Hay Festival Diary – 03rd June

11:30am
SSP is penitent. Trying to drink Boddingtons’ after several pints of cider and a very expensive glass of rosé (aka ‘Blush’) is, we discovered last night, a terrible idea. And right now, we are supposed to be sat in a David Starkey talk. Our "better half" stays in bed, while SSP runs to see the TV historian in all his glory

11.35am
"Someone’s in a rush," says the ticket attendant at the door; it’s slightly embarrassing to realise that David’s not in the building yet. Running is not the done thing in Hay. Everyone meanders
11.40pm
Starkey is not a comedian but he is, we promise, a real hoot. Certainly the audience at the ‘Barclays Wealth Pavilion’ think so. Talking about Anne Boleyn, Starkey makes the point that women were, in fact, powerful "before Germaine Greer". We all laugh. "It’s not as though there’s a BG and an AG – Before Germaine and After Germaine." SSP laughs along, but realises we are not sixty, or Tory, so should know better. Otherwise, David makes all the right digs at Brown, Cameron, and Prince Charles. A consummate professional
1pm
Martin Amis talks. Not as funny as David. To be fair, he is talking about the Gulags. This will probably be one of the few times Amis features in SSP, unless he leaves Stalin behind and does the whole Rachel Papers thing again
2.30pm
We give up on Hay and starts the 6-hour journey home. There has, perhaps, been a distinct lack of comedians this weekend, but the humour has really been in the details. Thank you, Hay!

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