Duchess of Sussex reveals in magazine interview how toxic tabloid culture had torn her and Harry’s families apart
The Duchess of Sussex has said her and Prince Harry’s privacy battle with the Mail on Sunday cost her husband his relationship with his father.
In an interview with the Cut magazine, Meghan discussed how toxic tabloid culture had torn her and the Duke of Sussex’s families apart.
Continue reading...Ghostwritten book, with interviews conducted mostly during ‘peak rage’, expected to be published by end of year
The manuscript is, reportedly, written; the ink now dry. Publication is said to be on course to capitalise on the lucrative Christmas market.
Few crumbs, if any, of the contents of the Duke of Sussex’s much-anticipated memoirs have so far emerged. “It’s juicy, that’s for sure,” one source told the Page Six website, with another adding: “There is some content in there that should make his family nervous.”
Continue reading...The Guardian is attempting to overturn decision that prevented media from attending hearing
A leading judge acted unlawfully by authorising a secret court hearing in which he decided that Prince Philip’s will should be kept secret without notifying the media, an appeal court has heard.
On Wednesday the Guardian opened its legal case to overturn the decision that prevented media from attending the hearing, arguing that it was a serious interference with the principle of open justice.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Dozens of laws protect Queen’s private estates from investigators – but documents reveal allegations of wildlife crime
On a pleasant autumn evening in 2007, a wildlife warden at the Dersingham Bog nature reserve in Norfolk took a friend to see two female hen harriers returning home to roost. But as dusk descended, they were startled by the sound of shotgun blasts.
After the first shot, they saw one of the rare birds of prey “immediately fold and drop out of sight”. About 30 seconds later they heard a second blast – and another harrier fell from the sky.
Sandringham has been investigated for wildlife and pesticides offences against legally protected birds of prey at least six times between 2005 and 2016.
As well as the two hen harriers shot in 2007, police and Natural England have investigated the deaths of a goshawk, a sparrowhawk, a red kite, a tawny owl and a marsh harrier at Sandringham estate and land it owns nearby, with only one prosecution.
In 2009, the estate was given an official warning about the mishandling and unlawful storage of highly toxic chemicals after the sparrowhawk was poisoned.
In 2016, Sandringham admitted it had destroyed the body of a goshawk found dead near Sandringham House before it could be examined by police, which meant no cause of death could be established.
Continue reading...Five ‘areas of search’ in the Celtic Sea could be developed and offered to businesses by 2023
Floating windfarms could be built off the coasts of Cornwall and Pembrokeshire after the Queen’s property manager identified a clutch of sites in the Celtic Sea that could host them.
The crown estate, which generates money for the Treasury and the royal family, has published five “areas of search” that will be narrowed into development plots to host wind power generation.
Continue reading...Call comes as Charity Commission considers investigation into allegations Prince Charles personally accepted cash donations
The Metropolitan police has been asked to consider allegations Prince Charles received €3m (£2.6m) in cash for his charities from a billionaire Qatari sheikh as part of the force’s so-called “cash-for-honours” investigation.
The call comes as the Charity Commission reviews whether it should mount its own investigation into claims Charles personally accepted three donations, reportedly stuffed in a suitcase, a holdall and a Fortnum & Mason carrier bag, between 2011 and 2015.
Continue reading...Analysis: Reports that prince accepted €3m from a former Qatari prime minister again throws spotlight on donations
• Charles given €3m by Qatari politician, according to report
Claims by the Sunday Times of alleged cash donations given to the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund by a former Qatari prime minister are the latest to throw a spotlight on fundraising for the heir to the throne’s charities.
The billionaire Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, who was Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister between 2007 and 2013, is a contentious figure.
Continue reading...Money was passed immediately to one of the prince’s charities, says Clarence House
The Prince of Wales accepted bags containing millions of euros in cash during meetings with a senior Qatari politician, according to a report.
Prince Charles was said to have been given a total of €3m (£2.6m) during meetings with Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar.
Continue reading...Prince of Wales says at summit any move by members to become a republic can be ‘without rancour’
The Prince of Wales has told Commonwealth leaders that keeping the Queen as head of state or becoming a republic is “a matter for each member country to decide”.
Charles made the comments during the opening ceremony of a summit of Commonwealth prime ministers and presidents in Rwanda. He said he believed such fundamental changes could be made “calmly and without rancour”.
Continue reading...Pair are visiting for Commonwealth meeting, after Charles criticised government’s asylum policy
Boris Johnson will have a potentially awkward meeting with the Prince of Wales in Rwanda after the heir to the throne criticised the government’s policy of sending asylum seekers to the east African state.
The talks will take place at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) in Kigali this week. Prince Charles reportedly described the government’s plan to fly people 4,000 miles on a one-way ticket as “appalling”.
Continue reading...British crown estate portfolio rises in value by 8.3% to £15.6bn
The value of rights owned by the Queen’s property company to exploit the seabed around Britain’s coastline has swelled to £5bn after a record-breaking auction of plots for offshore windfarms.
Profits for the crown estate, which generates money for the Treasury and the royal family, jumped by £43.4m to £312.7m in the year to the end of March.
Continue reading...Daughter of Duke and Duchess of Sussex turned one during the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have shared a photograph of their daughter, Lilibet, which was taken on her first birthday during the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations.
Named in honour of the Queen’s childhood nickname, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor turned one on Saturday during the couple’s brief UK visit for the jubilee. To mark the occasion, close friends and family were invited to a backyard picnic at Frogmore Cottage, the couple’s home on the Windsor estate, where they stayed during their flying visit.
Continue reading...‘While I may not have attended every event in person, my heart has been with you all,’ Queen’s statement says
Grant Shapps has said people are “over-interpreting” the boos directed at Boris Johnson when the prime minister attended a service on Friday for the Queen’s platinum jubilee.
People are gathering for a Big Jubilee Lunch on Windsor’s Long Walk as part of the platinum jubilee celebrations.
Continue reading...Guardian photojournalists share their jubilee experiences – including beach, street and park parties from Glasgow to Cornwall
Driving around Cornwall on Saturday, you’d have thought the Queen’s Jubilee had been cancelled. Bunting was hard to find, fancy dress was nowhere to be seen and, due to the grim weather, only a smattering of people braved the street lunch in Falmouth where free Cornish pasties were being doled out.
Continue reading...Analysis: The Queen’s age means a reduction in duties, and succession planning is well under way
As the bunting comes down after the long weekend of platinum jubilee celebrations, many in Buckingham Palace will breathe a sigh of relief that the increasingly frail 96-year-old Queen made it to the extra bank holiday declared in her honour.
But behind the scenes, succession planning is well under way. It was ever thus. There are few other jobs in public life where the incumbent knows who will replace them before they even start, but that has been the Queen’s reality since she gave birth to Prince Charles in 1948.
Continue reading...In Africa, celebrations in honour of the Queen stir nostalgia in some, resentment in others
The jubilee has met with a muted response in much of sub-Saharan Africa, with commentators evoking the troubled history of the British empire, London’s diminished influence and the distraction of deepening economic problems on the continent to explain the apparent apathy.
Buckingham Palace listed 18 official beacons lit in commemoration across Africa last week, and Seychelles president Wavel Ramkalawan described the Queen as “a remarkable global personality whose legacy transcends national borders” who was “loved and respected by the entire world”. But such sentiments are not universal.
Continue reading...Prince of Wales praises his mother’s ability to ‘bring us together’ at Platinum Jubilee Party at the Palace
The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge paid tribute to the Queen – and environmental activists across the world – in speeches at a concert at Buckingham Palace.
Speaking on the third day of a four-day celebration to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee at the BBC’s Platinum Party at the Palace, Prince Charles began his address “Your Majesty, Mummy”.
Continue reading...Pre-recorded segment features the Queen acting opposite the CGI bear, voiced by Ben Whishaw
Paddington Bear was the secret special guest for the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations on Saturday night, appearing alongside the monarch in a sweet-natured video segment.
Just as she did at the 2012 London Olympics, when she appeared with Daniel Craig’s James Bond in a pre-recorded video, the Queen proved a good sport as she acted alongside the CGI bear, voiced by Ben Whishaw, who joined her at Buckingham Palace for afternoon tea.
Continue reading...Monarch recalls ‘little pond’ in Parliament House during newly released video call made in May
The Queen displayed a “cheeky” sense of humour when she met virtually with several Australians of the Year and the country’s governor general as part of her platinum jubilee celebrations.
During the Zoom call with the six Australians, which included the recently retired wheelchair tennis player Dylan Alcott, the 96-year-old monarch remarked on the “splendid” technology which enabled the virtual meeting to take place.
Continue reading...Saturday’s festivities will culminate in an open-air concert for 22,000 people headlined by Diana Ross
Members of the royal family are attending events as the UK marks its third day of platinum jubilee celebrations, with Princess Anne attending the Epsom Derby on the Queen’s behalf.
Buckingham Palace announced on Friday that the monarch, 96, would pull out of attending the Epsom Derby, where she is being officially represented by her daughter. The Queen is expected to watch the event on television instead.
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