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Queen Elizabeth’s old car up for auction


A car belonging to Britain's Queen Elizabeth is up for sale.
Royal aficionados can get their hands on an "extremely rare" Land Rover Defender which was formerly in use by the Queen's Estate at Sandringham to drive the royals on shooting parties.
According to CarandClassic.co.uk, the vintage vehicle will be up for auction on March 2014 8 with Historics at Brooklands.
The website states: "This vehicle was previously owned by the Queen's Estate at Sandringham and was used there by shooting parties frequented by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Charles.
"The Estate Manager confirmed that they had performed full servicing and maintenance and was quoted saying that it was unusual for vehicles to be purchased by the estate as they tend to lease their Land Rovers and hand them back a few years later, this makes this example extremely rare."
The Queen's ride has even been pimped out to the 87-year-old monarch's tastes with heated seats, electric windows and a specialist paint job.
The car is expected to fetch between £26,000 and £35,000 at auction.

Carole Middleton pulls pints in local pub


Britain's Carole Middleton tried her hand at being a barmaid at her local pub.
Duchess Catherine's mother jumped to the rescue of stressed bar staff at the The Bull Inn, her favourite haunt in the village of Stanford Dingley, Berkshire, by helping them serve customers from behind the bar.
The former air stewardess joked, "I have done this before!", as she started pulling pints.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "Carole was pulling pints and doing it very well. She pulled a mean pint. Everyone was amazed to see Prince George's gran behind the bar."
The paper reports that Carole had been attending a memorial service with a group of friends earlier in the day and was about to sit down for dinner at the 15th century pub when she realised staff were overstretched.
The 59-year-old mother of three has just returned from a holiday at luxury villa in Mustique with her family to celebrate her birthday, which fell on January 31.
Catherine and seven month old Prince George joined the Middleton family on the Caribbean island for a relaxing break and stayed in a $13,000-per week four-bedroom house which boasted extensive staff, a gardener and two pools.

Prince William’s former Polo coach has passed away


Britain's Prince William's former polo teacher has died.
Carlos Gracida - who taught both the Duke of Cambridge and his brother Prince Harry how to play the sport - passed away on Tuesday night (25.02.14) following an accident in Florida.
The incident took place at the Everglades Polo Club in Wellington in Palm Beach County, when another player accidentally swung his mallet at Carlos' horse causing the animal to kick out in shock and fall on his owner, who had fallen to the ground.
The award-winning polo player suffered bleeding and swelling on the brain and never regained consciousness.
Carlos was often described as Queen Elizabeth's favourite player and was a regular instructor for celebrities and royalty having taught Prince Charles and his sons, William and Harry, as well as Greece's King Constantine II and 'Rocky' actor Sylvester Stallone.
Speaking about teaching the princes, he said previously: "My experience with the Royal Family was really something very special because they are true princes."
His sons Carlos Jr and Mariano and his brother Memo, all professional polo players themselves, were at his hospital bedside when he passed away.

Prince Charles reminisces about diving down to Mary Rose wreck


Britain's Prince Charles reminisced diving with archaeologists during his visit to the Mary Rose Museum.
The heir to the throne has told how he dived down to the "lentil soup" of the Solent river almost 40 years ago to see the historic wreck of Henry VIII's flagship naval vessel, the Mary Rose.
The Prince of Wales returned to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Hampshire, on Wednesday (26.02.14) to visit the purpose-built £35 million museum, where the ship's remains now rest.
According to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, he said in a speech to fundraisers and volunteers: "I remember my days of diving on the ship out in the Solent in the most impossible conditions, it was like swimming in a kind of lentil soup, you couldn't see anything, or so I thought, until it was under your nose.
"What I could never get over was the sheer expertise of the archaeologists operating under water ... I think it was worth taking the risk as we have this truly remarkable example of a Tudor warship which is unique."
The ship capsized in the Solent in 1545 and was raised from the sea bed in 1982 thanks to the work of the Mary Rose Trust, of which Charles is patron and with whom he has worked over the years to preserve it for future generations.
The royal, accompanied by his wife the Duchess of Cornwall, tried out a 80lb long bow at the Mary Rose Museum, exclaiming, "I don't want to put my shoulder out."
Charles and Camilla posed for photos with some of the 19,000 artifacts on display at the museum, and the duchess even took home a cuddly toy of the ship's dog Hatch and colouring books for her grandchildren.
The couple continued their maritime duties by making a visit to helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious in the dockyard and Charles also flew out to climb aboard HMS Dragon, the fourth of the Royal Navy's six Type 45 destroyers.

Prince Harry enjoys night out at theatre


Britain's Prince Harry enjoyed a night out at the theatre.
The 29-year-old royal was spotted sitting on a bench in the front row of 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas', a production based on Hunter S. Thompson's novel, in London's Waterloo.
One theatre-goer posted on Twitter: "Delightful evening watching Fear and Loathing at #VaultFestival. Bit surprised to see Prince Harry right in front."
Another wrote: "Best celeb spot so far - Prince Harry at Fear & Loathing show #wildturkeyuk."
The play, adapted and directed by Lou Stein, is the headline event at the Vault Festival held in a site-specific underground venue.
The redhead was making the most of some much-needed downtime ahead of his next royal engagement.
He has been chosen to stand in for his grandmother at next Monday's (03.03.14) Westminster Abbey service honouring former South African President Nelson Mandela, who passed away aged 95 in December.
The special National Service of Thanksgiving will be broadcast by the BBC and will also include a speech by South African social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop, Desmond Tutu.

Second royal baby bets on the rise


Britain's Duchess Catherine is expected to have a second child in 2015.
The public have been taking bets on when the 32-year-old royal - who gave birth to a son, Prince George, last July - will have a second baby, and the odds are high for next year.
There are currently 5/4 odds of another royal arrival next year from Betfred, with Paddy Power also making next year the favourite at 11/10.
Both bookmakers are still taking bets for this year, with odds of 13/8 given for a second bundle of joy, according to Entertainmentwise. However, this would mean the duchess would most likely already have to be pregnant.
Last year one bookmakers claimed to have taken almost £1.5 million in bets about the royal baby alone, with people taking guesses about everything from the third in line to the throne's sex, name and even eye colour.
The bets are also now on about Catherine and Prince William's next child, with odds looking good for a girl and Charlotte and Victoria topping the list for names.

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge searching for new nanny


Britain's Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are reconsidering hiring a nanny.
The couple have allegedly been asking around London's biggest childminder agencies for a potential candidate to help look after their seven-month-old son George, despite initially insisting they didn't want outside help.
Prince William and Duchess Catherine were being assisted part-time by Jessie Webb, 71, who was nanny to William during his childhood, until she gave in her notice last month.
The MailOnline is reporting that the royals are desperately in need of an extra pair of hands with their official visit to Australia and New Zealand approaching in April.
The paper writes that one company being considered is the upmarket Nannies of St James, based in Fulham, which caters to some of the world's most wealthy clients including Middle Eastern royal families.
However, a spokesperson for Kensington Palace said: "We do not discuss personal arrangements, but we are not using Nannies of St James at present, nor do we plan to."
It was thought that Catherine's mother Carole Middleton would join them on their tour Down Under in order to look after her grandchild.
A source previously explained: "They don't want just anyone helping out in Australia and think Carole would be perfect."

Sweden’s Princess Madeleine names baby girl


Sweden's Princess Madeleine and Chris O'Neill have named their daughter Leonore Lilian Maria.
The six-day-old child's moniker Lillian, pays homage to the late Princess Lilian of Sweden who passed away aged 97 in March last year, while it's believed Maria may be in honour of Chris' mum Eva Maria.
The tiny tot's name is only held by 128 women in Sweden, according to national statistics, and royal expert Roger Lundgren agrees the name is an unusual choice.
He told Swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet: "It's definitely something new. There aren't many Swedish girls called Leonore."
The royal, who is fifth in line to the throne, will also be given the title of Duchess of Gotland, it was revealed at a meeting of the Cabinet Council held by King Carl XVI Gustaf and Princess Victoria on Wednesday (26.02.14).
Shortly after Princess Madeleine gave birth in New York on Thursday (20.02.14) her parents King Carl and Queen Silvia jetted to the United States to meet their granddaughter.
Speaking of the baby's arrival, they gushed: "We know today both happiness and warm thanks. Our joy is great. We wish now that Princess Madeleine and Christopher get peace and quiet and can take advantage of this unique time with her little daughter."

Prince Charles to visit Portsmouth’s Mary Rose Museum


Britain's Prince Charles will tour the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth.
The 65-year-old royal and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall are due to visit the £36 million museum in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Hampshire, built near the same site where Charles dived underwater to the see the Tudor warship wreck firsthand almost 39 years ago.
Charles, who is president of the Mary Rose Trust, has been actively following the project surrounding Henry VIII's historic navy vessel since his first dive in 1975.
The heir to the throne was one of the last people to dive down in 1982 before the ship's hull was lifted from the seabed and reunited with the artefacts in the museum.
The Prince of Wales is expected to take a tour of the site and its Stavros Niarchos Learning Suite and will have the opportunity to speak with staff, volunteers and trustees, according to ITV News.
Rear Admiral John Lippiett, chief executive of the Mary Rose Trust, said: "We are delighted to be welcoming their royal highnesses to the Mary Rose and to be able to show them around our new museum. They will meet many of the people who have made the museum project possible.
"His Royal Highness' personal involvement has been fundamental throughout the project's history and we look forward to showing him our achievements. We are especially pleased that Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cornwall will be paying her first visit to the Mary Rose."

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