There is something cheering about a world in which we can argue about fish knives. Anne Glenconner, once lady in waiting to Princess Margaret, raised the issue this week at the Cheltenham Literary Festival where she was promoting her book on picnics. She recalled having lunch with Camilla and her sister Annabel Elliot and when the waiter presented them with a choice of normal or fish knives, the three of them began in unison: “Phone for the fish knives, Norman”, the opening line of John Betjeman’s satirical poem, How To Get on in Society. Poor waiter.
The point, you see, is that no one in Royal circles would use fish knives, any more than they would commit any of the other crimes against etiquette mentioned in the poem – calling the sitting room, the lounge; napkins, serviettes; and the loo or lavatory the toilet. At Buckingham Palace, Camilla will never be affronted by the sight of a fish knife, because all its cutlery is pre-Victorian (when the item was first invented for the increasingly affluent middle class). It is, accordingly, a middle class item of cutlery, so not grand. It is however perfectly useful, just as pastry forks (also taboo) are perfectly useful. I’d rather use a fish knife for eating fish than two forks, which people do who have Georgian silver, though at home I find a normal knife serves the purpose very well.
