• An article (The Queen is dead, long live the King – or are the British monarchy’s days numbered?, 25 September, New Review, p16) included a comment from the author Catherine Mayer in which she mistakenly said Graham Smith of the campaign group Republic was quoted in her book, Charles: The Heart of a King, explaining that to transition from monarchy, “You just cross out ‘queen’ and write in ‘president’”. In fact, her book said this was the argument of “some British republicans”.
• The Scottish islands of Mull and Skye form part of the Inner Hebrides, not the Western Isles, as a travel article suggested. The latter is an alternative name for the Outer Hebrides (Once a year I lose myself in the Western Isles to walk and think – before going back to the life I love, 2 October, Magazine, p44).
• The town of Newmarket is in Suffolk, not Cambridgeshire, as an article said (RSA won’t approve our storm repairs, 2 October, p64).
• The television presenter Jay Blades studied, and was later appointed chancellor, at Buckinghamshire New University, not Buckingham New University as we said in the September issue of Food Monthly (Lunch with Jay Blades, 18 September, p9).
• A book review (The incredible Huxleys, 2 October, New Review, p40) referred to “the mating rituals of great-crested grebes”. A reader felt it might be considered “nitpicking” to point out the errant hyphen, but we are happy to make clear that, impressive though this grebe’s head plume may be, “great” refers to the size of the bird, not to its crest.
Other recently amended articles include:
Amsterdam considers banning ‘cannabis tourists’ from its coffee shops
Only a ride away: 10 of Britain’s best hotels near railway stations
Critics lament cuts to BBC radio drama – seedbed of UK talent
Cordon bleugh? Worms and crickets could soon be tickling French palates
• Write to the Readers’ Editor, the Observer, York Way, London N1 9GU, email observer.readers@observer.co.uk, tel 020 3353 4736
