24 JUNE 1989, Page 26

The Duchess of Hohenberg

Sir: Having been, believe it or not, com- plimented on my review of Antony Lamb- ton's polemical blast at the Battenbergs (Books, 10 June), I was vain enough to re-read it and there to my horror found that by a slip of the pen or memory or both I had called the Archduke Franz Ferdi- nand's wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg, Hohenstein.

My apologies to the readers, who should know that the other howlers were all the work of The Spectator staff.

Alastair Forbes

120 Addison Gardens, London W14