Was Lady Barbara A Boor?

As the Black empire suffers under the weight of a shareholder revolt, as well as media and judicial scrutiny, the Black's must now endure the revelations of their social foibles.

Lady Barbara Black is using the pages of the Spectator to battle back against an article, in that same newspaper, that called into question her social mores as hostess of a dinner party. An article by journalist Eleanor Mills of the Spectator, tells the tale of Lady Black, dismissing Ms. Mills from a party, after deciding the lady wasn't needed there anymore. Kind of a here's your hat, what's your hurry, bum's rush out the servant's door.

The two have been trading insulting letters back and forth in the paper since the first article appeared, which painted the Black's as a couple who let power and money go to their heads. Excerpts of the point - counter point letters, can be found in a story in the Globe and Mail.

What must be particularly galling to Lord and Lady Black, is that the Spectator is one of their publications. You could be sure this kind of mutiny would never have happened, if the Lord were still on the Bridge!

Speaking of the Lord, it's interesting to note is that His Lordship Conrad of Blackharbour himself, also urged Ms. Mills to "skeedaddle", Skeedaddle? Is that any way for a pontifical, palaverous, pleonastic author, not to mention oratorically, magniloquent, redundant member of the House of Lords to speak. One would expect a long, laborious, discourse on the best possible way, for one to exit the dinner party without being noticed. Skeedaddle just doesn't sound like Lord Black. But then perhaps he was starting his personal cutbacks at that time, desperate times require desperate measures, perhaps his vocabulary was merely the first victim.