Just reading what you both wrote about elderly parents "not quite making it". My mum's next door neighbour died three weeks before her hundredth birthday, we thought it was so sad, and I was glad (although not a royalist) that the Queen Mother did make it to her 100th. After my Nanna Jones died in 1969, aged 83, I felt quite angry whenever I saw 100th birthday pictures in the local press, as I felt it would have been quite reasonable to expect her to live another 17 years, especially when I needed her so much. Nobody was ever THAT that interested in me again, once she died. MARGED --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.225 / Virus Database: 107 - Release Date: 22/12/00