“Why do Belgians collect? Well, it’s anxiety. A fear of death which is really a fear of life. We’re so scared of living we’re like the living dead. So we collect in order to become immortal – the complete speeches of General de Gaulle, stamps, Magritte’s paintings, it can be anything even tins of pilchards. It’s a false idea of life – as if we were eternal.
I exhibit the underwear I get in the post – which isn’t much. For every thousand letters I send, I get about 10 pairs – it’s tough. I wrote to the King – ‘Majesty, send me your Y-fronts’ and the Queen of England – ‘Hey Queen of England! Send me your knickers!’ Why not?” – Jan Bucquoy in “Belgium” by Jonathan Meades
Yes, why not? Anybody in the Queen’s entourage, could you please spare one and send it to Jan? For Art’s sake?
So according to BBC news, Prince Charles travels with his own loo seat.
“She (the Queen) never takes her own loo seat,” a royal official has said. “Only Prince Charles does that.”
It reminds me of Leh’s bus station, Ladakh, north India. Early morning, I was about to embark in a long, long and uncomfortable bus ride. Asking a group of locals directions to the toilets, I only got them to laugh at me: “Toilets?” The guys waves his hands around. “Open toilet! Open!”