The Property Empires that Make Charles and William Millions

Nov 20. 2024 | An investigation by the Sunday Times’ Insight team has revealed for the first time the extensive property empires of the King and Prince of Wales. The information includes details of the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall’s business deals with the NHS, schools and military that help fund the royals.

How splendid it is to be able to live as a serf in this kingdom! Who wouldn’t be cock-a-hoop at being given the privilege? – © Mark Alexander

Princess Diana's Former Chauffeur Breaks 30-year Silence over Martin Bashir's Panorama Lies

Nov 11, 2024 | It was rogue BBC journalist Martin Bashir who ended the royal career of Diana's personal chauffeur Steve Davies. But it would take a quarter of a century before he discovered that, learning the truth by chance from an episode of The Crown. The driver was frozen out of the Princess's inner circle at Kensington Palace in late 1995. 'It happened overnight,' he says. 'From driving her everywhere I was banned from the wheel of her car. After the Christmas break I was told she didn't want me near it, I wasn't even allowed to wash or hoover it. 'I was still on her payroll but all I could do was sit in the garage for ten hours a day, my official shift, doing nothing, and then go home. I was heartbroken, humiliated. She shunned me.'

King's ‘Tentacles’ Stretch across the UK Charging People ‘Millions’

Nov 3, 2024 | “Their tentacles stretch just about everywhere across the UK.”

The King and Prince William are earning millions from charging councils and government departments, with some of these charges being “really petty”, says @JCalvertST.

Revealed: King Charging Millions for NHS to Use His Land

Nov 2, 2024 | All of what they've uncovered doesn't pass the public smell test of ethical behaviour."

An investigation by the Sunday Times Insight team has uncovered the "secret business deals" that the king are using to maintain their "multi-millionaire status", says The Sunday Times's George Arbuthnott.


THE GUARDIAN:

King and Prince William’s estates ‘making millions from charities and public services’: Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster likely to make at least £50m from leasing land to services such as NHS and schools, according to investigation »

Does Australia Need a Monarchy? King Charles Commences First Royal Tour

Oct 19, 2024 | King Charles III and Queen Camilla will be in Australia this week — their first visit here since taking the throne. Given the king's ongoing cancer treatment, and recent drastic changes to the British Royal Family, the trip won't be as busy as previous royal tours.

So, this will be a slimmed-down tour - but is Australia's fever for the Monarchy still as passionate? Three experts from The Australian discuss whether King Charles has a bright future - or whether we'll be heading toward another shot at the Republic.

Prince Harry Claims He Was ‘Forced’ to Step Back from Royal Duties

THE TELEGRAPH: Duke of Sussex disputes suggestion that it was his choice to stop being ‘full time working member of Royal family’, High Court hears

The Duke of Sussex leaves the Royal Courts of Justice in central London during a hearing in March CREDIT: AFP
The Duke of Sussex was “forced” to step back from royal duties and leave the UK, he has told the High Court.

Prince Harry disputed a suggestion, made during his legal challenge against the Government decision to deny him automatic police protection in the UK, that he had chosen to stop being “a full-time working member of the Royal family”.

His barrister, Shaheed Fatima KC, said she wanted to make it “quite clear” that this was not the case.

She read an excerpt from the Duke’s witness statement in which he said: “It was with great sadness for the both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020. » | Victoria Ward, Deputy Royal Editor | THursday, December 7, 2023

Demand Soars for Dutch First Editions of Book Naming UK Royals in Race Row

GUARDIAN EUROPE: Copies of book about British monarchy changing hands on resale websites for up to €175

A woman reads Eindstrijd (Endgame) by Omid Scobie. Photograph: Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters
Dutch first editions of the book Endgame, which names two members of the British royal family alleged to have discussed the skin colour of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s unborn baby, are selling online for many times above the original retail price of €22.99.

As parts of the British press reached fever pitch trying to find out whether the Dutch version had contained a mistranslation, or had failed to adopt final excisions or was running a strange publicity stunt, bids for a Dutch version on Marktplaats on Thursday reached €175 (£150).

After first editions of Eindstrijd, the Dutch translation of Omid Scobie’s Endgame, went on sale, Dutch journalists said the book contained the names of two senior royals in connection with speculation about the potential skin colour of Harry and Megan’s son, Archie, on pages 128 and 334. » | Senay Boztas in Amsterdam | Saturday, December 2, 2023

Prince Harry and Meghan urged to back King amid racism row: Duke and Duchess told to end 'deafening silence' as supporters come forward to defend royals after fallout from Omid Scobie book »

British Royal Connections to the NSDAP

Mar 17, 2023
In view of the very controversial nature of this extremely interesting documentary, I have decided not to embed it on this blog; rather, I have decided to provide you with a link to the documentary on YouTube instead. This documentary offers a surprising insight into leading characters in the United Kingdom prior to, and during, the Second World War. Click here to watch this fascinating documentary.
How Britain’s Nazi-loving press baron made the case for Hitler: The Daily Mail was once the country’s highest selling newspaper, but owner Lord Rothermere was more concerned with ‘Bolshevik troublemakers’ than an impending genocide »

The Guardian View on Royal Finances: Time to Let the Daylight in

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: Parliament should examine the regulation, financing and accountability of the monarchy

King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort. Photograph: Tim Rooke/Shutterstock
“When there is a select committee on the Queen,” Walter Bagehot wrote in 1867, “the charm of royalty will be gone. Its mystery is its life. We must not let in daylight upon magic.” Yet as the Guardian’s reporting shows, the monarchy rests not on mantras and vapours, but on a solid financial foundation that has been deliberately shielded from parliamentary accountability. David Cameron was more servant of the crown than of the people when he drew a veil around the monarchy so zealously. In 2011, the then prime minister wanted to end what he described in his memoirs as a “painful annual discussion … about whether individual members of the family were ‘good value for money’”. At a time when Mr Cameron, an ardent monarchist, was inflicting painful cuts to public services, he made it a priority to accommodate the then Queen’s long-held wish to protect herself from scrutiny. » | Editorial | Wednesday, April 5, 2023

The Super-privileged.

Prince Harry’s Book Could Be ‘Beginning of End’ for Royals, Warns Charles’s Biographer

THE OBSERVER: Catherine Mayer says anger over racism, misogyny and wealth in the royal family can undermine public consent for a monarchy

Prince Harry, William, Meghan and Catherine at Westminster Abbey in 2020 with Charles, before he became king. Photograph: Phil Harris/AP
The “absolutely catastrophic” implications of attacks on the behaviour of the royal family in the new memoir from the Duke of Sussex are being ignored, according to Catherine Mayer, the royal analyst and biographer of King Charles.

Early publication of the Spanish edition of Spare has put the focus on personality clashes, some of it fed by the royal publicity machine, and this could threaten the constitutional monarchy, whether or not the British public is calling for such a change, Mayer believes.

“It is possibly something that will mark the beginning of the end of the monarchy, and that is what we should discuss. It is important, given the lack of trust in the state at the moment and an upsurge in rightwing politics. Members of the royal family have become our proxies for anger about racism, misogyny and wealth. This is, after all, an institution that stands for inequality, so there are huge things at stake.” » | Vanessa Thorpe | Sunday, January 8, 2023

Drugs, sex and killings: six explosive revelations from Prince Harry’s book: The early Spanish publication of the memoir reveals a scuffle with William and lost virginity behind a pub »

Prince Harry Criticised by Military and Taliban over 'Crimes against Humanity' | 9 News Australia

Jan 7, 2023 | Royal editor at the Daily Mirror Russell Myers said Prince Harry has drawn criticism by some members of the British Army and an angry rebuke from the Taliban - after he admitted to killing 25 people in his memoir while serving in Afghanistan, which he described as “chess pieces removed from the board.”

Harry Has Turned against Military, Says Ex-commander

Harry served as a helicopter pilot in 2012-13 | WPA POOL
BBC: A retired commanding officer has accused Prince Harry of "turning against" his military family after "having trashed his birth family".

In his memoir, the Duke of Sussex describes killing 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan as "chess pieces taken off the board".

Ex-colonel Tim Collins said that was "not how you behave in the army".

Prince Harry gives details about his time as a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan in his memoir Spare.

BBC News has obtained a copy of the book after it was put on sale early in Spain. In it, Prince Harry reveals for the first time that he killed 25 enemy fighters - which is perfectly possible after two tours in the Helmand region of the country.

"It wasn't a statistic that filled me with pride but nor did it make me ashamed," he writes.

"When I was plunged into the heat and confusion of battle, I didn't think about those as 25 people. You can't kill people if you see them as people.

"In truth, you can't hurt people if you see them as people. They were chess pieces taken off the board, bad guys eliminated before they kill good guys.

"They trained me to 'other' them and they trained me well."

Responding to the prince's comments, a senior Taliban leader Anas Haqqani tweeted: "Mr Harry! The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families who were waiting for their return...

"I don't expect that the (International Criminal Court) will summon you or the human rights activists will condemn you, because they are deaf and blind for you." » | Andre Rhoden-Paul and defence correspondent Jonathan Beale, BBC News | Friday, January 6, 2023

Prince Harry's 'Distasteful' Comments about Taliban Killings

Jan 6, 2023 | The Duke of Sussex has revealed that he killed 25 people while serving as an Apache helicopter pilot in Afghanistan. In his autobiography Spare, Harry said he did not think of them as “people” but instead as “chess pieces” that had been taken off the board. The Telegraph, which obtained a Spanish language copy of the memoir from a bookshop in Spain, revealed that Harry wrote that flying six missions during his second tour of duty on the front line resulted in “the taking of human lives” of which he was neither proud nor ashamed. Describing watching a video of each “kill” when he returned to base, he wrote of Taliban fighters as “baddies” who were being eliminated before they could kill “goodies”. “So, my number is 25. It’s not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me,” he wrote. Former British Army Officer Colonel Richard Kemp says it is "distasteful" for Prince Harry to be publicising how many people he killed in battle.

Prince Harry Makes Series of Claims and Accusations in Memoir 'Spare' – BBC News

Jan 6, 2023 | Prince Harry has made a string of accusations against his family - the British Royal Family - in a new memoir. In one claim, he says his brother, Prince William, physically attacked him in a row over his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. The book officially goes on sale in the UK and the US next week, but media outlets have obtained copies in Spain where it has gone on sale by mistake. The memoir is Harry's account and Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace have both said they will not comment.

Prince Harry 'Angry That William Got the Bigger Room in a Castle'

Jan 6, 2023 | The Duke of Sussex has reportedly claimed his brother “felt tremendous guilt” for not speaking up about his father’s affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Queen Consort.

In the Spanish translation of Harry’s memoir, which was accidentally released early in Spain and obtained by journalists from the US publication Page Six, the duke reportedly writes that the now-Prince of Wales had “long harboured suspicions about the Other Woman”.

Their father’s cheating – which was confirmed by the then-Prince of Wales in 1994 two years after his separation from Diana – had caused the older prince immense suffering as a child and teenager, Harry claims.

“(It) confused him, tormented him, and when those suspicions were confirmed he felt tremendous guilt for having done nothing, said nothing, sooner,” Page Six reports the duke wrote in a copy of his book translated from Spanish.

Speaking to TalkTV's Jeremy Kyle former BBC Royal correspondent Jennie Bond criticised Prince Harry for being 'entitled' during a cost of living crisis.

Prince Harry Saw ‘Red Mist’ in William during Brother’s Alleged Attack

A screenshot taken from the Guardian today.
THE GUARDIAN: Duke of Sussex recounts altercation with brother, saying ‘he wanted me to hit him back, but I chose not to’

Prince Harry has said he saw “the red mist” in his brother, Prince William, when his older sibling allegedly attacked him during a confrontation over the younger duke’s relationship with Meghan Markle.

In a newly released clip from ITV’s forthcoming interview with Harry, the Duke of Sussex said his brother, William, was so frustrated during the 2019 incident he saw “the red mist in him”.

“He wanted me to hit him back, but I chose not to,” he says of his brother, who he earlier claimed in his book had physically attacked him – as was first reported by the Guardian.

The book’s revelations are spread across front pages of almost every national newspaper in the UK and are likely to reduce the possibility of a reconciliation between the Sussexes and the rest of the British royal family. (With video) » | Jamie Grierson | Friday, January 6, 2023

Accountability, Apologies Are ‘Unfinished Business’ for Prince Harry: Royal Expert l ABCNL

Jan 6, 2023 | ABC News’ Linsey Davis spoke to ABC News royal contributor Omid Scobie about the latest infighting between Prince Harry and Prince William ahead of the release of Harry’s memoir "Spare." | ABC News Live Prime, Weekdays at 7EST & 9EST

Prince Harry Will Not Say If He Will Attend Coronation

Read the BBC article here.

Related article here.

Prince Harry: One unanswered claim at the heart of his story: Forget, for one moment, the allegation of a physical attack by his brother reportedly set out in Prince Harry's upcoming memoir Spare. Put to one side claims of shouting matches and William criticising Harry's new wife. »

Prince Harry says woman with ‘powers’ relayed message from Diana: Exclusive: Harry writes in autobiography Spare of being told he was ‘living the life she couldn’t … the life she wanted for you’ »

Prince Harry makes series of sensational claims in new memoir: A stream of sensational claims and accusations from Prince Harry's highly anticipated autobiography, Spare, have been leaked. »

Prince Harry Details Physical Attack by Brother William in New Book

THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Harry writes in new autobiography Spare that William ‘knocked me to the floor’ during confrontation in London in 2019

Harry and William in London in September, following the death of the Queen. The Guardian obtained a copy of Harry’s autobiography. Photograph: Reuters
In his highly anticipated autobiography, Spare, Prince Harry recounts what he says was a physical attack by his brother, William, now Prince of Wales, as their relationship fell apart over the younger prince’s marriage to the actor Meghan Markle.

Describing a confrontation at his London home in 2019, Harry says William called Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”, which Harry calls a “parrot[ing of] the press narrative” about his American wife.

The confrontation escalated, Harry writes, until William “grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and … knocked me to the floor”.

The extraordinary scene, which Harry says resulted in visible injury to his back, is one of many in Spare, which will be published worldwide next week and is likely to spark a serious furore for the British royal family.

Amid stringent pre-launch security around the book, the Guardian obtained a copy. » | Martin Pengelly in New York | Thursday, January 5, 2023

Prince Harry defends decision to detail his relations with royal family in memoir: ‘I don’t know how staying silent is ever going to make things better,’ Duke of Sussex tells interviewer »

Prince Harry Tells 60 Minutes about His Decision to Speak Publicly | 60 Minutes

Jan 2, 2023 | Prince Harry tells Anderson Cooper he was the target of press leaks after private conversations with members of the Royal Family.

Read the Guardian article on this story here.

Prince Harry: 'I want my father and brother back': Prince Harry has said "I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back," in a trailer for an interview ahead of the release of his autobiography. »