People

The Queen of romantic fiction yesterday celebrated the opening of a new museum in her honour with an outspoken attack on morality…

The Queen of romantic fiction yesterday celebrated the opening of a new museum in her honour with an outspoken attack on morality in modern Britain.

Dame Barbara Cartland (96) said she deplored the "sex, sex, sex" diet served up to the public by some sections of the media. She called for a return to the days of the "English gentleman" and said most people were not concerned with sex, but with love.

Dame Barbara was speaking at the opening of The Collectors World of Eric St John-Foti at Hermitage Hall, Downham Market, Norfolk. The star attraction is "The Pink Room" containing an exhibition devoted to the life and work of Dame Barbara.

Former California governor Jerry Brown is trying to blaze a trail of political downward mobility.

The state's boyish governor between 1975 and 1983, he rejected the gubernatorial mansion to sleep on a mattress on the floor of a cheap apartment. At the age of 60, Brown has hit the campaign trail again in Oakland, running for mayor of the gritty California city often seen as a prime example of urban decline. The experts say he is front-runner for the job.

Teletubbies narrator Toyah Wilcox found her country house swarming with police after her pet rabbit started a security scare.

Bunny Beaton gnawed through a "panic" wire, setting off all the alarms at 4 am in the stately home Toyah shares in Wiltshire with husband Robert Fripp.

  • Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date

  • Sign up for push alerts to get the best breaking news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone

  • Listen to In The News podcast daily for a deep dive on the stories that matter