Fame, at last.

My already legendary Barnacles piece makes it to the Browser. Hurrah.

This is how they list it:

Scenes from the diplomatic life, worthy of Lawrence Durrell. Embassies, like ships, have their barnacles: The local bores, gatecrashers, frauds and eccentrics "who attach themselves to the Corps and intend to stay firmly attached"     

Praise indeed. Lawrence Durrell (author of the Alexandria Quartet) was a distant predecessor of mine as Information Officer at the Embassy in Belgrade, where he based his sublime short stories of diplomatic life. If you don’t have them, buy now:

UPDATE Another sighting – by a former Ambassadorial colleague:

I’ve just read your bit about this woman. I’m sure it’s the same person who, dressed in an outfit of Barbara Cartland pink, latched on to me at the V and A a couple of years ago. Having accosted me on some pretext she asked me what I did …"Wonderful", she said, "I’m interested in world peace too".

She took me to the members’ room where she invited me to buy her a coffee; gave me her impressive card; drew out of me that I’d been an ambassador (she was friends, she said, with the former British Ambassador in Rome); asked if I’d ever met the Queen (a good friend of hers) and presented me with her pamphlet, which had been well-received by all sorts of important people. I remember the sense of mounting panic as I managed to extract myself.