25 random things about me... the Empire strikes back

Mark tells me that this is all the rage, so here goes...

1. My middle names are Serena Isabella Caterina Grimnar - when your family has links to most other royal families, you tend to want to keep in with them...


2. In 1957, I won the European Under-18 whitewater rafting championship, aged 8.


3. My first pet was a marine iguana. I called him Iggy.


4. When Ludwig and I awarded Mark the Knight Cross of Amaranth with oak leaves, I had drunk so much champagne that I called him Franz all evening. He was very good about it.


5. I took skiing lessons some years ago. My ski instructor was a young man called Nick but he didn't last very long...


6. I love madrigal singing, and am a stalwart of the Amaranth team at international events.


7. My cousin Jaime was the junior member of the military junta that ran a small Latin American country. He has never admitted which one it was.


8. Amongst my directorships is one for the company that owns the exploitation rights for Stephen Tall across Oceania.


9. Rupert, my eldest son, has been treated for his psychopathic condition. Apparently, the most successful treatment was to join the Conservative Party...


10. My father-in-law owns a large tract of rainforest in Central America with the aim of protecting the giant sloth.


11. I zorb, therefore I am.


12. In my spare time, I sit on the Amaranth Electoral Commission. We haven't found a way to introduce plurality into national politics here because the Authentic Radical Liberal Party repeatedly gain over 99% of the vote.


13. I was forced to take tennis lessons as a child - it didn't work because I couldn't understand why someone was hitting the ball back at me.


14. My favourite job was the one I did for a few years in the mid-eighties as the SDP MP for Greenwich - you wondered what had happened to Rosie Barnes, didn't you. The rabbit was delicious.


15. I like to hunt endangered animals... with my camera... My friend Carol then paints them - it makes it easier to recognise them later but I'm not sure that a tiger should be purple.


16. My doctoral thesis was on peach schnapps and innovative uses for it - I met my future husband, Ludwig, in the course of my research.


17. I share a hair colourist with a leading Liberal Democrat blogger.


18. My favourite traditional Amaranth event is the feast day of St Catherine, marked with virgins, garlic and red wine. We import the virgins from Romania, but I'm not sure about the quality in recent years - they have a terrible urge to sing... terribly.


19. I have a gall bladder called Rex.


20. In 1965, I was chosen to fill a vacancy on the Security Council of the United Nations, aged 16.


21. I have an intern to help me with answering my post. His name is David Milliband and his hobbies include being Foreign Secretary of your country. At least, that's what he tells me.


22. In the 1970's, I ran a spy ring from an office in the Kremlin. If the Soviets had found out who I was spying on, they would have been somewhat upset.


23. When I am stressed, I like to take my pet monitor lizards, Martin and Huw, for a walk. They may have a nasty habit of biting and killing people, but they're big softies really.


24. Every Saturday afternoon, at half past two, come rain or shine, I put on any old clothes and I'm an ordinary person...


25. I am part of a secret team of celebrities who write Iain Dale's blog