Free Republic

Queen Elizabeth II had opinions on all sorts of subjects; it was just that she chose not to share them. Or, more accurately, she did sometimes share them, but those who heard were usually too discreet to repeat them. As George Osborne says, “I was constantly astonished by how candid she was and that none of this ever came out. She’d be very forthright in telling you what she thought of individuals, including members of her own family, and what she thought about things going on in the country.” Another politician tells how the Queen once mentioned over drinks that...

Prince Harry announced his first job in the corporate world today by revealing he had taken an executive position at a Silicon Valley start-up that claims to be worth $1.7billion. The Duke of Sussex will be 'chief impact officer' at mental health services business BetterUp, where he will help promote an app used by corporate giants including Hilton, Facebook and oil firm Chevron to improve the wellbeing of their staff.

NEW YORK. - Poet and short story writer Grace Paley, a literary eminence and old-fashioned rebel who described herself as a "combative pacifist," has died. She was 84. Paley, who had battled breast cancer, died Wednesday at her home in Thetford Hill, Vt., according to her husband, playwright Robert Nichols. "She was a great writer," said Jonathan Galassi, president of Farrar Straus & Giroux, which is about to publish a book of new Paley poetry. "Her sense of the vernacular of the particular world she came from was just wonderful. She was able to capture the humor and pathos in...