Tag Archives: the queen

Queen’s corgis maul other dog – as crackdown starts on bad owners

9:29am Mon August 20th

Princess Beatrice’s pet dog nearly had its ear bitten off by the Queen’s corgis, it has been revealed. Worryingly for the royal household, the news comes as a crackdown on irresponsible owners of dangerous dogs was announced.

A source told the Daily Mail:

“It was really nasty. The Queen’s dog boy was taking the corgis for a walk and they were joined by the Norfolk terriers … The next thing we knew there were horrific yelps and screams”

It is not without irony that the incident coincides with the toughening of the regime covering dangerous dogs. New guidelines for judges could mean tougher penalties for owners of dangerously out of control dogs — including custodial sentences of up to 18 months.

Liz should be grateful the new regime only applies to attacks on humans.

Prince Charles billed taxpayer £20,000 for trip to … London!

6:44pm Mon July 2nd

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London resident Prince Charles incurred expenses of £20,000 to visit poverty-stricken areas of the capital hit by the riots last summer, official documents have revealed. Charles and Camilla flew down from Aberdeen to London and back using a luxurious jet aircraft which had previously been shunned by the Queen because it was too expensive.

The heir to the throne flew down in a BAe 146 jet — interior pictured below — toured Tottenham, Hackney, Lambeth and Croydon before being whisked back to Scotland.

By way of contrast, the prime minister spends just £2,000 on a trip to Afghanistan.

The palace has even tried to spin a £200,000 increase in royal spending as a “real terms decrease”.

Gay rights “waffle”: homophobic coverage of Bercow address to Queen

11:43am Wed March 21st

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John Bercow baffled many with his references to a “kaleidoscope Queen” in his tribute to the monarch yesterday. But with his connection to a gay rights group of the same name, the right wing press seems to have gone berserk — with write-ups of the event dripping with homophobia.

By comparison with their peers, The Daily Express was a model of moderation, reporting:

“Commons Speaker John Bercow provoked scorn yesterday after hailing the growth of gay rights while giving his speech to the monarch calling her “a kaleidoscope Queen of a kaleidoscope country.”

The Daily Mail, as one might well expect, was a little more hostile to Bercow, whose recently published coat of arms including an LGBT rainbow and pink triangles. Their article was headlined:

“Get on with it, you Bercow! Cameron looks ratty as Speaker hijacks the Queen’s Jubilee address to waffle on about gay rights”

But the award for foaming-at-the-mouth incensed bigotry has to go to Damian Thompson over at the Daily Telegraph, who wrote ranted:

“…who the hell allowed that creep Bercow to hijack the event with his self-serving PC drivel about the “Kaleidoscope Queen” – and, worse, to insert a thinly disguised plug for gay marriage into a loyal address? The man is a disgrace to our public life. I hope readers share my anger.”

They don’t mind gays or anything, just as long as they do it in the privacy of their own home away from the Queen.

Nadine Dorries blocked from Queen’s diamond jubilee Speech

8:16pm Tue March 20th

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Nadine Dorries was blocked from entering Westminster Hall for the Queen’s 60th anniversary speech, Scrapbook can reveal. The Mid-Bedfordshire MP rocked up in all her finery, only to be turned away by security.

Looks like she forgot her ticket.

UPDATE (06:53) »She's now on Twitter claiming she got in via another entrance. Are there chimneys in the Palace of Westminster?

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Is the Duchess of Cambridge just a right royal clothes horse?

1:51pm Thu March 8th

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Notwithstanding International Women’s Day, the Duchess of Cambridge’s is getting her usual treatment from the media: as a royal clothes horse. No sooner had Kate’s Episode shoes touched the gravel on her tour with the in-laws, than the broadcast media parroted what they had been briefed – what she was wearing.

Being fans of quality gentleman’s tailoring, we rang the Royal press office to find out what Prince Philip was wearing on the trip:

Scrapbook: Can you tell us what the Duke of Edinburgh was wearing today?
Press officer: Pardon?
Scrapbook: Can you tell us what Prince Philip was wearing?
Press officer: Sorry, we don’t have any details on that

They did, however, volunteer that the queen was wearing a cerise dress and coat with black trim by Angela Kelly. In contrast with Liz and Kate, one wonders what difference could account for the fact of Philips clothing not being a matter of public record?

While there was a sartorial element to today’s excursion — having watched a fashion show, Kate will judge a shoe competition of De Montfort University design students — royal column inches are dominated by what she is wearing. A summary of recent coverage:

St Pancras (Today): teal suit by LK Bennett, hat by James Lock (Daily Mirror)
Fortnum and Mason (1st March): Queen and Kate wear colour co-ordinate outfits (Daily Telegraph)
Oxford (21st February): brown dove-patterned dresscoat Irish designer Orla Kiely (The Sun)
Liverpool (14th Feb): £269 coat from Hobbs with £59 black polo neck (Daily Mail)
National Portrait Gallery (8th Feb): grey-coat dress by Jesire (Daily Mail)

While there is undoubtedly a large audience for news of Kate’s fashion mores, should national broadcasters be leaving the finer details to Grazia magazine and WhatKateWore.com?

Women. Know your limits (wearing clothes).

Fortnum & Mason occupied by 85 year-old grandmother and family

11:40am Thu March 1st

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Fortnum & Mason has been occupied by “scroungers” for the second time in nearly a year. A trio of troublemakers from the same family led their entourage in protesting against 14% cuts to their benefits. Inkeeping with DWP policy, a series of complex benefits including the Civil List have been replaced with a single handout: the Sovereign Support Grant.

The invasion is believed to have been instigated by a woman from West London named locally as “Mrs Windsor”. The 85 year old grandmother, who also uses the pseudonym “Elizabeth II”, made a beeline for the honey and preserves section, while her favourite daughter-in-law, Camilla, headed for baked goods.

Scrapbook is reassured to the offenders make their getaway in style. The £5 million custom made Bentley State Limousine — which boasts kevlar-reinforced tyres, a hermetically-sealed cabin and a maximum speed of 135mph – was described by Sky News as “just like a London taxi”.

No benefits were scrounged in the making of this post.

Tory MPs queue to support Commons motion on £80m royal yacht

3:31pm Thu January 19th

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The Queen weeps as her previous yacht is decommissioned

Following David Cameron’s apparent agreement to Michael Gove’s proposal for a new royal yacht, an Early Day Motion (EDM) has been put forward by MPs supporting the idea. Having already gathered 19 signatures, predominantly from Conservative MPs, it will continue a debate which wiser Tory hacks would have buried.

The EDM calls for:

“the Government to appoint a Minister to examine options, through sponsorship and donation, for producing a new Royal Yacht in this jubilee year, without recourse to public funds, as a tribute to Her Majesty…”

The last yacht was decommissioned in 1997 and the Labour government decided against a replacement on the grounds of cost. The projected expense of a new yacht has ranged between £60m and £80m, and even proposals to fund it through charitable donations rather than government funds will attract criticism when the economy is in the doldrums.

With Tory hawks turning their attentions towards the Falklands, however, perhaps Elizabeth II can lead a flotilla to the South Atlantic.

The Queen cornered Tony Blair in failed bid to save fox hunting

1:09pm Sun January 8th

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The Queen pressurised Tony Blair over fox hunting during a weekend at Balmoral, according to a new book. The monarch, who reportedly claimed that Blair “was in the wrong party”, lobbied the then prime minister some years before

The biography of Elizabeth II by Sally Beddell Smith claims:

“she patiently explained to him over dinner that hunting was an activity not only for the upper class but regular people as well. Some of the riders, she said, were far from well-off and rented their horses from livery stables.”

The Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt was regularly attended by members of the royal family including Prince William and his father Charles, who is no stranger to political lobbying himself.

With delicious irony, the Hunting Act finally became law after receiving royal assent from the Queen in 2004.

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