John Simpson: Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?

Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded John Simpson said elsewhere, not written here

I’d like to say sorry to my mother. I had to choose between my parents, and I chose my father because he didn’t have any other kids. (My mother was a war widow and had two children from her first marriage.) I thought, in a childish way, that one had to be fair. It was very difficult for my mother and me, and we never really got over it.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 December 2016 source ↗

Others on this question

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Bella Freud British fashion designer

I’ve said sorry to everybody I wanted to – I’m good at saying sorry quickly.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 September 2017 source ↗

Ian Rankin Scottish crime writer

There wasn’t a lot of bullying at my school, but there was a fair amount of ragging – and I knew which side I wanted to be on. I’d say sorry to anyone who felt picked on.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 October 2020 source ↗

Anne Enright Novelist and short-story writer

I was not great with my mother-in-law, who was a very gentle woman. I thought she would be an uninvited part of my life for ever, but she died early and I wished I had been more open and patient.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 September 2024 source ↗

Busta Rhymes American rapper

To my father, for the time that was lost when we weren’t getting along. We were able to reconcile a few months before he passed away five years ago.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 December 2020 source ↗