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Sophie Wessex: Expert discusses wedding day tiara Sign up for FREE now and never miss the top Royal stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Sophie Wessex joined the Royal Family when she married Prince Edward at Windsor Castle in 1999. The couple had an informal, family ceremony for St. George’s Chapel and that reportedly meant following a more casual dress code than usual. However, there were a few royals who decided against Sophie’s choice. Related articles Michael Mosley’s 5 diet tips to achieve rapid weight loss Royal wedding dress: Which royal bride has the most expensive dress? READ MORE Ed Sheeran weight loss: How the singer shed 5st and 'detoxed' his life …

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The first UK cases of the omicron Covid variant were confirmed on Saturday, as ministers planned to impose travel restrictions on further countries where the mutation has been identified. Two people in Essex and Nottinghamshire have been found to have tested positive for the new variant, with officials carrying out mass testing in affected areas to identify further cases. The cases, in Chelmsford and Nottingham, were identified after overnight genome sequencing. The two individuals who tested positive are being re-tested and told to self-isolate in the meantime, along with all members of their households, while contact tracers track others they may have infected. Officials said the two cases were connected and that there was "a link to travel to Southern Africa." Amid warnings over the transmissibility of the new variant, the Government announced that four additional countries were added to the travel red list: Angola, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia. This means that flights to …

[Read more...] about First two UK cases of new omicron variant confirmed in Essex and Nottinghamshire

Two Metropolitan Police officers will face disciplinary action over a "highly offensive" graphic depicting violence against women shared on WhatsApp related to Sarah Everard's murderer, Wayne Couzens. One constable who was on probation is accused of sending an image on the messaging platform to colleagues intended to be in reference to the kidnap and murder of Miss Everard by a serving officer, an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IOPC) investigation found. The officer was off-duty at the time the message was sent, but later went on to staff a cordon as part of the search for the 33-year-old marketing executive. The graphic, described by the IOPC as "highly offensive", was challenged by colleagues and reported to Scotland Yard internally, who in turn informed the police watchdog. The officer now has a case to answer for misconduct for potentially breaching standards of professional behaviour and will face a misconduct meeting to answer the allegations. A second …

[Read more...] about Met officers face disciplinary action over ‘highly offensive’ image shared during Sarah Everard search

The prime suspect in the murder of WPc Yvonne Fletcher was recruited as a state asset more than a decade after the shooting, it was claimed on Friday. Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk was arrested on charges of conspiracy to murder the police officer, who was shot dead outside the Libyan embassy in 1984, but no charges were brought on grounds of national security. Mabrouk was expelled from the UK in the aftermath of the shooting, but was allowed to come and go after Colonel Muammar Gaddafi agreed to give up Libya’s weapons of mass destruction. Two years before Gaddafi’s overthrow in 2011, he settled permanently in the UK, buying a mortgage-free house in Reading, Berkshire, with £385,000 in cash. Multiple sources have claimed he was allowed to return to Britain because he was a state asset. One source has claimed Mabrouk was involved in negotiations, or at least in influencing Gaddafi, when Libya was brought in from the cold and agreed to relinquish its weapons. In around 2002, it is …

[Read more...] about Prime suspect in murder of WPc Yvonne Fletcher ‘allowed to return to UK as state asset’

Ministers will refuse to consult or issue a call for evidence on weakening assisted suicide laws in a boost for MPs who do not want change to law, The Telegraph can disclose. Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, who is in charge of the policy, has made clear that the Government will not do any work on legalising euthanasia. The news comes after The Telegraph revealed Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, wrote to the chief statistician of the ONS to ask for figures on how many people with terminal illnesses are killing themselves every year, in a move which was seen as opening the door to legalising assisted suicide. However a senior source at the Ministry of Justice said: “The Government has no position on this. We have no plans to consult or call for evidence or anything on this issue.” Instead ministers want to allow MPs to have a free vote first on the issue, and then use that to guide the Government on whether legislation needs to be drawn up. Ministers would also be …

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The Duke of Sussex signed off his tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh with the slightly odd phrase “per mare per terram”. Those with a military interest will have picked up on the significance. But does the use of the phrase send more than one message? The Royal Marines motto “per mare per terram” (“by sea, by land”) could have been used to signify Prince Harry's role as Captain General of the Royal Marines , a post he inherited from Prince Philip. In this regard – notwithstanding the opaque nature of this formal role now he has stepped back from Royal duties – it is a gentle nod to his grandfather and his military service . However, it is a military custom in much of the US armed forces to sign off letters, speeches and even individual social interactions with a unit motto. Members of the US Marine Corps, for example, sign off with the words "semper fi" (short for Semper Fidelis, Latin for “always faithful”). This more personal sign off is offered as a mark of …

[Read more...] about Prince Harry’s Royal Marines tribute is an Americanism alien to British military

Even in a pared down ceremony more than 700 military personnel will take part in the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh tomorrow. Detachments representing all the ships, naval stations, regiments and other units connected to Prince Philip will be represented. The Royal Marines, of which Prince Philip was Captain General prior to stepping back in 2017, will carry his coffin The Band of the Grenadier Guards will lead the procession from from the State Entrance of Windsor Castle to St George’s Chapel on Saturday afternoon. Prince Philip was Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, the senior infantry regiment in the army, from 1975 to 2018. He was succeeded by the Duke of York. Prince Philip's military funeral plans Lining the route to St George’s chapel will be members of the Royal Gurkha  Rifles and the Intelligence Corps. The Royal Gurkha Rifles consists of three battalions, two based in Kent - one of which is assigned to 16 Air Assault Brigade, the army’s …

[Read more...] about Seven hundred military personnel to be involved in Prince Philip’s funeral

Military personnel will line the route of the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral procession . More than 730 members of the Armed Forces will take part at Windsor Castle, including 42 from the Royal Navy, with which Prince Philip served between 1939 and 1951; 96 from the Royal Marines; 507 from the Army and 89 from the Royal Air Force. 1. Bearer Party formed from The Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards Will move the coffin from the Private Chapel, Windsor Castle, to the Inner Hall. The Ministry of Defence said it was unable to name the other members of the Bearer Parties “as they are handling the coffin and therefore would prefer privacy during this time”. Importance to the Duke: The combination of the duties of The Queen’s Company to the sovereign, its relationship with the Royal Family, and the many years enjoyed under The Duke of Edinburgh’s colonelcy means that the company is particularly privileged to provide the Bearer Party and Escort Party for the …

[Read more...] about The military detachments with links to Prince Philip taking part in the Duke’s funeral

People can break lockdown in order to travel abroad for assisted dying, Matt Hancock has said. The Health Secretary said flying to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland would be considered a "reasonable excuse" under the travel ban , which came into effect on Thursday. It follows an outcry over the case of a former NHS worker with terminal breast cancer who was forced to bring forward her assisted suicide plans at the Zurich facility due to fears that the new lockdown rules would prevent her from travelling. The 45-year-old said she felt driven to "go now, before I am truly ready". The Covid regulations for England say people may not travel abroad unless for work, education "or other legally permitted reasons". Responding to an urgent question in Parliament on Thursday, Mr Hancock said: "The new coronavirus regulations place restrictions on leaving the home without a reasonable excuse. Travelling abroad for the purpose of assisted dying is a reasonable excuse, and so anyone …

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New euthanasia rules in the Netherlands will allow doctors to follow advance directives from patients with severe dementia rather than rely on their consent. Doctors will also be allowed to sedate dementia patients before carrying out the procedure to stop them becoming agitated. The publication of new guidelines follows a Supreme Court ruling in April which overturned a murder charge against Marinou Arends, a nursing home doctor. Dr Arends had been convicted after carrying out euthanasia on a 74-year-old female dementia sufferer in a care home on the basis of advance directives she had drawn up. The woman had said she wanted euthanasia “when the time was ripe”, but was not specific on what she considered unbearable suffering. The procedure was also controversial: she was given a sedative in her coffee and when she drew back from the lethal injection, a family member pushed her down. The Dutch Supreme Court, however, ruled that the doctor acted within 2002 euthanasia law, …

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