How the Royal family delivered a masterclass during Trump’s state visit - Sarah Todd
A saying about how summer should get a speeding ticket to slow it down caught this correspondent’s eye this week. While nobody likes the fresh, bright mornings of autumn more than yours truly, their arrival seems to have come around quicker than ever.
Talking about the weather seems such a poor pastime, but from the scorching sun to the weekend’s torrential rain we have certainly had it all in 2025.
The colossal contrast of our sheep now stood up to their bellies in grass when earlier in the year it looked like they had been turned out in the prairie lands of the USA. So many farm animals requiring feeding from winter supplies which - even if they can be found - will take a king’s ransom to replace. And, of course, not forgetting the fires of the tinder-dry land up on the North Yorkshire moors.
Talking of kings’ ransoms, the much-debated second state visit of US President Donald Trump must have been worth one.
Our Royal family gave a masterclass in good grace, demonstrating in the most foot-perfect way that it’s not beliefs that make you a better person but behaviour.
As a columnist, sometimes it’s impossible not to get drawn into slating someone or something - especially in our current crackers world - but it was a genuine joy to see the hand of friendship extended by King Charles and his family doing a better job than all the politicians put together in tempering Trump.
He seemed genuinely humbled by the hospitality bestowed upon him and, on a visit with some cub scouts, the First Lady was visibly swept sideways by the children holding her hand and the Princess of Wales’s easy, caring manner. Their smiles shone a light that will keep burning long after Air Force One’s touchdown.
As an ageing newshound, it was impossible not to watch with interest the press pack, giving the ideal opportunity to make mention of renowned television presenter John Stapleton who died at the weekend.
He was an old-school reporter, from the days of wearing down shoe leather in pursuit of a story. His career began on his local newspaper, the Oldham Chronicle, and it’s no exaggeration to say that together with his wife - the late Lynn Faulds Wood - he was the face of factual programming for a generation.
The likes of Watchdog, Nationwide and Newsnight (for which he reported from Argentina during the Falklands War) were all masterclasses in integrity. He then, of course, became a regular on what the obituaries are all referring to as the ‘cornflake shows’; such a wonderful way to describe morning television.
Producers of such would do well to reflect on this before they employ yet more has-been politicians or Turkey-toothed former reality television stars. Viewers aren’t idiots, they still respect straight old-fashioned broadcasters who report the facts, forgetting the snide sideways snipes so often demonstrated by whoever’s holding the microphone these days.
Something made me think Stapleton had been a reporter on Esther Rantzen’s infamous consumer affairs programme That’s Life!, which ran from 1973 to 1994, and apparently this is a commonly made mistake.
Thinking of this show brings back memories of the regular segment in which viewers shared their comically misshapen vegetables. Carrots were never far from the forefront of this slot.
In an unashamed plug, next Friday (October 3) will see British Carrot Day and farmers from our county are among a small group of just half a dozen who have dug deep into their own pockets - not naturally easy for Yorkshiremen - to finance this celebration of what must be one of our country’s most taken for granted vegetables.
As any allotment holder will testify, growing them is enough to make even the mildest mannered amongst us swear. They wilt if they get too hot and turn to mush if sat in waterlogged soil (sounds like an everyday weather forecast at the moment). They also, if you please, expect nothing less than being swaddled in straw over the winter months and would rather not be grown in the same field for as long as a decade, preferring fresh, sandy soil.
On the plus side, they pack a punch when it comes to nutrients, with a large carrot containing 61 per cent less sugar than a banana and 54 per cent less calories, along with 58 per cent fewer carbohydrates.
From sharing recipe ideas to simply being more aware about buying British, as the late John Stapleton knew, consumers can make a real difference.
Perhaps President Trump eats them but, following our Royal family’s fabulous example of always being nice, one would never be so rude as to ask…
http://britishcarrots.co.uk