Long, long ago, when we were all unencumbered, at a family gathering for lunch in a restaurant probably selected by David as he was the go-to fixer for venues, so long ago in fact that we had to get the children's menu for Cate, we were engaged in the usual serendipitous conversations that characterise such occasions.

The topic of qualifications came up and David revealed that he had got a Third at Oxford; I turned to him and said in a Lady Bracknell delivery that would have made Edith Evans envious, "A Third! A Third! I assumed you had a First." and David's reply, which caused me to laugh out loud at the time and which has still made me smile as I have recounted the story around the world in the intervening period, and which I think sums up both his personality and attitude to life -

"James, I'll have you know I worked very hard for that Third"