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Royal Round Up 06-01-10: Sneaky Sarah to Dish on Oprah; Diana ‘Murdered’ Over Diary; Charles Visits Oslo; Perth Celebrates

June 1, 2010 By Mandy Littlefield Leave a Comment

Shady Sarah sits down with American chat queen Oprah

Sarah Ferguson is determined to plow through her sell-out scandal with as little egg on her face as possible.

Today the Duchess sits down with American talk show host Oprah Winfrey about selling her ex-husband’s influence. Fergie says she had been drinking and was “not in my right place” when she was caught.

Fergie reveals to Oprah that she has seen snippets of the undercover video here and there, but has not watched the whole thing yet. From what she could tell, the Duchess admits, she looked as though she had been drinking. “I was in the gutter at that moment,” she said.

See it here.

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New Diana Death Theory: Princess of Wales ‘may have been killed over threats to expose arms dealers’

Richard Savill’s article in the Telegraph reports that a barrister is not ruling out murder in the case of the late Princess of Wales.

Michael Mansfield, who represented Mohammed Al-Fayed during the famous inquest, says that Diana may have been murdered. Mansfield claims that the princess intended to publish a diary that would expose land-mine manufacturers and the UK’s role in arms trading. Diana had already infuriated several ministers when she called for an international ban of land mines, prompting Britain’s Defense Minister Earl Howe to call her a “loose cannon”.

Diana brought a wave of publicity to the problem of land mines in Angola in the mid 1990s. Photographs show the princess cuddling children who had lost limbs from land mines left over from various battles.

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Prince of Wales attends climate conference

On May 27th, the Prince of Wales visited Oslo, Norway for the Conference on Climate and Deforestation. Prince Charles met Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, wife of Crown Prince Haakon.

Several heads of state and government ministers and experts from different countries attended the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference 2010 to discuss efforts for the preservation of the world’s rain forests.

“In Oslo, countries will come together to establish the first real example of a genuine global partnership to fight climate change. The main purpose of the Oslo CFC is to enable effective, transparent and coordinated fast action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, called REDD+.”

In other Prince Charles news, His Royal Highness is visiting Perth, Scotland today. As the Duke of Rothesay, Charles will tour a water-powered cotton mill on the River Tay, visit the Black Watch Museum at Balhousie Castle, and see the Perth Farmers’ Market.

The Prince’s tour is part of Perth’s 800th anniversary celebrations to honor the granting of the Royal Burgh Charter by King William the Lion of Scotland in 1210.

Recommended:

Prince of Wales’ Speech in Oslo

Royal Timeline

ORB: The Anglo-Saxons

Filed Under: Mandy's Royalty, Royal Family, The Queen Tagged With: Prince Charles, Sarah Ferguson

Watch the Queen’s Speech in Full Here – State Opening of Parliament

May 25, 2010 By jonathan Leave a Comment

If you missed the Queen’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament today, ITN news has posted a video of the whole there.

Here is the entire Queen’s Speech:

If you’d like to see the entire pomp and circumstance behind the State Opening of Parliament, CSPAN has the whole thing for view on there website. Click here to watch it all.

Filed Under: Politics, Prime Minister, Royal Family, The Queen Tagged With: queen's speech

Royal Round Up 5-25-10: Desperate Duchess Doublecrosses; Chelsea Flowers Burst With Life; Parliament Opens

May 25, 2010 By Mandy Littlefield Leave a Comment

I’m sure you’ve all heard the news – Sarah Ferguson sold out the Duke of York in a desperate attempt to earn cash.

It had been barely a week since my Royal Round Up article detailing Fergie’s financial woes when a video cropped up all over the internet showing the Duchess making a dirty deal – shaking hands with a ‘businessman’ looking to gain favor with Prince Andrew and cash in on royal connections.

Fergie discussed the arrangements she was willing to make for £40,000 in cash as a down payment, with £500,000 to be wired to her bank account later. For the money, the Duchess would provide an introduction to trade envoy Prince Andrew. The undercover journalist from News of the World, posing as the businessman looking for a favor, gave her what she wanted. Fergie unwittingly gave him what he wanted, too, but it didn’t go exactly as she had planned.

To sum up: Sarah Ferguson is now so broke, even after all of her financial successes, that she has to sell her relationship with her ex-husband. Did Andrew know? Apparently he did not. A statement issued by Buckingham Palace said that since 2001, Prince Andrew “has carried out his role of special representative [for international trade and investment] with complete and absolute propriety and integrity.” Even the Duchess was captured on the film saying that the Prince was “whiter than white” in his dealings with people. Fergie also said that Andrew had no knowledge of her scheme in her public statement after being caught.

Sarah Ferguson was so caught up in being married to a prince that she spent her in-laws’ money with abandon and took advantage of taxpayer funds for fripperies. When she divorced her prince after being unable to forge a royal life for herself and becoming bored, she flew to America looking for sympathy. Sarah was able to prove her critics wrong for a time by earning enough money to pay off her debts to the Queen. The Duchess looked as though she was becoming a sound businesswoman and seemed to be on her way to a successful life outside the Royal Family. Sadly, it was not to last.

The red-headed rogue had become so accustomed to “the good life” so quickly that she never expected anything less than the best. Even when she couldn’t pay for it, Fergie still grabbed and figured it would work out in the end. After all, she’s Sarah, Duchess of York. Who wouldn’t want to give her everything?

The people I feel sorry for in this spectacle are their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. Sarah has been touted as being a good mother for staying on amicable terms with Prince Andrew, but was it really for the girls’ sake, or to stay within Andrew’s financial good graces? Beatrice and Eugenie are always on hand looking mildly miserable when their mother walks a red carpet or needs a photo opportunity, so it’s probably all about the cache they can lend her as true British princesses. They are nothing more than Fergie’s tickets to staying within the royal orbit.

Those two girls have probably never seen themselves reflected in their mother’s eyes, only the dollar signs dancing within. So forget Fergie, just say a prayer for Bea and Eugenie.

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The Queen Visits Chelsea Flower Show

With the coldest winter in thirty-one years blanketing the entire island, one could be forgiven for thinking the exhibits in this year’s Chelsea Flower Show may have lost lustre. Take heart, though: Her Majesty was suitably impressed this past Monday when she arrived to examine the blooms. The early warm spell pumped up the volume just in time for her arrival with Prince Philip. The royal couple were joined by numerous celebrities, including Jamie Oliver, 60′s icon Twiggy, and Professor Stephen Hawking, who was on hand to unveil a garden created in his honor.

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State Opening of Parliament

Her Majesty opened Parliament today (May 25th) to discuss David Cameron’s first legislative program. Introduced were twenty-two Bills on issues including schools, political reform and plans to partially privatize Royal Mail.

See the Photos

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Charles criticizes wasted food, touts organic

Queen unveils statue of Elizabeth I in Westminster Abbey

Filed Under: Mandy's Royalty, Royal Family, The Queen Tagged With: Chelsea Flower Show, Sarah Ferguson Duchess of York

Royal Round Up 3-30-10: Althorp Auction; Enchanted Kensington; Afghan Annoyance

March 30, 2010 By Mandy Littlefield Leave a Comment

Kensington Becomes “Enchanted”

Vivienne Westwood Helps Turn Kensingnton Palace Into Enchanted Wonderland

The former home of Queen Victoria and Diana, Princess of Wales has been turned into a “land of enchantment”.

Kensington Palace, which today houses royals like the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, has been converted to an elaborate fashion museum. Various avant-garde interpretations of gowns and periods in the palace’s history are presented in forms ranging from film to storytelling and dramatic displays.

See the audio tour of the palace’s exhibition

Althorp treasures on the block

Althorp, the ancestral seat of the Spencer family, is to host a large auction that will see the departure of some of its family trove.

Christie’s auction house said it will sell about 20 million pounds ($30 million) worth of items over the summer. The auction house confirms that the money from the sale will go into investments that will contribute to the upkeep of Althorp. The Spencer seat is currently occupied by the ninth Earl, Charles Spencer, who recently announced his engagement to Lady Bianca Eliot.

Charles’ surprise visit… with some dismay

Prince Charles made a surprise visit to Afghanistan last week to meet with the troops. His Royal Highness visited the southern province area where his son, Prince Harry, served anonymously for several weeks until his presence in the region was announced by the media. Charles’ sister, Princess Anne, also visited Afghanistan to give the troops a morale boost earlier this month.

The visit was met with annoyance by Britain’s special representative to Afghanistan, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles. According to a leaked Whitehall memo obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, Cowper-Coles expressed displeasure that President Hamid Karzai was scheduled to be out of the country during Charles’ two-day visit. Cowper-Coles wrote that the Afghan officials in charge of the scheduling were “incompetent”. Cowper-Coles also breathed relief that the Prince’s visit had “at last” taken place after several scheduling conflicts prevented HRH from going.

Filed Under: Mandy's Royalty, Royal Family Tagged With: Charles Earl Spencer, Kensington Palace, Prince Charles

Royal Round Up 3-16-10: Madge takes on Wallis; Discovering your heritage; Junior royals on their own

March 15, 2010 By Mandy Littlefield Leave a Comment

Madge to tackle the story of Wallis Simpson

Madonna, the 1980s pop music icon, is turning to Queen Elizabeth II for help on a film she intends to make.

Madge is looking to Her Maj’ to provide information on Wallis Simpson, who married King Edward VIII after he abdicated the British throne. The singer is reported to be fascinated by the 1936 crisis, in which Edward VIII’s decision to marry Wallis, an American divorcee with Nazi leanings, caused a constitutional dilemma. With his abdication, the crown passed to his younger brother Prince Albert, the Queen’s father. Edward and Wallis became known as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and were effectively banished from England, bouncing between France, the Bahamas, and Palm Beach, Florida.

Madonna’s constantly morphing public persona settled on ‘English lady-of-the-manor’ when she married British director Guy Ritchie in 2000. Since then, the singer has been enraptured by all things British and aristocratic.

Buckingham Palace courtiers, according to the Telegraph, says that Madonna shouldn’t get her hopes too high.

Madonna Seeks Help From Queen

Lord of the Manor or a maid? New research program finds out

We all wish we could claim blue blood and inherit a grand estate. Now, a new research program that is being backed by the National Trust can tell you for certain.

Research suggests four per cent of people have some link to royalty in the family tree, a fifth find ancestors who were born illegitimate and six per cent unearth a missing family member.

The National Trust, with help from Ancestry.co.uk, is helping to fund investigations into the family trees of the people who lived and worked in Britain’s stately homes through the centuries. Many people may find that they have direct links to royalty and aristocracy, whether through legitimacy or illegitimacy, through this program. It can also tell you if your ancestors were scullery maids and butlers to the rich in the luxurious country homes of England.

The genealogical database Ancestry.co.uk contributed to the BBC television series Who Do You Think You Are?.

The show revealed that Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, is related to several European royal houses and can claim direct descent from King George II. German Prince Paul von Wurttemberg, a great-great-grandson of George II, produced an illegitimate daughter with an actress of the time. Their child, Karoline, married Baron Charles de Pfeffel. They were the great-grandparents of Johnson’s grandmother Irene.

Small world, eh?

How Posh Do You Think You Are?

Eugenie and ‘minor’ royals on their own