I found a Stephen anecdote.

Larry Lovage · 152283. Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:37 am

I've found a written source for Stephen's story about the Duke of Devonshire and his extensive staff, being questioned as to the need for a pastry chef and saying, "Damn it all, can't a man have a biscuit?"

The story is told in Mandarin, Nico Henderson's diaries of his time as Ambassador (to Poland, W. Germany, France and the US) from 1969 to 1982. The story was told to him by former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, and although they had indeed been talking about Andrew Devonshire (I think Stephen was associating the story with the previous duke), the story was actually told about Lord Chandos.

Apologies if this topic has gone in the wrong section.

Flash · 152858. Fri Mar 02, 2007 4:00 am

Thanks for that, which I'll tag with the words 'retractions special' (we have this idea that one day we might want to correct all our mistakes at once). Well found.