Regular visitors to the Ink Desk will know that it contains an eclectic mixture of posts on all matters of Catholic cultural interest. The giants of Catholic literature, such as Shakespeare, Chesterton and Tolkien, are regular topics for discussion, but we also have musings on all sorts of other topics from Catholic actors, such as Kevin O’Brien, Catholic novelists, such as Dena Hunt and Lorraine Murray, and Catholic artists, such as Jef Murray. We’ve also had posts from contributors from England, France, Spain and Australia.

This rather rambling preamble serves as an explanation or perhaps an excuse for this particular post, which is perhaps a little eccentric, even by the eclectic standards of the Ink Desk.

I like to keep an eye on the obituaries section of the Telegraph’s website. It’s a good place to meet interesting people, albeit somewhat morbidly only after they have died. I don’t read every obituary but only those about people who pique my interest. As such, I almost passed over the obituary of Hugh van Cutsem, described as a countryman and a friend of Prince Charles. I’m not really interested in news or gossip about Britain’s Royal Family and was about to move on when something, perhaps the whisper of providence, prompted me to read on.

My curiosity was aroused when I realized that the blue-blooded landowner and friend of Prince Charles was also a neighbor of mine in the rural area of Norfolk where I lived prior to my move to the States. It was aroused still further when I read that he was a parishioner of the tiny Catholic parish church in Swaffham, at which I attended Mass for five years. We must have brushed shoulders on numerous occasions.

At this point I became very interested in this positive Catholic influence on several heirs to the British throne, not only on Prince Charles himself but on his sons, William and Harry, to whom Emilie van Cutsem became something of a surrogate mother following the break-up of Prince Charles’ marriage to Princess Diana.

Enough of my summary of some of the interesting facts about the life of this very intriguing blue-blooded Catholic and former neighbor of mine. Here’s the full story:   

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/royalty-obituaries/10284814/Hugh-van-Cutsem.html