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- Write to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email charles.legge@dailymail.co.uk
Q: The opening credits of Keeping Up Appearances feature a Daily Mail book. What is it?
Hyacinth Bucket’s bookshelf was armed with a series of manuals for the all-important business of social climbing.
Titles included: How To Become Absurdly Well-Informed About The Famous And Infamous by E. O. Parrott, Modern Etiquette by Moyra Bremner, and The Daily Mail Book Of Household Hints And Tips by Barty Phillips.
Barty Phillips (b.1933) is the doyenne of British house care. She has written countless articles and published books such as How To Clean Absolutely Everything and The Country House Book.
Pictured: Hyacinth Bucket played by Patricia Routledge
Keeping up Appearances (Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket and Clive Swift as Richard Bucket)
The Book Of Household Hints contains information on how to do just about anything: cut and dry flowers, clean windows, unblock sinks, entertain children (while minimising mess), train cats and dogs, and even save lives.
Alison Smart, Warwick.
QUESTION What was Queen Elizabeth II‘s favourite perfume?
We know Queen Elizabeth II wore Guerlain L’Heure Bleue on her wedding day and beyond. This was in tribute to her mother Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon who favoured it. L’Heure Bleue (‘blue hour’ in French) was reportedly inspired by the gentle blue-hued twilight of Belle Epoque Paris. Conceived by Jacques Guerlain in 1912, it features notes of carnation, violet and vanilla.
Queen Elizabeth II arriving at the Canadian Museum of Nature on June 30, 2010
According to Jan Moran, in her book Vintage Perfume: Classic Fragrances From The 19th And 20th Centuries, the Queen also wore Fleurissimo by Creed.
This high-end scent was created for the wedding of Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956 and is a fresh floral perfume with notes of iris and tuberose, refreshed by bergamot and violet leaves.
Zoe Evans, London SW10.
QUESTION What stunts were pulled by the director Alfred Hitchcock?
Further to the earlier answer, another famous victim was the actor Sir Gerald du Maurier (father of Daphne).
The shower scene from the film Psycho, featuring Marion Crane played by Janet Leigh
Pictured: Alfred Hitchcock
In 1932, after the first act of Behold, We Live, at the St James’s Theatre in London, du Maurier found his dressing room occupied by a grocer’s nag. Hitchcock wanted to see how du Maurier reacted and to critique theatre snobbery.
Sir Gerald gave the horse a pat, said ‘Hello, old fellow,’ and sat down at his dressing table.
Peter Whitehead, Ombersley, Worcestershire.
Is there a question to which you want to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question here? Write to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY; or email charles.legge@dailymail.co.uk. A selection is published, but we’re unable to enter into individual correspondence.
