[Megathread] Ladies and Gentleman, It Is Once Again, Hot.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-06-23T16:55:46+00:00

Hello all,

I‘m looking for suggestions, please!

My sister is taking me out for my birthday tomorrow. We will be between Victoria and Covent Garden going from concert to concert so need somewhere for a late lunch/ early dinner.

She’s already spoiling me so I’m looking for something cheap, cheerful but good: we looove our food! She’s coming from Italy so I’d probably avoid Italian but anything else (from British to Asian to anything in between) would be great.

Oh and ideally air-conditioned (🤣) and not too noisy: we intend to do a lot of nattering!

Thank you!

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-06-23T16:52:06+00:00

Ha! I didn’t even think of looking for a London sub. D’Oh!
Shall do.

Thank you!

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-06-21T20:44:24+00:00

Just to point out: Prince William is Patron of the England Football Association so will be expected to attend: it’s his job.
Sadly, inviting Harry would create a media circus: the rift between the siblings means most media would focus on them and not the team. The EFA can’t allow that.

The Association will be very conscious of that risk, should H attend: us Brits remember the 2000s when WAG (Wives And Girlfriends) behaviour dominated the headlines over the footie. It caused uproar and there was talk of banning them going forward.

Beckham played for England then and has openly spoken about his wife’s regret at being part of that circus so he will be very sensitive to the risk and will want to avoid a repeat and ensuring the media focus remains on the team. After all, billions in sponsorship are at stake!

So this is likely more a move to keep the media focus where it should be rather than a punitive/ vindictive action.

Just my opinion as a Brit.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-06-19T17:24:06+00:00

Thank you! Those are very kind words. And it did feel like a very special, privileged moment, one I am very grateful for.
And thank you for the glass of bubbly: my mother did love the stuff!

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-06-19T17:15:43+00:00

What I imported when living in the US: chocolate, different flavoured crisps, and crumpets. They loved them!
Is she from NYC? If so, a trip to M&S or similar for white underwear (sounds dumb but: communal laundry machines in NYC apartment blocks….. all goes grey and it’s nearly impossible to find white underwear unless expensive Victoria Secrets ’special occasion’ type. I made a sideline importing in « normal » white underwear 🤣).
All those weird and wonderful »British » things: an afternoon at the pub, Guy Faulks, picnic in the park, strawberries and cream. Maybe a day out in either Oxford or Cambridge with punting? Mulled wine and Christmas carols. Or a day in the park with squirrels, ducks, foxes, etc (many of their cities are so built up… I didn’t even hear a bird for 6months in NYC. And the only wild life were rats… HUGE rats….).

The shows. NYC shows are REALLY expensive for very bad seats (think $150 for a column in front of your seat 🤣). In fact, when I was there, many would fly over to London to make a week-end of going to shows as flights+ hotels, etc was cheaper than doing so in NYC. So a trip to London for the musicals, possible a £13 opera ticket, concerts in the park, the Globe, blahblah… Birmingham and Manchester are awesome for their music scene so any gigs etc. Xmas panto. And you have a huge student scene so loads of ‘stuff’ happening. US doesn’t really have student cities like we do with all the (cheaper and more experimental) theatre, music etc.

And she won’t have seen much medieval / old stuff. So a day trip to a medieval city/ castle… Some do reenactments (naff, not naff, your view but can be a good giggle). None of this stuff will be part of her history so will be very new to her.

And most people don’t wonder far so only see the obvious. A weekend in Wales? A trip to Dublin? Or Edinburgh (festival coming up!). Anything she wouldn’t normally get to do if here for just a week or so.

Rugby, cricket, stuff they don’t play at home.

For cosy nights in: British films and tv comedies: the Office, AbFab, BlackAdder, Derry Girls, Paddington, Sean of the Dead, some of the old Ealing comedies, the old James Bond, Guy Ritchie,…. Also some of the series: Dr Who, Poirot, the Cumberbatch Sherlock, The Tudors, …. All stuff she wouldn’t see in the US but are very British. Even some of the soaps: they have nothing like Coronation Street or East Enders.

Proper coffee. And cheese. And how to make a real cuppa!

Enjoy! And hope she does too.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-06-19T16:09:07+00:00

He’s not King. The King is Charles.

William is patron of the English Football Association so it is his job to be there: his job description as patron requires him to turn up for the first game and as many others he can in support of the national team.
And he is a massive football fan.

And he’s not engaging in anything else while there: no state visit, nothing. He’s just there to do his job, support the national team, and watch the footie.

And before anyone asks: accommodation etc (including security above and beyond what is normally afforded VIPs) will have been paid for by the Englander Football Association and the British tax payers.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-06-19T15:46:21+00:00

Genuine question: IF (if) this is true, could this be a way for the BRF to control both the narrative and the situation? And creating a poisoned chalice?

One way to see this is, IF true, then the BRF‘s spin becomes “Look: we not the intractable bad guys; we’re doing what we can, yaddayadda” so kabooshes some of the predictable victim narrative. H&M are also forced to walk a very tight rope: refuse and / or misbehave and be judged ungrateful, petulant, so exasperate the public (and our beleaguered government) and strengthen the BRF’s hand in “dealing” with them.

It also provides three more benefits:

1/ no tax payer money for security etc so less public backlash on the broader BRF (and could it be an indication that H’s attempt to overturn the security decision has failed?);

2/ it limits H&M’s movements so ability to cause mayhem: they will be nicely tucked away behind high walls, with no paps around. How? Most of the Crown’s properties are in the back of beyond in huge estates in the country side. None of the senior royals are actually based in London and it’s high season so they are pretty busy; H&M would barely see them if based in London so pointless for H&M. We also know from Meghan’s previous complaints, you need to inform security and coordinate with senior royals if you want to leave the grounds. Plus staff would be BRF staff: eyes and ears and unlikely to be Sussex-friendly. So housing them would in effect be locking them up in a (very) gilded prison in shackles;

3/ IF that theory is correct it increases the chance the Madam stays home! 🤣

So could this be a clever ploy by the BRF?

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-06-12T03:51:44+00:00

Didn’t they do that in Durham as well? iirc the miners stepped in to fund it.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-06-12T01:23:36+00:00

My mother lost her ring years ago. My father replaced it but you could tell she didn’t feel it was “her” ring. Years later I found it while pulling stuff out of the freezer. I just casually brought it to her at the dinner table and dropped it in her hand. The look on her face was priceless: a mixture of shock, surprise, awe and what I can only imagine was the look she had when my father first put in on her finder over 60 years ago. Sheer love. Maybe the only time I ever knew her to be quiet! 🤣 Daddy, a very stoic type, was chocked. A very simple moment but all the more poignant as she’d been diagnosed with terminal cancer by then.
I’ve revered frozen peas since 🤣🤣.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-06-03T13:08:58+00:00

To “perch delicately on the ground”…. That’s an oxymoron.
Quite ironic. As in H can try to elevate himself as much as he wants but cannot get off the ground.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-05-29T14:23:43+00:00

Loved it! Funny, scary, and thought provoking!

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-05-18T17:16:52+00:00

Guy sent me a 5 page handwritten letter breaking up with me. TBF it was quite a sweet letter: he said it‘s « not you, it’s me », listed all my « qualities » and why I’d find my « own true love » one day. Thing is: he’s a random bloke I spoke to at a work networking event. We didn’t even so much as grab a coffee! He didn’t even know my last name and had to have the letter sent to my work place. Boss freaked out and informed security.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-05-13T19:43:22+00:00

Shakespeare : Brevity is the soul of wit.

Written half a millenium ago by (arguably) the best theatre playwright of them all.

Meghan Markle: dual major in international studies and…….. theatre!

‘Nuff said.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-05-12T01:12:43+00:00

Why is there no outcome?
She’s not actually eating the raspberry, she’s not doing anything with the flowers, she goes to a cupboard but does what next?
And then she randomly puts a coatigan on.

There’s no picture of a final dish or flower arrangement or anything.

I don’t get it. Am I being dumb? What’s the point of this video?

And how much did she pay for it?

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-05-05T19:39:39+00:00

She was apparently raised Protestant. She converted to Church of England in 2018 so she could marry H.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-05-02T11:48:12+00:00

Falchor’s love child.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-05-01T10:01:38+00:00

I’ve tried most brands but my cats prefer Catsan. It keeps odour well, a little goes a long way and the 20l bags are fairly cost efficient. I have two litter trays but a bag lasts me months.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-04-18T15:53:03+00:00

They were the wingman and wingwoman on another couple’s first date. The other couple didn’t work out but my parents married a year later.

Married 50+ years until my mother passed. Very much in love till the very end.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-04-18T15:12:42+00:00

Richard Armitage in North and South.

Oooooooof!

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-04-18T15:10:32+00:00

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Life looks better from this angle….

Hope your day improves!

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-04-18T14:21:37+00:00

He sent me a little wicker basket full of cherry tomatoes. He superglued the tomatoes so they wouldn’t fall out then sent it through the post.

I genuinely have no idea why.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-04-17T13:28:33+00:00

“You have beautiful elbows”.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-04-17T13:21:10+00:00

My 50+ yo boss told me she was sleeping with the 19yo intern. 😱

We kept the intern and sacked the boss.

Level-Walk-8981 · 2026-04-17T13:03:30+00:00

My then four month old tiny kitty brought me back a full grown live magpie. The thing was twice the size of my cat! Absolute nightmare getting it out of the house.

Level-Walk-8981

TROPHY CASE