Sunday 1 August 2010

Signing 1 - Jeffrey Archer

So it’s one down and 99 to go. The first of the "500 iconic Britons" as voted for by you, yes you the public (well maybe not you yourself) on my Facebook page, has now put ink to polyethylene terephthalate meaning that they have signed my Union Jack flag. Once it has 100 messages written on it, it will then be sent to US President Barack Obama courtesy of Louis Susman as a reminder of the ‘Special Relationship’ that exists or perhaps until a few months ago, used to exist between our two countries.




Louis Susman, although sounding like a friend of my fathers, is actually the US Ambassador to the UK, or so I have been led to believe, and therefore I am guessing that he lives in that grand central London house adjoined to that huge, verdant garden (commonly known as Regents Park).

Several weeks ago I was informed by Jeffrey Archer’s helpful PA Alison that the author and former MP would be willing to sign my flags (the other one will eventually be auctioned off by Help for Heroes) and so last Tuesday, I made my way to Vauxhall tube station before taking a short mid-morning stroll to Jeffrey’s stunning apartment, narrowly avoiding having my head crushed like a melon under the wheels of a London Duck Tours amphibious vehicle that veered sharply out of an alleyway by the Thames.

On arrival I was directed by the porter up to the penthouse flat where I was met by Alison who ushered me into a gloriously sunlit and cream coloured apartment that had floor to ceiling views along the river and from where one could take in the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, or if you looked hard enough and were that way inclined, the Ferrier Council Estate in Kidbrooke.

Jeffrey entered the room soon thereafter and clearly didn’t remember me from our previous meeting which was at a time when I was engaged on a similar charity-related project – ‘Greeting the 500’.

I’m quite convinced that he didn’t remember me because on asking him “Jeffrey do you remember that we previously met when I was engaged on a similar charity-related project – Greeting the 500?” he replied “No.”

Well anyway I gave him a brief background as to this frolic that I am currently engaged in and it seems as though he has quite staunch views on the subject because after I had mentioned words like ‘Obama’ and ‘Special Relationship’, he mentioned a few choice words of his own which I shan’t repeat here.

So then, as the muted video above displays, we arranged the flag on his elegant white-wooden dining table…ash perhaps…possibly beech, taking care to place a copy of a newspaper under the flag, since my magic marker pen has been the cause of many a staining accident in the past and Jeffrey then signed it with a message to Barack.

Jeffrey’s message was just two words (and not those two words). In my opinion his message was apt, concise and humorous and I’m not going to tell you what they were right now, you’ll just have to by my book if it ever comes out - or else magnify the photograph at the bottom of this post.

I was recently furnished with the home address of Jamie Oliver by my girlfriend’s sister’s husband who once did a bit of handywork for Jamie and his wife, I think he rustled them up a salad or something, so I am now off to prepare one of my standard begging letters for this ‘iconic’ celebrity chef. I will of course keep you, my ever faithful reader (singular) in the loop.

Ok Jacqui :)

PS Here's Jeffrey with the flag taken at a jaunty angle