Free Republic

UK authorities have clarified its position on VIP transport for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II after a leaked document claimed world leaders would be bussed to London to overcome traffic issues. Joe Biden will not be forced to take the bus when going to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II next Monday, an official spokesman for the UK government has reportedly clarified.

Billy Graham, the influential evangelist who died on Wednesday at the age of 99, used his charisma to spread the word of Christianity to millions worldwide. It also earned him friends among the world’s rich and powerful — even among royalty. Graham, the son of a North Carolina farmer, began his worldwide mission in London in the 1950s, and it was here that he met with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The pair developed an unlikely friendship, visiting one another multiple times over the following decades; on Easter Sunday 1995, Graham gave the sermon in the royal family’s private chapel,...

President Biden may be the world’s most powerful man, but it didn’t ensure him a front-row seat at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in London on Monday. The president and first lady Jill Biden were seated 14 rows back during the service at Westminster Abbey that drew 2,000 guests — including some 500 of the world’s presidents, kings, princes and prime ministers. Perhaps taken into consideration was that the couple was among the few dignitaries who were granted permission to travel in their own presidential limousine, nicknamed “The Beast,” for security reasons. Most other leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,...

Donald Trump mocked his successor Joe Biden for sitting 14 rows from the front at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral – and claimed he would not be seated so far ‘back there’ if he were still president. Trump sounded off on his Truth Social platform on Monday evening, shortly after the Queen was laid to rest in the UK. Trump posted an image highlighting Biden’s position behind more than a dozen rows. ‘This is what’s happened to America in just two short years. No respect! However, a good time for our President to get to know the leaders of certain Third...

Come Holy Spirit, fill us with the balm of your healing love. Amen. The pattern for many leaders is to be exalted in life and forgotten after death. The pattern for all who serve God – famous or obscure, respected or ignored – is that death is the door to glory. Her Late Majesty famously declared on a 21st birthday broadcast that her whole life would be dedicated to serving the Nation and Commonwealth. Rarely has such a promise been so well kept! Few leaders receive the outpouring of love that we have seen. Jesus – who in our reading...

Known for her pageantry as a royal queen, her exemplary leadership, and her public statements of faith in Jesus Christ, Queen Elizabeth even developed a friendship founded in faith with the late American evangelist Billy Graham. In The Queen's Christmas Message from 2000, she said, "For me, the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life... I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example." A rainbow appeared as people gathered outside Buckingham Palace in London, Sept. 8,...

Morning show host Jenna Bush Hager said Monday she had a "lovely" dinner with then-Prince Charles the night before Queen Elizabeth II died, adding that she thought that the timing of his mother’s passing was likely a "surprise" to him. "It was a lovely meal," Bush Hager, the daughter of former President George W. Bush, said on her show "Today with Hoda & Jenna." The journalist had flown to Scotland to meet with Camilla, then-Duchess of Cornwall, to discuss her book club. The interview, which had been a year in the planning, was scheduled to happen on Thursday afternoon, just...

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Alice Frazier welcomes everybody into her home with a big hug and an offer of some food, maybe her famous potato salad. On Wednesday, Queen Elizabeth II came calling. She declined the potato salad, but got the hug anyway. Even touching Queen Elizabeth II is a breach of protocol, according to the people who keep up with those things. ″She didn’t say anything,″ Mrs. Frazier, 67, said in a post-hug interview.

Ex-Sex Pistol John Lydon went by Johnny Rotten during the 1970s golden age of punk and famously gave angry, snarled voice to the era’s anti-monarchist sentiment with the band’s scabrous musical indictment “God Save the Queen.” Times — and Johnny — have changed. Today Lydon released a short and very sweet statement to honor Queen Elizabeth II, who died Thursday. “Rest in Peace Queen Elizabeth II,” Lydon wrote on his website and in a tweet. “Send her victorious.” He accompanied the message with a classic Cecil Beaton portrait of the Queen, sans the safety pin piercing that became an iconic...

She passed.

The Queen is under medical supervision after doctors became concerned for her health, Buckingham Palace revealed today, as Prince Charles, Camilla and Prince William raced to Balmoral to be with her. Her Majesty's immediate family members have been informed about the downturn, leading to her two main heirs going to her bedside amid escalating fears for the monarch's wellbeing. A royal spokesman said: 'Following further evaluation this morning, The Queen's doctors are concerned for Her Majesty's health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision. The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral.'

Twenty years after Queen Elizabeth II requested The Star-Spangled Banner be played outside Buckingham Palace in solidarity with the United States, a day after 9/11, the U.S. anthem played once again in Britain. The U.S. national anthem was played outside Windsor Castle at the Changing of the Guard ceremony Saturday. The Queen broke with tradition by requesting the anthem be played by the Guard outside Buckingham Palace, the day after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. After the United States, the United Kingdom lost the most citizens on 9/11, with 67 killed. America’s representative in the U.K. thanked the monarch for...

A convicted murderer who helped to stop the London Bridge terror attack last November will have his sentence cut after the Queen intervened. Steven Gallant, 42, was on day release at an event for reformed prisoners in Fishmongers' Hall when Usman Khan began his attack. Gallant, armed only with a Narwhal tusk, helped to restrain Khan, who was wearing a fake suicide vest and was armed with two knives.

Meghan Markle received stern words from the Queen following a row over egg, a royal author has claimed. The Duchess of Sussex, 37, travelled to Windsor Castle ahead of her wedding to Prince Harry, 34, last May to test some of the food that was going to be served at the reception. Author Katie Nicholl told how the former actress had insisted on there being a 'macrobiotic alternative' for some of the Hollywood star guests who follow the diet which derives from Zen Buddhism. She told Yahoo's Royal Box: '[Meghan] got very upset when she felt that she could taste...

Marvelous footage. Like Iran and Afghanistan, Pakistan was at one point just over the cusp of modernity before the Sharia effect.

The Queen is marking her Diamond Jubilee this year and celebrations reach a peak in early June with a four-day weekend of events, between Saturday 2 and Tuesday 5 June.

US Fed to consider more stimulus as recovery slows The US Federal Reserve policy makers may have to start weighing additional steps to boost the recovery after growth fell below 1% in 1-H of this year, as economists cut 2-H growth forecasts. The FOMC will meet August 9 in Washington after the government marked down its measure of economic growth to annual rates of 0.4% in Q-1 and 1.3% in Q-2, casting doubt on the Fed’s June outlook of 2.7 to 2.9% growth for this year. A gauge of US manufacturing, a main engine for the expansion in the USA,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve launched an unorthodox new policy on Wednesday, committing to buy $600 billion more in government bonds by the middle of next year in an attempt to breathe new life into a struggling U.S. economy. The decision, which takes the Fed into largely uncharted waters, is aimed at further lowering borrowing costs for consumers and businesses still suffering in the aftermath of the worst recession since the Great Depression. The U.S. central bank said it would buy about $75 billion in longer-term Treasury bonds per month as part of the new program. It said it...

The President and the First lady spent the weekend in Washington. On Saturday the President went for a bike ride and encouraged fellow Americans to exercise. On Sunday he talked about the weekend's devastating storms after attending services at Saint John's Church with the First Lady. Today he welcomed Queen Elizabeth II to the White House during which they inspected the troops and afterwards the Queen and President Bush went on of her customodary walkabouts and met with local school children and students outside the White House. This evening the President held a State Dinner at the White House in...

Prince Charles wants to be crowned King in a multi-faith coronation service in a dramatic break with tradition, it is claimed. The Prince is said to have decided that the Christian service in Westminster Abbey must be followed by a separate ceremony involving religious leaders from other faiths. Held in the ancient Westminster Hall inside the Palace of Westminster, the service would attempt to give room to Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Sikh beliefs as well as other Christian denominations. Prince Charles believes reforms to the coronation are vital to reflect the changes in British society that have taken place since...