On a recent trip to give a talk at Eton, the Old Un was distressed to see a moped drawing up outside the school library. It was a Deliveroo bike, bearing takeaway food. Within seconds, a tailcoated lad came shooting out of his house to pay off the driver and pick up his dinner.
The Old Un was later told by an Eton master that more and more boys are turning their noses up at school food and eating takeaways instead. There’s nothing much the school can do about it – the Deliveroo bike was on a public road.
It’s a worrying development. The austere privations of public school once prepared boys to run the Empire, win the Battle of Waterloo and survive Colditz. What chance do they stand in future life if they’ve been brought up on takeaway pizza and sushi?
