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Ladybbird · 06-02-24, 14:47

Prince Harry Arrives in London to Be at King Charles' Side: Duke Touches Down at Heathrow

Meghan remains in flood-hit California with their children - as experts urge him to heal family rift as his father is treated for cancer

MailOnline 6 FEB 2024

Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are seen leaving Clarence House on Tuesday morning

Prince Harry has landed in Britain alone to be at King Charles' side after his father told him about his shock cancer diagnosis, raising hopes of a royal truce.

The Duke of Sussex is believed to have touched down on a British Airways flight to London Heathrow - but Meghan, Archie and Lilibet have stayed at home in California.

Harry boarded the 11-hour flight hours after Charles revealed he was ill.

But the Duchess of Sussex is believed to be at their Montecito mansion with their two children, Prince Archie , four, and Princess Lilibet, two, despite the threat of floods due to extreme weather in California this week.

Harry's transatlantic dash has raised hopes that his return to Britain will be used to heal wounds with King Charles and a chance to reach out to his brother Prince William.

His father is believed to be resting at Clarence House today ahead of treatment, with Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi seen leaving after a visit this morning. It is not known if Harry will stay in central London to be close to the King or stay at Windsor, most likely at the empty Frogmore Cottage .

Experts have said that they hope that Harry's trip to Britain is the 'sign of a truce' and that 'good news' of a heal in the rift in the Royal Family could come from the 'bad news' about the King's health.

Ladybbird · 10-02-24, 11:33

The Princess of Wales is On The Mend....

She has left Windsor for first time since her operation after joining Prince William and their three children for a half-term holiday on the Sandringham Estate

MailOnline 10 FEB 2024

Sandringham Estate

The Princess of Wales, who underwent 'successful' planned abdominal surgery more than three weeks ago, is on the mend.

And, in a clear sign of her improvement, she was able to join her husband, Prince William, and their three children as they set off yesterday morning for a half-term holiday on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where the King is also convalescing.

'Catherine is recovering well,' a friend tells me. 'She was looking forward to a change of scene and will be able to take it easy in Norfolk while the children let off steam with William.'

The Princess, 42, was discharged 12 days ago from the London Clinic, where she had spent almost two weeks.

Since leaving hospital, without being photographed, Catherine has been at Adelaide Cottage, the family's four-bedroom home at Windsor Home Park.

Her children, Prince George, ten, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, all attend Lambrook school a 15-minute drive away in Berkshire. They broke up for a week's half-term holiday yesterday.

Catherine and her family will be staying at Anmer Hall, their ten-bedroom home on the Sandringham estate.

Ladybbird · 27-02-24, 15:11

Princess of Wales is Doing Well Amid Surgery Recovery, Kensington Palace Says - After Prince William Pulls Out of Memorial For The Late King Constantine of Greece at Windsor Castle

King Charles' HOT HOT Equerry' Lt Col Jonathan Thompson Who Became Internet Phenomenon During The Coronation is MOVED to Less Public Role at Buckingham Palace After NOT 'Enjoying' The Attention

Lt Col Jonathan Thompson will now 'help King Charles with his private affairs'

MailOnline 27 FEB 2024

The Kings' GORGEOUS handsome equerry Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Thompson has been moved to a 'less public-facing role' after he reportedly did not enjoy the public attention he had been receiving.

Lt Col Thompson, dubbed 'the hot equerry' on social media, was once one of the late Queen's most senior bodyguards and now serves His Majesty.

He first won over admirers at the Queen's funeral, gaining a legion of fans thanks to his brooding good looks, but shot to unintentional fame during Charles' coronation.

The so-called 'Major Eye Candy' has since regularly accompanied the King and Royal Family and even joined their procession to church at Sandringham on Christmas Day last year.

But Lt Col Thompson, 40, was noticeably absent on Tuesday when Charles had his meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

A Palace source has since told The Times that while he 'remains senior equerry to the King and the Queen,' Lt Col Thompson will be serving in a 'more executive and less public-facing role'.

Memorial Service For The Late King Constantine of Greece at Windsor Castle

King Constantine died in hospital in Athens on 10 January 2023, where he had been placed in intensive care following a stroke.

King Constantine was Prince Williams' Godfather

Constantine II was Greeces' last king, reigning for three years from 1964 before a military coup, and then a referendum, led to Greece becoming a republic.

Born on June 2, 1940, Constantine II was the only son of King Paul and Queen Frederica but had two sisters - Sofia, who served as Queen of Spain from 1975 to 2014, and Princess Irene.

When the new Crown Prince was just months old, he and his family were evacuated from Athens to Crete amid Italian and German invasion during World War II, but they soon had to flee further and landed in Egypt.

While the Constantine's father was brought to Britain by the summer of 1941, Constantine, his mother and his sisters moved to South Africa, where they remained for most of the remainder of the war.

Starting from the age of 15, Constantine served in his country's armed forces while attending the different military academies before studying law at the University of Athens.

His physical ability was proven to the eyes of the world in 1960, when he participated at the Olympic Games in Rome and won Gold in sailing.

The year he was crowned following a deterioration in his father's health, King Constantine married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark and the pair went on to have five children: Alexia, Pavlos, Nikolaos, Theodora, and Philippos.

The youthful monarch was hugely popular at his accession, but that support faded with his involvement in bringing down the elected prime minister George Papandreou of the Centre Union party.

Still widely known in Greece as the 'apostasy' or defection from the ruling party of several politicians, the episode destabilised the constitutional order and led to a military coup in 1967.

Constantine eventually clashed with the military rulers and was forced into exile.

The dictatorship abolished the monarchy in 1973, while a referendum after democracy was restored in 1974 dashed any hopes Constantine had of reigning again.

Ladybbird · 27-02-24, 20:45

Lady Gabriella Windsor, Late Queens' Cousin Mourns Sudden Death of Husband Thomas Kingston, 45

Thomas Kingstons' remarkable life: The hostage negotiator-turned-financier who survived a suicide bombing in Iraq before marrying into the Royal Family

MailOnline 28 FEB 2024

The couple were pictured with King Charles and Queen Camilla in the Royal Box at Royal Ascot in June 2023

When Thomas Kingston married Lady Gabriella Windsor five years ago, it was the culmination of a remarkable life that had seen him defy the norm.

His wedding with the daughter of Princess Michael of Kent at St George's Chapel mirrored that of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle just a year earlier.

But that was where the similarities ended, as the man equipped with good looks, charm, and a healthy amount of good fortune, entered royal life.

Having survived a suicide bombing in Baghdad, negotiate with bloodthirsty militias and equipped with a healthy dose of charm and good looks, some would say he was well equipped to deal with life in the public eye.

His sudden death at the age of 45 on Sunday has sent shockwaves through the Royal Family and brings to an end the incredible life of an 'exceptional man'.

The word incredible doesn't seem to do justice when it comes to describing some of Kingston's experiences in a life that was truly well-lived.

Not a member of the aristocracy, his family came from more humble beginnings - one of his acestors was a former ambassador to Denmark and a great-grandfather who was thrice mayor of Walsall in the West Midlands.

His father, educated at a secondary modern school, was a self-made man after becoming a hugely successful barrister specialising in planning law.

Kingston himself would graduate from Bristol University with a bachelor's in economic history, a degree he would put to good use in his careers.

Sent to Baghdad, he was seconded as a project manager for the International Centre for Reconciliation, which is based at Coventry Cathedral, to mediate in disputes between political, religious and tribal leaders and to negotiate the release of hostages.

A statement on behalf of Lady Gabriella and Mr Kingston's family said: 'It is with the deepest sorrow that we announce the death of Thomas Kingston, our beloved husband, son and brother.

'Tom was an exceptional man who lit up the lives of all who knew him. His death has come as a great shock to the whole family and we ask you to respect our privacy as we mourn his passing.'

King Charles and Queen Camilla have sent their 'most heartfelt thoughts and prayers' to Lady Kingston and Mr Kingston's family.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: 'The King and the Queen have been informed of Thomas's death and join Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and all those who knew him in grieving a much-loved member of the family.

'In particular, Their Majesties send their most heartfelt thoughts and prayers to Gabriella and to all the Kingston family.'

Ladybbird · 05-03-24, 12:55

Princess of Wales Seen in Public For The First Time Since Surgery

Princess of Wales was most recently spotted in public with her mother

SKY Australia 5 MAR 2024

Catherine was photographed in a car with her mother at Windsor as the recovers from a "planned abdominal surgery".

Seen for the first time since December she continues to rest in private following her planned abdominal surgery earlier this year.

Ladybbird · 12-03-24, 03:44

Buckingham Palace: Man Arrested After Car Crashes Into Gates of The Royal Residence

Man bailed after Buckingham Palace gate crash

BBC 12 MAR 2024

A man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and was taken to hospital

A man has been arrested after a car crashed into the gates of Buckingham Palace in central London.

Armed officers from the Metropolitan Police arrested a man at the scene on suspicion of criminal damage, and he was taken to hospital and sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

The force said there were no reported injuries and the man has been bailed.

It added it is not treating the matter as terror-related.

The incident happened at the royal residence at 02:33 GMT on Saturday morning.

In a statement, the Met said: "Inquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances."

On Sunday morning scaffolding, wooden boards and bolts could be seen in front of the gate, with the gold detailing visible behind the boards.

Ladybbird · 18-03-24, 20:36

Earl Spencer on The Pain of Boarding-School Abuse - ‘I don’t think I developed emotionally’

The brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, talks about his difficult decision to write about being physically and sexually abused and the resistance he faced from members of his own class

The Guardian 18 MAR 2024

Charles Spencer as a boy before going to Maidwell Hall as a boarding pupil.

Spencer with his sister Diana and nanny Mary Clarke in 1972.

It was one thing writing about the abuses of his childhood, Charles Spencer tells me, with half an ironic laugh; it’s quite another talking about them with strangers. When we meet in an office at his publisher, he is reeling a bit from this new fact of his life.

The more sensational chapters of his memoir of a deeply traumatic five years at the Northamptonshire prep school Maidwell Hall had been splashed all over the previous week’s Mail on Sunday.

The following morning, he had been a guest on Lorraine Kelly’s mid-morning TV sofa, raking over the painful detail of that long-buried past for the viewers. As a result, he says, apologising if he seems a bit strung out, he’s had two days of thumping headaches followed by vivid nightmares.

The early responses to his book about being sent away from home to be brutalised at school at eight years old have been instructive. On the one hand he’s had a mailbox of emails from fellow survivors, praising his courage in speaking up for the generations of “privileged” schoolboys and girls who, like him, suffered serial beatings and sexual assault in the closed world of boarding schools well before puberty.

On the other he’s experienced the default prurience of the tabloid press, which picked over his book for clickbait (ever since Spencer stood up in the pulpit at Westminster Abbey and blamed redtop journalists for hounding his sister, Diana, to death, he seems to have been considered fair game). The Sun, for example, thought the most appropriate headline for a book about the lasting harm of childhood trauma to be “Di Bro’s sex at 12 with hooker”.

The food writer William Sitwell, a near contemporary of Spencer’s at Maidwell and Eton, meanwhile, blithely dismissed the substance of the memoir in two columns in the Telegraph. In the first, Sitwell branded Spencer a traitor to his class:

“One of their own – an earl, uncle to princes, seriously landed, stately housed, replete with a deer park, fine furniture and fabulous paintings – is dishing the dirt from within…” he wrote. In the second, he argued, bizarrely, that “Spencer has not suggested that, beyond corporal punishment, he or anyone else was a victim of abuse”.

His book was written precisely to challenge that stubborn, unhinged belief among his peers that school regimes featuring daily beatings and endemic paedophilia “never did me any harm”. (Reading Sitwell’s piece I was reminded of an observation by Alex Renton, the journalist who has done much in recent years to shed light on the history of abuse at many of Britain’s most exclusive private schools.

Soon after Renton revealed the worst of what had happened to him as a child, he ran into an old school friend at a party: “Don’t stand near Alex,” the friend warned others present, “he’ll put his hand down your trousers.”)

The affecting power of Spencer’s account lies in its description of the way predatory violence was entirely normalised in his school years. Maidwell Hall was presented to wealthy parents as a kind of term-time paradise for young boys; once the family had departed down the gravel drive, Spencer writes, it became a hellish place.

The awful wound of homesickness was preyed upon by fearful teachers who bullied and thumped and caned vulnerable boys, or insisted on “special” naked swimming lessons; that was exacerbated by a senior matron obsessed with humiliating bedwetters, and a junior matron who molested 10-year-olds and had sex with 12-year-olds after lights out.

“I realised very early on that this was a horribly ugly subject,” Spencer says. “And I made a conscious effort to make the book as smooth a read as possible. As a result every now and then the reader might tread on a landmine and think: what the hell was that?”

The identities of his fellow pupils are protected in the book (the historian in him has given each of them the name of one of King Charles I’s regicides). He names the teachers he knows to have died, including Jack Porch, the headteacher who “retired early” at 51 for 'unspecified reasons'.

Ladybbird · 22-03-24, 18:54

Catherine Princess of Wales, Has CANCER and is Undergoing Chemotherapy

Princess of Wales, 42, bravely announces she is battling disease and undergoing 'preventative chemotherapy' - but reassures nation 'I am going to be ok' in highly emotional and unprecedented video message

MailOnline 22 MAR 2024

Catherines' emotional and extraordinary words in her unprecedented video message

Catherine, the Princess of Wales, announced Friday that cancer was discovered during tests after her abdominal surgery in January

The Princess of Wales has announced tonight that she has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing 'preventative' chemotherapy.

In a deeply emotional video message, filmed at Windsor on Wednesday, Catherine revealed the news had come as a 'huge shock' and that she and William 'have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family'.

It came days after she was seen smiling with Prince William as they left their favourite farm shop close to their Windsor home.

Speaking from a bench surrounded by daffodils and spring blossom, she said: 'It has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be ok.

'As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits. Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too. As is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both.'

Catherine's cancer was discovered only after she underwent major abdominal surgery at The London Clinic in January. Kensington Palace has said it will not be sharing details of what kind of cancer the princess has, or what stage of cancer it is and has asked people not to speculate.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the Princess of Wales has 'the love and support of the whole country' as her cancer battle was revealed this evening and good wishes came in from around the world.

Ladybbird · 10-04-24, 13:08

OUTCRY at Kings’ Plan to Build Ideal Town in Kent -Swallowing Up Historic Villages

Faversham residents up in arms at 320-acre housing scheme that Duchy of Cornwall says will deliver the ‘most sustainable’ homes possible

The Guardian 10 APR 2024

The Duchy of Cornwall has been accused of “swallowing up historic villages into one urban mass” with its proposal to build 2,500 homes in a medieval market town...

The Duchy of Cornwall has proposed to build 2,500 homes on 320 acres of agricultural land in the medieval market town of Faversham, Kent.

Aww... He really looks like he's suffering from CANCER..He just had to announce it, AFTER news was released Catherine was seriously ill with it.

He let it be known when Princess Diana was alive, he was not happy she was always getting MORE attention than HIM

Ladybbird · 22-04-24, 05:12

Historic Moment First Memorial Statue of Queen Elizabeth Unveiled on What Would Have Been Her 98th Birthday:

Her Majestys' four-legged friends are also immortalised and crowd of Corgis attend ceremony

MailOnline 22 APR 2024

The is the historic moment the first memorial statue to the late Queen is unveiled on what would have been her 98th birthday, featuring her beloved Corgis at her heels.

The unveiling was done to the cheers of crowds - and the approving barks of nearly 50 corgis as a delegation of dogs from The Welsh Corgi League were in attendance. The eye-catching seven-foot bronze statue went on display on what would have been the late Queen's 98th birthday with a group of corgis stealing the show.

Over her decades on the throne, the late Queen owned an estimated 30 corgis and dorgis (dachshund and corgi mixes) and perhaps became the most famous Pembroke Welsh Corgi owner in history.

06-02-24, 14:47	#201
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 47,643 Thanks: 27,645 Thanked 14,458 Times in 10,262 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	re: ROYALS: Princess of Wales Recovering & On Hols With Prince William & Children Prince Harry Arrives in London to Be at King Charles' Side: Duke Touches Down at Heathrow Meghan remains in flood-hit California with their children - as experts urge him to heal family rift as his father is treated for cancer MailOnline 6 FEB 2024 Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are seen leaving Clarence House on Tuesday morning Prince Harry has landed in Britain alone to be at King Charles' side after his father told him about his shock cancer diagnosis, raising hopes of a royal truce. The Duke of Sussex is believed to have touched down on a British Airways flight to London Heathrow - but Meghan, Archie and Lilibet have stayed at home in California. Harry boarded the 11-hour flight hours after Charles revealed he was ill. But the Duchess of Sussex is believed to be at their Montecito mansion with their two children, Prince Archie , four, and Princess Lilibet, two, despite the threat of floods due to extreme weather in California this week. Harry's transatlantic dash has raised hopes that his return to Britain will be used to heal wounds with King Charles and a chance to reach out to his brother Prince William. His father is believed to be resting at Clarence House today ahead of treatment, with Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi seen leaving after a visit this morning. It is not known if Harry will stay in central London to be close to the King or stay at Windsor, most likely at the empty Frogmore Cottage . Experts have said that they hope that Harry's trip to Britain is the 'sign of a truce' and that 'good news' of a heal in the rift in the Royal Family could come from the 'bad news' about the King's health.

10-02-24, 11:33	#202
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 47,643 Thanks: 27,645 Thanked 14,458 Times in 10,262 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	re: ROYALS: Princess Kate is Doing Well & King Charles' HOT Equerry Lt Col Thompson MOVED The Princess of Wales is On The Mend.... She has left Windsor for first time since her operation after joining Prince William and their three children for a half-term holiday on the Sandringham Estate MailOnline 10 FEB 2024 Sandringham Estate The Princess of Wales, who underwent 'successful' planned abdominal surgery more than three weeks ago, is on the mend. And, in a clear sign of her improvement, she was able to join her husband, Prince William, and their three children as they set off yesterday morning for a half-term holiday on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where the King is also convalescing. 'Catherine is recovering well,' a friend tells me. 'She was looking forward to a change of scene and will be able to take it easy in Norfolk while the children let off steam with William.' The Princess, 42, was discharged 12 days ago from the London Clinic, where she had spent almost two weeks. Since leaving hospital, without being photographed, Catherine has been at Adelaide Cottage, the family's four-bedroom home at Windsor Home Park. Her children, Prince George, ten, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, all attend Lambrook school a 15-minute drive away in Berkshire. They broke up for a week's half-term holiday yesterday. Catherine and her family will be staying at Anmer Hall, their ten-bedroom home on the Sandringham estate.

27-02-24, 15:11	#203
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 47,643 Thanks: 27,645 Thanked 14,458 Times in 10,262 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	Re: ROYALS: Princess Kate is Doing Well & King Charles' HOT Equerry Lt Col Thompson M Princess of Wales is Doing Well Amid Surgery Recovery, Kensington Palace Says - After Prince William Pulls Out of Memorial For The Late King Constantine of Greece at Windsor Castle King Charles' HOT HOT Equerry' Lt Col Jonathan Thompson Who Became Internet Phenomenon During The Coronation is MOVED to Less Public Role at Buckingham Palace After NOT 'Enjoying' The Attention Lt Col Jonathan Thompson will now 'help King Charles with his private affairs' MailOnline 27 FEB 2024 The Kings' GORGEOUS handsome equerry Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Thompson has been moved to a 'less public-facing role' after he reportedly did not enjoy the public attention he had been receiving. Lt Col Thompson, dubbed 'the hot equerry' on social media, was once one of the late Queen's most senior bodyguards and now serves His Majesty. He first won over admirers at the Queen's funeral, gaining a legion of fans thanks to his brooding good looks, but shot to unintentional fame during Charles' coronation. The so-called 'Major Eye Candy' has since regularly accompanied the King and Royal Family and even joined their procession to church at Sandringham on Christmas Day last year. But Lt Col Thompson, 40, was noticeably absent on Tuesday when Charles had his meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. A Palace source has since told The Times that while he 'remains senior equerry to the King and the Queen,' Lt Col Thompson will be serving in a 'more executive and less public-facing role'. Memorial Service For The Late King Constantine of Greece at Windsor Castle King Constantine died in hospital in Athens on 10 January 2023, where he had been placed in intensive care following a stroke. King Constantine was Prince Williams' Godfather Constantine II was Greeces' last king, reigning for three years from 1964 before a military coup, and then a referendum, led to Greece becoming a republic. Born on June 2, 1940, Constantine II was the only son of King Paul and Queen Frederica but had two sisters - Sofia, who served as Queen of Spain from 1975 to 2014, and Princess Irene. When the new Crown Prince was just months old, he and his family were evacuated from Athens to Crete amid Italian and German invasion during World War II, but they soon had to flee further and landed in Egypt. While the Constantine's father was brought to Britain by the summer of 1941, Constantine, his mother and his sisters moved to South Africa, where they remained for most of the remainder of the war. Starting from the age of 15, Constantine served in his country's armed forces while attending the different military academies before studying law at the University of Athens. His physical ability was proven to the eyes of the world in 1960, when he participated at the Olympic Games in Rome and won Gold in sailing. The year he was crowned following a deterioration in his father's health, King Constantine married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark and the pair went on to have five children: Alexia, Pavlos, Nikolaos, Theodora, and Philippos. The youthful monarch was hugely popular at his accession, but that support faded with his involvement in bringing down the elected prime minister George Papandreou of the Centre Union party. Still widely known in Greece as the 'apostasy' or defection from the ruling party of several politicians, the episode destabilised the constitutional order and led to a military coup in 1967. Constantine eventually clashed with the military rulers and was forced into exile. The dictatorship abolished the monarchy in 1973, while a referendum after democracy was restored in 1974 dashed any hopes Constantine had of reigning again.

27-02-24, 20:45	#204
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 47,643 Thanks: 27,645 Thanked 14,458 Times in 10,262 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	Re: ROYALS: Princess Kate is Doing Well & King Charles' HOT Equerry Lt Col Thompson M Lady Gabriella Windsor, Late Queens' Cousin Mourns Sudden Death of Husband Thomas Kingston, 45 Thomas Kingstons' remarkable life: The hostage negotiator-turned-financier who survived a suicide bombing in Iraq before marrying into the Royal Family MailOnline 28 FEB 2024 The couple were pictured with King Charles and Queen Camilla in the Royal Box at Royal Ascot in June 2023 When Thomas Kingston married Lady Gabriella Windsor five years ago, it was the culmination of a remarkable life that had seen him defy the norm. *His wedding with the daughter of Princess Michael of Kent at St George's Chapel mirrored that of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle just a year earlier.* But that was where the similarities ended, as the man equipped with good looks, charm, and a healthy amount of good fortune, entered royal life. Having survived a suicide bombing in Baghdad, negotiate with bloodthirsty militias and equipped with a healthy dose of charm and good looks, some would say he was well equipped to deal with life in the public eye. His sudden death at the age of 45 on Sunday has sent shockwaves through the Royal Family and brings to an end the incredible life of an 'exceptional man'. The word incredible doesn't seem to do justice when it comes to describing some of Kingston's experiences in a life that was truly well-lived. Not a member of the aristocracy, his family came from more humble beginnings - one of his acestors was a former ambassador to Denmark and a great-grandfather who was thrice mayor of Walsall in the West Midlands. His father, educated at a secondary modern school, was a self-made man after becoming a hugely successful barrister specialising in planning law. Kingston himself would graduate from Bristol University with a bachelor's in economic history, a degree he would put to good use in his careers. Sent to Baghdad, he was seconded as a project manager for the International Centre for Reconciliation, which is based at Coventry Cathedral, to mediate in disputes between political, religious and tribal leaders and to negotiate the release of hostages. A statement on behalf of Lady Gabriella and Mr Kingston's family said: 'It is with the deepest sorrow that we announce the death of Thomas Kingston, our beloved husband, son and brother. 'Tom was an exceptional man who lit up the lives of all who knew him. His death has come as a great shock to the whole family and we ask you to respect our privacy as we mourn his passing.' King Charles and Queen Camilla have sent their 'most heartfelt thoughts and prayers' to Lady Kingston and Mr Kingston's family. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: 'The King and the Queen have been informed of Thomas's death and join Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and all those who knew him in grieving a much-loved member of the family. *'In particular, Their Majesties send their most heartfelt thoughts and prayers to Gabriella and to all the Kingston family.'*

05-03-24, 12:55	#205
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 47,643 Thanks: 27,645 Thanked 14,458 Times in 10,262 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	re: ROYALS: 1st Statue of Queen Elizabeth Unveiled on Her 98th Birthday Princess of Wales Seen in Public For The First Time Since Surgery Princess of Wales was most recently spotted in public with her mother SKY Australia 5 MAR 2024 Catherine was photographed in a car with her mother at Windsor as the recovers from a "planned abdominal surgery". Seen for the first time since December she continues to rest in private following her planned abdominal surgery earlier this year.

12-03-24, 03:44	#206
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 47,643 Thanks: 27,645 Thanked 14,458 Times in 10,262 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	re: ROYALS: 1st Statue of Queen Elizabeth Unveiled on Her 98th Birthday Buckingham Palace: Man Arrested After Car Crashes Into Gates of The Royal Residence Man bailed after Buckingham Palace gate crash BBC 12 MAR 2024 A man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and was taken to hospital A man has been arrested after a car crashed into the gates of Buckingham Palace in central London. Armed officers from the Metropolitan Police arrested a man at the scene on suspicion of criminal damage, and he was taken to hospital and sectioned under the Mental Health Act. The force said there were no reported injuries and the man has been bailed. It added it is not treating the matter as terror-related. The incident happened at the royal residence at 02:33 GMT on Saturday morning. In a statement, the Met said: "Inquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances." On Sunday morning scaffolding, wooden boards and bolts could be seen in front of the gate, with the gold detailing visible behind the boards.

18-03-24, 20:36	#207
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 47,643 Thanks: 27,645 Thanked 14,458 Times in 10,262 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	Re: ROYALS: Princess Dianas' Brother Earl Spencer Talks About His Sexual Abuse at Sch Earl Spencer on The Pain of Boarding-School Abuse - ‘I don’t think I developed emotionally’ The brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, talks about his difficult decision to write about being physically and sexually abused and the resistance he faced from members of his own class The Guardian 18 MAR 2024 Charles Spencer as a boy before going to Maidwell Hall as a boarding pupil. Spencer with his sister Diana and nanny Mary Clarke in 1972. It was one thing writing about the abuses of his childhood, Charles Spencer tells me, with half an ironic laugh; it’s quite another talking about them with strangers. When we meet in an office at his publisher, he is reeling a bit from this new fact of his life. The more sensational chapters of his memoir of a deeply traumatic five years at the Northamptonshire prep school Maidwell Hall had been splashed all over the previous week’s Mail on Sunday. The following morning, he had been a guest on Lorraine Kelly’s mid-morning TV sofa, raking over the painful detail of that long-buried past for the viewers. As a result, he says, apologising if he seems a bit strung out, he’s had two days of thumping headaches followed by vivid nightmares. The early responses to his book about being sent away from home to be brutalised at school at eight years old have been instructive. On the one hand he’s had a mailbox of emails from fellow survivors, praising his courage in speaking up for the generations of “privileged” schoolboys and girls who, like him, suffered serial beatings and sexual assault in the closed world of boarding schools well before puberty. On the other he’s experienced the default prurience of the tabloid press, which picked over his book for clickbait (ever since Spencer stood up in the pulpit at Westminster Abbey and blamed redtop journalists for hounding his sister, Diana, to death, he seems to have been considered fair game). The Sun, for example, thought the most appropriate headline for a book about the lasting harm of childhood trauma to be “Di Bro’s sex at 12 with hooker”. The food writer William Sitwell, a near contemporary of Spencer’s at Maidwell and Eton, meanwhile, blithely dismissed the substance of the memoir in two columns in the Telegraph. In the first, Sitwell branded Spencer a traitor to his class: “One of their own – an earl, uncle to princes, seriously landed, stately housed, replete with a deer park, fine furniture and fabulous paintings – is dishing the dirt from within…” he wrote. In the second, he argued, bizarrely, that “Spencer has not suggested that, beyond corporal punishment, he or anyone else was a victim of abuse”. His book was written precisely to challenge that stubborn, unhinged belief among his peers that school regimes featuring daily beatings and endemic paedophilia “never did me any harm”. (Reading Sitwell’s piece I was reminded of an observation by Alex Renton, the journalist who has done much in recent years to shed light on the history of abuse at many of Britain’s most exclusive private schools. Soon after Renton revealed the worst of what had happened to him as a child, he ran into an old school friend at a party: “Don’t stand near Alex,” the friend warned others present, “he’ll put his hand down your trousers.”) The affecting power of Spencer’s account lies in its description of the way predatory violence was entirely normalised in his school years. Maidwell Hall was presented to wealthy parents as a kind of term-time paradise for young boys; once the family had departed down the gravel drive, Spencer writes, it became a hellish place. The awful wound of homesickness was preyed upon by fearful teachers who bullied and thumped and caned vulnerable boys, or insisted on “special” naked swimming lessons; that was exacerbated by a senior matron obsessed with humiliating bedwetters, and a junior matron who molested 10-year-olds and had sex with 12-year-olds after lights out. “I realised very early on that this was a horribly ugly subject,” Spencer says. “And I made a conscious effort to make the book as smooth a read as possible. As a result every now and then the reader might tread on a landmine and think: what the hell was that?” The identities of his fellow pupils are protected in the book (the historian in him has given each of them the name of one of King Charles I’s regicides). He names the teachers he knows to have died, including Jack Porch, the headteacher who “retired early” at 51 for 'unspecified reasons'.

22-03-24, 18:54	#208
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 47,643 Thanks: 27,645 Thanked 14,458 Times in 10,262 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	ROYALS: Catherine Princess of Wales Has CANCER -Receiving Chemotherapy Catherine Princess of Wales, Has CANCER and is Undergoing Chemotherapy Princess of Wales, 42, bravely announces she is battling disease and undergoing 'preventative chemotherapy' - but reassures nation 'I am going to be ok' in highly emotional and unprecedented video message MailOnline 22 MAR 2024 Catherines' emotional and extraordinary words in her unprecedented video message Catherine, the Princess of Wales, announced Friday that cancer was discovered during tests after her abdominal surgery in January The Princess of Wales has announced tonight that she has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing 'preventative' chemotherapy. In a deeply emotional video message, filmed at Windsor on Wednesday, Catherine revealed the news had come as a 'huge shock' and that she and William 'have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family'. It came days after she was seen smiling with Prince William as they left their favourite farm shop close to their Windsor home. Speaking from a bench surrounded by daffodils and spring blossom, she said: 'It has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be ok. 'As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits. Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too. As is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both.' Catherine's cancer was discovered only after she underwent major abdominal surgery at The London Clinic in January. Kensington Palace has said it will not be sharing details of what kind of cancer the princess has, or what stage of cancer it is and has asked people not to speculate. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the Princess of Wales has 'the love and support of the whole country' as her cancer battle was revealed this evening and good wishes came in from around the world.

10-04-24, 13:08	#209
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 47,643 Thanks: 27,645 Thanked 14,458 Times in 10,262 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	ROYALS: King Wants to Build New Town-Swallowing Up Historic Villages OUTCRY at Kings’ Plan to Build Ideal Town in Kent -Swallowing Up Historic Villages Faversham residents up in arms at 320-acre housing scheme that Duchy of Cornwall says will deliver the ‘most sustainable’ homes possible The Guardian 10 APR 2024 The Duchy of Cornwall has been accused of “swallowing up historic villages into one urban mass” with its proposal to build 2,500 homes in a medieval market town... The Duchy of Cornwall has proposed to build 2,500 homes on 320 acres of agricultural land in the medieval market town of Faversham, Kent. Aww... He really looks like he's suffering from CANCER..He just had to announce it, AFTER news was released Catherine was seriously ill with it. He let it be known when Princess Diana was alive, he was not happy she was always getting MORE attention than HIM

22-04-24, 05:12	#210
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 47,643 Thanks: 27,645 Thanked 14,458 Times in 10,262 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	Re: ROYALS: 1st Statue of Queen Elizabeth Unveiled on Her 98th Birthday Historic Moment First Memorial Statue of Queen Elizabeth Unveiled on What Would Have Been Her 98th Birthday: Her Majestys' four-legged friends are also immortalised and crowd of Corgis attend ceremony MailOnline 22 APR 2024 The is the historic moment the first memorial statue to the late Queen is unveiled on what would have been her 98th birthday, featuring her beloved Corgis at her heels. The unveiling was done to the cheers of crowds - and the approving barks of nearly 50 corgis as a delegation of dogs from The Welsh Corgi League were in attendance. The eye-catching seven-foot bronze statue went on display on what would have been the late Queen's 98th birthday with a group of corgis stealing the show. Over her decades on the throne, the late Queen owned an estimated 30 corgis and dorgis (dachshund and corgi mixes) and perhaps became the most famous Pembroke Welsh Corgi owner in history.

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