 Some contemporary observers thought they detected a "prima donna" streak in Eden's attitude and appearance.For example, the aging Earl of Crawford and Balcarres (1871–1940), a snob, thought him "vain as a peacock and all the mannerisms of a "petit maître" [in the sense of a dandy or fop]".One of Eden's permanent secretaries, P. J. Grigg, who rarely had a good word to say of anyone, dismissed him as "a poor feeble little pansy".