The question
Excluding property, what is the most expensive thing you have ever bought?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's weekly The Q&A repeatedly uses this standing prompt, with minor contractions and word-order variation.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
A Dalí painting.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 July 2026 source ↗
Legal advice. It was worth it. Know your rights.
A 19th-century ebony and cane chair from the Raj period.
A 1955 Jaguar XK120. It was not in very good condition and, little by little, I brought it back to its former splendour.
My glasses. They were more than a grand.
“You don’t stand a chance of succeeding as a writer in this country. The demographics are against you.” They were wrong. The only demographic that counts is the human heart.
Alchemy. Love. Resilience.
Looking after the flowerbed on my windowsill.
Not being there for my daughter.
The wisdom to become who they are in the truth of their spirit.
On a train journey to Arcadia many years ago while making a TV documentary.
Simon Callow, Ronnie Wood, Erin O'Connor, Susan Calman, Alex Lawther, Emeli Sandé
Search the directory for somebody in particular.