Royal

A five-year-old girl was left "amazed" when she received a letter from Duchess Catherine after portraying the royal in her school play.
Scarlett Gillis sent a note to the duchess after playing her in school production 'A Tale of Two Birthdays' at her school in Manchester, north west England, as well as pictures of her in costume, and the youngster was shocked to receive a response from the 33-year-old royal praising her.
The royal mail read: "It was most kind of you to enclose the photographs of yourself wearing your wonderful red dress for her to see.
"She was interested to learn that you played the part of her in your school play.
"The Duchess of Cambridge hopes that you had a most enjoyable time."
A shocked Scarlett admitted she was "really happy" to receive a response from the duchess - who has 18-month-old son Prince George with husband Prince William - as well as a picture of the royal.
She is quoted by the Daily Express newspaper as saying: "I was amazed, I didn't really think she would have time to reply to all those letters, but I was really happy and glad when I saw the letter and photograph of her she'd attached.
"I thought she was beautiful."
Scarlett addressed the duchess - known as Kate Middleton before her wedding to William - as "your royal highness" in her note and admitted she is longing for the day when the pregnant royal becomes queen.
She wrote: "My name is Scarlett and I am 5 years old. My school is called St Bedes. In my nativity I played you. I got a new red dress just like yours. I hope you like the picture of me.
"I can't wait for you to be queen. I think you are lovely, yours sincerely, Scarlett xxxx. (sic)"

Koo Stark's parrot used to wreak havoc at Buckingham Palace when she took it to see her then-boyfriend Prince Andrew.
The 58-year-old artist's feathered friend, a roseate cockatoo called Candy, once got her claws stuck in the hessian wallpaper at the royal residence which left Andrew having to scamper up a ladder to rescue the bird before it did any damage.
Koo - who first dated Andrew in 1981 - explained: "I could come and go to visit my boyfriend in Buckingham Palace without causing an international scandal - I even used to take my pet parrot with me. Candy was a roseate cockatoo.
"On one such day, a page came in carrying a huge silver tray with tea on it. Candy took fright and flew up to the ceiling, where she got her claws stuck in the 1970s hessian wallpaper.
"She couldn't get down, so Andrew took charge, found a ladder used by royal staff to clean the chandeliers and rescued her."
Koo also visited Andrew at Balmoral, and claimed the royal family spent a lot of evenings at their Scottish royal residence "pretending the dog hasn't farted".
Breaking her 32-year silence on their relationship in a piece for the Mail on Sunday newspaper, she added: "At Balmoral, life is lived outdoors and the evenings are spent playing parlour games, doing jigsaws and pretending the dog hasn't farted."

Prince Andrew's ex girlfriend once headbutted Prince Charles while greeting him.
Koo Stark - who started dating the 54-year-old royal in 1981 - has revealed she was attempting to curtsey to the heir to the throne while visiting Andrew at Scottish residence Balmoral but didn't bank on Charles leaning in to give her a kiss.
Breaking her 32-year-old silence on her relationship with Andrew in a piece written in the Mail on Sunday newspaper, the 58-year-old artist explained: "I walked downstairs and into a drawing room full of courtiers who started bowing and curtseying in my direction.
"I guessed it wasn't for me and that it could only mean there was a senior Royal right behind me. I turned and saw Prince Charles, whom I hadn't yet met.
"I curtseyed, only to find him bending down to give me a kiss. I started to get back up - and in doing so headbutted him. He held his head in his hands groaning while I wilted with embarrassment.
"He came towards me again and this time I got it right. He whispered kindly in my ear: 'It's kiss, then curtsey.' "
Koo also visited Andrew - who went on to marry Sarah Ferguson in 1986 - at Buckingham Palace while they were dating but revealed she thought he was taking her on a date to petrol station BP when he first asked her if she would like to dine at the royal residence.
Speaking about their first date in 1981, she wrote: "He collected me from my home, drove us to the restaurant, managed to have plenty of fun without consuming any alcohol, drove me back and secreted a note which I found the next morning on my rustic Biedermeier dresser. 'Come to BP tomorrow for lunch,' it said.
"Initially I wondered why he was taking me to a petrol station - it took me a moment to realise he meant Buckingham Palace. I went.
"We had lunch on trays in the nursery which was the suite of rooms where he and Prince Edward had grown up, but was by then his flat in the Palace.
"The meal was brought into the rooms which overlooked Green Park and Constitution Hill by an immaculately presented footman in tails yet Andrew himself was easy and informal."

Britain's Duchess Catherine has called for action against the "stigma" surrounding children's mental health.
The 33-year-old royal - who is pregnant with her and Prince William's second child - believes people should talk about mental health issues more to avoid any parents or children feeling "embarrassed" about broaching such a subject.
In a video message to kick-start events for Children's Mental Health Week, of which she is the face of, Catherine said: "The stigma around mental health means that many children do not get the help that they so badly need.
"This needs to change. That is why the charity Place2Be is asking us all to talk openly this week.
"We need to help young people and their parents understand that it is not a sign of weakness to ask for help.
"A child's mental health is just as important as their physical health and deserves the same quality of support. No-one would feel embarrassed about asking for help for a child if they broke their arm. We really should be equally ready to support a child coping with emotional difficulties."
The brunette - who has 18-month-old son Prince George with William - is the royal patron of charity Place2Be, which has organised the mental health week, and she is confident if more parents and kids speak about mental health issues then bigger problems can be avoided later in life.
She added: "Through Place2Be I have seen the benefits of offering children support for their mental health in the safety of the school environment.
"Both William and I sincerely believe that early action can prevent problems in childhood from turning into larger ones in later life."
Catherine's comments come after it was revealed in a survey that more than a third of parents would be "embarrassed" if their child required counseling for mental health issues.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth used her "ruthless common sense" when deciding to star in a sketch for the London 2012 Opening Ceremony.
The 88-year-old monarch appeared as herself at Buckingham Palace alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond in the stunt and decided to take part because she has a "very pragmatic" approach to everything she does.
According to a piece written by political aide Alastair Campbell in The Sunday Times, he quotes one of the queen's courtiers as telling him: "She approaches everything with a very pragmatic view.
"It's a kind of ruthless common sense. She is very uncomfortable if you try to suggest she does something that is not authentically her, but she does understand that even institutions like the monarchy must change and adapt."
The former spin chief also admitted the skit was a great way for the queen to show the rest of the world that she has a "sense of humour".
One of her team told Alastair, who wrote: "She signed off every element.
"It was a great moment for us, because she was in her mid-eighties by then, her standing was totally secure, and what that did was show a truly global audience not just that she had a sense of humour, but that the British public had huge affection for her and recognised her unique place in their lives."

Prince Andrew's ex-girlfriend Koo Stark has broken her 32-year silence over their relationship to shoot to his defence over allegations he slept with a teenage "sex slave".
The 58-year-old artist insists she believes the 54-year-old royal - who has been accused of having three encounters with 31-year-old Virginia Roberts when she was 17 and 18 - to be a "good" and "innocent man" and has only known him to be "honest".
In a piece written in the Mail on Sunday newspaper, Koo - who first dated Andrew in 1981 - explained: "I know too much about the media and the law courts to allow the disgrace of an innocent man.
"That is why I have decided to reveal some details of my relationship with Andrew. My view is clear: I believe him to be a good man and I believe I can help rebut, with authority, the allegations against him.
"Prince Andrew is a dear friend and godfather to my daughter. I've only known him to be honourable and honest, with Christian values.
"I couldn't shrug off Virginia Roberts' assassination of his character any more than he has been able to. He was being accused of the very worst kind of behaviour.
"The stain on his reputation is spilling across his life like blood from a new wound."
The photographer also insists Andrew - who went on to marry Sarah Ferguson in 1986 - was a "normal boyfriend" and described him as "playful and tactile".
She said: "This is not the person portrayed by Virginia Roberts.
"I believe she and her lawyers are waging a war through the American courts and invoking his name by way of heavy artillery. American-style litigation takes no prisoners."
Andrew has denied having sex with Virginia, who claims she had three separate encounters with him - in New York, in London and one on the private Caribbean island of the prince's former friend and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Koo's comments come as none of the royal family are able to speak out publicly due to Palace protocol.
A Buckingham Palace statement said: "We would not comment beyond what we have already stated in respect of Virginia Roberts."

Dame Helen Mirren thinks the British royal family are like "aliens".
The 69-year-old actress - who is playing Queen Elizabeth in Broadway show 'The Audience', a play which she previously starred in London's West End - thinks royal life is very different to the everyday experiences ordinary people have, but believes the queen and her family are just the same as everyone else on the inside.
She said: "The world they live in is so beyond our understanding.
"You've never queued for anything. Ever, for anything. Every time you go in the street, the traffic is stopped for you. It's a world you can't imagine. They are, in a way, aliens. But inside that, they are the same flawed, insecure, vulnerable, complicated human beings we are. It's my job to get into the person who's inside that world."
Helen - who previously won an Oscar in 2007 for her portrayal of the monarch in 'The Queen' - also believes the public don't have the right view of the queen.
She told the New York Times newspaper: "I think people misunderstand because she doesn't smile all the time.
"But she's not a movie star; she's a queen. Smiling is not a requirement. What's required is to be dignified. To be almost iconic, and self-controlled. Not to be charming."
And the 'Red' star confessed she would have loved to have seen the queen in the audience during the play's staging in the West End.
She said: "I wish the queen had come to see the play, but it would have been impossible. When I took my bow at the end, they were not applauding me. They were applauding the queen."

Britain's Duchess Camilla posed for a selfie with a teenager yesterday (12.02.15).
The 67-year-old royal - who is married to Prince Charles - toured The Arthritis UK Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology in London and took the time to meet with patient Danny Roberts, 13, and posed for a picture with him.
Danny said afterwards: "It was fantastic to meet the Duchess of Cornwall. She was really interested in why I'm at University College Hospital and wanted to find out more about how I'm being treated.
"It was really nice of her to come and see us and be so concerned."
During her visit to the facility - which is the first in the world to be dedicated to how and why the disease affects teenagers - Camilla was shown immune cells in a microscope which are being used in a research project working out how stress and puberty affect the immune system.
Dr. Liam O'Toole, CEO of Arthritis Research UK said after the visit: "We were thrilled that we were able to showcase examples of our research at the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology to the Duchess of Cornwall.
"Her Royal Highness was shown research looking at how puberty and stress can impact a teenager's immune system, as well as practical technological solutions being developed to help young people better manage their condition."
The engagement was Camilla's second of the day, as she earlier called to Holland Park School and praised a group of "very brave" children for reading a scene from Shakespeare's 'As You Like It' in front of her.
She said: "I'm very impressed by you all; you're very brave to read it all out loud! There's real talent here."
Camilla looked at several classes, including Latin, History and English before presenting a creative writing prize to pupil Mukahang Limbu.

Boris Johnson believes Americans "secretly want" to be ruled by the British royal family.
The Mayor of London hosted his weekly LBC Radio show from New York yesterday (12.02.15) and of the US-based callers, only one had a question about something other than the monarchy, and so he suggested their fascination was down to a desire to be reunited with their former colonial rulers.
He joked: "What does this show you?.
"Deep down, in a primal way, they regret the fundamental schism of 1776 and they wish that we were in a single commonwealth of English-speaking peoples again united under Her Majesty.
"That's what they secretly want. They have been deprived of it too long, that blissful pride that goes with a hereditary monarchy."
Among the questions the politician faced were what type of sandwiches are eaten at Buckingham Palace and the names of Queen Elizabeth's beloved corgis, but he showed his royal knowledge was lacking as he struggled with the answers.
Discussing the food choices, he said: "I don't know. Ham from Bucking?"
And asked about the dogs - who are named Holly and Willow - he said: "I haven't got the faintest idea what they are called. Basil? Eric?"
During the show, Boris also admitted he hadn't spoken to the monarch since she asked if her surprise appearance in a James Bond sketch - which culminated in a body double parachuted out of a plane - at the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony had been a success.
He said: "She very innocently wanted to know whether people thought it was funny and I said it was brilliant.
Asked whether he really hadn't spoken to the queen since then, he replied: "I don't get to see the queen that often.
"What do you think I do? Spend my whole time round Buckingham Palace sucking up to the monarchy?"