This is Francis Plowden’s debut album. I hope you heard Lockdown Blues yesterday. He is a natural successor to Lance Percival whose improvised satirical calypsos were favourites of mine.
Your royal correspondent was on the streets of Madrid today to watch Princess Leonor being sworn in as the heir presumptive to the Spanish throne on her 18th birthday.
Yesterday was only my third visit to the Prado but it was the most rewarding as I didn’t wander around aimlessly but concentrated for an hour on just a handful of pictures in the galleries by the main entrance at the top of a double flight of steps.