ALEXANDRA SHULMAN’S NOTEBOOK: Has Harry forgotten all that Charles did for him?

When Prince Harry spoke last week about the need for parents to ‘level up’ the behavior of the previous generation, it felt like he was pointing at King Charles. But I wonder if he was truly aware of how much his father did for him while he was growing up.

After my mother’s death last month, my brother, sister and I were going through the things in her house. Digging through 90-odd years of life is a demoralizing experience, but it also made my siblings and I re-evaluate our mother and father as parents.

We remembered forgotten details and also discovered how involved they were in our childhood, when we thought they were busy with their own busy working lives.

There are newly discovered photos of our dad rolling around in the grass and playing catch with us on the weekends. And there are countless letters they wrote to various schools; They either apply for places or insist to a tired school principal not to give up on us and give us another chance.

There’s a list my mother wrote for a new nanny describing my daily routine, including detailed food preferences, and a mind-boggling letter I wrote to a party planner for my second birthday: ‘I want you to provide food, china, cake, drinks, chairs, flowers. [!] and crackers for a party of twenty-five.’

We always knew they loved us, but this harrowing experience of our childhood home being evacuated also showed us how much they had our back and always supported us behind the scenes. It sheds light on the kind of parents we don’t always appreciate we have.

Some tragedies cannot be prevented

No one should have to go through what their parents, Rachelle and Matthew Brettler, went through, as described in Patrick Radden Keefe’s wonderful new book, London Falling.

In 2019 their 19-year-old son Zac was seen jumping from a riverside apartment block and was found dead in the River Thames. From where?

Starting life as a bright middle-class kid, Zac becomes obsessed with money and impersonates the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch. He deceives many criminal characters from the ugly side of central London, just beneath the dazzling surface of the capital.

Following his death, his parents attempt to discover the circumstances behind their son’s downfall. Rachelle, in particular, repeatedly describes how things might have turned out differently if they had not made certain decisions. What if they sent him to another school? What could they have done that they didn’t?

Ultimately, the Brettlers may have to admit that as parents we can do all the right things (as they do), but there is no guarantee that our children won’t run afoul of something in the world beyond our control.

Zac Brettler fell from a riverside block of flats in 2019 and was found dead in the River Thames.

The scanner staff who left me were terrified

I had a scan at Hammersmith Hospital in London the other day to check for a small cyst on my back and found the experience unnecessarily frightening.

I have nothing but praise for most of my NHS treatments, but the bedside manner of many healthcare professionals in both the public and private arenas is appalling. Patients present with a high level of anxiety and rarely attempt to calm it. I know they can’t say something terrible can’t be found, but they can try not to make the situation more alarming than it already is.

As I lay on the ultrasound table, hearing the familiar clicks and clicks of the probe—the noise that had once diagnosed my breast cancer—my anxiety about what the silent radiographer might find intensified.

When he asked another doctor to take a look, I immediately remembered the similar moment when I was found to have colon cancer.

‘Oh no’ I thought, I was horrified. ‘Not again.’ I asked what he could see, but he didn’t answer. All I needed was for him to explain that they often get a second opinion. Many checks can be made more bearable with a touch of empathy and communication at the beginning.

A doctor holds an ultrasound probe on the abdomen of a person lying horizontally

Chinos… just what the doctor ordered

By the way, all the young consultants these days seem to be wearing slim-fit chinos and brown lace-up shoes. Why might this happen? This is something I think about every time I enter the waiting room.

John Lewis needs to get back to basics

Musical chairs from John Lewis, which has hired Jacqui Markham, formerly of Whistles and Topshop, as its new fashion creative director. The previous woman at work, Queralt Ferrer, always looked great, dressing in a trendy, minimalist style. Unfortunately, her understated elegance was never fully translated into John Lewis collections.

John Lewis is often encouraged to produce very flashy and fashionable clothes due to its in-house fashion. What the store’s devotees want are excellent, updated classics; Not the stuff to scream about in April 2026.

The first address for the simple but expensive-looking slim-fit navy blue jacket with gold buttons should be John Lewis; for a black cashmere sweater with a collar that fits snugly to your collarbone; For off-white jeans without flashy stitching on the ugly back pockets.

I suspect most would pay a little more if they felt they were getting more investment.

That’s what M&S ​​sometimes does well, and what Uniqlo delivers with Clare Waight Keller’s extremely affordable utilitarian designs.

But John Lewis often seems to miss the boat.

Jacqui Markham (pictured) has been hired as John Lewis’ new fashion creative director

Beat the lines on a boozy cruise

Smart travelers are planning ways to bypass long queues at EU airports thanks to a new fingerprint login system. Now I’d hop on a car ferry, finish up in Calais before the summer rush, spend the day buying wine and cheese, and then head home. The job is done.