Members rise from CMG (known sometimes in Whitehall as Call Me God) to KCMG (Kindly Call Me God) to GCMG (God Calls Me God).
Muddle is the extra unknown personality in any committee.
In America journalism is apt to be regarded as an extension of history: in Britain, as an extension of conversation.
The lounge of the main hotel is full of jollity, with large comfortable men sitting in braces; the bar is packed with talkative intellectuals, full of witty disloyalties. The next week the main hotel is suddenly full of dinner-jackets and large hats. The girls are dressed as if for a weekend in the country. When one of the great men of the party comes through, the crowd edges respectfully away, murmuring loyal noises.
Once you touch the trappings of monarchy, like opening an Egyptian tomb, the inside is liable to crumble.