Buckingham Palace release a new photograph of the royal couple ahead of his birthday
Prince Philip, the Queen’s husband, will mark his 99th birthday on Wednesday, with the royal couple still in lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Queen, 94, and her husband of 72 years are maintaining social distancing rules at Windsor castle, west of London, because their age puts them in a high-risk category for Covid-19.
Continue reading...Historian Jenny Hocking wins landmark case after campaigning for release of secret letters between monarch and then Australian governor general Sir John Kerr
The historian Jenny Hocking has won a landmark high court case in her bid to secure sensitive correspondence between the Queen and former Australian governor general Sir John Kerr about the dismissal of Gough Whitlam.
The high court on Friday ruled that the commonwealth was wrong to withhold the so-called “palace letters”, a series of more than 200 exchanges between the Queen, her private secretary and Kerr, the then-governor general, in the lead-up to the 1975 dismissal of Whitlam, the then-Australian prime minister.
Continue reading...Televised broadcast includes extracts from Churchill’s historic victory speech
The Queen led tributes to the wartime generation on Friday night, recalling the “never give up, never despair” message of VE Day as the country marked the 75th anniversary of victory in Europe.
In a special broadcast, on a unique day of remembrance, reflection and celebration taking place during the coronavirus lockdown, she said: “Today it may seem hard that we cannot mark this special anniversary as we would wish. Instead we remember from our homes and our doorsteps.
Continue reading...Latest updates as Europe marks 75 years since official surrender of Nazi Germany to Allied forces
A picture from VE Day celebrations at Holly House residential home in the village of Milton Malsor in South Northamptonshire.
Naeha Menon from Holly House said:
We went into lockdown on March 9th to stop our residents getting coronavirus, and with the support of our great staff we remain covid free, but taking precautions to ensure everyone can celebrate happily and safely.
Footage of Prince Charles reading an extract from his grandfather George VI’s diary entry for 8 May 1945, has been broadcast to mark VE Day 75.
The extract reads:
The Prime Minister came to lunch. We congratulated each other on the end of the European War. The day we have been longing for has arrived at last, & we can look back with thankfulness to God that our tribulation is over.
No more fear of being bombed at home & no more living in air raid shelters. But there is still Japan to be defeated & the restoration of our country to be dealt with, which will give us many headaches & hard work in the coming years…
“The day we have been longing for has arrived at last.”
The Prince of Wales reads an extract from his grandfather King George VI’s diary which describes The King’s experience of #VEDay on 8th May 1945.#VEDay75 pic.twitter.com/Rx0bsrh0SI
Video comes on low-key day without usual gun salutes as Queen isolates during coronavirus lockdown
The royal family’s Twitter account has posted private behind-the-scenes footage of the Queen as a child in tribute for her 94th birthday.
It showed her as a toddler in a push-chair, and playing with sister Princess Margaret as a child. She is seen learning to ride, gardening with her mother, and dancing onboard a yacht.
Continue reading...The Queen has given an Easter message to reassure the people of the UK that this pandemic can be beaten. The monarch’s speech is said to be her contribution to those marking the occasion at home.
Continue reading...Monarch’s speech is said to be her contribution to those marking occasion at home
The Queen has sought to reassure the nation that “coronavirus will not overcome us” in her first Easter audio message.
The monarch, who is supreme governor of the Church of England, acknowledged this Easter would be different but said “by keeping apart we keep others safe”. She said “Easter is not cancelled” and the “new hope and fresh purpose” of the festival was needed more than ever.
Continue reading...Monarch’s rare non-festive TV address delivered the clear moral leadership that many politicians have failed to provide
Now we know just how serious things are. The UK has just wheeled out its biggest gun. The Queen has only ever given an unscheduled TV address to the nation on four previous occasions, either when the nation or the royal family itself was under threat. And as sure as hell Her Majesty wasn’t about to update us on Prince Andrew handing himself over to the FBI or Harry and Meghan’s ongoing flat hunting nightmare; this could only mean the country was in a coronavirus crisis.
Keeping one hand firmly clasped around her wrist and her body a safe distance from a lone BBC cameraman dressed in a hazmat suit – there’s no shortage of personal protective equipment in Windsor Castle – the Queen, interspersed with footage of NHS workers and the wider general public, spoke to the country from her study. Wisely, she kept it short and sweet. This wasn’t a Christmas message when half the country would be pissed and the other half wouldn’t be listening. Now every sentence would be picked over and every word would count.
Continue reading...The Queen has praised Britain’s 'national spirit' in facing the challenge of coronavirus as she evoked wartime memories to reassure those 'feeling a painful sense of separation from their loved ones' to take comfort in the fact: 'We will meet again.'
Continue reading...In a special broadcast, the monarch said we will overcome the coronavirus crisis if we ‘remain united and resolute’
The Queen has praised Britain’s “national spirit” in facing the challenge of coronavirus as she evoked wartime memories to reassure those “feeling a painful sense of separation from their loved ones” to take comfort in the fact: “We will meet again.”
In only the fifth special televised broadcast, other than Christmas messages, of her long reign, she said: “While we have faced challenges before, this one is different. This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour, using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal.”
Continue reading...In a rare TV broadcast, the monarch will praise public efforts and thank the NHS and other frontline workers
The Queen will praise the nation for its “self-discipline” and “resolve” during the coronavirus pandemic in a rare televised address broadcast on Sunday night.
In what is described as a “deeply personal” message, she will reflect on her own experience in other difficult times during the broadcast at 8pm. It was filmed under strict measures to protect the monarch, who will be 94 this month.
Continue reading...Cancellations of public events are radical departure for the monarch. Even Trooping the Colour is in doubt
The Queen has cancelled her public engagements due to a national crisis for the first time in her 68-year-reign.
Royal watchers said it was unprecedented for the Queen to call off her two public engagements later this month and to review future diary commitments. The move came as the government formally moved from the “contain” to the “delay” stage of the coronavirus “battle plan”.
Continue reading...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.”
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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”.
Continue reading...As royals including Harry return to engagements, aides counter reports Meghan barred from talks
The Duchess of Sussex did not take part in the Queen’s Sandringham summit to decide future roles for herself and Prince Harry, it has emerged, as the remaining full-time working royals returned to their round of official engagements.
Before Monday’s crisis family meeting, sources had indicated Meghan was likely to be personally involved in the urgent discussions precipitated by the couple’s shock announcement that they intended to “step back” from frontline royal duties.
Continue reading...She agreed to a ‘period of transition’ and stressed the Sussexes remain ‘a valued part of my family’
The Queen has given her reluctant blessing to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to split their time between the UK and Canada, making it clear that though she had wanted the couple to remain as full-time working royals, she supported their decision.
After a historic summit of senior royals at Sandringham, details over exactly how Harry and Meghan will carve out the new “progressive” roles they seek remained unclear. The Queen has, however, agreed to a “period of transition” and stressed the couple remain “a valued part of my family”.
Continue reading...Monarch says she ‘would have preferred’ couple to remain full-time working royals as day of Sandringham talks concludes
Buckingham Palace has just released the following statement from the Queen:
Today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family.
My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family. Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.
Reports are coming in from correspondents at Sandringham that the royals have left the estate.
The meeting is over. The senior Royals have been seen leaving Sandringham.
We await news ...#HarryandMeghan
Charles, Harry and William have all been photographed leaving Sandringham separately #SandringhamSummit
Continue reading...The Queen, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex to meet at Sandringham on Monday
The Queen has summoned senior royals to an emergency summit at her Sandringham estate in Norfolk on Monday to discuss the future of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The meeting, to be attended by the Queen, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex, will be the first time the four have met since the Sussex crisis exploded on Wednesday.
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