...For January 2007
January 9, 2007 - -
Not so happy birthday Kate
Kate Middleton leaving her home in London yesterday.
Photo: AP
She makes headlines for getting a parking ticket, newspapers comment on her fashion
choices, and her 25th birthday today is generating a media storm.
Prince William's girlfriend, Kate Middleton, may one day become the Queen of England.
Before that, she is undergoing the ordeal seemingly demanded of royal wannabes since Lady
Diana Spencer began dating Prince Charles more than a quarter of a century ago.
On her 25th birthday a frenzy is building around the young woman - fuelled, perhaps, by a
large dose of wishful thinking from the press and public.
Pictures of the brunette fashion buyer, who has dated William since both were university
students, fetch thousands of dollars from the tabloid press.
Paparazzi follow her on her way to work, on shopping trips and on nights out with the
Prince. One recent, widely published snapshot showed her receiving a ticket from a
parking warden outside her London home.
The retail chain Woolworths has commissioned Wills-and-Kate engagement memorabilia,
despite the absence of any evidence that a betrothal announcement is imminent.
"It would be more of a surprise now if they split than if they marry," said Robert
Jobson, author of the recently published book William's Princess.
"I think it's only a matter of time before this role of princess in waiting is changed to
being a real princess and maybe one day queen consort."
British bookmaking firm William Hill says it is so certain William will pop the question
it has stopped taking bets on whether the pair will get engaged. It's only taking bets on
the date.
"We're certain they will. It's a question of when, not if," said spokesman Rupert Adams.
William Hill says it is a 4-5 probability the pair will announce their engagement this
year, and is offering 3-1 they will marry this year.
The Prince and Ms Middleton have dated since they were both students at St Andrews
University in Scotland, and were first photographed together on a skiing holiday shortly
before their graduation in 2005.
There have been persistent reports in recent weeks that the two may soon announce their
engagement.
Born in the commuter town of Reading, west of London, Ms Middleton - unlike most previous
royal consorts - is a quintessentially middle-class Englishwoman. Her father worked for
an airline and her mother was a flight attendant. They now run a mail-order business
specialising in children's parties. Ms Middleton attended Marlborough College, an elite
private school, where she played tennis and field hockey, before studying art history at
St Andrews. She and William shared a student house in the seaside university town.
Amid the spiralling media interest, Ms Middleton and the royal family want to avoid a
repeat of the paparazzi hounding endured by William's mother, the late Princess Diana.
Preliminary hearings for an inquest into Diana's death in a 1997 car crash opened at
London's Royal Courts of Justice yesterday.
Ms Middleton is older, and perhaps better prepared for media scrutiny, than Diana, who
was just 19 when she began dating Prince Charles. The pair married in 1981, in a
fairytale ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral watched by an estimated 700 million people
around the world on television.
Reality soon set in, and Charles and Diana divorced in 1996 after admissions of adultery
on both sides.
Ms Middleton's lawyers have complained to newspaper editors, requesting she be left
alone, and British newspapers have recently reported that she is to be given a
round-the-clock guard from the police royal protection squad - a key sign of inclusion in
the royal circle.
Prince William's Clarence House office and the Metropolitan Police have both refused to
comment on security arrangements.
However, the royal family appears to be quietly easing Ms Middleton into its public
events. Last month she was in attendance, along with the Queen, when William, 24,
graduated from Sandhurst military academy. William has since joined the Blues and Royals,
an elite cavalry regiment.
"The Queen was there, yet Kate stole the limelight," Jobson said. "The fact they allowed
her to do that signalled intent. It shows that this is a very serious relationship. It's
not a frivolous one."
AP
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Lawyers to shield prince's girlfriend
PRINCE Charles's lawyers are preparing a test case to protect the privacy of his son
Prince William's girlfriend, Kate Middleton, and stop the relentess harassment of her by
the paparazzi.
It is understood that the lawyers are investigating criminal and civil law on harassment
to curb the activities of certain photographers. They are also looking at using the Human
Rights Act as well as building on recent privacy rulings to restrict the paparazzi.
The move comes in response to an increasingly frenetic level of attention paid to Ms
Middleton, including photographers chasing her on their motorbikes and by car.
Senior members of the Royal Household have likened it to the pursuit of Princess Diana,
that ended in her death.
Yesterday, as Ms Middleton left her home in Chelsea, southwest London, at 9am, there were
12 photographers and three television crews waiting outside. Prince William and Prince
Charles are concerned that Ms Middleton is facing what amounts to ?harassment and
intrusion?.
A court case on behalf of Ms Middleton, who celebrates her 25th birthday today, would be
a high-risk strategy for the Royal Family, even if they were only indirectly associated.
But it could define the boundaries between legitimate press photography and an invasion
of privacy.
The law firm Harbottle & Lewis is warning newspapers and broadcasters to ?sharpen up
their act? or face legal action. A spokesman for Clarence House said: ?Ms Middleton is a
private individual and as such can expect to have the privacy and private life that would
be enjoyed by any member of the public.?
Prince William has been bolstered by a recent legal victory for his father, in which a
court ruled that Britain's Mail on Sunday newspaper had infringed the Prince of Wales?s
copyright and confidentiality by publishing extracts from private diaries about the
handover of Hong Kong.
Harbottle & Lewis is understood to be in continual contact with media organisations in an
effort to secure an informal agreement to protect her. If that fails, lawyers have
planned moves with three targets: the photographers themselves, media organisations here
and abroad, and their regulators.
A first port of call would be a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission. Tim
Toulmin, spokesman for the commission, said: ?Since the press complaints code was
rewritten after the death of Diana, we have dealt with thousands of cases where we call
people off from harassing others - with success. We deal with these complaints informally
and quickly and I cannot think of a case when it has not worked.?
At the same time individual photographers could be targeted through use of the Protection
from Harassment Act 1997. The Act provides for criminal and civil proceedings and could
be used against the worst offenders to warn off others.
Gill Phillips, media lawyer with Times Newspapers, said that this would have a salutary
effect. ?In the light of recent rulings that are all very much in favour of recognising
people?s privacy rights, I think there?s no doubt that courts would be sympathetic to
doing something here.?
However, Paul Sanders, the Times picture editor, said that it would be difficult to
define the limits. ?It is a fine line - generally it is held to be crossing the limits of
what is acceptable if you go on to private property, or block the person, invade their
personal space or try to provoke them in some way to get a response.? But the advent of
mobile phones with high-quality cameras, and the fact that many photographers act as
freelances selling to agents, made it hard to control taking pictures of people who were
in the public eye.
The hand of Ms Middleton?s lawyers has been strengthened by a ruling from the European
Court of Human Rights won by Princess Caroline of Monaco in 2004. The court held that
photographs published in a magazine were a breach of her privacy.
Antony White, QC, a media barrister with Matrix Chambers, said that as well as the
statutory law on harassment, lawyers for Ms Middleton could use the common law to obtain
protection. The courts might build on the ruling won by Princess Caroline and grant a
general injunction against photographers as a group without naming specific individuals.
Last night a senior editorial executive at The Sun said that the British tabloid had
decided not to use any more paparazzi pictures of Ms Middleton. They they would no longer
be part of the ?media circus? outside her door, he added.
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William: inquest must be fair
By Caroline Davies
Prince William and Prince Harry called yesterday for an "open, fair and transparent
inquest" into the death of their mother as they were told it was highly unlikely they
would be expected to give evidence.
Their wishes were relayed to the High Court as former judge Baroness Butler-Sloss
presided over a preliminary hearing into the inquests of Diana, Princess of Wales and her
lover Dodi Fayed, son of the Harrods owner Mohamed Fayed, who died in a Paris car crash
almost 10 years ago
The princes were represented by their private secretary, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton. Lady
Butler-Sloss said she had received a letter on the princes' behalf that read: "It is
their desire that the inquest should not only be open, fair and transparent, but that it
should move swiftly to a conclusion."
Responding, Lady Butler-Sloss told Major Lowther-Pinkerton: "I would be very surprised if
those you represent ? would be expected to give evidence."
Acknowledging the princes' request for a swift conclusion, Lady Butler-Sloss said that
she wished, if possible, to re-open the full inquests into the death no later than May.
She also indicated she would hold the two inquests together, which has long been the wish
of Mohamed Fayed.
He maintains that the couple were murdered and claims their deaths were part of a plot by
the Establishment at the behest of Prince Philip.
January 7, 2007 - -
Army officer and a gentleman
PRINCE William will begin life as an army officer tomorrow.
Having arrived at his barracks, the 24-year-old will officially report for duty with the
Household Cavalry on Monday.
He follows in the footsteps of brother Harry, 22, who has already joined the Blues and
Royals as an officer.
After his first year in the army, second in line to the throne William will start to get
to grips with constitutional affairs for when he eventually becomes king.
He will also spend time with the RAF and Navy to prepare himself for when he is Head of
the Armed Forces.
William, who left Sandhurst last month, will be based at Combermere Barracks in Windsor.
The Prince, now known in the Army as Cornet Wales, will train to be a Troop Leader with
an armoured reconnaissance unit, just like Harry.
Such troops can be expected to spend long periods of time self contained and sometimes
behind enemy lines.
William graduated from Sandhurst in front of the Queen and his girlfriend Kate Middleton
in December.
Ms Middleton celebrates her 25th birthday on Tuesday.
January 5, 2007 -
-
Nazi royal pic sparks outrage
royals
'Offensive' ... the painting that has shocked many
The Sun
By LACHLAN CARTWRIGHT
A PAINTING ridiculing the Royal Family has sparked outrage among monarchists.
The picture, that is currently showing as part of an exhibition at a gallery in
Amsterdam, depicts Prince Harry as a Nazi and the late Princess Diana as Christ.
Tory MP David Ruffley said: "This seems to be a pathetic and tasteless attempt at art by
a man with no talent.
"People on the continent are just jealous of our Royal Family and the Queen being a
beacon of decency for the Western World."
Sun royal snapper Arthur Edwards slammed the artists work.
He said: "It is demeaning of the Royal family. Some of the images are just awful.
"Anyone who has any connection with the Royal Family will find it offensive."
But Gallery the 3rd owner Mr Maarten de Vlieger defended the work.
He said: "Everyone we've shown this painting to has been very excited about it so we
don't see it as a problem.
"Prince Harry is the one responsible for being a Nazi as he dressed up like that in
England two years ago and there is no way we will be withdrawing it."
Mr de Vlieger said he was considering showing the painting in the UK later this year.
Clarence House refused to comment on the matter.
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10 cops guard 'future Queen'
Royal protection ... Kate Middleton leaves trendy West London nightclub Boujis
The Sun
By ONLINE REPORTER
TEN police officers were called in to protect Prince William’s girlfriend Kate Middleton
as she left a nightclub.
Miss Middleton was heading home with second in line to the throne William in the early
hours of this morning after an evening out in London.
Two police vans arrived and officers formed a cordon to stop photographers getting too
close.
The rise in security comes after increasing numbers of paparazzi have started following
Kate, who is expected to marry William and one day be a future Queen.
Police were stationed outside her home in Chelsea yesterday to cope with the growing pack
waiting to watch her leave for work.
As an ordinary member of the public, she is not entitled to police guard.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: “We don’t comment on protection matters. We never have
and we never will.”
Clarence House refused to comment on the matter.
But the police guard is likely to fuel rumours that Kate will become engaged to William
in the near future.
January 3, 2007 - -
Warden gives Kate a royal ticking off
There goes your gong: the traffic warden refuses to waive Kate's parking ticket
It just proves that traffic wardens don't care who they target.
This one is certainly not concerned about an honour after slapping a parking ticket on
the car of Prince William's girlfriend Kate Middleton.
Miss Middleton, 24, saw the warden issuing a penalty notice for her VW Golf as she left
her Chelsea home early today on her way her new job.
She looked every inch the glamorous girl about town in dog-tooth check mini-skirt,
knee-high suede boots and patterned tights - but she could not convince the attendant to
stop writing out a ticket.
After a seemingly heated discussion, her foe handed over the ticket. If Kate pays it
within 14 days, her error will cost her £50, otherwise the penalty will rise to £100.
The warden allowed himself a wry smile after lecturing his latest victim. Perhaps this
was his biggest scalp to date. A witness said he believed that she had misunderstood a
parking suspension sign. He said: "She really didn't like the fact she was given a
ticket. She argued for a bit but then decided it was not worth the hassle."
As the prince, also 24, and Miss Middleton have become more serious over their three-year
relationship, he is said to have urged her to get a job.
Friends revealed William was worried Kate had not found full-time work since she
graduated from St Andrews University in June 2005. She now works four days a week at
clothing company Jigsaw's headquarters in Kew, West London, as an assistant buyer for the
junior accessories line.
Bookies are so sure the pair will announce their engagement this year, they have slashed
the odds to 2/1.
January 2, 2007 - -
William's dangerous speed thrills
Britain's Prince William's security guards have said they will no longer put their lives
at risk to protect him while he rides his motorbike.
The 24-year-old prince has an extremely fast 1100cc Honda Super Blackbird motorbike and
recently came close to having an accident on it when he experienced a "wobble".
But William's personal protection police have warned that they cannot protect him if he
drives at high speeds.
A source told Britain's Sun newspaper: "Both William and his brother Harry love the
thrill of riding fast motorbikes. But it is a security nightmare.
"Other than keeping up with him and being alert to potential dangers, officers are
concerned in case they break the speed barrier."
The prince has a collection of motorbikes and enjoys riding them around his father's
Highgrove estate.
Two armed guards from the Metropolitan Police Royalty Protection Department normally
accompany him, with one riding as a passenger on the bike.
William is also said to enjoy the anonymity of wearing leathers and a helmet.
Six months ago residents living on the Dorset Army base where William's brother Prince
Harry was stationed complained about him driving "like a maniac".
(C) BANG Media International
January 1, 2007 - -
Kate: You can call me Catherine
KATE Middleton is insisting on being called Catherine — in an attempt to sound more regal
as she waits for Prince William to pop the question.
The stunning brunette, who was christened Catherine, thinks it has a more “formal ring”
to it, according to friends.
One colleague said: “She thinks it’s much more suited to being a princess.”
Kate, 24, is widely tipped to marry the second in line to the throne and one day be Queen.
William, also 24, had vowed not to get wed until he is 28.
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Harry pledges to give up 20 per day cigarette habit
by REBECCA ENGLISH
Prince Harry has vowed to quit smoking in the New Year ahead of a sweeping army ban.
The 22-year-old prince first took up cigarettes at the age of 14 while he was still a
pupil at Eton, often cadging them from older boys at the exclusive public school.
He has carried on smoking up to twenty Marlboro Lights a day ever since, even through his
gruelling year-long army training course at Sandhurst.
Sources at the college said Harry could often be seen hanging around the back of his
barracks lighting up and was even known to start puffing immediately after an exercise.
Cadets at the Royal Military Academy are not allowed to smoke inside the college but are
permitted to do so in their free time.
Although it seems at odds with the demanding physical nature of his job, officer Harry
has always insisted that his habit doesn't interfere with his health or fitness.
But according to reports, the third-in-line-to-the-throne has finally made a New Year's
resolution to give up for good.
His decision comes as the Ministry of Defence prepares to ban smoking at all army
barracks from March this year and army sources have suggested that Harry wants to cut
down gradually before the new regulations come in.
His decision is likely to delight his father, Prince Charles, who loathes his son's
nicotine habit. His wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, was herself a heavy smoker but is also
believed to given up in recent years.
Unfortunately for Harry, however, his girlfriend Chelsy Davy is a social smoker, which is
unlikely to make kicking the habit any easier for him.
"Harry tries not to be seen smoking in public but behind closed door and at parties he's
always lighting up," said a royal source.
"His father nags him constantly about it but Harry has never shown an inclination to
listen to him until now."
Harry is currently enjoying a nine-day holiday in Mozambique with girlfriend Chelsy and
her family courtesy of her controversial multi-millionaire father, Charles.
The couple heralded in the New Year by partying until dawn on the beach at Bazaruto
island after enjoying a lavish seafood banquet and watching a spectacular fireworks
display.
Harry returns to England on Friday to re-join his Blues and Royal regiment when he will
be formally told whether he will be sent to Iraq in the spring.
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Harry: I've smoked last fag
HEAVY smoker Prince Harry will today quit cigarettes for the New Year — ahead of an Army
ban.
The soldier prince, 22, has been known to get through 20 Marlboro Lights a night.
But he has vowed to stub out for good, to the delight of dad Charles.
A Royal insider said: “Harry tries not to be seen smoking in public, but behind closed
doors and at parties he’s always lighting up. He loves a drink and the two sort of go
together. His dad nags him constantly.”
Harry, an officer with the Blues and Royals, took up smoking aged 14 while at Eton.
His bid to quit comes as the Ministry of Defence prepares to ban smoking at Army barracks
in March.
An Army source said: “Harry’s clearly decided to steal a march on that.”
The prince is on a ten-day New Year break in Mozambique with smoker girlfriend Chelsy
Davy, 21.
It is not known if she will back him by quitting too. Harry plans to fly home on Friday,
when he will be told officially whether his regiment will go to Iraq.