The 1.3 acres of roof have been releaded, the Cascade House repaired, the sixth Duke’s brocade in the Yellow Dining Room rewoven, the Victoria Regia flowers again. The grounds are full of people, who do not guess how much of what they see is due to nature, how much to art.All this has put Chatsworth in the forefront of the revival of the country house, not just as private domain but as a great public amenity. At the moment, some of its grandest treasures are on tour in America, away for two whole years. “I wonder if I shall ever see them again,” the Duke said wistfully last time we met. Alas, he will not, but they and the great house will, thanks to him, enjoy a new life and spread the benefit of his energy and wisdom further and further abroad.Nicolas Barker.

The good life is officially to be found in the Home Counties. Research into Britain’s “happiest” towns revealsthe top 10 best places to live in the UK are almost all in those pleasant counties clustered around the M25 Top of the list is the hitherto obscure Chorleywood West. Unemployment there is low, crime minimal, and most people own their homes. But before they get too smug, Chorleywood West residents might reflect that may more people will now want to move there Say goodbye to that “village” atmosphere. Then again, it will boost the value of their homes! Looks like Chorleywood wins again No wonder they’re so disgustingly happy. For entertainment, Silvio Berlusconi is good value. He can be relied on to make clownish utterances like suggesting his wife should have an affair with the Danish Prime Minister.

He is an ally of the US-led occupation of Iraq who still finds time to record an album of love songs and disappear for weeks for cosmetic surgery Yet the Italian Prime Minister is not a clown. This week marked the Berlusconi government’s 1,060th day in office, a record of political longevity for Italy, which has had 59 governments in the 58 years since the Second World War

For entertainment, Silvio Berlusconi is good value. On the contrary, it is an indication of the fragility of Italian democracy that the longest serving premier of the last six decades owes his power and his survival to his populism, fabulous wealth and control of the media. A new media law enacted this week will greatly increase Mr Berlusconi’s already considerable control. The chairman of the state broadcasting company, Rai, resigned this week in protest at “relentless” pressure to skew its news content towards the government.Italians, fed up at the continued economic gloom, the Parmalat scandal and the involvement in Iraq, may now be falling out of love with the Forza Italia-led coalition. But disarray in the opposition could help Mr Berlusconi to see off challengers in the forthcoming European elections.

And if 20 million Italians have voted for him twice, why should it bother us if they did so again?Because an Italy led by Mr Berlusconi is an unstable partner in the European Union. Rome’s stint in the EU presidency at the end of last year was shambolic, marred by the outburst in which Mr Berlusconi likened a German MEP to a Nazi, a surprise decision to tear up policy on Chechnya, and the collapse of negotiations on the new EU constitution. He has done little to sort out Italy’s public finances as required by membership of the euro, and even less to root out corruption. But above all, the conflicts of interest that his media empire generates means his continued presence will gnaw at the democratic principles that the European Union’s foundations rest on, and that should worry all Europeans.. How very far the United States has fallen short of the values and ideals that President Bush promised his country would bring to Iraq.