The Oldie Magazine May 2021 Back Issue

Welcome to the May issue of the Oldie
This month's Oldie is a bumper issue to celebrate our 400th magazine since Richard Ingrams kicked the whole thing off in 1992.

Quentin Blake has drawn a special anniversary cover to celebrate.

Our diary is given over to memories of the first issue. Richard Ingrams said in his first editorial, ‘As far as I was concerned, The Oldie began life as a joke. But, as soon as I announced it, I found that everyone was taking seriously. Offers of help poured in. People rang up, wanting to invest. Before I knew what was happening, I found I was leading a crusade.’
The diary also remembers Prince Philip's letter to us when he was named our Oldie of the Year in 2011: "I much appreciate your invitation to receive an Oldie of the Year award. There is nothing like it for morale to be reminded that the years are passing – ever more quickly – and that bits are beginning to drop off the ancient frame. But it is nice to be remembered at all.

Jilly Cooper appeared in our first issue. In our 400th, she gives us her gorgeous pin-ups: from Andrew Parker-Bowles – 'Because he is a blue-eyed Brigadier like my father' – to Paul O'Grady and Graeme Souness.

In our lead feature, Gary Morecambe remembers his father, Eric Morecambe, on what would have been his 95th birthday. He was a lovely Dad, who found joy in making everyone laugh – including the postman.
Barry Humphries salutes the veteran music-hall stars he saw in Melbourne and London – and their influence on Sir Les Patterson and Dame Edna.

Antonia Fraser on Prince Philip, Harold Pinter and the most famous divorce of the 19th century.

PLUS: AN Wilson on Philip Larkin; Liz Hodgkinson on why OAPs shouldn't wear jeans; Peter McKay roars through the Cotswolds to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Moto Guzzi motorbikes; and Julian Fellowes on his love of English country houses – and Mykonos