Exclusive: Inside the uncensored diaries of Britain's most scandalous MP
He loathed Churchill, admired Hitler and thought Wallis Simpson should have been Queen. So who exactly was Sir Henry 'Chips' Channon?
20 February 2021 • 6:00am
More than 60 years after his death, Sir Henry 'Chips' Channon's diaries are being published uncensored for the first time. The serialisation starts in tomorrow's Telegraph
Credit: Cecil Beaton Studio Archive, Sotheby's London / Getty Images
When the diaries of Sir Henry ‘Chips’ Channon, the Conservative MP for Southend-on-Sea and friend and confidant of the titled, rich and famous, first appeared in 1967, they scandalised London society and created a national sensation. Malcolm Muggeridge, a leading television pundit and writer, said in his review that Channon appeared ‘grovellingly sycophantic and snobbish’, pointing to the America-born diarist’s desire to ingratiate himself with the smartest people in England.