I'm not against anybody having gone [to Donald Trump's inauguration], but, for me, it was not the right place to be.
For me, Christmas was always about presents. As a child, we each had an allotted place in the sitting room for the ceremonial unwrapping and mine was perched beside the telly on a Moroccan pouffe. We would watch our mum with bated breath as she divided up the gifts.
I hope it really comes off. It would make my dad really proud." (about the song for the coming 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece)
I think the state opening of Parliament is an incredibly important occasion, and broadly speaking, the way in which it's done is an invaluable tradition.
That which distinguishes this day from all others is that both orators and artillerymen shoot blank cartridges.
The memory of that scene for me is like a frame of film forever frozen at that moment: the red carpet, the green lawn, the white house, the leaden sky. The new president and his first lady.
A holiday is when you celebrate something that's all finished up.
The summit is the mere formality, the ceremonial demonstration of what was agreed to long ago, weeks, months before the summit.
The solemnity of the annual Nobel ceremonies in Stockholm with the cheerful bad taste of the grand opening of a shopping center in Los Angeles.
I will go to the Opening of Anything, including a Toilet Seat
