As Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 60th year on the throne, the Telegraph takes a look back at Britain’s only other royal Diamond Jubilee
Here’s an early look at some of next month’s new royalty books. As always, publication dates are subject to change.
Catherine of Aragon by Patrick Williams. The tragic story of Henry VIII’s first unfortunate wife.
The Boleyns by David Loades. The rise and fall of Anne Boleyn and her family.
Queen Elizabeth II: A Diamond Jubilee Souvenir Album by Jane Roberts. A biography in photographs with 300 full-color illustrations.
The Prince’s Speech: On the Future of Food by HRH the Prince of Wales. A 2011 speech by Prince Charles about the growing global food shortage.
Conquest: The English Kingdom of France, 1417-1450 by Juliet Barker. Henry V launched a campaign that would put the crown of France on an English head. Only a peasant girl, Joan of Arc, could halt the English advance.
The Crimes of Elagabalus by Martijn Icks. The life and legacy of Rome’s decadent boy emperor.
King Peggy by Peggielene Bartels and Eleanor Herman. Written by an American secretary who suddenly found herself king of a village in Ghana.
The full list will be published on the Royalty.nu Books page on February 1.
If I could only read one of the books listed above, I think I might pick The Crimes of Elagabalus because I know almost nothing about him, and it looks interesting. Which book would you choose?
Note: This article is from the Guardian.
This article titled “Royal Ascot pins down hat guidelines” was written by Ben Quinn, for The Guardian on Wednesday 18th January 2012 01.35 UTCIt is a centrepiece of Britain’s social calendar, a place where pageantry, fashion and thoroughbred animals have come to be part of the mix since Queen Anne first saw its potential as a racecourse 300 years ago.
Yet after organisers at Royal Ascot decided that sartorial standards have been on the slide in recent times, not even her descendents are being spared a clampdown that could end the wearing of fascinators in the royal enclosure.
The item of headgear, often favoured by the Duchess of Cambridge, is under threat as part of a move to tighten and clarify the dress code at the annual summer event, which also happens to be the Queen’s favourite race meet.
Nick Smith, a spokesman for Ascot, said: “It is stretching a point to say standards have collapsed but there is no doubt that our customers would like to get back to a situation where it is universally acknowledged that this is a formal occasion and not an occasion where you might dress as you would at a nightclub.
“It is probably fair to say that the dress code hasn’t necessarily been enforced quite as rigorously as we might have liked.”
Along with the royals, thousands of visitors who flock to the less formal grandstand enclosure during the week-long meet in June will also be obliged to adhere to strict new guidelines. The less formal Silver Ring is not expected to be affected by the changes.
A new dress code states: “Hats should be worn; a headpiece which has a base of four inches (10cm) or more in diameter is acceptable as an alternative to a hat.”
Women will also be expected to wear skirts or dresses of “modest length” that fall just above the knee or longer.
This clarifies previous guidance which stated that miniskirts were “considered unsuitable”.
For men, a waistcoat and tie are now compulsory in this area of the course and cravats will not be allowed. Black shoes must also be worn with morning dress.
Although rules on the wearing of fascinators in the royal enclosure will be tightened, a hat or fascinator will be compulsory for women in the grandstand, which is open to the public and subject to less stringent rules.
The move comes amid criticism of sartorial standards, often led by some press coverage bemoaning the supposed display of too much flesh at race meets, and marks a significant change to previous years, when female race-goers were advised that “many ladies wear hats”.
Strapless or sheer-strap tops and dresses will be banned. For men, a suit and tie will now be imperative.
Charles Barnett, Ascot’s chief executive, said the overarching intention was to be “as helpful as possible” to visitors and to assist racegoers in understanding what is “cherished” about the dress code at Royal Ascot. “It isn’t a question of elitism and not being modern in a world where there is less and less requirement to dress smartly – far from it,” he said.
“We want to see modern and stylish dress at Royal Ascot, just within the parameters of formal wear, and the feedback we have received from our customers overwhelmingly supports that.”
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Note: This article is from the Guardian.
The Daily Mail receives up to 400 pictures of Pippa Middleton a day from picture agencies and freelance photographers, the paper’s picture editor has told the Leveson inquiry.
Pippa Middleton has been the subject of intense media attention since she was bridesmaid at her sister Kate’s wedding to Prince William in April last year. Live coverage of the event was broadcast around the world.
However, Paul Silva said that since the royal wedding the Daily Mail does not use the avalanche of photos it receives from outside suppliers, as there is “no reason, no justification” for publishing pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister every time she leaves her house to go for a coffee.
Silva told Lord Justice Leveson on Wednesday that the paper has adopted a policy of not using pictures of Middleton going about her everyday business.
“There is no reason to photograph her when she is out and about doing her own thing,” he said. “At the moment there are nine or 10 agencies outside her house [on any given day]. If she goes to get coffee, she goes back into her house, we get 300 to 400 pictures … There is no justification for using them.”
Silva added that the Daily Mail does use pictures of Middleton if she attends an event at which permission has been given for photographs to be taken.
He was also asked by the counsel to the inquiry, Robert Jay QC, why the paper sent photographers to the house of Ting Lan Hong, the mother of Hugh Grant’s child, in the autumn.
Hong took out an injunction in November claiming to have been harassed by photographers following the birth of her daughter. In a written judgment on the high court judge’s reasons for granting the injunction, Hong said there were sometimes as many as 10 or more people camped outside her house and she was pursued when she went out in her car.
Speaking of the period before the injunction was granted, Silva replied that the birth was in the public domain after an agent confirmed it.
“There was no inclination in that statement that there was a privacy problem or a problem ahead. A story breaks, we then go to their home, we ask them to pose up, if they say no we’ll move on and go away,” Silva said. “It was a major showbiz story of great interest to our readers.”
He added that “in an ideal world it would have been nice if Hugh issued a picture” so that the paper did not have to send its own photographer.
Later, when it became clear the Grant and Hong were upset about the photographers outside the house, Silva said the Daily Mail’s staff photographer was given instructions to move down the road, some way away from the residence.
Jay asked why the Mail did not go through the “proper channels” and wait for the green light from Grant before sending a photographer to his house. Silva replied: “That’s the way we’ve done it for years.”
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From Vanity Fair, an interview with Sally Bedell Smith, author of a new biography of Queen Elizabeth II.
Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch is available from Amazon.
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