A reader submitted this in response to this week’s Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column
Your piece on 'Only Fools and Horses' reminded me of an amusing real life incident.
One of the Royal Medical Colleges for whom I worked on the project management of the restoration of a listed building involved a valuable chandelier, which hung over a circular stair void. It was operated by an ancient hand-wound rachet chain system from above a glass laylight.
The much-damaged chandelier was slowly lowered down by two brothers, who were experts in chandeliers.
First of all they sat down for about half an hour with a cup of coffee and surveyed the chandelier, then slowly had it let down, dismantled it and took it away to be cleaned. The metal structure was dipped in acid, dried and then repainted.
The old hand operated winding mechanism was replaced by a motor powered drive and in due course the brothers brought back the repaired chandelier with "new" glass pieces to replace the missing items.
All the pieces were slowly put back together and it looked stunningly beautiful.
The brothers recounted how some evening previously they had been called at midnight by Kensington Palace and were urgently required to repair a pair of moveable chandeliers, which had been accidentally
damaged. They were required for a meeting room the following day. Security passes were awaiting the two men at the entrance gate.
They recounted how they were immediately brought to the scene of the disaster. One chandelier was in small pieces and the other badly damaged.
They set to work putting the pieces together and rebuilding it.
Lionel recounted that at some stage during the night a man came into the room, had a casual look around, and asked if they were Del Boy and Rodney and wondered where was granddad?”
Lionel, who was down on the floor on his hands and knees, identifying the pieces and putting them back together, enquired: "who the hell was that?” Oh, that was Prince Edward responded his brother.
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