Category Archives: Queen Elizabeth II

Not in this together: King Charles cuts Andrew loose to save royal family’s repute

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Jettisoning of ex-prince became unavoidable when king’s loyalty to his brother collided with task of keeping public on side

To strip his brother of his titles and to evict him from his home is the most consequential action King Charles has taken since he ascended the throne in 2022.

The defenestration of Prince Andrew, now to be known only as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, and the removal of his cherished privilege of royal status is an act of utmost ruthlessness by a king. Ascending the throne at 73, Charles always knew he would play a caretaker role for the monarchy and so could not allow rot to set into an institution that lives and dies by public consent.

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Rolls-Royce and feather crown among King Charles’s coronation gifts

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Official register reveals presents included £300,000 car from king of Bahrain, as well as trees and a model ship

King Charles received coronation gifts ranging from a luxury Rolls-Royce to a feather crown and two hand-woven coconut leaf hats, according to an official register.

The Rolls-Royce Cullinan Series II, thought to be worth at least £300,000, was given by the king of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. As an official gift to Charles as head of state, the car will become part of the royal mews to be used on official occasions and not for private use, sources indicated. The Bahraini king also gave Charles a decorative clock.

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Norman Foster on shortlist to design Queen Elizabeth II memorial

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Architect who was once highly critical of King Charles is part of team that is one of five finalists for scheme

The shortlist of teams competing to design a national memorial to the late Queen Elizabeth II has been unveiled and includes an architect once highly critical of King Charles.

Five finalists are in the running for what has been described as one of the most significant design initiatives in modern British history, in tribute to the UK’s longest-serving monarch.

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MI5 files suggest queen was not briefed on spy in royal household for nine years

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Documents indicate monarch was informed Anthony Blunt was Soviet agent in 1973, though he confessed in 1964

The late Queen Elizabeth II was not told for almost 10 years that Anthony Blunt, a surveyor of the queen’s pictures and a member of the royal household, had confessed to being a Soviet double agent, previously secret security files suggest.

Declassified MI5 documents throw intriguing new light on how the security services closely guarded news that the art historian, of the notorious Cambridge Five spy ring, had confessed in April 1964, with records indicating the queen was only informed in 1973.

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Cockney influences found in Scotland, Australia and New Zealand, says expert

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Linguistics professor says London dialect is most likely to be spoken in Essex, but aspects have traversed the globe

The cockney dialect, as associated with the late EastEnders icon Dame Barbara Windsor, may not be as prevalent in today’s London, but it remains possibly the most influential English dialect across the world, according to academic research.

No longer the preserve of those born within earshot of the Bow Bells in the City of London, today cockney is more likely to be spoken in Essex.

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Andy Warhol prints stolen and damaged in ‘amateurish’ Dutch gallery heist

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Thieves steal two works after ripping them from their frames as they were too big for their car

Thieves have blown open the door of an art gallery in the southern Netherlands to try to steal four works from a famous series of Andy Warhol screen prints, but damaged them all and only managed to get away with two in the botched heist.

The gallery’s owner, Mark Peet Visser, said the thieves had attempted to steal the works from a 1985 series by the US pop artist called Reigning Queens, which features portraits of the then-queens of the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark and Swaziland, which is now called Eswatini.

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King Charles and royals fail to reveal official gifts for past four years – despite promise to do so

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Royal family had pledged to declare all presents received in an annual list, after several controversies

King Charles and his family have failed to reveal their official gifts for the past four years, despite previously promising to publish an annual list.

Palace officials have blamed the pandemic, the change of reign, and then planning for last year’s coronation for their inability to publish details of the gifts received by members of the royal family.

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Jeannette Charles, actor who played Queen Elizabeth II in dozens of films and shows, dies aged 96

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The lookalike actor who played the Queen for 50 years, including in Naked Gun and Austin Powers films, died on 2 June

Jeannette Charles, the British actor best known for her striking resemblance of Queen Elizabeth II that landed her roles in Naked Gun and Austin Powers, has died at the age of 96.

On Wednesday the actor’s daughter, Carol Christophi, announced her mother died on 2 June in a care home in Great Beddow, Essex.

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Britain’s slimmed-down monarchy has been left vulnerable in wake of cancer diagnoses

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Fewer engagements are being conducted, and possible role of Harry as regent could raise constitutional issues

A decade ago, the royal family notched up more than 4,000 engagements in a year, travelling across the UK and criss-crossing the globe.

The then Prince of Wales travelled to Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Colombia; Prince Harry went to Brazil and Chile and the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh carried out more than 660 engagements between them, including trips to France and Italy.

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Photo of Queen Elizabeth II and family was enhanced at source, agency says

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Getty Images flags second royal photo days after storm over image of Princess of Wales

A second photograph of members of the royal family has been flagged by a global picture agency after it was discovered to have been “digitally enhanced at source”.

Earlier this month, five international picture agencies that initially distributed an image of the Princess of Wales to mark Mother’s Day issued so-called “kill” notices to withdraw it, sparking a huge wave of commentary, speculation and even conspiracy theories.

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First part of The Crown’s final season to be released on 16 November

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Part two of the Netflix historical drama will follow in December

The final season of The Crown will be released in two parts later this year, Netflix has announced.

The first instalment of the historical TV drama’s sixth season will be released on 16 November with part two to follow on 14 December. The series, broadly based on historical events, depicts a fictionalised version of the British royal family.

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King Charles pays tribute to his mother ‘with great affection’ on anniversary of death

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Monarch writes of ‘great affection’ for Queen Elizabeth II and releases a favourite official portrait of her

King Charles III has paid tribute to his late mother Queen Elizabeth II and re-pledged his own service to the nation in a message marking the first anniversary of her death and of his accession.

In a signed message he wrote: “In marking the first anniversary of her late Majesty’s death and my accession, we recall with great affection her long life, devoted service and all she meant to so many of us.

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Number of ‘coronation meadows’ marking queen’s reign tops 100

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Scheme that began to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee in 2012 has thrived, project audit finds

Wildflower meadows planted a decade ago to celebrate 60 years of the late queen’s reign have thrived, with 101 new fields of flowers created since the scheme was launched.

King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, worked with Plantlife and the Wildlife Trusts to launch ”coronation meadows”, identifying 60 species-rich meadows from which to take donor seeds – one meadow for each year of the queen’s reign at the time.

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FBI files reveal plot to kill Queen Elizabeth during US trip in 1983

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Document says man claimed he would attempt to harm monarch while she was visiting California

An FBI file relating to a visit to the US by the late Queen Elizabeth II has revealed a potential plot to assassinate her.

The document, available on the FBI’s online vault, outlines what appears to be intelligence provided to federal agents about a threat to the queen’s life in California 40 years ago.

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Buckingham Palace declines to return remains of ‘stolen’ Ethiopian prince, say reports

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Prince Alemayehu, who was taken to England after his father’s citadel was looted, was buried at Windsor Castle in 19th century

Buckingham Palace has reportedly declined a request to return the remains of an Ethiopian prince who came to be buried at Windsor Castle in the 19th century.

Prince Alemayehu, a claimed descendant of the biblical King Solomon, was taken to England – some say “stolen” – after British soldiers looted his father’s imperial citadel after the Battle of Maqdala in 1868.

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Last remaining Gurkha Victoria Cross recipient dies in Nepal aged 83

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Rambahadur Limbu was awarded Britain’s highest military honour in 1966 for an act of gallantry

The last remaining Gurkha recipient of Britain’s Victoria Cross has died in Nepal at the age of 83.

Rambahadur Limbu was awarded Britain’s highest military decoration by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 1966 for gallantry during an attack on Indonesian troops on the island of Borneo during which he rescued two fellow soldiers.

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Official jewellery gifts to royals worth £80m are not in national collection

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Palace refusing to explain why official state gifts worn by Princess of Wales and Camilla are not in the royal collection

Buckingham Palace is refusing to explain why 11 pieces of jewellery potentially worth £80m that were official gifts to the royal family are not held in a trove of national heritage.

The jewels, which have been worn by Queen Elizabeth II; Camilla, the Queen Consort, and Catherine, Princess of Wales, are not contained in the royal collection, the custodian of culturally significant items held in trust for the nation.

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One’s old china: set of plates fit for the Queen comes up for auction

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The unique service, commissioned by a French king and used only once by the British monarch in 1967, could fetch up to £442,000

A unique set of porcelain dessert dishes and plates commissioned by France’s King Louis-Philippe I, and believed to have been used only once, for a visit by Queen Elizabeth II, is to be auctioned in Paris.

The 98 pieces, embossed in gold and each painted with a picture of a different animal, were found in a dining room cupboard in the Chateau de Sassy in Normandy. They are expecteed to fetch nearly half a million pounds.

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Man caught with crossbow at Windsor Castle admits trying to harm queen

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Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, pleads guilty to three charges including an offence under the Treason Act

A man has admitted trying to harm the queen after being caught in the grounds of Windsor Castle with a loaded crossbow.

Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, pleaded guilty to three charges, including an offence under the Treason Act, during a hearing at the Old Bailey on Friday.

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