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Helen Mirren to play Queen Elizabeth on Broadway


Dame Helen Mirren is to portray Britain's Queen Elizabeth on Broadway.
The 67-year-old actress' play 'The Audience' is to transfer from London's West End to New York next year, though no other members of the cast for the new production have yet been announced.
The production imagines the private meetings between the monarch - who Helen previously also played in 2006 movie 'The Queen' - and all her prime ministers over her 60-year reign.
It will open on 8 March and run until 28 June at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.
Helen - who won an Oscar for her role in 'The Queen' and prizes at the Olivier and Evening Standard awards for 'The Audience' - has previously appeared in two Broadway shows, 'A Month in the Country' and 'Dance of Death', with both earning her Tony award nominations.
Meanwhile, the 'Hundred-Foot Journey' actress has admitted she gets stricken with nerves whenever she meets the queen and ends up behaving like a babbling "idiot".
She said: "When you meet the queen, a lot of people get immediately attacked with this appalling virus called 'Queenitis'.
"Which means you're incapable of making a single comment that sounds remotely natural. And you don't know what to do with your hands. And you babble like an idiot. Or you say nothing at all. And then, thank God, she moves on and you're relieved."

Prince William excited about job


Britain's Prince William is "hugely excited" about his new job.
The 32-year-old royal will work for Bond Air Services as an air ambulance pilot for the East Anglian Air Service, becoming the first future king to work for a civilian employer, and his £40,000-a-year salary will be donated to charity.
A Kensington Palace spokesman said: "His Royal Highness is hugely excited and motivated about this opportunity.
"He sees this as public service in its truest sense, helping people in the most difficult of circumstances on the front line. He sees it as a privilege to be able to serve in this way."
William - who has 12-month-old son Prince George with wife Duchess Catherine will continue to carry out public duties and charity work and his roster will be organised to accommodate his royal commitments.
A source told the Evening Standard newspaper: "It is the perfect opportunity for him. He can combine royal duty with spending time with his family and his passion for flying.
"The queen, the Prince of Wales and his wife the Duchess of Cambridge fully support his decision."
The former RAF search and rescue pilot will first undertake five months of training from September and will then work from both Cambridge and Norwich airports, on day and night shifts, from spring 2015.
He will start as a co-pilot but, after a period of training, will be qualified to fly as a helicopter commander taking doctors and paramedics to emergency situations across the region.

Monaco princesses boycott gala


Monaco's Princesses Caroline and Stephanie reportedly boycotted the Monte Carlo Red Cross ball because of the entertainment.
The royals missed the annual gala - which was organised by the princesses' brother Prince Albert and his wife Princess Charlene - at the Sporting Club Salle des Etoiles last week, reportedly because they disagreed with their sister-in-law's insistence on booking her jazz singer friend Diana Krall to perform.
And while the hosts - who are expecting twins - applauded the performance by the piano virtuoso, it was said to have fallen flat with many of the other French and Italian guests in attendance.
One source told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: "It was terrible, a disaster. Very, very boring."
As well as the princesses, Caroline's daughter Charlotte Casiraghi also skipped the gala, as did other regular guests including Karl Lagerfeld and Lynn Wyatt.
Charlene and Albert will welcome their children into the world in December and the couple, who got married in 2011, previously revealed they were filled with "immense joy" at the thought of expanding their family.
A joint statement from the duo read: "Prince Albert and Princess Charlene have the immense joy to announce they are expecting a happy event. The birth is due at the end of the year."

Queen Elizabeth rents out car park


Britain's Queen Elizabeth is renting one of her car parks to a coach firm.
The monarch has agreed a deal with Stagecoach Scotland to allow one of the parking areas at her Scottish estate Balmoral to be used by their buses, meaning the vehicles will park just 100 yards away from the entrance to the castle.
One local businessman told the Daily Express newspaper: "It's a win-win situation for Stagecoach and Balmoral.
"The bus firm gets parking it desperately needs and the estate gets a welcome cash boost.
"Everyone's happy."
The arrangement will last until the company find a new depot closer to the town centre after they let their last facility in nearby Ballater to the Co-Operative for one of their stores.
A Stagecoach spokesperson said: "We have moved out of our original depot in Ballater to accommodate development work on a new supermarket which will be of great benefit to the town.
"We are working to finalise details and planning on a new site near Ballater, however while that work is ongoing we have an agreement with Balmoral Castle to use their coach parking area to park a small number of vehicles when they are not in use, mainly overnight."
A royal spokesperson added: "The agreement has been in effect since May.
"We are glad to help a local business until their new depot is up and running."

Prince Harry dances at festival


Britain's Prince Harry made festivalgoers laugh with a quirky robot dance.
The 29-year-old royal laughed and joked with revellers on a fairground ride at the Secret Garden Party in Cambridgeshire, South England, last weekend and seemed to be having a good time at the event.
Michaela Baker, who filmed Harry on the ride, said she and her friends had shouted 'Hello' to the royal and he replied: "Hi guys, helloooo" before doing a jokey robot dance to the music.
She added to The Sun newspaper: "I couldn't believe it when I got on the ride and saw Harry next to me.
"He had a really good time waving his arms around and encouraging others to do so."
Harry was seen drinking pints of lager at the festival and even walked through the grounds shirtless.
One festivalgoer said: "He was beside the lake and took his top off - which sent the girls wild.
"He looked like he'd been working out - certainly the girls were complimenting him on his abs."

Duchess Catherine among best dressed


Britain's Duchess Catherine has been entered into Vanity Fair's Best Dressed Hall of Fame.
The 32-year-old royal - who has 12-month-old son Prince George with husband Prince William - along with designer Karl Lagerfeld and retail tycoon Stacey Bendet joined the publication's coveted list, which features those who have appeared on the magazine's International Best Dressed list multiple times.
Previous inductees include Queen Elizabeth, Coco Chanel, Sofia Coppola, Giorgio Armani, Kate Moss, David Beckham and David Bowie.
The appointment to the Hall of Fame comes as the duchess - who was known as Kate Middleton before her marriage - was named on the International Best Dressed list for the fifth time.
In a brief profile for the list, her "notable ensemble of 2014" was
the bright red Catherine Walker coatdress she wore on her royal tour of New Zealand in April.
And Catherine wasn't the only royal to make this year's list.
the King of Bhutan was one of three "originals" recognised, while Denmark's Crown Princess Mary and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands were also praised for their sartorial selections this year.
Other famous faces on the list included Cate Blanchett, Lupita Nyong'o, Benedict Cumberbatch and Colin Firth and his wife Livia.

will.i.am wants road trip with Prince Andrew


will.i.am would like to go on a road trip with Britain's Prince Andrew.
The Black Eyed Peas singer would love for the 54-year-old royal - the third child of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip - to join him on a journey around Europe.
He said: "I would like to roll around with Prince Andrew."
The 39-year-old hunk has already planned where he and Andrew - who has daughters Princess Beatrice, 25, and Princess Eugenie, 24 with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson - would visit on their long travels.
He explained: "I would start it in Germany, and travel on the autobahn, then I would like to travel through the South of France and go up the coast and then go to Spain, to Barcelona.
"Then make my way from Barcelona, five hours to Madrid, and then I would like to travel through Switzerland, to Montreux, a jazz festival. Or I'd like to go to Monaco, to Saint Tropez to Cannes. That'd be nice."
will.i.am is working with Lexus as part of its Striking Angles campaign to launch the new Lexus NX.

Prince Joachim wins race


Denmark's Prince Joachim won a Grand Prix road race at the weekend.
The 45-year-old prince teamed with racing legend Tom Kristensen and raced to victory on Sunday (03.08.14) in a 195 Ford Lotus Cortina in the final race of the Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix's Royal Pro/Am division, in which professional drivers ride along with skilled amateurs.
Speaking ahead of the race, Joachim admitted he was honoured to ride with Tom.
He told BT: "It's a very, very big deal and I have shared a car with Tom before. But I also wanted to do it with the other [drivers]. These are people who do this professionally. They know quite well how to get the best out of a car.
"And it is a smashing good time to know that one of the biggest names in the motorsports world is my co-driver."
The prince - who has sons Prince Nikolai, 14, and Prince Felix, 12, with ex-wife Countess Alexandra, and son Prince Henrik, four, and daughter Princess Athena, two, with wife Princess Marie - is renowned for his love of the sport and has competed in the Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix several times.
He also owns a huge collection of race cars at Shackenborg Castle.

Prince Charles biography to be released


A US journalist is releasing a biography of Britain's Prince Charles.
Time magazine writer Catherine Mayer will publish a book next March and says the tome offers "the first glimpse inside the realigned monarchy that the prince now leads."
The writer claims the text was created from "sit-down" conversations she had with the prince about his future as king, relationships with other family members and marriage to the late Princess Diana.
However, royal insiders insist they never authorised the book and there have been no special meetings between Charles and the writer.
A Clarence House spokesperson told the Daily Mail newspaper: "The book isn't official and it isn't authorised.
"The author got rota access during his Canadian tour but no private meetings."
And a publishing insider claims Catherine has penned the book off the back of a Time magazine feature about the prince which she wrote last year.
The source said: "It's a quickie book following her Time cover story about Charles last year."
An official biography of the prince was written in 1994 by Jonathan Dimbleby.

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