Channon’s diary)
‘I also have always thought that [he] suffers from sexual repression of another nature. His horror of anything even savouring of homosexuality was exaggerated’
‘I also have always thought that [he] suffers from sexual repression of another nature. His horror of anything even savouring of homosexuality was exaggerated’
🔹Duchess of Windsor
‘Wallis is a woman of charm, sense, balance, and great wit. She has dignity and taste; she has always been an excellent influence on the King... She would have been an excellent Queen’
‘Wallis is a woman of charm, sense, balance, and great wit. She has dignity and taste; she has always been an excellent influence on the King... She would have been an excellent Queen’
🔹Sir Winston Churchill
‘Winston as PM would be worse than war.’
‘Mrs Churchill confided to someone that she never knew when she was safe from [him]; he exerts his conjugal rights at odd times and in unexpected places – frequently after a debate’
‘Winston as PM would be worse than war.’
‘Mrs Churchill confided to someone that she never knew when she was safe from [him]; he exerts his conjugal rights at odd times and in unexpected places – frequently after a debate’
Read the full serialisation starting tomorrow inside The Telegraph. More details here 👇
telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fict…
telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fict…
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