Russian hoax raises questions over Sussexes’ security

Royal expert sounds alarm after Prince Harry seemingly duped into thinking he was talking to Greta Thunberg

Russian hoaxers who apparently tricked Prince Harry into offering help to take penguins to the North Pole have raised serious questions over security and screening measures for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as they leave the royal fold, a royal expert said.

Posing as the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and her father, hoaxers Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov managed to reach Harry on his landline at his rented Vancouver Island mansion on New Year’s Eve and on 22 January, it has been reported.

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Duke and Duchess of Sussex receive standing ovation at Royal Albert Hall

London concert for Royal Marines one of couple’s final public engagements as senior royals

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex received a standing ovation at the Royal Albert Hall as they attended one of their final public engagements before they step back as senior royals.

The couple were treated to a sustained round of applause before the national anthem and as they took their seats in the royal box at the London venue on Saturday for the annual Mountbatten Festival of Music.

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Harry and Meghan in first official UK appearance since royal split

Couple appear at the Endeavour Fund awards as they begin final round of public engagements

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made their first official appearance together in Britain since their shock announcement they are stepping back as senior working royals.

Meghan flew in from Canada, where the couple have been living since November, to join Harry as they begin their final round of public engagements in the UK.

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Princess Anne kidnap medal fetches £50,000 at auction

Ex-heavyweight boxer Ronnie Russell foiled attempted kidnap of princess royal in 1974

The George Medal awarded to a former heavyweight boxer for helping to thwart an attempted kidnap of Princess Anne has sold for £50,000 at auction.

Ronnie Russell, 72, punched Ian Ball twice in the head as he tried to kidnap Anne at gunpoint in central London in March 1974.

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Just call me Harry: prince drops titles at Edinburgh conference

Duke of Sussex asks to be introduced by first name only at travel industry event

The Duke of Sussex asked to be introduced as simply Harry as he described Scotland’s tourism industry as being at the “forefront” of making the sector more sustainable.

The prince was speaking at the Travalyst event at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Wednesday.

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Harry and Meghan show anger at palace over loss of royal branding

Sussexes say monarchy has no jurisdiction over use of word ‘royal’ overseas

The freeze in relations between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Buckingham Palace has become apparent after the couple were forced to drop plans to use the brand “SussexRoyal”.

Posts on the couple’s official website suggest they are angry at the way the decision was reached and how they have been treated compared with other royals. A statement on Friday night suggested that a blanket ban on the use of the word “royal” was unenforceable abroad. “There is not,” it noted, “any jurisdiction by the monarchy or Cabinet Office over the use of the word ‘royal’ overseas.”

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Duke and Duchess of Sussex to ditch word ‘royal’ from branding

Meghan and Harry’s non-profit organisation will no longer be named Sussex Royal Foundation, spokeswoman says

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will no longer use the word royal, as in their “Sussex Royal” branding, a spokeswoman for the couple has said.

The spokeswoman said: “While the duke and duchess are focused on plans to establish a new non-profit organisation, given the specific UK government rules surrounding use of the word royal, it has been therefore agreed that their non-profit organisation, when it is announced this spring, will not be named Sussex Royal Foundation.

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School bus stunt urges Prince Andrew to talk to FBI about Jeffrey Epstein

US lawyer Gloria Allred arranged for bus to be driven past Buckingham Palace with message for prince

An American-style school bus has driven past Buckingham Palace with a message on the side appealing for Prince Andrew to answer questions from the FBI about his links to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The stunt was arranged by the US lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents some of Epstein’s victims.

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Prince William and Kate expected to visit bushfire-hit regions of Australia

A formal invitation from the prime minister to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is expected this week

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expected to visit Australia to tour regions affected by this summer’s bushfire crisis.

The trip would be Prince William and his wife Catherine’s second visit to Australia as a married couple.

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No need to fly flag on Prince Andrew’s birthday, councils told

Raising flag would be ‘inappropriate’ after prince stepped back from public duties over Epstein scandal, says MP

The British government has changed the policy of flying flags on royal birthdays, with local authorities no longer required to raise the Union Flag for Prince Andrew.

Officials earlier said they were considering how the policy applied “in changing circumstances, such as when members of the royal family step back from their duties”, according to a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

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The Crown will end after season five, with Imelda Staunton as Queen

Creator Peter Morgan reveals fifth season will be the last of the Netflix drama

The fifth series of Netflix’s The Crown will be its last, its creator and writer, Peter Morgan, has revealed, as Imelda Staunton is confirmed to replace Olivia Colman as the Queen.

Fans of the critically acclaimed show, watched by more than 73m households worldwide, had hoped for a sixth series, which Morgan himself had originally planned. But, he said he believed it was time to stop.

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The Crown must handle IRA atrocity with ‘sensitivity’

Mother of victim urges Netflix to be respectful and truthful as people still grieving today


The mother of a boy murdered by the IRA alongside Lord Louis Mountbatten has appealed to the makers of the The Crown to accurately depict the atrocity in the next season of the Netflix series.

Mary Hornsey said she hoped the drama would show sensitivity in portraying the events of 27 August 1979, when a bomb blew up Mountbatten’s fishing boat off Mullaghmore, a village in County Sligo on Ireland’s north-west coast.

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Prince Charles wishes Palestinians ‘freedom, justice and equality’

Prince of Wales walks alongside Muslim and Christian leaders on historic visit to West Bank

The Prince of Wales has sympathised with the Palestinian people, speaking of the hardships they face and saying he wished them “freedom, justice and equality” in the future.

Charles’s words of support – spoken during his first visit to the Palestinian occupied territories – came as Donald Trump was expected to unveil his long-awaited Middle East peace plan.

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Prince Harry gives emotional speech on decision to step down

Duke of Sussex says he and Meghan had ‘no other option’ than to take ‘leap of faith’

The Duke of Sussex has expressed his sadness over his decision to step down from royal duties in his first public remarks on the move, saying he had taken a “leap of faith.”

Giving a speech at a private dinner in London for his charity Sentebale, Prince Harry said: “Our hope was to continue serving the Queen, the Commonwealth, and my military associations without public funding. Unfortunately that wasn’t possible.”

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The Guardian view on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex: goodbye and good luck | Editorial

Prince Harry and Meghan will no longer be working royals. That should be in everyone’s interests

A centuries-old institution survives not only through the accumulated weight of tradition, but through the ability to make sharp adjustments to its course when it finally realises it must. The British monarchy, by temperament a tortoise, has just put on a turn of speed again. Saturday’s statements from the Queen and the Sussexes will not halt the storm surrounding the couple, but are designed to let the worst of the tempest abate.

Less than two weeks before, Prince Harry and Meghan had announced their untenable desire to partially step back, operating half-in and half-out of the institution. Instead, they will effectively stand down, giving up royal duties and relinquishing their share of the sovereign grant from the Treasury. They will also repay the £2.4m public funds used to refurbish their Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage. In a classic establishment compromise, they will keep the right to be styled HRH on the understanding that they will not exercise it. In theory, this retention would allow them to return as working royals should they change their minds. But while the arrangements are due for review in a year, the deal looks more like a decree nisi than a trial separation.

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Harry and Meghan to give up HRH titles and repay £2.4m

Duke and Duchess of Sussex will give back taxpayers’ money spent renovating their home and drop official duties

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will give up using their Royal Highness titles and return £2.4m to the taxpayer to cover the costs of refurbishing their Windsor home as they leave their roles as senior member of the royal family.

The Queen said last night in a statement that this “constructive and supportive way forward” would allow the Sussexes “to start building a happy and peaceful new life”. In a rebuff to critics of her granddaughter-in-law, the Queen added that she was “particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family”.

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Meghan gets twice as many negative headlines as positive, analysis finds

Guardian analysis appears to support claim Duchess of Sussex receives more critical treatment than Duchess of Cambridge

The Duchess of Sussex gets more than twice as many negative headlines as positive ones, according to Guardian analysis of articles published between May 2018 and mid January 2019.

The analysis – which appears to support Meghan’s argument that she has faced highly critical treatment in the British press – found that of the 843 articles in 14 print newspapers since mid-May 2018, 43% were negative. Just 20% of the articles were positive, with the remaining 36% remaining neutral.

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Prince Harry and Meghan’s UK home being closed down

Reports add to speculation that Duke and Duchess do not plan to spend much time in UK

Frogmore Cottage, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, is in the process of being shuttered, according to reports, fuelling speculation the couple do not intend to spend any meaningful time in the UK in the near future.

Related: It’s not just Meghan and Harry. I’d like us all to escape this dire royal circus | Suzanne Moore

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Prince Harry makes first public appearance since talks with Queen

Duke conducts Rugby League World Cup draw while Meghan visits women’s organisations in Vancouver

The Duke of Sussex has appeared in public for the first time since announcing he and his wife are to step back as frontline royals.

Prince Harry returned to Buckingham Palace, the heart of the institution rocked by the bombshell announcement last week that he and Meghan would leave their senior roles as full-time royals and move part-time to Canada.

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Mail on Sunday could call Thomas Markle in high court defence

Newspaper faces legal action from Duchess of Sussex for publishing excerpts from a letter to her father

Thomas Markle could be called to give evidence at the high court against his estranged daughter Meghan, as part of her ongoing legal action against the Mail on Sunday, after it emerged that the paper’s defence appears to rely on his account.

The Duchess of Sussex is suing the newspaper for breach of copyright, invasion of privacy, and misuse of personal data after it published excerpts from a letter she sent her father complaining about how he was treating her.

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