29 JULY 1989, Page 25

Vive la reine

I HOPE, even more than usual, that the Royal Family is keeping well — because the family undertakers, J. H. Kenyon, have been taken over, and, more shocking still, have fallen into the hands of the French. Are we to risk entrusting our most cherished state occasions, with all that they may mean for the tourist trade, to some Gitane-smoking foreigner from the Pompes Funebres? My loyal advice would be to wrap up well and inquire at the Co-op — our biggest undertakers, and as British as cold ham. Co-op funerals always used to pay a divi, and the Palace should insist on this heartening evidence that you can take it with you.