From Tina Brown
Q. I have been dogged all my career as ‘the Queen of Buzz’, which makes people assume I love being in the centre of the social scene. Nothing is further from the truth. Though I will always be an action junkie, I am also a bookworm and a misanthrope, and I live by the maxim of Jomo (the ‘joy of missing out’). How do I find new ways to turn down friends’ kind invitations to go out to dinner without sounding ungrateful, or as if I have turned into the female version of Joe Biden?
A. Lunch is much less physically and mentally draining than dinner, so why not reveal that all the transatlantic travel has played havoc with your body clock? You find your brain now fires on all cylinders between the hours of 6 p.m. and 3 a.m. This means that you can meet for lunch but not dinner, as you work most productively throughout the night.
From Nicholas Coleridge
Q. I have recently joined a boarding school near Windsor and find myself receiving a torrent of letters and emails from friends of friends, hinting that they hope I can help them secure a place for their sons or grandsons. There is a rigorous admissions system here, run with integrity, and it is awkward when the prospective boy hasn’t caught the selector’s eye. How should I reply to parents who have set their hearts on this school?
A. Confide to the petitioners that although you have literally no power over the selection procedure, it could make a difference if the child himself would send you a handwritten letter outlining his potential, as this could possibly swing it.
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