Think of the bride’s mother, Carole, as the chief executive of Middleton Inc. Her first smart decision was to marry up. Partnering with Michael, a scion of very minor gentry, gave this descendant of labourers, messengers and clerks some cash to start a business, and a drop of blue blood. Heavy expenditure on Marlborough College fees and a flat in Chelsea could then be capitalised in the asset values of the three children, and of Kate in particular.

Not only did Middleton mère dispatch her eldest to the same university as the young Prince, she even sent her to Chile beforehand, months after William, to give them something to talk about. After graduation she kept Kate in expensive outfits and – with the help of siblings Pippa and James, events caterer and upscale cake-maker, respectively – in the right sort of circles. There were a few PR stumbles along the way (hello, rogue uncle Gary) but the “waity Katie” campaign was otherwise superbly handled.

Sir, Your Lex column item on the royal wedding contains the sort of catty comment that one might imagine in the country-house drawing rooms of ladies whose daughters were disappointed in their own pursuit of the prince. But what was such comment doing in the FT … and least of all in Lex?

Whoever wrote this piece, and whichever editors approved it, have lost sight of the purpose of both paper and column, and have completely misjudged the public view of this event. The quality of the Financial Times, and of its journalists, is in sad decline. Worst of all, this was an appalling display of manners.

P.B. Dravers,

On a brighter note, export orders were robust and actually picked up in April.

There is also the ongoing risk that sovereign debt problems in the Eurozone could escalate and dampen orders from key UK overseas markets. Meanwhile, problems in Japan could also hurt manufacturing activity through causing supply chain disruptions. This is particularly a potential problem for the auto and consumer electronics sectors. And significantly, the survey reported that there was “a sharp lengthening in supplier delivery times as a consequence of the knock-on effect” from events in Japan.

Section 41 of the Act provided the police with the power to arrest and detain a person without charge for up to 48 hours if they were suspected of being a terrorist.[9] This period of detention could be extended to up to seven days if the police can persuade a judge that it is necessary for further questioning.[10]

This was a break from ordinary criminal law where suspects had to be charged within 24 hours of detention or be released. This period was later extended to 14 days by the Criminal Justice Act 2003,[11] and to 28 days by the Terrorism Act 2006.

Q3 Own Store LFL sales were down 12.6%. The company is attributing this to the hot weather over Easter (which does typically affect chocolate sales). The Easter trading period equates to nearly 33% of Q3 sales in Own Stores and that week was down 22.8%.

We think though that the competitive environment and structural shift away from the high street were also factors, given that Commercial sales to supermarkets were up 25.1%. However, Thorntons is expecting to gain market share in this segment over the period.

Franchise sales fell by 21.4% while Direct fell by 7.9% in part as a result of the loss of a particular corporate customer.

Stock has been tightly controlled in expectation of a difficult trading environment.

The company now expects FY11 (to June) PBT of £3.0m to £4.5m, compared with previous guidance of broadly flat on last year. We had PBT of £6.2m (6.5p). Net debt is expected to be broadly flat on last year at around £26m.

Fixed charge cover (calculated on an EBITDA basis for covenants) would fall to c. 1.6x at £3m PBT, net debt/EBITDA 1.8x, though the company is not expecting a breach of covenants at that level. We suspect though that the 6.1p (flat) DPS we have in our estimates is under pressure.

The new chief executive, Jonathan Hart (ex Caffe Nero, Dixons) is due to give a strategy update in the coming months – a review of the store portfolio will be an important part of this, as well as cost savings in other areas. On our existing numbers, shares trade on 12x calendar 2011E P/E.

Trefick, Moor Park and Palos (the “Parties”) have noted the announcement made by Lookers on 27 April and the subsequent press speculation regarding the involvement of Trefick as a potential offeror. Trefick, Moor Park and Palos confirm that they have made a joint approach regarding a possible offer for the entire issued share capital of Lookers.

The approach, in respect of a potential cash offer, was made formally to the Board of Lookers in writing. The Parties have requested access to certain information in order to confirm the cash offer, but the Board of Lookers has, to date, declined to provide this

The result of both these events will increase the effective number of shares in the index from 69.035M to 121.133M i.e. 75.46%.

Not only will this mean trackers have to buy to keep up their weighting, any samplers or closet trackers will now have to look more closely as it will be 3bps of the All Share Index.

NORTHLAND UK VIEW: With the East Kutai Coal Project currently bogged down in the legal process, the placing provides some additional financial fire power but also some much needed local expertise

Call it a desire to do more of “God’s work,” as Blankfein once famously described it two years ago.

Or call it Bronx-born Blankfein’s unwillingness to the leave the gold-plated Manhattan franchise with a reputation more tarnished than when he found it on June 29, 2006, the day he ascended to the top spot following Hank Paulson’s confirmation as Treasury Secretary.