Many happy returns

It was Kathy’s birthday on Sunday i.e. yesterday 13 June, making her older than 50 and younger than 60.

She was on Twitter about it, in response to people wishing her Happy Birthday, and had some observations too: “Thanks so much for all the beautiful birthday messages yesterday. I’d especially like to thank Raheem Sterling for scoring a goal in celebration and the BBC for airing Paddington 2. I really didn’t know they cared.”

The goal was the winner for England against Croatia, at Wembley no less, in England’s first game of Euro 2020, so cause for celebration indeed. And Paddington 2 is, of course, an absolutely brilliant film (on an aside, this author interviewed the director, Paul King, last year and can report that he is a genuinely lovely, generous guy).

But back to Kath: her tweet was enough to spark a tabloid snippet – something that says as much about her “national institution” status as it does about the state of journalism at The Independent. Anyway, many happy returns.