Lust for glory
Sir: Max Hastings's admirable review of Philip Ziegler's Mountbatten (Books, 16 March) in which he refers to Lord Louis's natural vanity and unbridled ambition, reminded me of the occasion in 1965, when I was commissioned by Illustrated London News to depict Churchill's beflagged coffin lying in state in Westminster Hall. The editor had obtained this exclusive coverage and the permit for me to draw the impress- ive candle-lit spectacle through the good graces of Lord Louis — with the proviso that the original be Mountbatten's after publication. Shortly after I got in and commenced drawing, Lord Louis strode in to stand with the other guards of honour in full ceremonial uniform. I hadn't bar- gained for this and it temporarily threw my concentration. But he greeted me with a beguiling nod, requesting in a stage whis- per that I be sure to get him in the foreground!
Paul Hogarth RA
The Studio, 61 Auden Place, London NW1
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