December 2025

Once again, I have to thank Richard for touching base with you last month. Unfortunately, I came home with a very nasty chest infection, and even after three weeks, I am still not 100% right, but there seems to be a lot of this going around. As you may know, I had a relapse in January and don’t seem to have fully bounced back from that, and for that reason, I think my immune system is vulnerable.

I thank you for all your messages and emails about my health, and although it has slowed me down, wild horses won’t stop me from pushing dad’s wonderful legacy of music he left behind. Thank you so much for all your kind words. It is lovely to know that you all care.

The legacy of Dad has only become this successful because of you the fans, and it is with a heavy heart to announce the loss of Harry Carruthers, one of Dad’s loyal followers. We corresponded for years, and Harry sent me all sorts of snippets to add to my collection. He is sadly missed, and my love and thoughts go out to his family.

Not only do I read all your messages and comments, I am constantly trawling the web and my attention has recently focused on fake photos of dad, some are obviously not him, some have added colour to black/white images and while at first glance it didn’t worry me the advent of AI is becoming worrying. Generative AI makes it easier and cheaper to create hyper-realistic fake images, audios and videos, also referred to as “deep fakes”. These can be used for large-scale propaganda, impersonation scams (such as voice-cloning fraud, market manipulation and the erosion of public trust as highlighted by Martin Lewis many times on his television series. There was also the viral video of Tom Cruise playing golf, which in fact wasn’t him; he confirmed he didn’t actually play the game!

Years ago, a television channel approached the Estate as they were aiming to make a program using holograms of deceased artists. I turned down the project mainly because I didn’t have enough moving images of dad to produce a lifelike representation. It turned out to be fortuitous as the program was awful. Now years on, with the advancement of technical ability, Abba has been able to launch “Abba Voyage”. The show features digital avatars of Abba, rendered from 3D animations, and displayed on a huge 65-million-pixel LED screen that blends the physical and digital worlds. The show has been hailed a huge success, but it does concern me as to where it might stop.

As I have said in the past, if you are unsure about whether a product, photograph, autograph or release is authentic, please email me, and I will let you know. We have had issues in the past about low-grade recordings released through undesirables who are trying to earn a quick buck.

I left England on the 4^th October, joining Ambassador’s Ambience ship for the Jane McDonald cruise. On her website, it was billed as ‘An inclusive, interactive and immersive experience filled with extraordinary destinations, exquisite food and magical entertainment’. Special guests on this one-week voyage included television personality Bobby Davro, star of Les Misérables and Phantom of the Opera John Owen-Jones, drag and theatre star Mary Mac and BBC Radio 2 host Richie Anderson.

It didn’t start well as I endured a two-hour wait in the terminal, one because Jane McDonald’s team were trying to get lorry loads of equipment on, and then the IT system went down, so nobody could be checked in. Eventually, we all had to board the ship and check in at reception, a long-drawn-out process.

It was rather chaotic, especially for those trying to get into the theatre with long lines and aggressive staff (not the ship’s crew) telling people where they could or could not get to, including the toilets. Thankfully I was not among those trying to get into the show. It was just too much for me to handle, with some lines taking 45 minutes to dissipate. I thought it would end in a fight when one passenger accused another of cutting in line and it got very fractious.

Because of the weather, we missed Amsterdam, our first port, which meant an extra day at sea, not what you really want when Storm Amy was bearing down on us. What was interesting about this voyage was that most of Jane’s fans were first-time cruisers, and the first two days saw a lot of people missing from the decks because of sea sickness. Even Ms McDonald cancelled her first show because of rolling seas, and poor Bobby Davro was made to go on instead, and he had been sick as a dog all day. How he performed beats me, but as they say in the business, “the show must go on”.

I went to see his late show later in the cruise, and I have to say he hasn’t lost his quick wit or fast-paced humour. It was just a shame the theatre wasn’t full, but the organisers in their wisdom had put Mary Mac on in the Conservatory at the same time. Bobby and I have known each other for years, and it was lovely playing catch-up up so you won’t be surprised if he pops up on our podcast sometime next year.

The Jane McDonald cruise was followed up with a 16-day Mediterranean jaunt, and sadly, the weather wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, although it was infinitely better than in Telford.

Unfortunately, there was a huge problem with the air-conditioning throughout the ship, and the rooms were either like a sauna or freezing cold. I, of course, got the latter, and for some reason, I woke up at 3.00 am every night as a cold front blew through my cabin. I went to eat in the speciality restaurant the one night, and it was so cold in there that I declined dessert or coffee just to be able to go out on deck and warm up.

What with that and the temperature change between the Mediterranean and England, two days before the end of the cruise, I came down with a chest infection, and I kid you not, when I tell you that my cases are still not unpacked. After two sets of seven-day antibiotics, x-rays and the like, I am still not where I’d like to be, but on top of everything, I am totally sapped of all my energy, so the cases have to wait. It was far more important to make sure the lights and tree were up for Dad’s birthday. Can’t believe he would have been 95 this year, but as long as I am on this earth, I will always celebrate his day by acknowledging how much he loved the Christmas season.

I am always sad when the colder weather sets in but what does fill me with warmth is your very kind messages, and I am thrilled you are not only enjoying Dad’s official YouTube channel but also our newest venture into podcasts.

Talk about celebrating, ‘Matt’s Kind of Podcast’ was launched on dad’s birthday last year, and we are putting up one edition every month. Thanks to all of you for your support. If you are enjoying it please tell all your friends to listen in. As you can imagine, I was really excited to feature our first guest, but since then, Richard and I have also interviewed some wonderful surprise guests who will feature on future episodes, and they are not to be missed. In fact, a comic great has agreed to feature next year, and I’m really excited about our getting together in January. It promises to be great listening.

If you want to listen to any of our past podcasts, then you can click the link below and you will be taken to the full list.

https://podd6d.podbean.com/

Because of the distance we live from each other, Richard and I rarely meet up, although I bombard him with daily emails, messages and phone calls (I wouldn’t want him to get bored). But a few months ago, he came to ‘Monro Towers’ for the weekend to film some rare possessions of dad, which will pop up on our official channel in the near future. As well as recording a couple of podcasts live, we also plotted out our workload for the next 12 months. It seems crazy, but the podcasts need researching, clips need to be found, we have to generate a new video for the YouTube site each month, as well as ‘shorts’ and do the updates monthly. It really does eat into our time, so knowing what our schedules will be each month will make our lives easier….. she says, lol.

Dad’s YouTube channel frequently features rare television performances, interviews and shorts, but don’t worry if you weren’t with us from the very beginning, as the channel still has all the ones you may have missed by not visiting yet. In fact, Aviator, our partners on the site, has managed to unearth and license several rare finds, so watch out for those during the next few months. In fact, one of them featured in November so I hope you enjoyed it.

We’ve also unearthed a few sketches and interviews Dad did that have not been seen here before, so we are waiting for clearance, and then we will be able to share them with you.

Dad’s YouTube channel is totally free, and it would be amazing to hit the 200,000-subscriber mark, so please tell all your friends to visit us and help us grow so that I can keep dad’s legacy of songs burning bright. If everyone told just one person to subscribe, it would make a huge difference to our numbers. Please don’t think we make money out of new people subscribing, in fact, it costs us money to run everything, but it’s the prestige of making the channel as popular as it can be.

Don’t forget to visit dad’s very own YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/MattMonroOfficial

I mentioned previously that we are putting together another audio compilation with the working title “Matt at the BBC Volume 2’. There has been a small hiccup in that we are waiting for clearance from the BBC, but as soon as we have that, we will let you know the actual title and the date of release.

Instead, because of that delay, we will be releasing a long-unavailable audio release to streaming and download services in January, and to give you a small hint, it is celebrating a 60^th anniversary.

I know I say this every month, please let us know if you have any rare footage (even if you taped it illegally, lol), jingles or photos of dad. Come on, all you diehard fans, get looking in your attics, even if you have reel-to-reel tapes or acetates, we have the equipment to listen to it. Fingers crossed.

Once again, I hope you have a happy and healthy year, and I look forward to touching base with you all in February. In the meantime, stay safe and keep spreading the MM legacy and have the brightest of Christmas seasons with your friends and loved ones. Before I go, I hope to leave you with a smile on your face.

 

A Politically Correct Christmas 

Twas the night before Christmas and Santa’s a wreck… 
How to live in a world that’s politically correct? 
His workers no longer would answer to “Elves”, 
“Vertically Challenged” they were calling themselves. 
And labour conditions at the North Pole, 
were alleged by the union, to stifle the soul. 

Four reindeer had vanished without much propriety, 
released to the wilds, by the Humane Society. 
And equal employment had made it quite clear, 
that Santa had better not use just reindeer. 
So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid, 
were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid! 

The runners had been removed from his beautiful sleigh, 
because the ruts were deemed dangerous by the EPA, 
And millions of people were calling the Cops, 
when they heard sled noises upon their roof tops. 
Second-hand smoke from his pipe, had his workers quite frightened, 
and his fur trimmed red suit was called “unenlightened”. 

To show you the strangeness of today’s ebbs and flows, 
Rudolf was suing over unauthorized use of his nose. 
He went to Geraldo, in front of the Nation, 
demanding millions in over-due workers compensation. 

So…half of the reindeer were gone, and his wife 
who suddenly said she’d had enough of this life, 
joined a self-help group, packed and left in a whiz, 
demanding from now on that her title was Ms. 

And as for gifts…why, he’d never had the notion 
that making a choice could cause such commotion. 
Nothing of leather, nothing of fur… 
Which meant nothing for him or nothing for her. 
Nothing to aim, Nothing to shoot, 
Nothing that clamoured or made lots of noise. 
Nothing for just girls and nothing for just boys. 
Nothing that claimed to be gender specific, 
Nothing that’s warlike or non-pacifistic. 

No candy or sweets…they were bad for the tooth. 
Nothing that seemed to embellish upon the truth. 
And fairy tales…while not yet forbidden, 
were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden, 
for they raised the hackles of those psychological, 
who claimed the only good gift was one ecological. 

No baseball, no football…someone might get hurt, 
besides – playing sports exposed kids to dirt. 
Dolls were said to be sexist and should be passe. 
and Nintendo would rot your entire brain away. 

So Santa just stood there, dishevelled and perplexed, 
he just couldn’t figure out what to do next? 
He tried to be merry he tried to be gay, 
but you must have to admit he was having a very bad day. 
His sack was quite empty, it was flat on the ground, 
nothing fully acceptable was anywhere to be found. 

Something special was needed, a gift that he might, 
give to us all, without angering the left or the right. 
A gift that would satisfy – with no indecision, 
each group of people in every religion. 
Every race, every hue, 
everyone, everywhere…even you! 
So here is that gift, it’s price beyond worth… 
“May you and your loved ones enjoy peace on Earth.”

 Much love

Michele xx