27 OCTOBER 1990, Page 21

Blown

THE Sage of Hinton Blewitt, William Rees-Mogg, has an opposite number at the Palace. The Queen's treasurer and keeper of her privy purse is Sir Shane Blewitt. A former officer in the Irish Guards who carried his rank into civilian life, he was knighted last year — evidently at the instance of the Treasury. The Chancellor would not wish it said that the Queen was taking her financial advice from a man called Major Blewitt.