The lunch for female achievers hosted by the Queen earlier this month was graced by just one English vice-chancellor - Bernadette Porter, rector of Roehampton, University of Surrey. Dr Porter, who is due to stand down as rector to devote her energies to the spiritual life, reports that the event was "huge fun" and included highlights such as "giggles with Jennifer Saunders about whether to curtsy or not", "seeing three generations of fashion icons in one place - Vivienne Westwood standing next to Twiggy and Kate Moss" and "swapping stories with Shirley Bassey about how we had chosen our outfits".