3 AUGUST 1996, Page 23

Infinitely refined

Sir: I can confidently assert, as one of the literary executors of Nancy Astor, that nei- ther version of the quip about the tango can be ascribed to her (Leader, 1 June and Letters, 8 June). Her wit, the main feature of which was lightning repartee, was often derisive and perhaps occasionally unkind, but it was never vulgar. She would have regarded either version of the stated quip with horror. Indeed I doubt if the word `semen' had any place in her vocabulary! Edward Ford

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