Prince William has attended a ceremony to mark the opening of new facilities at armed forces rehabilitation centre Headley Court. The Surrey facilities were built using money donated by the public to the Help the Heroes charity.
The Help for Heroes centre features a range of resources including a new swimming pool and gym. William, 27, met service personnel rebuilding their lives after being injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Articles: BBC News | The Express
We may have to wait a little longer for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, according to the Queen’s Master of Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Sir Peter, 75, who will be commissioned to write music for the ceremony, has not been given notice to start work by the Queen.
“I have attended various recent meetings at the Palace concerned with forward planning and there has been no mention of any wedding,” he says.
Royal commentator Tina Brown’s prediction that the couple would announce their marriage this Thursday now sounds a little optimistic.
Article: Daily Mail
Kate’s Big Date on plateSupermarket Asda is designing a crockery range to mark the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton – before he has even proposed.
But Asda is jumping the gun with a commemorative collection of plates and mugs. The supermarket is determined to be the first off the mark when Wills finally pops the question.
Kate’s mum fuelled speculation when she let slip that June is expected to be a “very busy time” for the family. Asda insiders say they want to be ready for customer demand if an announcement is made, as the market for royal souvenirs is worth £10 million.
Article: News of the World
For realm, homies – the rapping royal has revealed he’s a mega fan of Bonkers genius Dizzee Rascal.
Wills went to Radio 1’s Big Weekend festival in Bangor, Wales, with his girlfriend Kate Middleton last week. Watching from the side of the stage, Wills was certainly a posh Boy In Da Corner. But the polo-playing Prince also proved he wasn’t Snoot Dog as he rapped along to evert word of his hero’s song.
A festival-goer says: “Wills got a helicopter into the sight and as soon as he landed, he said he wanted to see Dizzee. “He watched from the side of the stage when Dizzee was performing on stage with Florence and the Machine. Wills knew the words to every single line of Dizzee’s rap.”
Article: The Sun
Belle Robinson, owner of Jigsaw, said this during her interview with The Times UK:
[Kate Middleton briefly worked at Jigsaw as an accessories buyer.]
What’s the most lucrative work you have ever done?
“Jigsaw — but that has been a long-term investment. Signing up Kate Middleton wasn’t really that lucrative. There was an initial buzz, but it quickly died down.”
The US tabloids are going wedding crazy again, now with Star Magazine having Prince William and Kate Middleton on the cover with the title “Wedding of the Century.” This, of course, is NOT to be taken seriously.
The magazine says:
We have eight pages of royal dish about William and Kate’s upcoming nuptials, including the A-list guests, the extravagant gown, where they’ll say “I do,” Kate’s surprise gift for William and more!
“William has always said he will be ready for marriage after his 28th birthday — that’s next month,” royal expert Nicholas Davies, author of William: King for the 21st Century, tells Star. “The timing is perfect for a wedding this year.”
Insiders estimate that as many as 3 billion awestruck viewers could tune in and the audience will not be disappointed by the ceremony with the couture gowns, lavish bouquets and priceless jewelry, including the 18-karat sapphire and diamond engagement ring William inherited from his late mother, Diana, which he plans to give to his bride-to-be.
This edition of Star Magazine is on stands now.
People Magazine also has a special issue currently on stands entitled “The Royals: Their Lives, Loves and Secrets”. Prince William and Harry are on the cover, but the magazine includes royalty from all nations. The magazine contains lots of recent photos, articles about Princess Diana, some coverage on Kate Middleton, royal fashion, marriages, jewels, etc.
Prince William and Prince Harry are to undertake their first joint overseas tour next month, St James’s Palace announced, with a week-long tour of southern Africa in separate aircraft.
The two Princes will visit Botswana and Lesotho before traveling to South Africa in time for England’s World Cup match against Algeria in Cape Town, where they will be supporting England’s bid to host the World Cup in 2018.
However, because of rules forbidding the two Princes from flying together, William and Harry will undertake the tour without ever traveling on the same flight. Although it has involved drawing up a complicated itinerary for the pair — the week involves half a dozen flights for each of them — St James’s Palace has been at pains to ensure that the rule is adhered to. “Particularly after the death of the Polish president, it is something we take very seriously,” a Palace source said.
It said that Prince William’s international travel was being paid by the FA, while Prince Harry was paying his own costs. They will be in Africa from June 14 to 21. Would that mean William is spending his 28th birthday on a plane?
Article: Times Online
Prince William's "former fiancee" Jecca Craig
Prince William supports marathon on Kenyan estate of his ‘former fiancée’ Jecca Craig.
Jessica Craig, with whom Prince William reportedly carried out a “pretend engagement” while he was staying at Lewa, her family’s wildlife reserve in Kenya, before going to university, still looms large in his life. The latest project which has brought them together is the Safari Marathon, on Lewa, which William is supporting. Last week, the Prince received prospective runners at St James’s Palace.
Jecca is the only woman to have precipitated an official bulletin about William’s love life. In 2003, the Prince of Wales’s staff issued a statement in which it was denied that the couple were involved in a relationship. They had never done this for any of William’s other alleged girlfriends. Shortly after, Jecca was the guest of honour at William’s 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle. In an interview, he insisted that he did not have a steady girlfriend at St Andrews University, where he had first met Kate Middleton two years earlier. It was not until 2004 that he was happy to be photographed with Kate.
Article: The Telegraph
Prince Harry and Drizzle
What a disheartening way to start polo season — bad weather and a favourite pony’s death…
Princes William and Harry were ‘very upset’ after their favourite polo pony collapsed and died of a heart attack during a match.
Harry had just played a chukka in the second half of the charity match at Coworth Park in Berkshire when he realised that his ten-year old pony, Drizzle, was struggling.
He noticed that the brown mare was not running comfortably and decided to take her out of the match.
‘Harry instinctively realised that something was wrong with Drizzle,’ a senior Palace aide told The Mail on Sunday. ‘He decided to ride her to the side of the pitch and she was then walked off. Sadly within minutes she suffered a heart attack and died.
‘William and Harry are very, very upset – Harry was in tears.’
‘Harry and William were shaken. Harry had a cigarette at the end of the game and said he did not want to stay for the lunch because he was so upset. He kept saying he couldn’t believe what had happened. Everyone was telling him not to blame himself. Unfortunately these things happen.’
Prince William also did not bother to stay for lunch, as Kate Middleton had not attended the match due to bad weather.
Despite the death, the Princes – who were playing for The Prince William Team against The Audi Team – won 5-4.
Article: Daily Mail
Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has rubbished rumours of a pending royal wedding – insisting the world has a “long wait” before Prince William marries Kate Middleton. The socialite, who is a close friend of the royal family and god daughter of Prince Charles, insists there is no way the lovebirds are getting set to tie the knot.
A video is attached on the News of the World website.
“No comment on that,” she first says when asked. Then ads: “I think you’re all barking up the wrong tree, though. I think you’ve got a long wait.”
Article + Video: News of the World
Kate Middleton has turned down an invitation to join singer James Blunt and his pals at his £1.7million home on Ibiza this summer.
Prince William’s girlfriend received the invite after meeting the You’re Beautiful singer on a night out.
But sources say Kate, 28, is staying away from the island, where her uncle Gary Goldsmith has his home ‘Le Maison de Bang Bang’, after last year’s Press reports of him as a cocaine user who arranges call-girls.
Since then the Middleton family have all agreed not to holiday on Ibiza.
‘James invited her to visit,’ says a source. ‘But she’s said she won’t be going back to Ibiza for a while’.
Article: Daily Mail
Kate Middelton’s sister, Pippa, has raised eyebrows among her chums by allegedly wearing a signet ring.
Guests at a recent wedding report that Pippa, 26, was wearing a signet ring. Her father, Michael, a former airline pilot, was reported to have inquired about a coat of arms from the College of Arms in 2007. It is unclear whether Pippa’s ring contained a seal or her initials, but it raised eyebrows among some friends, who have, rather snobbily, nicknamed the Middletons “the wisteria sisters” because of their perceived social climbing.
Anyone willing to pay at least £3,500 can apply for a coat of arms. Protocol suggests that someone marrying into the Royal family should have one.
Article: The Telegraph