Queen Elizabeth And Prince Philip News: December 2002 - April 2004

[Jenna1186]

Bomb risk to Queen walk

By PAUL THOMPSON
Royal Correspondent

FEARS of a suicide bomb attack on the Queen have forced her to cancel a walkabout.

She was due to meet visitors outside Buckingham Palace to boost British tourism.

But security chiefs have ruled it too risky while London is on high alert for terror strikes.

A source said last night: “It does not take a genius to work out the Royals would be a very significant target.”

A 3ft high ring of concrete was put up to protect Parliament from car bombers. Other tourist landmarks will get similar barriers.

Police presence at Heathrow was strengthened and 150 extra cops were on the streets.

Scotland Yard has armed undercover squads for the first time and given them orders to shoot-to-kill suspected suicide bombers.

Osama Bin Laden’s henchman Ayman al-Zawahiri this week urged strikes on Britons.

From the Sun.

[Alexandria]

www.ibl.se - I think the Queen and Prince Phillip are in Scotland or Wales here. I couldn't resist. The picture is quite funny. What in the world must the Queen be thinking when presented with this goat?!

[paulette]

The picture do look hilarious.The goat is the mascot of the Royal Welsh Regiment. Maybe they would like Queen Elizabeth II to ride on the goat! :P The Queen do look good in her dress. So with Prince Philip he looks healthy in this picture..

[sara1981]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCE PHILIPS !

FROM

SARA BOYCE

[Alexandria]

www.corbis.com - 10/6/03, WINDSOR, BERKSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM ---

1.A bust of Queen Elizabeth ll wearing a tiara made entirely of Lego. The Queen and her husband paid their first visit to Legoland as part of a day touring London and Windsor to promote tourism in Britain. --- Photo by Tim Graham/Corbis Sygma

Who knew you could make a queen out of lego!

2.A bust of Prince William made entirely of Lego. The Queen and her husband are spending the day touring London and Windsor to promote tourism in Britain. --- Photo by Tim Graham/Corbis Sygma

Not as handsome as the real deal!


3.A Lego bust of Prince Philip. The Queen and her husband are spending the day touring London and Windsor to promote tourism in Britain. They started their day at Legoland. --- Photo by Tim Graham/Corbis Sygma


Wonder what Phillip thinks of this?!

4.A portrait picture of the Queen at her coronation made entirely of Lego. The Queen and her husband are spending the day touring London and Windsor to promote tourism in Britain. They started their day at Legoland. --- Photo by Tim Graham/Corbis Sygma

5.A Lego model of the Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Charles watching Trooping the Colour. The Queen and her husband are spending the day touring London and Windsor to promote tourism in Britain. --- Photo by Tim Graham/Corbis Sygma

6.On her first visit to Legoland Queen Elizabeth ll admires the Lego replica of her home, Buckingham Palace, complete with Gold State Coach and Guardsmen. The Queen and her husband are spending the day touring London and Windsor to promote tourism in Britain. --- Photo by Tim Graham/Corbis Sygma

The real Queen at the lego Buckingham Palace. Check out the gold carriage, too!

7.A Lego model replica of the Imperial State Crown. The Queen and her husband are spending the day touring London and Windsor to promote tourism in Britain. They started their day at Legoland. --- Photo by Tim Graham/Corbis Sygma

This is pretty good for lego. But it still doesn't compare to the stunning real deals Danjel, Julia, Fireweaver, et. al. post in the royal jewels thread.

[sara1981]

that cool lego !

Sara Boyce

p.s. Her Majesty the Queen will like it!

[Alexandria]

1.Polfoto 11-06-2003 Britain's Queen Elizabeth II with representatives of The Queen's Lancashire Regiment who presented a Golden Jubilee gift on behalf of the Regiment, at Buckingham Palace.

2.www.ibl.se - Queen Elizabeth at the Queen's Cup, Guards Polo Club, Windsor, Britain. 15 June 2003

3.Polfoto 22-06-2003 Britain's Queen Elizabeth II presents The Royal Windsor Cup to Tony Pidgley, captain of the winning team Cadenza at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor.

[Jalmey]

Queen's Snub to Camilla over Palace

by RICHARD KAY and STEVE DOUGHTY, Daily Mail
27th June 2003

The Queen has refused to pay the cost of fitting out a private suite
for Camilla Parker Bowles.

Her decision, revealed yesterday, shows that a certain coolness
remains between her and Prince Charles over his partner.

It means the Prince will have to fund the decoration and furnishing
of Mrs Parker Bowles's two-room suite at Clarence House from his own
pocket.

The decision that the public purse will not bear the charges stems
from a deep anxiety to demonstrate that Camilla, who remains
unpopular with a high proportion of the population, is not being
treated to a lavish lifestyle by the taxpayer.

It is also a powerful sign that, for all the talk of reconciliation
with her son over the issue, for the Queen, Mrs Parker Bowles remains
an outsider.

Unusually, Palace officials volunteered the information about who
pays without prompting. The news was slipped out as, for the second
year running, the Palace published accounts breaking down the main
areas of royal spending.

A senior source said: "It was an amicable agreement between
Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace, and it was felt the taxpayer
should not pay for the decoration of these rooms."

Two months ago the Mail disclosed that the refurbishment even
included a room to be set aside for Camilla's father, Major Bruce
Shand.

Designer for Princes' rooms

Under the deal Buckingham Palace has met the basic cost of renovating
Camilla's two rooms, including rewiring and plumbing. But it has not
paid for fixtures and fittings such as taps, curtains and wallpaper.

Renovated:
Clarence House

The rooms are part of Charles's seven-bedroom private quarters, which
also include accommodation for Princes William and Harry. Charles has
hired fashionable interior designer Robert Kime to carry out the work
on them, which will cost him £1.6 million.

Yesterday Mrs Parker Bowles spoke at a memorial service for Linda
Edwards, founder of the Osteoporosis Society, of which she is
president. The appearance was a demonstration of her increasingly
prominent public profile and growing status as she becomes more
comfortable in her role as royal companion.

But a major question remains over her relations with the rest of the
Royal Family, and in particular the Queen.

'Unnecessary humiliation'

Friends of Camilla reacted angrily to the Palace's release of
information about the bills, seeing it as an unnecessary
humiliation. "It is extremely odd," one said. "If nobody was asking
questions, why has someone decided to talk about it?" The issue will
revive old tensions between St James's and Buckingham Palace.

Earlier this year Mrs Parker Bowles confided to friends that she
feared she was being "frozen out" by some of Charles's staff,
although St James's Palace flatly denied it.

The Clarence House refurbishment is slated to cost £4.4m, but at
least £500,000 more will be spent on essential renovation in future.
In return for the public money, many of its rooms will be open to the
public in August.

Royal spending released

The spending is part of total taxpayer funding of the monarchy of
£36.2 million last year - a rise of 2.5 per cent.

Alan Reid, the Queen's Treasurer and Keeper of the Privy Purse, said
the annual bill for the Royals to each of the Queen's subjects is
around 60p.

He said: "Efficiency in terms of value for money is important.
However, it is not necessarily our aim to have the cheapest monarchy
possible - quality is also important."

Civil List expenditure - money spent directly on running the Queen's
household - was up from £8.15 million to £9.75 million.

One major increase in costs shows the Queen's determination to
modernise. She spent £182,000 on computers and information systems.

Officials predict that by next year the cost of maintaining
Kensington Palace will be met from rents, as more apartments are let
on the open market.

Only one area of royal expenditure was unaccounted for in yesterday's
figures - security.

It is estimated at up to £30 million, but the Government does not release details.

------------------------------------------------------------

Funny Editorial :P

Aberdeen Evening Express, June 24, 2003

A Simple Mistake?

You've got to pity those poor guards who are getting a hiding over security at Prince William's 21st birthday party. They were faced with a loud person in a beard and a dress blagging their way in for a glass of wine.

How were they to know it wasn't Camilla Parker Bowles?

B

[Jalmey]

Windsor Castle prank - four arrests
29th June 2003
Femail.co.uk

Four pranksters were arrested as they tried to break through security
at Windsor Castle after a night out on the town, say Scotland Yard.

The four men, all in their early 20s, made their failed attempt as
two journalists claimed they had breached security at the royal
residence and just days after a comedian gate-crashed Prince
William's 21st birthday party.

Officers of the Metropolitan Police Royalty Protection unit and
Thames Valley Police caught the men trying to get into the Castle
grounds from the north terrace. They were arrested and taken for
questioning at Maidenhead police station while the area was searched.

Scotland Yard said the three 23-year-old men and the fourth, aged 22,
appeared to have been carrying out "an ill-conceived prank at the end
of a night out in Windsor".

There was no breach of the secure area and the men were later
released.

But police warned the public not to attempt such pranks at protected
locations as they could be injured or arrested and detained.

The Sunday Mirror reported that security was breached again at
Windsor Castle just five days after a stand-up comic gate-crashed
Prince William's birthday party.

Its reporter James Saville and a photographer said they were allowed
into the area around the royal residence in Berkshire without
security checks being made after they told staff they were picking
someone up.

Scotland Yard denied it amounted to a security breach at the castle
and stressed that no members of the Royal Family were inside during
the incident.

Comic Aaron Barschak prompted an investigation into security at the
castle after he walked into William's party last Saturday, later
claiming he kissed the Prince on both cheeks.

[Jalmey]

Royals get upset over Church and parties

Weekend news review

Michael Hann
Monday June 30, 2003
The Guardian

The Queen, reported the Sunday Telegraph yesterday, is not amused. In
fact, she "is 'deeply concerned' by the escalating rift in the Church
of England over the appointment of an openly homosexual priest as
Bishop of Reading". Although she does not feel it appropriate to
intervene, according to the paper, she "is anxious for an early
resolution to the controversy". Do not, however, expect any royal
interference in the appointment. As the constitutional historian Lord
Blake explained to the paper: "The Queen has really no option but to
confirm the appointment of a bishop. It would be inconceivable in
this day and age that she should try to block it."
Royalty was also on the mind of the Mail on Sunday, which split its
news pages between the evil works of Alastair Campbell and the
activities of the Queen's children and their friends. Scoop one:
Prince Andrew is "captivated" by by a "beautiful 32-year-old Texas-
born divorcee", a neurologist named Melanie Walker. Scoop two: "the
real reason why the Queen refused to pay for the refurbishment of the
rooms which Camilla Parker-Bowles will use at Clarence House" is that
she chose the bedroom the Queen Mother had used. A "Palace source"
told the paper: "A lot of people felt the Queen Mother's bedroom
should have been left as it was as a mark of respect." Scoop three:
at a party last summer, Prince William "stripped to his boxer shorts,
performed a raunchy dance routine in a feather boa - and crowned the
party night by diving into a castle moat". None of that would be an
issue had not one of the guests taken photos, which have now appeared
in the Australian press.

From gilded youth to, well, gilded youth. "Britain's top public
schools," said the Sunday Times, "are facing an official inquiry into
allegations that they have been operating illegal cartels to fix
fees". The office of fair trading is to launch an investigation
into "claims that dozens of top schools, including Eton, Westminster
and Harrow have secretly colluded on the amounts they charge". The
maximum fine for price fixing is five years' jail, with a maximum
fine of 10% of turnover for three years. "For a wealthy school like
Eton, this could total £10m".

Also in the Sunday Times, more ignominy heaped on the late Philip
Larkin. Newly discovered tapes reveal, said the paper, that the
poet "spent his final years in an alcoholic stupor marked by a racism
and self-loathing that went far beyond what had previously been
reported". The tapes were recently discovered by a Channel 4 team in
the Larkin archive and include him "singing racist doggerel, urged on
by his long-term girlfriend and fellow alcoholic Monica Jones". One
tape features the couple singing, to the tune of
Lilliburlero: "Prison for strikers/ Bring back the cat/ Kick out the
niggers/ What about that?"

The Independent on Sunday examined the recent cases involving mothers
tried for murder after their babies had died. "A national shortage of
pathologists trained in investigating child deaths is leading to
mothers being wrongly accused of murdering their babies, according to
experts." There are currently only 40 or so paediatric pathologists
in Britain, said the paper. "This shortage has meant that, when
investigating unexpected infant deaths, some coroners are basing
inquest verdicts on evidence provided by forensic pathologists who do
not have paediatric training and who focus instead on foul play."

One possible reason for the lack of paediatric pathologists is "the
decision of many to leave the profession following the negative press
received after the Alder Hey and Bristol hospital scandals, in which
babies' organs were used for research without their parents'
knowledge". Bristol, for example, used to have three paediatric
pathologists, and now has just one part-timer.

[Alexandria]

www.ibl.se - Mandatory Credit: Photo By REX FEATURES Prince Philip was at the centre of a security scare today as he took part in a ceremonial procession as chancellor of Cambridge University. The procession was disrupted by animal rights protesters who are angry at plans by the university to build an animal testing laboratory. One protester carrying a loud hailer was allowed to walk next to Prince Philip along King's Parade in Cambridge. ANIMAL RIGHTS DEMONSTRATION DURING PRINCE PHILIP CEREMONIAL PROCESSION AS CHANCELLOR OF CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY, BRITAIN - 23 JUN 2003 420606/MMP / NAP

[Mandy]

Polfoto 02-07-2003 Queen Elizabeth II accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh as they attend the service of Installation of the Knights of The Thistle held at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh,Wednesday 2nd July 2003. PA Photo: Andrew Parson/Pool.

[Alexandria]

Polfoto 02-07-2003 Queen Elizabeth II attends the service of Installation of the Knights of The Thistle held at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh,Wednesday 2nd July 2003. PA Photo: Andrew Parson/Pool.

[Alexandria]

www.hello.com

All Changes in Royal Household

2 JULY 2003
It seems there's something of a changing of the guard among royal employees, as news broke of the Queen's historic appointment of a female butler and the resignation of Prince Charles' press secretary.

Although the name of the new under-butler has still not been released, she was apparently selected for her "discretion and trustworthiness".

"She got the job on merit," explained a spokesperson for the Queen. "She was the best person for the job and we are delighted."

The newest member of the royal household, who joined its staff just one year prior to this latest posting, previously worked as a warden with the royal collection in the new Queen' Gallery. She will be responsible for maintaining the glasses at state banquets and assisting the Queen's 13 footmen.

Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales was reported to be "stunned" by the resignation of his press secretary Colleen Harris on the day a new campaign to improve his public image kicked off. Mrs Harris, who was the first senior black aide at St James's Palace, announced that she wants to spend more time with her two children aged 12 and 14.

"It's been wonderful working for the Prince, who is a very special person. I've loved every second of it, but I love my children as well," she explained. "There's no scandal and no bad feeling. It's just time to move on. It's been a very difficult decision, but I'm ready for a change. I want a job where I can be a t home in the morning when my children get up and at home in the evening when they go to bed."

Mrs Harris, who has been with the Prince since 1998 and has a reputation for straight speaking, will continue in her post until the autumn.

[Alexandria]

www.hello.com

A Cheerful Queen Hosts Annual Garden Party in Scotland

4 JULY 2003
The Queen and her husband Prince Philip hosted a range of guests at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on Thursday, with members of charities, voluntary organisations and the public sector joining the royal couple for their annual garden party.

Dressed in a mint green frock and matching hat, the monarch animatedly chatted with those in attendance at the traditional July event, as thousands of invitees enjoyed the sunny skies and picturesque surroundings of the grounds.

The day also marked the Queen's return to hosting duties – last year, Prince Charles led the society event in his mother's name, as the Queen was busy touring in honour of her Golden Jubilee.

On Friday, the monarch was set to continue her Scotland trip, with a visit to the World Kendo Championships in Glasgow and a reception in Clydebank.

Throughout the week, the Queen has been attending high profile events in the region, including the Knights of the Order of the Thistle service and the traditional Ceremony of the Keys at Holyroodhouse.

[Alexandria]

www.yahoo.com