Cave News

Margaret Thatcher’s funeral

Britain's Iron Lady was laid to rest with full pomp.

The coffin bearing Lady Thatcher's body is carried on a gun carriage drawn by the King's Troop Royal Artillery.

The lower photo shows Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth II attending the funeral of Baroness Margaret Thatcher at St Paul's Cathedral on April 17, 2013 in London, England.

Britain's public and senior political leaders, joined by foreign dignitaries, gathered on Wednesday to pay final respects to Margaret Thatcher, modern Britain's longest-serving prime minister.

It was a day marked by big crowds, grand British ceremony and very little of the disruption that had threatened the former leader's funeral.

Queen Elizabeth to attend Margaret Thatcher's funeral April 17

The funeral of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s longest-serving leader of the 20th century, will be held in St. Paul’s Cathedral on April 17, officials said Tuesday.

Lady Thatcher (right) is shown with Queen Elizabeth II on Thatcher’s 80th birthday.

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, are expected to attend what will be the most elaborate funeral to be staged in London since the death of the queen’s mother in 2002. It will be the first funeral of a prime minister that the queen will have attended since Winston Churchill’s in 1965.

Thatcher, who died Monday at age 87, after years of declining health, will be given a ceremonial service with military honors, a service almost indistinguishable from an official state funeral.

Dignitaries from around the world will be on hand to remember the "Iron Lady" who transformed Britain through her free-market policies and thrust the country back onto the world stage through her staunch Cold War alliance with the U.S. and a war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands.

Unlike the pope, the Queen of England unlikely to step aside

From a USA TODAY report:

Pope Benedict XVI has done it. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has done it. Will Britain's Queen Elizabeth II step aside from her 61-year reign and let the light of a new generation in?

The short answer is no.

The photo shows Queen Elizabeth II with Pope Benedict XVI.

Everything the 86-year-old Queen Elizabeth II wishes to say on the matter of going or staying has already been said -- on her 21st birthday in 1947.

In a speech she made when she was still known to the world as Princess Elizabeth she said "I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong."

She continued, "we must give nothing less than the whole of ourselves. There is a motto which has been borne by many of my ancestors -- a noble motto, 'I serve'."

So she's staying. Life, for the queen, means life.

Link

William and Kate are expecting their first child

The British Royal Family is looking forward to welcoming another prince or princess into the world.

Not even the Queen was aware that the Duchess was pregnant until she was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in Central London with Hyperemesis Gravidarum, very acute morning sickness.

The pregnancy is in its very early stages and Kate is expected to stay in hospital for several days.

The last time a still-serving monarch got to meet a great grandchild born in direct succession to the crown was nearly 120 years ago.

William and Kate (pictured above), both 30, were married on April 29, 2011, after dating for eight years, in what was the most-watched wedding in history, with estimates ranging from 500 million to 2 billion people.

Link

Frustrated Prince Charles running out of time to be king

In a series of remarkably candid comments, Prince Charles (pictured) hinted that he feared his legacy as king would be cut short.

The 64-year-old Prince Charles seems more eager than ever to take the throne after more than 60 years of waiting for his mother to die so he can begin his life’s work.

In 2008, he became the longest-waiting heir to the throne in British history, overtaking his great-great grandfather, Edward VII.

With a history of longevity in his family -- the Queen is 86 and in good health while Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother lived to the age of 101 -- Prince Charles may yet have a long time to wait until he succeeds his mother.

Prince Charles may also feel sidelined by the surge of affection displayed for his mother during her Diamond Jubilee and the soaring popularity of younger members of the Royal family.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, is the most popular member of the Royal family with an approval rating of 62 per cent.

Prince Charles’s approval rating is a meager 21 per cent.

Link

The new James Bond movie Skyfall premiered October 23

The release date for the rest of us to see Skyfall will be November 9.

A Skyfall promotional photo above shows Judi Dench and Daniel Craig. Dench plays the part of M, James Bond’s boss. She first played the roll of M in the 1995 Bond film Golden Eye with Pierce Brosnan.

Below is Prince Charles and Camilla at the premier of Skyfall.

We wonder which one of those pretty medals Charles earned for raising chickens?

The remains of King Richard III may have been found

Human remains have been found where the grave of King Richard III stood in 1612. Are the remains, found under a parking lot in Leicester, England, actually that of the King?

Richard Taylor, Director of Corporate Affairs at the University of Leicester and one of the prime researchers behind the project, said: 'What we have uncovered is truly remarkable and today we will be announcing to the world that the search for King Richard III has taken a dramatic new turn.'

Over the past fortnight, the team has made several major discoveries - which have helped lead them to the monarch’s possible burial spot.

________________________________________

This is a copy of a 16th century painting of King Richard III by an unknown artist.

________________________________________

Richard was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last battle in the Wars of the Roses. He was the last English king to die in battle.

King Richard III was the subject of the play Richard lll by William Shakespeare.

When Richard died on the battlefield it was the end of both the Wars of the Roses and the Plantagenet dynasty -- a turning point in English history

The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic wars fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster (red rose) and York (white rose) -- whose heraldic symbols were the red rose or the white rose.

Richard was last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty.

________________________________________

The story of the search for King Richard’s remains can be found here.

What happened in Vegas didn’t stay in Vegas as Prince Harry will face severe reprimand

Prince Harry (pictured) leaned once again that the phrase “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” isn’t always true.

When Harry returns to the UK he is to face a “dressing down” by his Army commanding officer after being pictured naked in Las Vegas.

The Sunday Telegraph has learned that Gen Sir David Richards, the Chief of the Defense Staff, has been involved in deciding how to deal with the embarrassment of the Army’s highest-profile officer cavorting naked with a naked girl during a game of “strip billiards”.

Head of the Army, Gen Sir Peter Wall, must decide what action should be taken over the Prince’s conduct.

Link here and here.

The Sarah Ferguson Foundation goes belly up

The New York Post reports on yet another failure for Fergie (pictured).

The Sarah Ferguson Foundation has gone up in smoke after the scandal-plagued duchess of York stopped raising money for her group.

The charity, which was set up to help families and children, had not filed a tax return since 2008 and recently landed on the state list of delinquent charities.

___________________________________

Ferguson married Andrew, Prince of York in 1986. Andrew is the third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and is the younger brother of Prince Charles.

Fergie and and Andrew were divorced in 1996.

Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, daughters of Andrew and Fergie are shown above with their father at the Trooping the Colour parade in London earlier this month.

___________________________________

Fergie started the Ferguson Foundation in New York City in 2006, but the duchess was not expected to be a “substantial contributor” to the group, according to its IRS application for tax-exempt status.

The organization raised $508,620 in 2007 but gave out only $22,600 in grants. Of that, $10,000 went to Children in Crisis, a charity Ferguson started in England in 1993.

Tax records show it ended 2008 with $85,000 in assets — money that is unaccounted for.

Link

The Queen and Duchess of Cambridge enjoy children’s sporting event

The Duchess of Cambridge and Queen Elizabeth react to a children's sports event during a visit to Vernon Park in Nottingham, central England, June 13, 2012.