Royal News Blog

Note: This article is from the Guardian.

This article titled “Queen is ‘dedicating herself anew’ as diamond jubilee year begins” was written by Stephen Bates, for The Guardian on Monday 6th February 2012 00.01 UTC

The Queen is issuing a message of thanks to the public on Monday morning on the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne.

In a statement from Buckingham Palace, the 85-year-old monarch promises to dedicate herself anew to the service of the country, and echoes a call that she made in her Christmas message for the restoration of a national spirit of togetherness.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will spend the day at Sandringham, the Norfolk mansion where her father, George VI, died in his sleep on 6 February 1952.

The couple were out in the snow on Sunday, for a service at West Newton church, on the estate and being greeted with flowers from well-wishers. They visited the local Sunday school in the village hall, but a 90th anniversary parade by the Royal British Legion, in King’s Lynn, which the duke had planned to attend, was cancelled due to the weather.

The Queen’s message says: “Today, as I mark 60 years as your Queen, I am writing to thank you for the wonderful support and encouragement that you have given to me and Prince Philip over these years and to tell you how deeply moved we have been to receive so many kind messages about the diamond jubilee.

“In this special year, as I dedicate myself anew to your service, I hope that we will all be reminded of the power of togetherness and the convening strength of family friendship and good neighbourliness, examples of which I have been fortunate to see throughout my reign and which my family and I look forward to seeing in many forms as we travel throughout the UK and the wider Commonwealth.

“I hope also that this jubilee year will be a time to give thanks for the great advances that have been made since 1952 and to look forward to the future with clear heads and warm hearts as we join together in our celebrations. I send my sincere good wishes to you all.”

Responding, David Cameron praised the Queen’s dignity and authority, guiding and uniting Britain and the Commonwealth over six decades. To view her as a glittering ornament was to “misunderstand” the constitution. “Always dedicated, always resolute and always respected, she is a source of wisdom and continuity,” he said.

Cameron, the 12th PM of the reign, who was not even born until she had been on the throne for more than 14 years, added: “All my life and for the lives of most people in this country she has always been there for us. Today and this year we have the chance to say thank you.”

The main focus of the celebrations will be the first weekend in June, extended by two successive bank holidays, when there will be a riverboat pageant of 1,000 vessels sailing down the Thames through London, expected to be attended by a million spectators, an open-air concert at Buckingham Palace, and a service at St Paul’s Cathedral.

anti-monarchy group Republic, which said its members would demonstrate peacefully against the pageant, argued that schools and the BBC should not be overly enthusiastic about the celebrations.

The Queen and duke are due to visit many areas of Britain and Northern Ireland in the summer, and other members of the royal family are visiting Commonwealth nations, starting in March with Prince Harry in his first official solo tour, to the Caribbean and Latin America.

On Mondaya jubilee website, is being launched with news about events during the year and two newly commissioned photographs of the Queen. There will also be commemorative postage stamps and a charitable diamond jubilee trust, led by Sir John Major, to raise money for medical research and education across the Commonwealth.

The former prime minister said the trust would “identify charitable projects that would enrich the lives and opportunities of all its citizens to provide a lasting legacy”.

The anniversary was not met entirely with unalloyed joy however as some economists said the June holiday could dent GDP by 0.5% in the second quarter as firms closed and people took extra leave, though they conceded this could be made up by sales of jubilee souvenirs, food and drink purchases for street parties, and tourist revenue.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

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This article titled “Royal yacht backers to launch public appeal for funds” was written by Robert Booth, for The Guardian on Tuesday 17th January 2012 16.36 UTC

The backers of a new national flagship to be used by the royal family are to launch a public appeal for funds after they decided against seeking government money.

The £80m project originated as a replacement for the Royal Yacht Britannia and has won the private backing of the Queen and Prince Philip, according to project insiders; but construction is to be funded by members of the public and corporate sponsors.

The proposed 157m-sailing ship is to double as both a training vessel for young people and secure accommodation for members of the royal family when they are abroad.

The charity behind the project, Future Ship Project 21st Century, said it hopes public interest around the Queen’s diamond jubilee celebrations in June will help fill the project’s coffers.

The prospect of a vessel designed in part to host the royals being funded by the public at a time of austerity could cause political embarrassment, and Downing Street has been quick to say there will be no government money for the project, despite the suggestion by the education secretary, Michael Gove, that might be a possibility.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on whether it approved of public fundraising for a ship to be used by the royal family or if the palace would contribute.

“The Queen’s office is aware of the project’s existence,” a palace aide said. “We are also aware that the prime minister has sent a message of support for the initiative to the project organisers.”

Leading British companies will also be asked to donate funds in exchange for naming rights to various decks and facilities on board. Companies listed in the FTSE 100 will be approached, said Rear Admiral David Bawtree, chairman of the FSP21 consortium, leaving open the possibility that firms from British American Tobacco to Marks and Spencer could be asked to contribute to the royal vessel.

So far two unnamed Canadian businessmen have pledged a possible £10m, but there are no other firm offers as yet.

“We will go for national fundraising and I hope that members of the public will contribute to this,” said Bawtree.

“People will support this, as I have seen when I have given talks about the project. The jubilee also lends itself to a national appeal.”

As well as Bawtree, a former commander of the Portsmouth naval base, the project organisers include Colonel John Blashford-Snell, who in 1968 organised the first descent of the Blue Nile at the request of Haile Selassie, the emperor of Ethiopia, and Maldwin Drummond, a past Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron. They intend to invite 220 young people on board for three-month training voyages and also use the ship for environmental surveys.

The decision to launch a national appeal comes after David Cameron gave his backing for the project, a key step in securing commercial sponsorship. David Willetts, the universities minister, had written to the prime minister urging him to support the four-sail ship after he was lobbied by Bawtree.

Gove also urged Cameron to back the project and called for “a gift from the nation to her majesty” to mark her 60 years on the throne.

The ship’s designer, Colin Mudie, said he had included a helipad to land twin-engine helicopters used by the royal family. There will be two VIP suites with sufficient security to host royalty and the vessel will also be equipped for industrial and commercial exhibitions and conferences, and provide corporate entertainment facilities.

“We of course kept the royal family informed, particularly because of Prince Philip’s links to sail training,” said Rosemary Mudie, partner in the ship design practice.

“We always understood they approved of it but couldn’t be seen to be saying it was a good idea for obvious reasons.”

The ship’s backers are understood to be keen for the vessel to be built in the UK and that goal would be jeopardised if the project received government money because tenders would have to be sought from across the European Union to meet public procurement rules.

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Note: This article is from the Guardian.

This article titled “Prince Philip leaves hospital after heart operation” was written by Stephen Bates, for The Guardian on Tuesday 27th December 2011 16.44 UTC

Prince Philip has been released from hospital four days after undergoing an emergency heart operation, but questions remain over when – and whether – he will be able to resume his official engagements.

The 90-year-old Duke of Edinburgh waved to reporters and camera crews as he was driven from Papworth hospital, in Cambridgeshire, to return to the royal family’s Christmas gathering at Sandringham, in Norfolk, 50 miles away.

The early morning departure came after he thanked medical staff for what was described as his excellent care.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said no decisions had been made about his future engagements in what will be a busy year as the Queen celebrates her diamond jubilee with events across Britain during the spring and summer.

Prince Philip has carried out 300 public engagements this year – more than most of the rest of the royal family – despite his promise at the time of his 90th birthday in June that he intended to cut back.

In an interview, he told the BBC’s Fiona Bruce: “I reckon I’ve done my bit. I want to enjoy myself for a bit now with less responsibilities, less frantic rushing about, less preparation, less trying to think of something to say.

“On top of that, the memory’s going. I can’t remember names. Yes, I am just sort of winding down. I am getting rid of things.”

Although there have been rumours of heart problems in the past, the chest pains he experienced last Friday evening and the operation – officially described as a “minimally invasive procedure” to insert a metal mesh stent tube into his coronary artery to improve the flow of blood – have been by far the most serious signs of ill health in the Queen’s consort.

The stay in hospital over Christmas prevented the duke from taking part in the family’s traditional routine, including a Boxing Day pheasant shoot at Sandringham , although a local news agency reported that he joined the shooting party for lunch after his release.

But the post-Christmas and early new year period is usually a quiet and private one for the Queen and her husband, with few public engagements.

They normally stay at Sandringham until after 6 February each year – the anniversary of the death of the Queen’s father, George VI, who died there in 1952 at the age of 56 after a day’s shooting on the estate.

Prince Philip’s next public outing is due to be a dinner at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge on 17 January – the eve of the centenary of Captain Scott’s ill-fated arrival at the south pole – but no decision is likely to be made about whether he will be well enough to attend for some time yet.

The palace spokeswoman said it was not known whether the duke would accompany the Queen to Sandringham parish church for next Sunday’s service.

Palace officials and medical staff will meet in the coming days to discuss the implications of the scare for the duke’s future movements, although they may not particularly relish confronting him with the need to scale back his activities.

He would be hugely reluctant to give up what he regards as his duty to support his wife. Although increasingly bowed and looking more frail, he remains extremely fit for his age.

The Queen, too, would be deeply upset if her husband, who she has described as “my strength and my stay all these years”, was no longer able to accompany her.

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Note: This article is from the Guardian.

This article titled “Queen pays tribute to family bonds as Prince Philip recuperates in hospital” was written by Stephen Bates, for The Guardian on Sunday 25th December 2011 16.24 UTC

The Queen and members of the royal family were due to visit the Duke of Edinburgh in hospital in Cambridge in an unwelcome deviation from their annual Christmas festivities, following the 90-year-old prince’s emergency heart surgery on Friday night.

By all accounts the family’s patriarch was chafing to return to Sandringham after the successful – and these days relatively routine – surgery to insert a metal mesh stent tube into his heart to improve the blood flow after he complained of chest pains before the weekend.

The hospital visit – the second in two days for the Queen and royal children, and the first for the royal grandchildren, including Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge – was anticipated to take place after the family, like much of the rest of the country, settled down to watch the Queen’s speech on the television after lunch.

The duke is under medical observation and may be kept at Papworth hospital for at least a couple more days. In the longer term, his active participation in royal events is likely to have to be more closely reviewed.

The royal couple have been anticipating a busy year, with a tour across the British isles in the summer to mark the Queen’s diamond jubilee, a long weekend of public celebrations in London in early June and the Olympic Games later in the summer.

Until recently the duke was one of the busiest members of the royal family, attending more than 300 events a year, but in interviews last year to mark his 90th birthday he suggested he was beginning to wind down. He has already shed some of his long-standing commitments.

When she recorded her annual Christmas broadcast at Buckingham Palace on 9 December, the Queen could not have realised how prescient or how close to home it would appear a fortnight later.

In it, surrounded by family photographs in the 1844 room at the palace, she spoke of the importance of family, particularly in times of crisis.

Her words related particularly to this year’s natural disasters in the Commonwealth – floods in Australia, the New Zealand earthquakes – but also to family hardships in difficult economic times, with the personal family bonds she was thinking of being happy ones, principally the two royal weddings, far from the crisis of the duke’s ill health.

She said: “The importance of family has, of course, come home to Prince Philip and me personally this year with the marriages of two of our grandchildren, each in their own way a celebration of the God-given love that binds a family together.”

Film of the weddings of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge at Westminster Abbey in April, and of Zara Phillips to the rugby player Mike Tindall in Edinburgh at the end of July, was shown as she spoke.

The Queen said that in times of hardship people often found strength from their families, just as during crises communities come together to break down barriers – sometimes taking a tragedy to bring out qualities in individuals.

There was also footage of the Queen and duke touring Brisbane, which was inundated by flooding earlier in the year, and of Prince William viewing earthquake damage in Christchurch, New Zealand, in the spring.

A nativity play perfomed by the pupils of St Joseph’s Catholic infants’ school in Camberwell, south London was also featured.

“For many this Christmas will not be easy, with our armed forces deployed around the world, thousands of service families face Christmas without their loved ones at home. The bereaved and the lonely will find it especially hard. And, as we all know, the world is going through difficult times,” she said.

“In the past year, my family and I have been inspired by the courage and hope we have seen in so many ways in Britain and the Commonwealth, and around the world.

“We have seen that it is in hardship that we often find strength from our families. It is in adversity that new friendships are sometimes formed and it is in a crisis that communities break down barriers and bind together to help one another.

“Families, friends and communities often find a source of courage rising up from within.

” Indeed sadly it seems that it is tragedy that often draws out the most and the best from the human spirit.”

Larger than normal crowds gathered outside Sandringham parish church, hoping to see the new duchess attend the morning service with the rest of the family, during her first Christmas spent with them.

She is unlikely however to join the family’s traditional Boxing Day shoot on the estate, which is usually led by the duke.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

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