Paxo Loses It

Paxman has lost his marbles. His new book on the royal family is being serialised in G2. Haven't read the book but on the basis of the first extract the poor man has fallen victim to the dread disease of royal worship. Here he is musing on the effect of Elizabeth Saxe-Coburg Gotha's presence: "...Then, suddenly, the Queen shot a look across at me...I wanted the ground to swallow me, anything to avoid something to say. And then, to my relief the gaze shifted...Why should one individual have this capacity to strike awe?". Beats me Paxo. But Paxo is not the first to be sucked down this plug-hole. In the 1970's Jonathan Dimbleby had a "radical five minutes" when, for example, he presented a programme on Nicaragua, critcising the US's foreign policy. But soon he became infamous for his lengthy sycophantic introductions of his guests on Radio 4's Any Questions. Then he became a royal hagiographer with his book on Prince Charles (Mind you, he comes from a family of sycophants: it's the family business). We saw the same thing after Di died (Of course it was quite sad that a young woman should die in a car crash. But it would have been just as sad if it had been the bar-maid in the Rose and Crown). In the insane frenzy after Di's death apparently rational individuals - e.g. Will Hutton and Clive James - went beserk: this was a turning point in history, Britain would never be the same, she shone a light on everyone she touched, walked on water, etc. (Only a few days earlier the dominant theme in the newspapers was that she was a slapper). Now Paxo - he who fearlessly confronted Michael Howard by asking the same question 14 times - has been infected. So far as I can see the Saxe-Coburg's are a bunch of useless parasites. All this fawning and forelock-tugging is incomprehensible to me. Poor Paxo. Get well soon.