At 40 she is the youngest of an exclusive band of women chief executives of Footsie companies.

There are just four others - Cynthia Carroll of Anglo American; Clara Furse of the London Stock Exchange; Dame Marjorie Scardino of Pearson; and Dorothy Thompson of Drax Group.

Much is made of her nickname 'Katherine the Great' acquired during her career climb and now includes her ability to combine business success with being mother to four young children.

Of the companies listed in the FTSE 100 Index last year some 11 per cent of directorships were held by women.

So you can see they are under-represented in boardrooms generally and the more so the nearer to the top.

The big question is why?

Neither legislation nor feminist arguments seem to have made a major shift in the gender patterns of Britain's business bosses.

Prejudice must play a part - the glass ceiling.

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I'm not so sure however that members of the Royal Family should exercise the privilege in public when it comes to airing controversial views.

It seems to me that part of the unwritten pact that Her Majesty's subjects have with the Royals is that they should be a unifying force and not a divisive one.

So I think the recent outburst by Prince Charles against genetically modified crops was ill-judged regardless of whether he spoke good sense or nonsense.

Somewhere along the way the Royals lost sight of what should have been their No1 job - to lead exemplary lives and set standards of family life that should be a template for the nation.

The Queen has fulfilled this role to the letter and she has an important constitutional position at home and in the Commonwealth but doesn't get involved in politics.

As the head of state she is the right person to acknowledge achievement whether opening hospitals, handing out medals, sending telegrams - all in a manner that leaves her respected around the world.

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I am already dreading the first signs of the nights drawing in.

Turning the clocks back will only serve to accelerate winter - and electricity bills and road accidents. Just in terms of energy efficiency and safety the case is made.

Surely whatever advantages gained in the depths of winter in the mornings regarding, say, children going to school are lost with the afternoons getting darker than they need be when they return home.

Central European Time is one continental custom we should embrace without delay - that is two hours ahead of GMT in the summer and one hour in the winter. Just imagine summer evenings where it doesn't get dark until around 11pm.

I'm sure the move would win a lot of votes if it was on the Tory party manifesto come the next General Election.

I can't see Gordon Brown advocating the plan because it is said

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But I don't think that age alone has ever bestowed wisdom or its components knowledge and experience.

What price knowledge?

Not much these days I would hazard to suggest - and I'm not in the first flush of youth myself.

It seems to me that technology's march is accelerating so quickly that learned skills are almost redundant the moment they are acquired.

In the future we may judged not on what we know but the ease with which we can absorb new training.

Experience - the ability to learn life's lessons and apply them appropriately - however is a moral, character-building process that cannot be fast-tracked.

Let's take the example of meeting a new GP for the first time. I've no doubt my parents would have hoped the new doctor was an older person believing that with his or her age had come knowledge. My children who are in their 20s would I am sure prefer someone closer to their own years supposing they would be up-to-date with all the latest treatments.

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Over the years I have watched first many City institutions pass into foreign hands; then companies like Rolls-Royce Motors, P & O, and O2, and soccer teams such as Manchester United, and much else besides with regret but not outrage.

Powerful financial forces had been at work and, as in most cases UK shareholders opted to take the money and run when overseas bidders came a-calling, it could be viewed as capitalism in action.

Gordon Brown proclaimed that the UK's opendoor policy to foreign investment strengthened our economy because it attracted overseas cash.

Now that the home economy is on the skids that sort of thinking looks short-sighted in the extreme. But it is too late to restore the family silver to its former glory.

It has to admitted also that UK businesses have done their share of overseas purchases. But something as strategic as our nuclear future - even if as rumoured British Gas company Centrica buys a minority stake from EDF - which really should not be open to foreign control.

It is true that the French do nucl

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