The irony of Boris Johnson’s “secret” Catholic wedding (Report, 30 May) is that the bit of canon law known to church lawyers as Tametsi, which requires Catholics (as Johnson once was) to be married before a priest or a deacon, was enacted at the Council of Trent in the late 16th century precisely to prevent clandestine marriages.
Michael J Walsh
London
• You refer to the new Mrs Johnson as our “first lady” (All eyes on Carrie Johnson in first role as UK ‘first lady’ at G7 summit, 1 June). If such a term must be used at all, you might like to remember that the role has been occupied with distinction since 1952.
Geoffrey Lang
London
• More outrageous than the Beatles being kept off the No 1 spot by Engelbert Humperdinck (Letters, 1 June) is that the song which began the whole glam rock phenomenon, Ride a White Swan by T Rex, was kept off the top of the charts by Clive Dunn’s hit Grandad.
David Smith
Accra, Ghana
• David Hockney (Letters, 31 May) misses the point when he states that “only” 8 million died of smoking-related illness in 2019, comparing this statistic to 1.1 billion smokers around the world. He fails to mention the millions who died in 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and so on, who all add up to much more than 8 million.
Julia Wood
Duns, Berwickshire
• I note that the “still smoking” David Hockney pleads for “some clarity here” . Has he tried opening the window?
Aidan Balfe
London
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