26 AUGUST 1955, Page 7

ON TUESDAY the Daily Sketch gave a vivid account of

a birth- day party at Balmoral for Princess Margaret: 'Flashing torches of guests and servants lit up the gardens between the doors of the Castle and the marquee where the barbecue was held,' readers were told : they were even given a vivid descrip- tion of the Duke of Edinburgh selecting an Aberdeen Angus for slaughter. The following day the paper admitted that the story was pure invention; there had been no ball, no barbecue, no celebrations. The Sketch's reaction, believe it or .not, was to complain that 'reporters trying to report events at Balmoral almost needed periscopes to see what was going on.' What the Sketch's 'reporters really need is, quite a different implement, applied to what Dr. Johnson once referred to as the other end.