Emma Brockes refers to Britain and “its words and traditions – the 1922 Committee, the Lascelles Principles, turnips, spotted dick – that from a branding perspective, you couldn’t get away with in the US” (Digested week: while Americans lead in everything else, no one can match Britain for farce, 8 July 2022). This mention of the Lascelles Principles might well have amused their author, Sir Alan “Tommy” Lascelles, who was my grandfather.
His connection with the US included an unusual event. He was knighted in June 1939 by George VI (“giggling in a most disarming fashion”) in an impromptu ceremony conducted on a train approaching the city of Buffalo, in New York state. As he wrote: “I think I can fairly claim to be the first man to be dubbed in a train, and also the first Englishman to be so treated by his Sovereign on American soil.”
That the Lascelles Principles were mentioned alongside spotted dick might well have gratified Lascelles immensely. As his grandchildren recall, spotted dick was one of his favourite puddings.
Simon Renton
London
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