Can I ask a silly question? How frequent does Prince Andrew go to the ballet:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Prince Andrew Named Ballet Patron</B><P>LONDON (AP) - Britain's Prince Andrew succeeded the late Princess Diana on Tuesday as the patron of the English National Ballet.<P>Even after her death in 1997 in a Paris car crash, the company had continued to regard Diana as its figurehead.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010605/en/prince_andrew_1.html" TARGET=_blank><B>More</B></A>

<P>Prince Andrew with the ENB Board Chair Angela Rippon (in pink) and Fernanda Oliveira<P><BR>Here is another story about Prince Andrew's appointment. I first came across his name in a dance connection with the fund raising activities for the redevelopment for The Place. He came to The Place Gala in the Linbury Theatre which raised £50,000 for the project.<P><BR><A HREF="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/arts/newsid_1371000/1371234.stm" TARGET=_blank><B>BBC article</B></A><p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited June 07, 2001).]

Azlan - I am not sure how often HRH, Prince Andrew goes to the ballet but when he came to the Linbury as Stuart describes above, he may have overheard me asking the very same question. I was chatting to my friend at the beginning saying, oh that I thought Prince Andrew would be there, then the National Anthem and me declaring loudly afterwards, oh I can't see him anywhere. Then I commented that I didn't know he was a dance fan etc etc. He was sitting directly behind me and handed me my coat at the end. I'm sure we will bumping into him much more now.

An odd choice, if you ask me, but a Royal connection is always nice.<P>And Prince Andrew is about to leave, or has already left, the Navy, so he needs to find things to occupy him.

Ho, ho, Emma. You will learn like me to keep it down at events and performances. However, I do still sometimes tend to put other people in awkward situations though. Last night for example, I introduced a critic to a performer by saying, "She reviewed you"... and then only to remember that it was a not so positive review.