The Lady Magazine

21 November 2014

Not so long ago, I moved house. And during that move, I found a cardboard box. And in that box, I discovered a rather frayed, well-thumbed photo album, long since written off as lost. My mother had compiled it for my 21st birthday and it contained images – some out of focus, many overexposed (as most were in the 1970s and 1980s) – of so many happy days, so many landmarks. It didn’t matter a jot that the photos were tatty or washed out; the fact that they were there at all restored countless fading memories in gloriously vivid Technicolor. Which is why we are so fortunate this week to be able to share some of Dame Judi Dench’s personal photographs. These rarely seen snapshots of her at work and at play pull back the curtain on a truly remarkable life and enable us to see our favourite screen and stage star as we have never seen her before. Enjoy them on page 14. We also have a stirring portrait of the modest housekeeper who kept Charleston and the Bloomsbury set swinging; Michael Ball on how he ended up working with his long-time heroine; and our resident American-in-Devon Brianne Leary on how she has brought Thanksgiving to her remote corner of the West Country (it wasn’t easy, by the way). And that’s just the amuse-bouche; there’s plenty more, too. Happy reading. Matt Warren, Editor