Today, we lunched with author D E Meredith, and conversation turned (inevitably) to Valentine’s Day. Some people celebrate it (eg. Susie and Lesley) and others don’t (eg. D E Meredith and I), but we agreed that it’s definitely a more female-led celebration. (Spot the panic-stricken faces of men across of the country as they question whether their heart-covered Hallmark card will suffice on the romance front…)

Indeed, what would constitute the ultimate romantic gesture? A metre-high heart-shaped balloon? A bus-load of roses? A gold-and-diamond-encrusted toe-nail….?

And I quote: “King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy used to grow the nail of his big toe for a year, and every New Year’s Day he would have it cut off and despatched to the royal jeweller. This craftsman would polish it, frame it in gold, set it in diamonds and place it in a delightful velvet-lined box. This treasure would then be sent to his latest royal mistress. The Countess Mirafieri collected the most – and eventually became his wife.” (from The Book of Weird Sex e-book)

A word of advice to all the men out there:  stick to the Hallmark card.

For more weird sex facts and a chance to win some Thorntons chocolate truffles and a nice pile of books, enter our anti-Valentine’s Missing Word Competition on Facebook!

Chiara Priorelli, Publicity & Online Marketing Manager