Barbara Amiel

SKARAH VINE: When one thinks about Charles Spencer, the heir to the Althorp estate (pronounced 'Altrop', according to the late Queen Elizabeth II, uncle to the late Queen Elizabeth II, uncle to the late Princess Diana, and of course, brother to the late Princess Diana, one assumes a life of unbridled luxury. In some respects, that is true. Spencer hasn't asked for anything after all. His family's fortune and titles date back to Tudor times. I sat next to him at a dinner party in the early 2000s hosted by Lord and Lady Black, aka author and journalist Barbara Amiel, in honor of one Boris Johnson (you may have recognized him) back in the days when he wrote for The Telegraph. The evening remains in my mind not only because of the opulent elegance of the room (no one knew how to throw a party like Lady Black), but also because of a rather disturbing lifesize cardboard cut-out of BoJo himself in his pomp. Charles was lively, a little naughty, and he was naughty. He had the swagger of old Etonian (as well as David Cameron and other Prime Ministers), a mixture of unshakeable confidence and disarming charm.

Barbara Amiel writes, I've received love letters from admirers and husbands, but I'll start by saying that Conrad Black, my current husband, has the most valuable, including Barbara. He was jetting around the world when we met together, more than 30 years ago now. Conrad would email me a blazingly personal letter, sometimes faxed to reach me faster if he travelled. He sent a fax to me right after we married in London in 1992 (throwing Margaret Thatcher's wedding reception), while he was on a trip to Florida. My darling wife.' What an amazing pleasure it gives me to learn and write that you are my wife. . . I adore everything about you, from the start of your life to every millimetre of your flawless body, as well as when you are irritable and definitely when you are sad. You are the pinnacle of my hopes if you are fulfilled with me; never worry about this bunk; the culmination of my hopes.' . . We are never alone, never disconnected from each other's thoughts in the most crucial respect of all. I'm dying to see and hold you. . '''

JAN MOIR: I didn't bother asking Dame Arlene Phillips (right) about her sex life, whether sizzling or not. I can't believe it, I thought. I can't do it any more. I've had to question Dame Joan Collins (left), Dame Prue Leith, Britt Ekland, Barbara Amiel, Erica Jong, and God knows how many other women are concerned with their late-life sex lives. And I have only had to do this because the women themselves, in one way or another, have brought the issue of these sex lives out there, prompting discussion and inquiry.