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  1. #851
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    david44's Avatar
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    Give em Chuck and tampon Tilly, with bonus "Handy Andy" as full and final reparations, a win win for all.

  2. #852
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    Why are former French colonies joining the Commonwealth? Weird.

  3. #853
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    Has he stumped up the inheritance tax so it can go into a system such as the NHS, or donated the amount to different British charities already?

  4. #854
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    King Charles and Queen Camilla Arrive in Samoa For Commonwealth Summit


    __________

    Britain's King Charles to be offered high chief title in Samoa

    Britain's King Charles will be offered the title of high chief in Samoa in a three-day visit starting Wednesday and will be shown the impact of rising sea levels due to climate change in the Pacific island nation.

    Lenatai Victor Tamapua, a Samoan chief and member of parliament, said he planned to offer the title of 'Tui Taumeasina' to the monarch during a traditional ceremonial welcome to Charles and Queen Camilla on Thursday.

    He will later lead Charles through a walkway on a mangrove reserve highlighting the impact of climate change on the Pacific nations and its communities.

    "The king tide today is about twice that it was 20, 30 years ago, and that is affecting our land, and it's eating away at some of the areas that are so hard for us to control, and people (have to) move inwards, inland now," Tamapua said.

    Charles has spent a lifetime campaigning on environmental issues and in 2020 described global warming and climate change as the greatest threat that humanity has faced.

    The offer of a high chief title for Charles comes after he was accused of "genocide" by an Australian Indigenous senator at Parliament House in Canberra during the monarch's six-day visit to Australia which concluded on Wednesday.

    The Australian royal tour was Charles' inaugural visit to an overseas realm as sovereign, his first major foreign trip since being diagnosed with cancer, and his first visit by a British monarch to Australia in 13 years.

    Charles is head of state in Australia, New Zealand and 12 other Commonwealth realms outside the United Kingdom, although the role is largely ceremonial.

    He is also the symbolic head of the Commonwealth and is travelling to Samoa, his first to the island of around 200,000 people, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. He is expected to leave Samoa on Saturday morning.

    Over half of the Commonwealth's members are small states, many of them Pacific island nations facing the threat of rising sea levels caused by climate change. The leaders are expected to make a declaration on protecting the ocean, with climate change a key topic for discussion.

    Britain has said it will not bring the issue of reparations for historical transatlantic slavery, demanded by Caribbean countries, to the table at CHOGM, but is open to engage with leaders who want to discuss it.
    Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

  5. #855
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    I think this will be really exciting to many Samoans. A country this small would rarely get visitors of such high stature.

  6. #856
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    Silly Farquha, i rather hope to get trapped between a bed and something else when i cark it.

    King’s friend died after getting trapped between wall and bed while drunk, inquest told


    Retired army captain Ian Farquhar, who died at his home aged 78, was regular visitor to monarch’s Highgrove estate


    One of the King and Queen’s closest friends died after becoming trapped between his bed and a wall when drunk, an inquest has heard.


    Ian Farquhar, 78, an Old Etonian and prominent huntsman, was found with his legs up in the air above his bedside table.


    The retired Army captain, a former equerry to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, had developed a drinking problem in his later years, his daughter Victoria revealed.


    She told the coroner: “He would drink a litre of gin and a couple of bottles of wine in a day.”


    Salisbury Coroner’s Court heard Mr Farquhar’s blood alcohol level was 4.5 times over the drink-drive limit when he died.


    Known to his friends as “the captain”, he was close to both the King and Queen as well as the Princess Royal.


    He was a regular visitor to the King’s Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire, where he previously rented a farmhouse.


    ‘Always great fun’


    The Queen and her former husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, were among the 500 guests who turned out to honour him at a memorial service held on the Duke of Beaufort’s Badminton Estate in Gloucestershire in May.


    Mr Parker Bowles later described his late friend as “wild as a hawk in his youth, but always great fun”.


    Mr Farquhar was also the father of Prince William’s first love, Rose Gemmell, a singer who appeared on the BBC talent show How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria before starring on The Voice in 2016.


    The pair remained friends and the Prince attended her wedding to former professional polo player George Gemmell in December 2022.


    The inquest heard that in the last few years of his life Mr Farquhar had struggled with his health and had to use a walking stick.


    On March 6, care worker Beth Gillingham arrived at his home near Chippenham, Wiltshire, for her daily visit and went upstairs when he did not respond to her calls.


    She did not see the former huntsman until she peered down the side of the bed and saw him trapped against the wall.


    The carer checked for a pulse but when she could not find one she called the police. Officers attended the scene and pronounced Mr Farquhar dead just after 1pm.


    An empty bottle of Gordon’s gin, two empty wine bottles and a half-empty bottle of whisky were found at the property.


    The pathologist recorded postural asphyxia, inversion of the body and alcohol toxicity as the cause of death.


    ‘He did try and stop’


    In a statement read to the court, Mr Farquhar’s daughter described his love of horses but said hunts were where his drinking problem had begun.


    “He went to Eton then joined the military and went to Sandhurst,” Victoria Farquhar said.


    “He became the Queen Mother’s equerry, he said he was essentially the Queen Mother’s bodyguard. He was a huge lover of horses and would go on hunts where there would be a dinner afterwards.


    “The amount of drinking was considered normal for the activity but as time went on we thought he had a drinking problem. He would drink a litre of gin and a couple of bottles of wine in a day.


    “He did try and stop – and he would for a couple of weeks. Doctors advised Ian that if he did not look after himself he would die.”


    Stuart White, Mr Farquhar’s main carer, said he had missed being able to look after dogs and horses.


    Ian Singleton, the Area Coroner for Wiltshire, recorded a verdict of death by misadventure, stating that Mr Farquhar had probably moved off the bed in a “deliberate act” that “unintentionally led to his death”.


    He added: “I pass on to the family my sincere condolences for their loss.”

    King's friend Ian Farquhar died after getting trapped between wall and bed while drunk, inquest told

  7. #857
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    King Charles sips kava narcotic, to become Samoan 'high chief'

    King Charles III took part in a traditional kava-drinking ceremony before a line of bare-chested and heavily tattooed Samoans Thursday, as he readied to be made a "high chief" of this Pacific island paradise.

    The British monarch is on an 11-day tour of his Australian and Samoan realms -- the first major foreign trip since his cancer diagnosis earlier this year.

    Wearing a cream safari-style suit, the 75-year-old king sat on a stage at the head of a carved timber longhouse, where he was presented with a polished half-coconut filled with the mildly narcotic brew.

    The peppery, slightly intoxicating root drink is a key part of Pacific culture and is known locally as "ava".

    The ceremony began with a symbolic debate among "talking chiefs" over who would prepare the drink.

    The kava roots were paraded around the marquee, and finally prepared by the chief's daughter and filtered through a sieve made of the dried bark of a fau tree.

    Once ready, a Samoan man screamed as he decanted the drink, which was finally presented to the king.

    Charles uttered the words: "May God Bless this ava" before lifting it to his lips. The ceremony concluded with claps.

    Charles' wife, Queen Camilla sat beside him, fanning herself in the stiffling tropical humidity.

    - High Chief -

    Many Samoans are excited to host the king -- his first-ever visit to the Pacific Island nation that was once a British colony.

    Later Thursday, the royal couple will visit the village of Moata'a, where Charles will be made "Tui Taumeasina" or high chief.

    The title represents the area where the king will visit and, according to local legend, is where the coconut originated.

    "Everyone has taken to our heart and is looking forward to welcoming the king," said Lenatai Victor Tamapua, a local chief who will bestow the title on Charles.

    "We feel honoured that he has chosen to be welcomed here in our village. So as a gift, we would like to bestow him a title."

    Tamapua added he would raise the issue of climate change with the king and queen and show them the local mangroves.

    "The high tides is just chewing away on our reef and where the mangroves are," he told AFP, adding that food sources and communities were being washed away or inundated.

    "Our community relies on the mangrove area for mud crab and fishes, but since, the tide has risen over the past 20 years by about two or three metres (up to 118 inches)."

    The king is also in Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which is taking place in Apia.

    - Colonialism and Climate -

    The legacy of empire looms large.

    Commonwealth leaders will select a new secretary-general nominated from an African country –- in line with regional rotations of the position.

    All three likely candidates have called publicly for reparations for slavery and colonialism.

    One of the three, Joshua Setipa from Lesotho, told AFP that the resolution could include non-traditional forms of payment: such as climate financing.

    "We can find a solution that will begin to address some injustices of the past and put them in the context happening around us today," he said.

    Another issue that features heavily on the agenda is climate change, with world leaders to deliberate on an Ocean Declaration to safeguard a healthy and resilient ocean.

    Pacific island nations -- once seen as the embodiment of palm-fringed paradise, are now among the most climate-threatened areas of the planet.

    _________

    King Charles Shared a Hopeful Cancer Update

    ________

    King Charles greeted by confronting anti-pollution ads in Samoa

  8. #858
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    Congratulations to High Chief Charles. He's an extraordinarily talented Englishman.

    As for retired army captain Ian Farquhar, RIP. You might have lived considerably longer if you had retired in Thailand and found a girl half your age to look after you.

  9. #859
    hangin' around cyrille's Avatar
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    There are worse ways to go than hammered at home, aged 78.

  10. #860
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    Quote Originally Posted by cyrille View Post
    There are worse ways to go than hammered at home, aged 78.
    Indeed, I suspect he's been hammered most of his life he only retired as a Capt. RIP fuka

  11. #861
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Live: King Charles and leaders attend the CHOGM opening ceremony in Samoa


    Commonwealth

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    Live: King Charles and Queen Camilla leave Samoa after royal tour


    __________

    King Charles says past can’t be changed. Critics want Britain to reckon with slavery

    King Charles III told a summit of Commonwealth countries in Samoa on Friday that the past could not be changed as he indirectly acknowledged calls from some of Britain's former colonies for a reckoning over its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

    The British royal understood "the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate," he told leaders in Apia. But Charles stopped short of mentioning financial reparations that some leaders at the event have urged and instead exhorted them to find the "right language" and an understanding of history "to guide us towards making the right choices in future where inequality exists."

    "None of us can change the past but we can commit with all our hearts to learning its lessons and to finding creative ways to right the inequalities that endure," said Charles, who is attending his first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, or CHOGM, as Britain's head of state.

    Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe, center, disrupts proceedings as Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla attend a Parliamentary reception hosted by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and partner Jodie Jaydon at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024.

    His remarks at the summit's official opening ceremony echoed comments a day earlier by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that the meeting should avoid becoming mired in the past and "very, very long endless discussions about reparations." The U.K. leader dismissed calls from Caribbean countries for leaders at the biennial event to explicitly discuss redress for Britain's role in the slave trade and mention the matter in its final joint statement.

    But Britain's handling of its involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade is seen by many observers as a litmus test for the Commonwealth's adaptation to a modern-day world, as other European nations and some British institutions have started to own up to their role in the trade.

    "I think the time has come for this to be taken seriously," said Jacqueline McKenzie, a partner at London law firm Leigh Day. "Nobody expects people to pay every single penny for what happened. But I think there needs to be negotiations."

    Such a policy would be costly and divisive at home, McKenzie said.

    The U.K. has never formally apologized for its role in the trade, in which millions of African citizens were kidnapped and transported to plantations in the Caribbean and Americas over several centuries, enriching many individuals and companies. Studies estimate Britain would owe between hundreds of millions and trillions of dollars in compensation to descendants of slaves.

    The Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis on Thursday said he wanted a "frank" discussion with Starmer about the matter and would seek mention of the reparations issue in the leaders' final statement at the event. All three candidates to be the next Commonwealth Secretary-General — from Gambia, Ghana and Lesotho — have endorsed policies of reparatory justice for slavery.

    Starmer said Thursday in remarks to reporters that the matter would not be on the summit's agenda. But Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland told The Associated Press in an interview that leaders "will speak about absolutely anything they want to speak about" at an all-day private meeting scheduled for Saturday.

    King Charles said in Friday's speech that nothing would right inequality "more decisively than to champion the principle that our Commonwealth is one of genuine opportunity for all." The monarch urged leaders to "choose within our Commonwealth family the language of community and respect, and reject the language of division."

    He has expressed "sorrow" over slavery at a CHOGM summit before, in 2022, and last year endorsed a probe into the monarchy's ties to the industry.

    Charles — who is battling cancer — and his wife, Queen Camilla, will return to Britain tomorrow after visiting Samoa and Australia — where his presence prompted a lawmaker's protest over his country's colonial legacy.

    He acknowledged Friday that the Commonwealth had mattered "a great deal" his late mother Queen Elizabeth II, who was seen as a unifying figure among the body's at times disparate and divergent states.

    The row over reparations threatened to overshadow a summit that Pacific leaders — and the Commonwealth secretariat — hoped would focus squarely on the ruinous effects of climate change.

    "We are well past believing it is a problem for the future since it is already undermining the development we have long fought for," the king said Friday. "This year alone we have seen terrifying storms in the Caribbean, devastating flooding in East Africa and catastrophic wildfires in Canada. Lives, livelihood and human rights are at-risk across the Commonwealth."

    Charles offered "every encouragement for action with unequivocal determination to arrest rising temperatures" by cutting emissions, building resilience, and conserving and restoring nature on land and at sea, he said.

    Samoa is the first Pacific Island nation to host the event, and Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mata'afa said in a speech Friday that it was "a great opportunity for all to experience our lived reality, especially with climate change," which was "the greatest threat to the survival and security of our Pacific people."

    Two dozen small island nations are among CHOGM's 56 member states, among them the world's most imperiled by rising seas. Her remarks came as the United Nations released a stark new report warning that the world was on pace for significantly more warming than expected without immediate climate action.

    The population of the member nations of the 75-year-old Commonwealth organization totals 2.7 billion people.

  13. #863
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    Poor ole bloke , forced to start work at his age and instead old Di daily trout and now some native slop on camera.
    I bet he cannot wait to get home, Gawd bless you sir, bet you cannot wait for a bj, calippo in a hammock somewhere less sticky with only the plants to listen to, no awkward brothers sons Prime Ministers to deal with, in his place I'd have the chief axeman at the tower on call 24/7. His eyes have the tired resignation of a man sucked dry.
    Quote Originally Posted by cyrille View Post
    for senseless drivel

  14. #864
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    King Charles and Queen Camilla take private trip to India

    Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla made a surprise pitstop in India as they returned from their royal tour to Australia and Samoa.

    The 75-year-old monarch and his wife reportedly enjoyed a quick break in Bengaluru, staying for a few days at the Soukya International Holistic Health Centre, according to Reuters citing multiple Indian media outlets.

    The pair have visited India on numerous occasions over the years and previously paid a visit to the wellness center, which offers Ayurvedic and homeopathic treatments, yoga and meditation sessions.

    “Their Majesties had a short private stopover in India to help break the long journey back from Samoa,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said on Wednesday. “They return to the UK this morning.”

    The center is described as “a holistic health destination to restore your body’s natural balance of mind, body and spirit” on its website.

    A royal source told CNN the stopover was not connected to the King’s health beyond advice to include appropriate periods of rest as part of the long-distance tour. A typical journey from the Samoan capital of Apia back to London is over 30 hours on commercial carriers and requires at least one stop.

    The couple broke up the journey at a location both were familiar with and had visited several times before, the source added.

    The source also said that the King will resume his cancer treatment upon his return to the UK.

    Charles’ journey to Australia and Samoa was his first long-haul, multi-country trip since his cancer diagnosis earlier this year. He wrapped up the tour at the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting on Saturday. Leaders ended the week-long summit in Samoa, saying the time had come for a discussion on whether Britain should commit to reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade.

    The King is expected to return to regular overseas trips in 2025, according to Britain’s PA Media news agency.

    Charles will carry out trips in the spring and autumn, on the regular foreign royal tour schedule, so long as doctors sign off on the journeys.

    A palace official described the King’s recent trip as a “perfect tonic” that had lifted “his spirits, his mood and his recovery.”

    “We’re now working on a pretty normal looking full overseas tour program for next year, which is a high for us to end on, to know that we can be thinking in those terms,” PA reported citing the palace official.

  15. #865
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Gleeful King Hosts Olympians and Paralympians at Buckingham Palace





    Team GB athletes invited to meet His Majesty The King at Buckingham Palace

    Paris 2024 medallists received a royal reception this week as they were invited to meet His Majesty The King at Buckingham Palace.

    Team GB, ParalympicsGB and Refugee Olympic Team athletes came together for a reception to celebrate the success of this summer's Games, whilst having the opportunity to meet King Charles III, The Princess Royal and The Duchess of Gloucester.

    From rowing, to diving, to artistic gymnastics, Paris 2024 Olympians and Paralympians were front and centre.

    Among Team GB's guests were track cyclist Emma Finucane, the only athlete to win three medals for Team GB in Paris; Britain's first sport climbing gold medallist Toby Roberts; artistic swimming silver medallists and history makers Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe and Team GB's first ever Olympic medallist on the vault apparatus, Harry Hepworth.

    Jacob Dawson, rowing, men's eight gold

    "I was deeply honoured to be invited to the Palace. Meeting the King and celebrating Team GB's success with other medallists is a memory I will cherish forever."

    Emma Finucane, track cycling, women's team sprint gold, individual sprint bronze and kierin bronze

    "It was really special to be recognised as athletes for our success at the Games. I've never been to Buckingham Palace before so it was surreal to be around such inspirational people. Also, to meet the King was something I never thought I'd do and it was such a pinch me moment."

    Laura Collett, equestrian, eventing team gold and individual eventing bronze

    "It was an absolute honour to be invited to Buckingham Palace to meet the King. It's a privilege to be surrounded by so many incredible athletes and share the brilliance of what Team GB achieved at Paris."

    Lewis Richardson, boxing, 71kg bronze

    "Being invited to and attending Buckingham Palace to meet his majesty The King was a pinch yourself moment! It was great to see so many of our medallists turn up to the celebration and is certainly another moment (amongst the many from summer) in my life that I will never forget."

    Their Majesties The King and The Queen Consort hosted a reception for medallists from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in November 2022.

    __________

    King Charles welcomes King Abdullah of Jordan to Windsor Castle




    King Charles welcomed King Abdullah II of Jordan to Windsor on Thursday evening. The Jordanian King is celebrating his Silver Jubilee this year.

    he Jordanian King first visited 10 Downing Street to meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer before he was taken to Windsor Castle in a Range Rover. The 1st Battalion Welsh Guards’s band welcomed him with ‘God Save the King’.

    After meeting in the Castle, King Abdullah inspected a Guard of Honour outside in the Quadrangle. King Charles accompanied him for the inspection, and the two watched a military march past together.

    They were then able to head back inside for tea together.

    King Charles presented King Abdullah with a personalised gift to mark the milestone 25 year anniversary: a silver beaker with The King and Queen’s royal ciphers.

    The two Kings have met several times. As Prince of Wales, Charles officially met Abdullah five times. King Abdullah visited Buckingham Palace in November 2022. Both King Abdullah and Queen Rania attended King Charles’s coronation at Westminster Abbey in May 2023.

    King Charles has returned back to duties after carrying out his visits to Australia and Samoa in October, as well as attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings.

  16. #866
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    Lovely jubbly. I keenly await the big one- King Charles and the soon to be crowned King Trump.

  17. #867
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    I think trump is a fan.


    Donald Trump is HUGE fan of King Charles, he’ll visit US with Queen and Americans will love it




  18. #868
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    King Charles III and Kate attend remembrance events as both slowly return to duty






    King Charles III and Kate attend remembrance events




  19. #869
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    ‘Obscene’: Anger after cost of King Charles’s coronation revealed

    The coronation of King Charles in May 2023 cost taxpayers at least £72m, official figures have revealed.

    The cost of policing the ceremony was £21.7m, with a further £50.3m in costs racked up by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

    About 20 million people in Britain watched Charles crowned at Westminster Abbey on TV, substantially fewer than the 29 million Britons who had watched the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

    The coronation ceremony was attended by dignitaries from around the world, and a star-studded concert took place at Windsor Castle the following night.

    The annual report and accounts of DCMS, the lead department in Rishi Sunak’s government that worked with the royal household on the coronation, stated that the department “successfully delivered on the central weekend of His Majesty King Charles III’s coronation, enjoyed by many millions both in the UK and across the globe”.

    It described the coronation as a “once-in-a-generation moment” that enabled the “entire country to come together in celebration”, as well as offering “a unique opportunity to celebrate and strengthen our national identity and showcase the UK to the world”.

    Republic, which campaigns to replace the monarchy with an elected head of state and more democratic political system, described the coronation as an “obscene” waste of taxpayers’ money.

    “I would be very surprised if £72m was the whole cost,” the Republic CEO, Graham Smith, told the Guardian.

    As well as the Home Office policing and DCMS costs included in the figures, he said the Ministry of Defence, Transport for London, fire brigades and local councils also incurred costs related to the coronation, with other estimates putting the totalspend at between £100m and £250m.

    “But even that kind of money – £72m – is incredible,” Smith added. “It’s a huge amount of money to spend on one person’s parade when there was no obligation whatsoever in the constitution or in law to have a coronation, and when we were facing cuts to essential services.

    “It was a parade that Charles insisted on at huge expense to the taxpayer, and this is on top of the huge inheritance tax bill he didn’t [have to] pay, on top of the £500m-a-year cost of the monarchy.”

    Under a clause agreed in 1993 by the then prime minister, John Major, any inheritance passed “sovereign to sovereign” avoids the 40% levy applied to assets valued at more than £325,000.

    Smith added: “It was an extravagance we simply didn’t have to have. It was completely unnecessary and a waste of money in the middle of a cost of living crisis in a country that is facing huge amounts of child poverty.

    “When kids are unable to afford lunches at school, to spend over £70m on this parade is obscene.”

  20. #870
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    Who is angry? Just Mr. Smith? I thought it was an awesome event. A great credit to the United Kingdom.

  21. #871
    hangin' around cyrille's Avatar
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    Has wills sorted out homelessness yet?

  22. #872
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    Quote Originally Posted by cyrille View Post
    Has wills sorted out homelessness yet?
    Sure has, he’s now got a gaff in Africa with a new swimming pool.

  23. #873
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    King and Queen Say Goodbye to Emir of Qatar at Buckingham Palace

    King Charles welcomes Qatar's emir as state visit begins

    King Charles and Keir Starmer welcomed Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for a state visit to Britain on Tuesday that the prime minister hopes will help build on the Gulf state's investment in the country.

    The emir and wife Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani arrived by car at Horse Guards Parade in London with Prince William and his wife Kate, who was marking her return to formal state visit duties after undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer.

    Charles, who is continuing his own treatment for cancer, and the emir inspected the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards while a military band played.

    The morning of pageantry was followed by a trip to Westminster where the emir addressed both chambers of the Houses of Parliament.

    The emir took the opportunity to turn the spotlight on the situation in Gaza, saying the "tragic images that we see on a daily basis do not do it justice".

    "Both Qatar and the UK believe that the conflict will not end until a sovereign Palestinian state is established," he said.

    'THRIVING TRADE'

    Britain is seeking deeper ties with the wealthy Gulf state, and Starmer hopes to use the visit to secure "tangible benefits" for the country on security and the economy, his spokesperson said.

    Starmer was elected in July on a promise to lift economic growth and is looking to potential wealthy investors such as Qatar to help fund his plans for new infrastructure and energy developments.

    Qatar is already a big investor in Britain through the Qatar Investment Authority which owns the Canary Wharf business and entertainment district in east London and stakes in blue-chip names such as Barclays and Heathrow Airport.

    "You can expect them to discuss how we can build further on our two countries' thriving trade and investment partnership," the prime minister's spokesperson said.

    The emir said the UK and Qatar were strategic and investment partners, and both were committed to mutual strenghthening.

    The two royal families departed by horse-drawn carriage for Buckingham Palace where they had lunch with Queen Camilla, who was absent from the outdoor event as she continues to recover from a chest infection. A state banquet followed in the evening.

    The emir received several gifts, including a framed picture of Charles and Camilla and a hand-knotted prayer rug. He gave Charles a model of a traditional sailboat used in pearl diving and a side table.

    At the start of the lavish state banquet, attended by politicians and celebrities such as David Beckham, Charles thanked the emir for his country's efforts in mediating a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.

    "Qatar's continued toil, perseverance and diplomatic efforts are, quite simply, beyond compare," Charles said.

    But some rights groups have criticised emir's state visit to Britain.

    "The king is rolling out the red carpet for the emir of Qatar even though he leads a country where male guardianship policies and other discriminatory laws against women continue, and where LGBT individuals face discrimination," said Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director of Human Rights Watch.

  24. #874
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    King Charles and Queen Camilla's 2024 Christmas Card Revealed

    King Charles and Queen Camilla are wishing everyone a happy Christmas.

    On Dec. 7, Buckingham Palace issued the official Christmas card that the King, 76, and Queen, 77, will be sending to celebrate the holiday this year. The card featured a portrait of the couple taken by photographer Millie Pilkington in the Garden at Buckingham Palace in April 2024.

    In the photo, Camilla wears a blue wool crepe dress by her trusted designer Fiona Clare, paired with private jewelry.

    King Charles and Queen Camilla have previously chosen Pilkington's photos to commemorate special occasions. In April, Buckingham Palace issued a new picture of the royal couple taken by the portrait photographer along with the announcement that he was resuming forward-facing duties after the palace announced in February that he was undergoing treatment for cancer.

    The portrait was taken to mark the first anniversary of their coronation in May 2023, and showed the Queen holding her husband's arm as he looked at her with love. The snap was captured in the Buckingham Palace garden on April 10, the day after the royal couple's 19th wedding anniversary.

    While that shot marked the first time an image of King Charles and Queen Camilla was credited to Pilkington, they are hardly her first royal subjects. Kate Middleton and Prince William and tapped Pilkington as their private photographer for their wedding in 2011, and have entrusted her in the years that followed to take the birthday portraits of their children, Prince George, 11 Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6. Pilkington also got behind the camera for the sweet pictures of William and his kids that were released for Father's Day in 2023.

    The King and Queen led the way as the first British royals to issue an official Christmas picture for the holiday season, closing a year unlike any other. It was announced earlier this year that King Charles and Princess Kate, 42, were each receiving treatment for cancer, leading both to reduce some of their royal duties (the King between February and late April, and Princess Kate for most of the year) to focus on their health.

    In a candid reflection in November, Prince William, 42, called the year "brutal" and "probably been the hardest in my life." His wife seemingly echoed the sentiment at her Together at Christmas carol service on Dec. 6, saying, "I didn’t know this year was going to be the year that I’ve just had."

    "The unplanned," replied performer Paloma Faith, who reportedly broached the topic by asking the princess about her health.

    "The unplanned, exactly," the Princess of Wales repeated. "But I think lots of people this year have had such challenging times."

    Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

    King Charles and Queen Camilla didn't appear at Princess Kate's Together at Christmas carol service, where they technically would have overshadowed her as the most senior royals in the order of precedence. The Queen is also continuing to recuperate from a chest infection that the palace announced she had on Nov. 5.

    However, the Prince and Princess of Wales are expected to celebrate Chrtismas with the King at Sandringham in a few weeks, convening the family and continuing tradition at their private home in the Norfolk countryside.

  25. #875
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    Very nice. I don't think I will be receiving one. I'm guessing if the King sends one to Prince Harry he'll need to ponder blanking out the evil Queen Camilla.

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