SIR - The exquisite irony of someone called Bird writing about Prince Harry's penchant for blasting our feathered friends out of the Sandringham sky will, I know, not be lost on your readers (T&A, November 17).

That, together with letters the previous day, from my old pal Frank Dickinson and, I hope, my new one, David Rhodes, provided similar light relief and could I suspect lead to knighthoods!

The latter even included a deliberate mistake for us to spot when he misused infer' when he meant imply' (a common slip noted in the Oxford Dictionary) added to the fun.

On a more factual note back copies of the T&A will reveal that I came out strongly for gun control after Dunblane and suggested Tony and Cherie should control Euan's drinking a little later.

So they're a bit off target unlike, sadly the mysterious unidentified shooters who killed hen harriers (a protected species) at Sandringham.

With such feedback can I now look forward to my latest letter on roly poly, custard, Nigella Lawson and spotted dick eliciting flak from portly cowards, Nigella' husband and inevitably, a spotty callow youth called not Harry but Richard!

Sid Brown, Glenhrust Road, Shipley