Of apologies for that dazzling snob the late Lord Curzon there is no end.* Last week, however, the Dowager Countess of Minto, whose husband was Curzon's immediate successor as Viceroy of India, released memoirs in which she raked Curzon of Kedleston as only an outraged peeress can without breach of taste.
Like the Royal Family, the Mintos are horsy people. Lady Minto records with quivering indignation that, when Curzon was told of her husband's appointment as Viceroy of India, he observed, "Imagine sending to succeed me a gentleman who only jumps hedges."
To...