Lightweight Betjeman overlooked for poet laureate aol.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from aol.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Beloved poet John Betjeman missed out to Cecil Day-Lewis as the new Poet Laureate - but the post came up again five years later, when Ted Heath was in No 10, and Betjeman was picked.
Many academics regarded Auden as the most important living poet. But television personality Ross McWhirter was so alarmed at the prospect that he contacted Buckingham Palace.
Sir John Betjeman, one of the best-loved British poets of the 20th century, was initially overlooked as poet laureate because he was considered a lightweight “versifier” who lacked serious merit, according to newly released official files.