In 1974 my father invested £750 (£8,100 in today's money) in a Royal Worcester porcelain figure of The Duke of Wellington on horseback. He kept the figure we affectionately called The Duke, wrapped in sponge, in a big box, under his bed.

After he died in 2001, my mother decided to take the figure out and display it on the table in the bay window.

In the autumn of 2015 my mother calls. She tells me she's broken The Duke.