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Royal hairdresser awarded for ‘keeping mouth shut’


Denise McAdam thinks the royal family awarded her a Royal Victorian Medal for "keeping my mouth shut".
The royal hairdresser was given the prestigious honour in 2010 for 35 years of service to the royal family and she believes the accolade stems from her discretion as she has never repeated stories from her time in Buckingham Palace.
She said: "I've heard some very good stories from my clients over the years. I could write a brilliant book. There are things that William and Harry have told me, but you have to be discreet. That's why the Queen awarded me the Royal Victorian Medal - it was for 35 years of keeping my mouth shut!
"When I got the award, I had a handwritten note from every member of the royal family. Even the queen said, 'Oh, that's a very long time you've been working for us.' It was a great honour."
Denise is good friends with Duchess Catherine, 32, but found Princess Anne, 63, rather "scary" when she was younger.
She told Radio Times magazine: "Princess Anne was the scary one, particularly when I was young. It was a simple up-do so I just used to go in, close my eyes and do it as quickly as possible.
"I don't do the royals any more, although I'm a good friend of the Duchess of Cambridge. I think her hair is wonderful, maybe a little overdone at times. But she always looks lovely."

Duchess Camilla urges Duchess Catherine to chop ‘bedraggled’ hair


Britain's Duchess Camilla has reportedly urged Duchess Catherine to chop off her "bedraggled" hair.
The 66-year-old royal has reportedly advised the Duchess of Cambridge to have a shorter do and add a bit of colour to her locks after recent photographs showed it looking untidy.
A source told the Daily Star newspaper: "Camilla has tried to help and advised her to go shorter and lighter.
"The royals always want to look smart and Catherine is letting the side down. She has looked bedraggled recently and it's not a good image."
However, in a recent survey, the 31-year-old royal - who was known as Kate Middleton before marrying Prince William in 2011 - had been voted the queen of hair, beating the likes of Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian to the crown.
A fifth (19 per cent) of women who took part in the poll chose the Duchess' long glossy locks as the winner, but the 'Drunk in Love' hitmaker followed closely behind with 16 per cent.
One participant said at the time: "Kate Middleton has beautiful hair. I'm sure she has her off days but we never see her without a hair out of place. Her hair looks great loose or in an elaborate up-do. I'd give anything to have hair like hers."
Duchess Camilla is the second wife of Prince William's father Prince Charles.

Prince William’s godfather sells mansion for £450K


Britain's Prince William's godfather is selling his Highland mansion for £450,000.
The Duke of Westminster has put the 15-bedroom property - which was once used by Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana - in Sutherland, Scotland, on the market at the bargain price.
Gerald Grosvenor - who is Britain's richest landowner - had initially wanted to knock the building down, one of his least used but most historic properties, and return the site to grassland.
However, after the conservation agency intervened, the plans to demolish the run-down building have been postponed and the property has gone up for sale.
The Lochmore Lodge estate has been used by celebrities and prominent figures in society - including former prime ministers Winston Churchill and Neville Chamberlain - in the past in a bid to hide away from prying eyes of the paparazzi.
The property is complete with six bathrooms, a library, a cinema room, a dressing room, a playroom, and a pantry.
However, one condition of the sale states that the lodge can only be occupied by one family and cannot be sub-divided.
Zoopla, the estate agents dealing with the sale, told the Daily Mail newspaper: "Lochmore Lodge is perfectly located to enjoy traditional rural sports including first class salmon fishing and deer stalking which are available on local estates."
"Lochmore Lodge was formerly the principal house on the Reay Forest's Lochmore Estate. The house has been unoccupied since 2003 and now requires considerable internal renovation."

Dame Helen Mirren meets Queen at royal reception


Dame Helen Mirren met Britain's Queen Elizabeth at a star-studded reception at Buckingham Palace last night (17.02.14).
The 87-year-old royal teamed up with the Duchess of Cambridge, 32, to welcome a host of A-Listers - including Sir David Attenborough, Cate Blanchett and Benedict Cumberbatch - in honour of The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA).
A number of short performances were staged, including a combination of songs from 'Oh What A Lovely War', and Dame Helen also recited a speech from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'.
Afterwards, Dame Helen - who has played the monarch on-screen and on-stage in the past - was congratulated by the Queen on her performance, but she admits she felt nervous talking to the royal.
Dame Helen said: "I am genuinely always astounded by her aura, her twinkle, her presence. It never fails to surprise me and again it's what everyone says when they meet her -- it was what overwhelmed me the first time I met her."
Even Gemma Arterton admitted she felt proud to be meeting the Queen for the first time, despite meeting many members of the royal family before in the past.
She is quoted by the Daily Telegraph newspaper as saying: "My mum and dad were so proud when I got the letter. They said 'you're going to meet the Queen.'
"I've met most of the Royal family but I'd never met the Queen. Now I've got the full set."

Brian May: Prince William and Harry’s hunting holiday makes me ‘sick


Brian May has hit out at Britain's Princes William and Harry for their recent Spanish hunting holiday.
The former Queen rocker says the royal brothers make him feel "sick" after they hunted wild boar, stag and partridge just days before William, 31, backed a campaign to condemn the killing of endangered wildlife.
Brian said: "It made me feel sick. This is right at the heart of the problem we are looking at in this government.
"It's the whole attitude of the privileged classes - you can rescue rhinos and elephants in Africa but kill at will anything you want if you're rich.
"It's an attitude I'm very familiar with as I'm used to talking to people who justify tearing living foxes apart with packs of dogs."
The 66-year-old guitarist then went on to compare their hunting to slavery in the 19th century as he believes the slaughtering of animals is "inhumane".
He explained to The Sun newspaper: "Such people would insist slaves didn't feel like they did. Now they're saying these animals don't feel like we do so it's OK to hunt them and do what we want with them.
"That is an archaic way of thinking and it has to go."
Prince Harry, 30, has been struck with furthermore criticisms recently after a photograph emerged of him posing with a dead buffalo, which he shot in South America in 2004.
Both princes are supporters of international efforts to stop illegal poaching and they attended a conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade last week with their father Prince Charles to discuss ways to help save endangered animals.

Prince William calls for destruction of Buckingham Palace ivory


Britain's Prince William has called for all the ivory in Buckingham Palace to be destroyed.
The Duke of Cambridge recently launched the charity United for Wildlife - which aims to end the illegal wildlife trade - and the second-in-line to the throne now revealed that he wants all of the ivory at the royal residence to be removed to encourage people to take up the fight against poaching.
The royal collection is comprised of approximately 1,200 items spanning over hundreds of years, including a throne from India, and William hopes if the British royal family set an example it will persuade other heads of state to follow suit.
Leading primatologist Jane Goodall told the Independent on Sunday newspaper that William - whose wife is Duchess Catherine - had personally informed her he would "like to see all the ivory owned by Buckingham Palace destroyed".
The prince's wish comes just days after he attended the world's largest ever conference on the issue at London's Zoological Society which called for an end to the £12 billion illegal trade in animals and their body parts. The campaign was highly successful last year with at least 45 tons of ivory seized in what's believed to have been the largest haul in 250 years.
William's father Prince Charles has also been encouraging the move and is believed to have asked for ivory items at Clarence House and his Highgrove property to be put out of sight over the last few years but experts say William's plans for destruction will send a powerful message to the world.
William, 31, attracted criticism ahead of his speech at United for Wildlife when he photographed hunting for boar in Spain with his brother Prince Harry, 29.

Prince Harry and Cressida Bonas share Valentine’s ready-meal


Britain's Prince Harry and Cressida Bonas reportedly shared a ready-meal on Valentine's Day (14.02.14).
The 30-year-old royal and his beau were keen to avoid the restaurant rush on the romantic day of the year, so they reportedly tucked into a Marks & Spencer feast from their Dine in For Two for £20 range.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "No one seemed to notice who she [Cressida] was [when she bought the meal]. She was in a long, dark blue coat, wearing jeans and her hair was down."
"After she left [Marks & Spencer] she headed in the direction of Kensington Palace with her Marks & Spencer carrier bag."
However, this isn't the first time the couple, who have been dating for just over a year, have been spotted enjoying a low-cost meal as they were recently seen indulging in a burger at the food chain Byron.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry has just launched a scholarship, which has been inspired by Second World War pilot Douglas Bader, to get wounded veterans behind the wheel of an iconic Spitfire plane.
This is the latest project set up under his charity, the Endeavour Fund, which aims to help wounded servicemen and women rediscover themselves through challenges and adventures.
The candidates for the scholarship will be selected this summer, according to the Daily Mail newspaper, which will give them a year to train for the 75th anniversary of Battle of Britain next September.

Prince Charles starts Middle East tour


Britain's Prince Charles is to tour the Middle East today (17.02.14).
The 65-year-old royal will fly to Saudi Arabia and Qatar as part of a four-day visit, which comes just under a year since he last took a trip to the two nations.
The tour is filled with a majority of private engagements, but there will be some public events included, such as a tour of an old Saudi Arabian city and a visit to a leading museum in Doha, Qatar.
The Prince will be welcomed into the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, by the chairman of the National Guard, Prince Miteb bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud.
Sir John Jenkins, the UK's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said: "Our two kingdoms share a long friendship, going back to the foundation of the modern Saudi state. Continuity of personal relationships, essential if we are to understand each other better, have been central to this."
The royal family share a strong bond with many of the Middle Eastern countries that are ruled by the Arab royalty.
Nick Hopton, the UK's ambassador to Qatar, said: "I am delighted that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales is to visit Qatar again. This is an opportunity to showcase the strong ties between the UK and Qatar, which we value greatly."

Zara Phillips’ daughter makes first public appearance

Britain's Zara Phillips' baby daughter made her first public appearance yesterday (16.02.14). The 32-year-old royal took her one-month-old daughter Mia - who is 16th in line to the throne - to Barbury point-to-point races in Wiltshire, South West En...

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