After 300 years of Tatler, former editor Libby Purves has recounted her unwanted climb to the summit of the magazine – apparently without setting foot at base camp.
The columnist says she thought it was a hoax when she received a letter out of the blue asking her to be the new editor of Tatler as she “had never edited anything, hated smart parties and was known for a distressing indifference to personal chi.”
She goes on to write how the world of fashion contained in Tatler’s base in Vogue House was alien to her and how her handover meeting with the previous editor did nothing to settle her nerves.
Purves was only at the magazine for six months, but used the time to help it ‘grow up’ as she put it, by reforming the management. But with little experience of editing and no interest in Tatler’s ‘lifestyle’ she quickly resigned.
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She ends her feature in the Mail on Sunday with a smug note – her replacement failed to heed her handover warnings and suffered the consequences.
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