19 hours ago
Sunday, 30 June 2019
Christian the lion
It's an old story, but one that can be retold.
I had a friend from Prep' School who turned-up on Blue Peter showing off a pet black Panther that he kept in his Chelsea flat. I never heard what became of either my friend or his Panther; I like to think that Belloc could have written a sympathetic Cautionary Tale about them.
Here's the story of Christian.
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What a lovely story Cro - brought tears to my eyes.
ReplyDeleteIt is a remarkable story, which really should never have started. In those days Harrods always claimed they could find you any animal you wanted.
DeleteOMG Cro, it's too early for tears. What a fantastic story. Shame on Harrods for selling such things.
ReplyDeleteThey've stopped selling exotic animals now... thank goodness.
DeleteYou've been listening to the Steve Allen show....
ReplyDeleteHe reminded me about the story just recently.
DeleteI have seen this before, but sobbing!! What a wonderful story.
ReplyDeleteIt's worth repeating. An amazing story.
DeleteI didn't expect that! Wild amimals have wild instincts!
ReplyDeleteThey were very brave to going out there into his territory. Nice to see such a happy ending
Yes, I suppose it could have gone the other way (although I expect there were people with guns behind the camera!).
DeleteAhhhh.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh indeed!
DeleteI used to go to the Harrods pet department a lot when I worked in Mayfair. It was an amazing experience although not very PC & oh so wrong and the story of Christian the lion was amazing . Apparently, someone rang them and asked for an elephant ..... ‘ Indian or African ‘ they asked the customer !!!!! My boss bought a cat from them which arrived on a plush, red velvet cushion. XXXX
ReplyDeleteMy only experience of Harrods was for school uniform, and later for haircutting. Their men's hairdressers was excellent, and amazingly cheap. I think it was a way of separating husbands from their wives, so that the wives would spend spend spend!
DeleteBefore Al Fayed bought it, it wasn’t all expensive items was it ? You could but a pair of shoelaces and quite ordinary items then as it still had a bit of its old roots as a grocers about it. I think it got really tacky after he bought it. XXXX
ReplyDeletePeople used to buy their 'shoelaces' simply to have the Harrods bag to carry around.
DeleteI have seen this before, maybe it was even here but it's still well worth watching again and still filled me with the same emotion. As you say though it could have been a different story but I am glad that it wasn't.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bitter/sweet story; very touching, but really not to be advised.
DeleteI know the story of Christian well. It was all so wrong, but the emo moment of meeting up with Christian in Africa was pretty good. Black panther...so cool, but so wrong.
ReplyDeleteMy wife always wanted a Giraffe; I had to put my foot down!
DeleteDare I say, 'one in a million'.... ,-)
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