It is a known fact that these days we are obsessed with celebrities as never before. Except that it's not true.

I found myself browsing a copy of the Daily Mail from 1901 (these things just happen) and alighted on the gossip section.

Back then, the popular Press carried endless little stories about the lives and movements not – obviously – of television stars, but of the aristocracy.

The detail is mind-boggingly dull: one tiny article said simply that Lord and Lady Whatnot had gone to France. No clue as to why, let alone as to why we would be interested.

But we were, and we still are, fascinated by the antics of the mostly idle rich, and the objects of our obsession are the same today as they were then: the over-paid, travelling the world, and making no useful contribution to it.