What your Christmas card says about you (and it’s not usually very nice)

When a person does something to remind you of their superior status, I often wonder whether he or she is fully in control of what they’re doing. Name-droppers, for instance, often seem to be acting compulsively, as if they’re suffering from a mild personality disorder. Once the impulse to drop the name has been triggered — usually by some circuitous route that only makes sense to the name-dropper — these people can’t stop themselves. The name pops out in spite of the fact that they know it’s gauche. (That’s my excuse, anyway.)

The same is true of Christmas cards. Normally, members of the British aristocracy are fairly reserved when it comes to advertising their privileged status. Indeed, a reluctance to draw attention to your advantages is supposed to be a hallmark of good breeding. However, no such reticence applies when it comes to Christmas cards. A typical missive will feature a patchwork of photographs of the children, each engaging in a high-status pursuit.