Half a century together

Last night Mary and I were invited to the 50th Wedding Anniversary party for Leslie and Evie Bricusse. Leslie of course is famous as the lyricist and composer of musicals such as Scrooge, Doctor Doolittle, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Goodbye, Mr Chips. Evie was a successful young actress when they first met.

The celebration dinner was held at The Belvedere with about 100 guests enjoying a truly memorable evening. I was fortunate to be placed on Evie's table, with Joan Collins on my right and Louise Fennell on my left. Joan was on top form, telling me she's in the middle of writing a book called The St Tropez Lonely Hearts Club, before rushing back to New York to do another film. Louise is in the middle of a film script, but wouldn't divulge what it was about. Our hosts' health was toasted by Roger Moore - witty and warm (regularly interrupted with off-stage remarks from Dickie Attenborough, who claimed to have known Evie since she was 7 years old). The response was made by Michael Caine - witty and irreverent. Leslie then spoke, announcing that after 50 years of happy marriage, he was signing the rights to all his major musicals over to his wife. He paused before adding, "Expect divorce proceedings to be announced in the near future." Evie replied, making the best speech of the evening, which rightly deserved its standing ovation.

Not many people manage 50 years together nowadays in such a fast changing world, and I could only wonder how many of these events my children's generation will attend.