A WOMAN in her 60s still refers to her son’s partner of a decade and a half as his ‘friend’, it has emerged.
Despite the fact that they are married and own a home together, the husband of James Bates is still euphemistically referred to by his mother as if he is just another one of James’ mates.
Bates said: “She obviously knows that Oliver and I are in a relationship. She was at our wedding, for Christ’s sake. She wore a big hat and cried.
“However, she still seems to be allergic to referring to him as my husband or partner. Though sometimes she’ll say ‘special friend’ with a weird look in her eye, as if she’s trying to make it obvious that she knows we have sex.
“She reckons she can’t be a homophobe because she reads the Guardian and has a CD of Queen’s Greatest Hits in the car, but, my word, that woman is as old school as they come.”
Margaret Bates said: “The truth is that I know all the lingo, and I don’t care if he’s gay, queer, bi, pan or whatever. I just like messing with him.”
