The White House has apparently submitted an itinerary for Trump's visit that includes a carriage procession down the Mall, to announce Trump’s arrival - it is reported that he 'insists' on it  (good luck with that)   And not just any old carriage, but the fancy gold State carriage that takes the Queen to the opening of Parliament.    ha ha ha I'm falling about laughing, and I am sure  99% of  the rest of the population will be as well.

Chinese President Xi Jinping took a closed carriage ride during a trip to the palace in 2015, so did Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mexican President Enrique Peña.   Barack Obama opted for an armoured car during his visit in 2011.   Very sensible.   I don't understand why Trump thinks he is fireproof.

The Times noted that the security required by the Chinese president will be dwarfed by the operation necessitated for Mr. Trump.  

Changing the subject - the headline in today's paper reveals Prince Harry's mental torment over his mother's death, and Prince William is saying "Let's Lose our Stiff Upper Lips" and that he and Kate are going to ensure that their children grow up feeling able to talk about their emotions.   Well done, I say.

Many years ago when my children were small - 5 and 18 months - their father, whose balance of mind was disturbed at the time, killed himself by jumping in front of my moving car (the children thankfully, were not in the car at the time).    Over the years, whenever I have told anyone about it, they have expressed shock and disbelief that I did not receive any counselling for what nowadays would be called 'post traumatic stress'.  I no longer drive but when I did a sudden movement on the sidewalk would  unnerve me, and an animal darting in front of me always freaked me out, and those effects never left me so I am all in favour of losing our stiff upper lips.

You might have heard we are about to have a General Election, which is going to mean weeks of Party Political Broadcasts.   yawn, yawn.