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LONDON – A cold alley in central London is a far cry from a palace — but it was the spot Prince William chose to sleep to highlight the plight of homeless British teenagers. ... "I hope that by deepening my understanding of the issue, I can help do my bit to help the most vulnerable on our streets."

LONDON — A British medical journal has published findings saying a mistress of 16th-century French King Henry II may have died from consuming too much drinkable gold. When French experts dug up the remains of Diane de Poitiers last year, they found high levels of gold in her hair. -snip-

The Queen is to hand over a substantial part of her public duties to Prince William to help him prepare for the day when he becomes King, according to a confidential document obtained by The Mail on Sunday. Secret papers reveal that plans to ease the strain on the 83-year-old monarch and her 88-year-old husband, Prince Philip, are at an advanced stage. The disclosures come despite months of denials from the Palace that the Queen was planning to step back from her official work in favour of her 27-year-old grandson. The information is contained in a briefing note written by...

he Queen is to hand over a substantial part of her public duties to Prince William to help him prepare for the day when he becomes King, according to a confidential document obtained by The Mail on Sunday. Secret papers reveal that plans to ease the strain on the 83-year-old monarch and her 88-year-old husband, Prince Philip, are at an advanced stage. The disclosures come despite months of denials from the Palace that the Queen was planning to step back from her official work in favour of her 27-year-old grandson. Stepping back: The move will fuel rumours that the Queen...

The Queen is to hand over a substantial part of her public duties to Prince William to help him prepare for the day when he becomes King, according to a confidential document obtained by The Mail on Sunday. Secret papers reveal that plans to ease the strain on the 83-year-old monarch and her 88-year-old husband, Prince Philip, are at an advanced stage. The disclosures come despite months of denials from the Palace that the Queen was planning to step back from her official work in favour of her 27-year-old grandson. The information is contained in a briefing note written by...

Wait ’til you hear what the event was. Obama had quite a whirlwind day Thursday – he signed the Nobel guest book, huddled with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, met with King Harald V and Queen Sonja, and delivered an acceptance speech after he was formally presented with the prize. He also joined the king and queen at an evening banquet. But he skipped out on several other activities, including lunch with the king, a news conference at Oslo’s Grand Hotel, CNN’s traditional interview with the prize winner and a “Save the Children” benefit concert, where organizers replaced him with an...

Barack Obama has arrived in Oslo to receive his Nobel peace prize amid considerable anger over the White House's decision to cancel a series of events normally attended by the prizewinner. Obama is scheduled to meet the Norwegian prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, and the Norwegian royal family before receiving his medal at a ceremony due to begin at midday. His main speech is scheduled at a banquet tonight. But Norwegians are incensed over what they view as his shabby response to the prize by cutting short his visit. The White House has cancelled many of the events peace prize laureates...

Finally some Europeans are angry with Obama—the very ones who are awarding him his Nobel. Katarina Andersson on the president's decision to decline lunch with King Harald and skip his own Nobel exhibit. A day before President Obama receives his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, the president’s treatment of his Norwegian hosts has become hot news across Scandinavia. News outlets across the region are calling Obama arrogant for slashing some of the prize winners’ traditional duties from his schedule. “Everybody wants to visit the Peace Center except Obama,” sniped the Norwegian daily Aftenposten, amid reports the president would snub his...

AUSTRALIA'S first Victoria Cross winner in almost 40 years has had a private meeting with The Queen. As Australian soldier Mark Donaldson walked calmly out the gates of Windsor Castle yesterday, he looked like any one of a number of the uniformed troops on duty protecting the Queen's official residence. But an observant British local among a small throng outside the gates noticed the distinctive Victoria Cross among other medals pinned to his chest and exclaimed loudly in a Cockney accent, "'e's got-a full deck 'e 'as", and warm applause instantly broke out for the unassuming 30-year-old Digger known to...

As third in line to the Throne, Prince Harry might be expected to dine on the most exquisite food in the most elegant palaces - not chicken and chips in a fast-food joint in Stevenage. But that's exactly what he enjoyed last week, joining a group of Army friends for a low-key meal at a branch of Nando's near their Hertfordshire base. Staff offered to give him the £14.60 meal for free, but the 25-year-old Prince insisted on paying - although he did ask for the 20 per cent discount the chain offers to military personnel. Richard Thompson, the 24-year-old...

The Queen today lead the annual ceremony for Britain's war dead in the first Remembrance Sunday not attended by any veterans of World War I. As Big Ben chimed 11am, the queen joined thousands of troops, veterans and civilians in the traditional two-minute silence. The silence was broken by a single artillery blast and the sound of the Royal Marine buglers playing the 'Last Post'. Each year, thousands of poppies are placed in the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey to remember all those killed by the war. This year the field also has plots dedicated to those killed in...

THE Queen's youngest son, Prince Edward, chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme that encourages participation in outdoor activities, believes that one reason young people are attracted to the program is the possibility that they could die in pursuit of the award. In an interview with The Australian yesterday, the Earl of Wessex, who is seventh in line to the British throne, said the program, established in Britain in 1956 and open to people aged between 14 and 25 in more than 120 countries - remains popular with so many because it offers the promise of adventure and the...

The heavy clay-laced mud behind the cattle pen on Antoine Renault’s farm looks as treacherous as it must have been nearly 600 years ago, when King Henry V rode from a spot near here to lead a sodden and exhausted English Army against a French force that was said to outnumber his by as much as five to one. No one can ever take away the shocking victory by Henry and his “band of brothers,” as Shakespeare would famously call them, on St. Crispin’s Day, Oct. 25, 1415. They devastated a force of heavily armored French nobles who had gotten...

October 25 is fraught with anniversaries. It marks a turning point in European history that was to later provide one of the greatest speeches ever to emerge from the English language and that has inspired millions for over 400 years. We are speaking here, of course, of the Battle of Agincourt that was fought on the feast of St. Crispin's Day in 1415 when young King Henry V and his army defeated the French army under the command of Constable d’Albret and his 100,000 men

Macbeth's castle unearthed in Inverness garden? LOCAL history enthusiasts believe they have unearthed positive evidence that a former King of Scotland maintained a castle in Inverness. Tradition has persisted that Macbeth had a stronghold at Auldcastle Road in the Crown area of the city - hence the name. Now an archaeological dig by members of the Inverness Local History Forum in the garden of the appropriately-named house Dun Macbeth has uncovered what could be the most important finds to date. Some artefacts, including pieces of medieval glass and what are thought to be whalebone and porpoise or dolphin bones have...

When Pope Benedict visits this country next year, he is expected to stay at Buckingham Palace as a guest of the Queen. The warmth of her welcome will come as no surprise to the Pontiff, if senior sources at the Vatican are to be believed. According to informants quoted in The Catholic Herald, the Queen has "grown increasingly sympathetic" to the Catholic Church over the years while being "appalled", along with the Prince of Wales, at developments in the Church of England. The usually well-informed newspaper adds that the Queen, who is the Supreme Governor of the C of E,...

"I wish that you love me," says Patricia, Princess of Cardiff, whose mangled English is one of the few notable differences between her character and the real-life Diana, Princess of Wales. Her would-be lover is French President Jacques-Henri Lambertye — drawn, it seems, to closely resemble real-life former President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing...The florid romantic tale, titled The Princess and the President, might have passed largely unnoticed...were it not for the fact that its author is former President Giscard himself...some newspapers have covered the book as though it might be a thinly disguised kiss-and-tell. "Fiction or reality?" Le Figaro asked in...

I'm writing this in regards to the increasing sexualization of royalty. Ever since Diana the young royals of Europe have been increasingly subjected to the standards usually held by celebrities. Royalty, like celebrity, is expected to be 'hot, young, sexy," and instead of dignified and doing their duty, they are supposed to have excellent PR. They are now supposed to socialize with celebrities, be on their good side, and prove their 'relevance' in the same manner as celebrities do.

Here is a video report on Great Britain's Prince Harry who is about to turn 25 years old, and will inherit his portion of the estate left to him by Princess Diana. It is estimated he will inherit $15 million on Tuesday. Prince Harry has become very popular in Great Britain, especially since his military service in Afghanistan. . . . (VIDEO)

“Kings,” Louis XIV once observed, “should enjoy giving pleasure” and when it came to the fairer sex, he obeyed this precept zealously and often. “They’re all good enough for him, provided they’re women,” his sister-in-law remarked, “peasants, gardeners’ daughters, chambermaids, ladies of quality”; women of every stripe benefited from the Sun King’s sexual largesse. Neither the bonds of matrimony (to the sad, neglected Marie-Thérèse of Spain) nor the intrigues of his “official” mistresses (one of whom, Athénaïs de Montespan, wasn’t above spreading the rumor that a particular rival had scabs all over her body) could deter him from sharing the...

A suicide bomber failed in his attempt to kill the prince who heads Saudi Arabia's anti-terrorism campaign, the first attack on a member of the royal family since the start of a wave of violence by Al-Qaeda six years ago. Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the deputy interior minister, was meeting well-wishers on Thursday when a man blew himself up, a ministry spokesman said. Al Arabiya television showed Prince Mohammed, apparently slightly injured, meeting King Abdullah after the attack. Prince Mohammed told King Abdullah that the attacker was a wanted militant who had indicated he was going to turn himself in....

The Queen won't make a statement about the death of Senator Edward Kennedy, I'm told, although she knighted him in March 'for services to the U.S.- UK relationship and North Ireland' - admittedly at the behest of Gordon Brown. Meanwhile the Prime Minister says fulsomely that the Senator will be mourned 'on every continent'. Perhaps a touch of royal distance over Kennedy is justified. He supported Irish Republicans who murdered Prince Philip's uncle, Lord Mountbatten. The Prince of Wales - who became very close to Mountbatten - once refused to meet or sit down to lunch with the Senator when...

King Mswati III of Swaziland, Africa’s last absolute monarch and ruler of some of the poorest people in the world, has sent his favourite wives on a multimillion-pound shopping jaunt through Europe, the Middle East and Asia, provoking fierce criticism of his profligacy. Britain has been drawn into the row because of the millions of pounds in aid reportedly given to the kingdom, with campaigners accusing Whitehall of double standards. “They shout about Zimbabwe, but keep quiet about what is happening in Swaziland, even though they are one of its biggest aid donors. They are wasting British taxpayers’ money on...

There are few things more annoying than a millionaire socialist -- hearing someone condemn capitalism after they’ve already banked their million. The only thing worse is a billionaire socialist. Folks like Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez make this list. And now add to it Britain’s bonnie Prince Charles. Earlier this month the prince gave a lecture in which he blamed capitalism and consumerism for bringing the world to the brink of collapse and declared that the “age of convenience is over.” He warned that the world has just 96 months to avert "irretrievable climate and ecosystem collapse, and all that...

British Muslim hate preacher Anjem Choudary has called for prosecuting Queen Elizabeth for genocide because “she is the one who applauds her sons and daughters to go out and massacre hundreds and thousands of innocent people.” The preacher, who is not a British citizen, declared that the Queen should be tried for “the extermination of a nation,” the London Sun reported. Labor party Member of Parliament Andrew Dismore responded that Choudary himself should be prosecuted. “It’s about time he was busted,” he added.

Sikh soldiers guard Queen Elizabeth II AP – [Pic in URL] Lance Corporal Sarjvit Singh, left, of The Army Air Corps, and Signaller Simranjit Singh of the Royal … Fri Jul 31 LONDON – Queen Elizabeth II has switched bearskin hats for turbans outside Buckingham Palace, where Sikh soldiers have begun guarding the monarch and her treasures, Britain's defense ministry said Friday. Signaler Simranjit Singh and Lance Cpl. Sarvjit Singh are the first Sikhs to take part in patrols outside the queen's residence and to stand watch over the Crown jewels at the Tower of London across town. Guard duties...

LONDON – Queen Elizabeth II has switched bearskin hats for turbans outside Buckingham Palace, where Sikh soldiers have begun guarding the monarch and her treasures, Britain's defense ministry said Friday.

Thousands of mourners gathered yesterday for the funeral of Gayatri Devi, one of India’s last queens and a former MP who was listed by Vogue as among the ten most beautiful women in the world. Gayatri Devi at Rambagh Palace in Rajasthan Devi, who was Maharani of the northwestern desert kingdom of Jaipur, died in a private hospital on Wednesday after being treated for stomach problems and a chest infection. She was 90. India mourned the death of one of its most glamorous and controversial royals, who was cremated at a state funeral. The Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan called her...

KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 21, 2009 – The Missouri National Guard’s agribusiness team in Afghanistan will get a touch of home when Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals and Fox Sports Network honor them during the Royals’ Aug. 8 game with the Oakland A’s at Kauffman Stadium here. Members of the Missouri National Guard agribusiness development team show off the Kansas City Royals baseball gear sent by the Royals and Fox Sports Network in preparation for an Aug. 8 game at which the Royals and Fox Sports Network will honor them. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....

Britain's Prince Charles warns of climate doom From correspondents in London AAP July 09, 2009 09:17am BRITIAN'S Prince Charles has warned of environmental catastrophe, saying the world must "urgently confront" pressing green issues to avoid destroying "our children's future." Charles, the heir to the throne, warned that today's consumer society comes at an enormous cost to the planet and we must "face up to the fact'' that it was no longer sustainable. He also said that preserving and maintaining the world's ecosystems was inextricably linked to the economic well-being of nations. The prince, who has campaigned on safeguarding the rainforests...

Prince Charles warned Wednesday of environmental catastrophe, saying the world must "urgently confront" pressing green issues to avoid destroying "our children's future." Charles, the heir to the throne, warned that today's consumer society comes at an enormous cost to the planet and we must "face up to the fact" that it was no longer sustainable. He also said that preserving and maintaining the world's ecosystems was inextricably linked to the economic well-being of nations. The prince, who has campaigned on safeguarding the rainforests and is known for his strong environmental views, set out his vision for tackling the threats facing...

Prince Charles: next generation faces 'living hell' unless climate change tackled The Prince of Wales has warned the next generation face a "living hell" unless governments tackle climate change urgently. By Urmee Khan, Digital and Media Correspondent Published: 7:00AM BST 09 Jul 2009 Delivering this year's Richard Dimbleby Lecture, the Prince said: "In failing the Earth, we are failing humanity." Drawing parallels with the global financial crisis, he said Nature was the "biggest bank of all", warning the Earth is on ethe bring of environmental disaster. "Just as our banking sector is struggling with its debts... so Nature's life-support systems...

All Things Considered, June 24, 2009 · Documents obtained by The New York Times suggest members of the Saudi royal family may have provided financial support to extremists, including al-Qaida, in the run-up to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The documents are part of an ongoing legal effort by Sept. 11 families to hold Saudi Arabia and the royal family accountable for the attacks. New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau offers his insight. (Audio at NPR link, above)

Watching Iran's fierce anti-government demonstrations on TV this week, Farah Pahlavi has marveled at how familiar it all seems, and yet how different. The young protesters are the same age as those who drove her husband Reza Pahlavi from power and chant some of the same slogans -- but there's one obvious difference. She hasn't seen a single demonstrator with a long beard, the trademark of the Islamic fundamentalists who seized power in Iran in 1979. ''Look at the faces of the young people in the streets, and compare them to the people who were demonstrating against us,'' says the...

Aberdeenshire, Scotland (BANG) - One of Britain's Queen Elizabeth's gamekeepers has been fined over a dead badger. Robbie Elliot, 45, admitted failing to check a fox snare at least once a day at Birkhall, which is part of the Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and was fined ?450 [$730] at Stonehaven Sheriff Court. A man had discovered the badger in a fox snare - known as a midden - on April 27 last year and found it was still there on May 4. When police were alerted and checked the area the following week, it had been removed but a...

Princes William and Harry spoke passionately today about their desire to serve their country in the armed forces - with the older royal hinting he would like to follow in his sibling's footsteps and fight on the front line. The royal brothers made their comments as they held a photocall for the world's

Queen Beatrix awarded a Dutch commando the country's highest military medal on Friday for his heroics leading an elite military unit in Afghanistan. Beatrix pinned the Willems Order cross and orange ribbon on Capt. Marco Kroon before slapping him on the left shoulder with her right hand to knight him at a ceremony in The Hague. It was the first time in more than 50 years that the medal has been awarded to an individual soldier. It also can be awarded to entire military units. Beatrix said Kroon showed "courage, discretion and dedication" in leading a commando unit in the...

All gray squirrels killed at Prince Charles's estate die humanely, a spokesman for the heir to the British throne said Friday. The prince angered animal rights activists this week when he said gray squirrels, an import from North America, should be regularly culled in Britain to protect forest areas and the native red squirrel. The news that he practices what he preaches at Highgrove in Gloucestershire, his country home and organic farm, added gasoline to the flames, the UK Express reported. Charles' office refused to release details on how the squirrels meet their fate. "We don't poison them or anything...

Sixty-five years after Hitler failed to make Britain’s D-Day effort a footnote in world history, France and America finally realised his dream yesterday. As thousands of British veterans paid their final respects to the men they left behind on Normandy’s beaches, President Nicolas Sarkozy and President Barack Obama presented D-Day – the turning point of the Second World War – as a Franco-American affair Despite months of diplomatic wrangling between London, Paris and Washington, the Queen remained absent from the official commemoration of the 65th anniversary, held at the American cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach at Colleville-sur-Mer. And Prince Charles, without...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- From the moment Barack Obama stepped off Air Force One, his first visit to Saudi Arabia as president was filled with, well, pomp and pageantry fit for a king. His host was, after all, the monarch who presides over the oil-rich nation. King Abdullah staged an elaborate welcome ceremony, showered Obama with compliments, put up the president at his lavish desert horse farm and gave him a gift -- a bulky gold necklace that the king says carries special meaning.

King Abdullah, who is putting Obama up at his lavish desert horse farm, showered Obama with compliments as he handed him the jewellery, which he said carries special meaning. It is understood to be an award called the King Abdul Aziz Order of Merit, the country's highest honour. Though no one confirm, it appeared to be the same gift given to then-President George W. Bush during a stop in Saudi Arabia in January 2008.

Queen Sofia of Spain has given the British royals a lesson in costcutting - by taking a £13 budget airline flight to London. The 70-year-old monarch flew with low-cost airline Ryanair from Spain to Stansted on Sunday to visit her brother, ex-King Constantine of Greece, who is recovering from heart surgery in a London hospital. A Spanish royal source said it was 'common practice' for members of the House of Bourbon to fly on scheduled flights and added: 'King Juan Carlos is the only member of the royal family who always travels on military flights.

President Barack Obama has waded into the row over whether the Queen would attend next weekend's D-Day commemorations in Normandy, and is working with organisers to secure her an invitation, the White House said on Monday. Barack Obama is said to be working on getting the Queen an invitation to D-Day commemorations Photo: REUTERS Robert Gibbs, the president's spokesman, said Mr Obama wants the Queen to be present at the event on the Normandy beaches on Saturday. "We are working with those involved to see if we can make that happen," he said. The failure of the French to invite...

Queen Elizabeth was snubbed by the French and the U.S. for D-Day Events to mark the 65th Anniversary of D-Day. But thanks to the Eisenhower Library - the Queen of England can come to Abilene, Kansas - for the 65th anniversary of D-Day...

This article was sent in by Paul Stanner an English teacher over in China. Please give his site a visit here. Who Has Queen Isabella's Jewels? By Paul Stanner I have a question for you all to ponder today. First however I will provide a little background information.

Barack Obama continues to act out his pathology at our expense. His appalling treatment of British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, could have been written off as simply another example of this administration’s ineptitude. Though this administration is indeed incompetent, Obama also has his own ax to grind with the Brits and lacks the emotional maturity to deal with it like a grown up. Phase One of Operation Ally Alienation was the belligerent act of rejecting Downing Street’s offer to allow the new president to keep the bust of Winston Churchill that had been given to former president Bush after 9/11...

Prince Harry today paid tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks, laying a wreath at Ground Zero, in New York. In a sombre start to his two-day visit of the city, Harry bowed his head and observed a minute's silence after placing the memorial on the fence where the World Trade Center once stood. He was then taken on a brief tour of the construction site before meeting firefighters from a nearby station who were involved in the rescue attempt. The wreath, made up of yellow roses and peonies, carried a personal message signed by the visiting royal....

Queen Elizabeth II will not attend the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in France, even if France extends an invitation, Buckingham Palace said. The queen was not on the initial invitation list and palace officials say even if France issues a belated invitation to next week's ceremony in Normandy, no member of the royal family will be able to attend, The Daily Mail reported Thursday. The government of French President Nicolas Sarkozy this week described the event as "very much a Franco-American occasion," which will be attended by U.S. President Barack Obama. The French said the commemoration would be...

So, let's see. There was that whole World War Two thingie. There was Germany, Japan and Italy on one side. So, who was on the other? I think it was The United States, Russia, and some other unimportant countries... right? One might be excused to assume this is the thought process of the Obama administration as it planned the upcoming D-Day events for the president's European tour that is in the offing because as currently announced, Team Obama left the Queen out of its D-Day memorial plans. And boy is the she torked, not that anyone can blame her. This...