Philippa Gregory: What do you fear most? — FLAPSS

The question

What do you fear most?

Originally asked

Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire

The exact prompt is fixed in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire and independently sustained in The Guardian's The Q&A over multiple decades.

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

PG

Philippa Gregory

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I am spooked by water underground, water in drains and water in machinery. I am very frightened of mill wheels.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 March 2024 source ↗

Others on this question

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Scott Mills English radio DJ and television presenter

Heights. For Children in Need, I had to abseil off the Orbit in the Olympic Park. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve done.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 October 2022 source ↗

Stephen Fry Actor, writer and broadcaster

Being found out.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, June 2015 source ↗

Zadie Smith Novelist and essayist

Violent death. Death generally.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, November 2016 source ↗

Harlan Coben American author

I don’t even voice them. Perhaps the books are my outlet here.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 August 2024 source ↗

More from Philippa Gregory

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Question How would you want people to remember you? Death & what remains

Not for a long time.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 March 2024 source ↗

Question What trait do you most dislike in other people? Values & belief

Trolling, meanness and male violence.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 March 2024 source ↗

Question Excluding property, what is the most expensive thing you have ever bought? Money & investment

I take my family on holiday. We went to Egypt just after Christmas. Golly, it’s expensive.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 March 2024 source ↗

Question What thought won't let you sleep? Daily life

An exciting idea. I usually write for an hour or so, and then I go to sleep.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 March 2024 source ↗

Question What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy? Time & hindsight

I’m a lucky woman – I was walking in the rain yesterday and was really happy.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 March 2024 source ↗

Question What one change would most improve the quality of your daily life? Daily life

A full-time driver/butler/chef.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 March 2024 source ↗

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