I was pleased to see one of the hats I made in 1993 for Dame Maggie Smith in Nicholas Hytner’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest appearing in the image at the top of Michael Coveney’s obituary (27 September). The fittings for that show were done at a location in Old Church Street, Chelsea, about which she was initially a little dubious, until the costume maker, Jane Law, told her the name of the last person she’d fitted there, Lauren Bacall. That precedent seemed to satisfy Dame Maggie, who went on to give a wonderful performance.
Mark Wheeler
London
• I think the BBC may have overreacted in cancelling this interview because Boris Johnson was sent Laura Kuenssberg’s briefing notes (Report, 3 October). After all, he won’t have read them, will he?
Stephen Chicken
Duns, Scottish Borders
• So the Vatican Bank has sacked a couple for flouting a ban on marriage between employees (Report, 2 October). Would the pope have preferred that they live in sin?
Pete Lavender
Woodthorpe, Nottinghamshire
• I take great joy from reading the Birthdays column and seeing the brief description “Former Conservative MP” against a growing number of names.
Rod Price
Mollington, Oxfordshire
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