In the summary of the life of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum (Profile: will reputation survive, 6 March), it is stated that “he studied at Cambridge.” Well, not quite. In 1966 he studied in Cambridge, at what was the Bell English language school (now the Bell Educational Trust). In the scale of the accusations against him, a triviality, though perhaps a relief for the University of Cambridge that the sheikh can’t claim alumnus status. He could, of course, if he hasn’t already, endow a chair in racehorse studies, with the Duke of Cambridge as patron.
Bruce Ross-Smith
Oxford
• It’s fascinating that Boris Johnson cites the warrior queen Boudicca as one of the “five women who have shaped my life” (Pass notes, 5 March), given that she sought her redress by bringing intense violence against the British government and butchering innocent children, women and men in their thousands in St Albans, Colchester and London.
Andrew Dailey
Mold, Flintshire
• At a funeral in a Welsh village church for a man who had loved trees and music, a fitting end to the service was Joyce Kilmer’s poem Trees sung by Paul Robeson, it was extremely moving (Tree of the week, G2, 9 March).
Helen Evans
Ruthin, Denbighshire
• The composer Michael Tippett started making marmalade when he was 30 (Letters, 9 March). He said eating it helped ease a severe stomach complaint. He lived until he was 93.
Leslie East
Enfield, London
• My wife has just panic-made 30 jars of marmalade.
Julian Roberts
Ilkley, West Yorkshire
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