" And of course it gives the people something to
look forward to," said somebody, speaking without much originality of the Royal Wedding. This moved someone else to ask, as a matter of interest, what other things the British had to look forward to ? Annual fixtures, like Christmas and the Grand National, didn't count, nor did remote and unforeseeable benefits, like the coming of the Mil- lennium or a reduction in income tax ; the treats had to be in store, and not too far away. Not without controversy, the following list was produced:
The return of Itma The Olympic Games Mr. Evelyn Waugh's novel about Hollywood Sir Laurence Olivier's film of Hamlet The next General Election Getting seats for Oklahoma.
Rejects included " The end of petrol rationing " (too remote), " Seeing who succeeds Stalin " (too unkind), " Household troops reverting to full dress uniform" (too uncertain) and various imponderabilia
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