Multi million Lottery winners.

 Multi million Lottery winners.

It couldn't have happened to a nicer couple. He looked very easy going, friendly and relaxed. She was so overjoyed that she could hardly believe what had happened to both of them. It was a moment in time that could never be replicated because, quite frankly, this is the one event in their lives that could ever be equalled or surpassed. It was a unique and life changing day in the lives of Britain's latest multi million pound Lottery winners. The couple seemed very grounded and modest considering that yesterday they became overnight stars, winners of quite the most astronomical and mind blowing sum of money.

Joe and Jess Thwaite from Gloucester had done what they'd always done ever since the beginning of the British National Lottery during the 1990s. They'd popped into their local shop or supermarket and picked their customary sequence of numbers in the hope that it might be their turn to become overnight millionaires. Not for a minute did they seriously consider that they could be the family or friends of family who would snap up such a criminally obscene amount of money in one fell swoop. And yet it did happen.

Now in the general scheme of things, the general reaction to such a story would have been one of wonderment and incredulity. Besides, you don't come into possession of £184 million every day of the week so this may have been the most highly appropriate celebration. We should be delighted for the couple, thrilled to have heard that fate had intervened in their lives and made them remarkably richer if only because all they had to do was think of the dates of birthdays, lucky numbers or special anniversaries just to be in with a chance of hitting the bumper jackpot. 

But yesterday Joe and Jess Thwaite from the sleepy rural heartlands of the Cotswolds awoke to the news they must have thought beyond their wildest dreams. The Thwaites had come into astonishing, breathtaking wealth, the kind of wealth that even some of our most outrageous celebrities and City stockbrokers would have been hard pressed to come anywhere even remotely close to receiving in a month. Still we're all deliriously happy for the Thwaites because some of us have just yearned for a break in the tragic bulletins from Ukraine and Covid 19, the three year global virus that finally looks as though it may have vanished from the public consciousness.

So how did the Thwaites respond to their amazing financial windfall? Did they shout it out from the rooftops, present themselves to a blinding flash of Press cameras, microphones under their noses and the inquisitive eyes of the world? Or perhaps they should have been advised to preserve their anonymity and not tell a soul. There are conflicting schools of thoughts on this latest story. Of course they wanted to share their joy and pleasure with the rest of the nation and that has to be their personal choice and prerogative but you find yourself wondering why?

The cynical in you though insists that this may not have been the right decision the Thwaites will ever make. Yesterday on millions of TVs, radios, online platforms, Smart Phones, I Pads and every other imaginable news feed across the world, Joe and Jess revealed their identities, their social media narratives, the colour of their hair, instantly recognisable faces and quite probably their entire neighbourhood. The Thwaites may be able to discover vast communities of friends and requests for charitable donations from every corner of  society. 

The truth is that life could change quite dramatically and not quite as favourably as they might have hoped it would like it. The Thwaites are now public property, potential chat show guests in abundance, reality TV participants and hounded by hangers on consumed by rampant jealousy. Yesterday the Thwaites made a bold declaration of their monumental millions and millions, walking and talking advertisements of preposterous affluence and more money than they'd ever have thought possible in their lifetime.

There are times when you do begin to question the judgments of individuals who may unwittingly find themselves the centre of attention when maybe any attention should have been most unwelcome. The intrusion though took place yesterday and by now most of the global population will know about Joe and Jess Thwaite. They're stinking rich, absolutely loaded, swimming in millions of pounds, planning for the future and not caring a jot who knows about it. 

You get the impression though that the Thwaites won't be profligate with their multi millions. They'll be exemplary models of prudence, sensible housekeeping, considerate to those they love and care for and the milk of human kindness. But amid a blizzard of exploding champagne bottles, a couple from Gloucester who just thought their lives would continue in much the way as the rest of us, suddenly had more money at their disposal than any of us could ever imagine. 

Meanwhile, the rest of the nation will go about their daily working duties and then deliver that famous mantra about money not being a guarantee of happiness. We may wish the Thwaites well but privately dismiss them from our minds because we probably wouldn't have a clue what to do with £184 million anyway. Put it in the bricks and mortar of ever desirable properties, spend a vast majority of a million or so on world cruises, live life in the constant limelight of the national newspapers and every gossip, glossy magazine you can think of? Sounds like a cracking idea and yet you fear not.  

So there goes your privacy in a puff of smoke. After years of being hidden behind the suburban hedgerows of your quiet road, now your mode of travel consists of several limousines, a showroom of Rolls Royces and Jaguars, and a gravelled driveway of hugely impressive vintage cars at the top of the range. There can be no point in holding it back any longer. We are multi millionaires and you're not. It's as simple as that. Has anybody got a Pools coupon? On second thoughts a night in a Bingo hall may seem an infinitely more appealing proposition. Happy Friday everybody.