It has been reported that Paul Burrell is about to speak out on the Queen Mother’s relationship with Diana, Princess of Wales.

Burrell, the Princess’ former butler, was said to have been disappointed that Diana was barely mentioned in William Shawcross’ official biography ‘Queen Elizabeth: The Queen Mother’.

A so-called ‘insider’ said: “To be fair, if anyone knows what really went on between Diana and the Queen Mother, it’s Paul. The Shawcross book may just force him finally to tell it how it was, as he can’t stand the idea of Diana being ignored in such a way.”

Steve Dennis, however, says otherwise.

Dennis, the ghost writer for Paul Burrell’s books “Remembering Diana” and “A Royal Duty”, has set the record straight.

“FYI, Paul Burrell’s not spilling the beans at all. Don’t so readily trust everything you read,” Dennis told me via Twitter. “I’m his media advisor. Trust me, these articles are inventions.”

So will Burrell be coming out with another yarn to earn a buck, or is he staying silent like Steve Dennis claims? I guess time will tell…

Steve Dennis is also the author of the book Britney: Inside the Dream and has been an on-air contributor on the Fox News Channel.

Nothing screams unnecessary like a photo of a princess being groped.

The Sun newspaper trailed Princess Eugenie of York while she was on her gap year holiday in Thailand. She was wearing a bikini while out on the beaches of Phuket, and the photographers went crazy snapping photo after photo. The result was a Sun headline entitled “They’re Euge!” over a photo of the Queen’s granddaughter having her breasts squeezed by a companion.

It never fails to amaze me how much the media intrudes into private royal life. Yes, being royal means you are a public figure, but sometimes people need some breathing room. A person can’t be “on” at all hours of the day and don’t want a photographer breathing down their necks when taking a rest.

As a feminine version of Robin Hood

Not only do the media show disrespect to royal privacy, but they’re crude about it, too. Are we to blame for the intrusion because of our need for royal news and scandal, or is it the media’s responsibility to walk a reasonable middle ground?

I recently obtained a copy of Kitty Kelley’s book “The Royals” on audio cassette. I’m currently listening to it in the car as I drive, and though some may think me a bit mad to listen to Kelley’s fulmination, I find many things insightful.

Kelley discusses a time when biographer Anthony Holden was writing a book about Prince Charles’ earliest years. Holden’s biography of the prince stated that Princess Elizabeth decided to breast-feed her new baby son rather than let a wet nurse do it. The Prince’s press secretary (at the time of the writing) was aghast when he read this in the manuscript and called Holden at once to admonish him.

“The sentence about breast-feeding must be deleted. Absolutely and at once.” When Holden asked why, the press secretary adamantly stated that “One never mentions the royal breasts,” and that “[...] the royal breasts must never be exposed.”

Both Anthony Holden and Kitty Kelley chuckled about the man being ‘prudish’. So what do the two authors make of The Sun newspaper trailing Princess Eugenie while she frolics in a bikini? Exposing the royal breasts, indeed.

So the press secretary was probably a little too restricted, but people like The Sun’s staff are far too crude and invasive. Will we ever have a middle ground? At this moment, Dutch Prince Willem-Alexander and his Argentine-born wife Princess Maxima are taking The Associated Press to court. They claim the news agency breached the Dutch Mediacode by distributing photos of their recent vacation in Argentina. The Dutch Royals decided to take advantage of the Argentine winter to go on a skiing holiday and catch up with Princess Maxima’s family. They gave the media their time by posing on a beach in Holland with their three daughters. In exchange, the press would leave them alone during their South American trip.

Not pleased

Suffice it to say, that didn’t happen. Now the royal family is in an uproar and there are legal proceedings. The photographers didn’t snap anything risque like the bikini-clad Eugenie, but the invasion was just as unnecessary and disrespectful.

Why can’t a compromise be honored? Think of all the aggravation that  could have been avoided for all parties had the media acquiesced to the simple royal request: take these photos now, then let us have our private time.

Since the days of Diana in the 1980s, the dynamic between photographer and royal subject has become kill or be killed; hunter and hunted. The respect is almost nil, replaced instead by an in-your-face attitude. When will it end?

By delivering a keynote speech on climate change during his tour of South America last week, the Prince of Wales has finally gained respect for his environmental views, says The Telegraph.

“If people now realise I wasn’t talking complete nonsense then I’m delighted,” says Charles.

Nearly twenty years ago, Charles was in South America giving a speech on the exact same issue. He’s discussed how he talks to his plants, and began his “Duchy Originals” company based solely on organic foods.

This is no trendy flash-in-the-pan Prince. Charles sticks to what he thinks is right, and not just for himself, but for the entire planet. Is he frustrated that it has taken so long for most companies and countries to wake up?

“Yes, it is rather depressing. I’m not doing this for myself but basically for the sake of everyone’s children and grandchildren [...] at the moment it looks very much as if we are handing on a poisoned chalice to future generations,” the Prince told journalist Andrew Alderson.

If only the politicians would adhere so consistently to their viewpoints, we may be better off.

via The Telegraph.

Via The Telegraph: President Obama has told Republicans in Washington to stop listening to the right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh, risking a new culture war with conservative voters.

After less than a week in office, Mr Obama’s presidency is already encountering the very partisan bickering he had pledged to stamp out during his first 100 days.

He faces mounting criticism over his $825 billion economic stimulus plan, from Republican leaders who say the legislation has been drawn up without the input which Mr Obama had promised to allow them.

The president responded with a clear signal that he is prepared to ram the bill through without the bipartisan consensus he promised to construct, telling Republican leaders from the House of Representatives: “I won. I’m the president.”

Then:

He then told them to break free of the confrontational mindset epitomised by Mr Limbaugh, the highest paid talk show host in America. “You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done,” Mr Obama said. (True!)

His comments followed a blunt attack on him by Mr Limbaugh, who declared on air that he hoped Mr Obama would fail as president because otherwise it will usher in socialism.

With characteristic robustness, Limbaugh said: “We are being told we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to bend over[...]because his father was black, because he’s the first black president, we’ve got to accept this.”

The president has also reacted badly to his first taste of tougher questioning from the previously supine Washington press corps – becoming visibly irritated, during a visit to journalists’ offices in the White House, when asked a substantive question about the ethics affair.

The White House’s failure to arrange for television cameras to record Mr Obama’s second swearing in, held on Wednesday night because he and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts botched the wording at his inauguration, infuriated broadcasters.

A Democratic strategist who has run two presidential campaigns told The Sunday Telegraph: “What can I say? ‘Welcome to Washington, Mr President’.

But my favorite part is:

“The Obama people like a scrap, they’ve proved that throughout the year, none more than the president. But they know they’re in a fight now. And it probably won’t let up for eight years.”

… and it might not let up for FOUR years. Remember that the number four comes before eight? What if Obama only makes four years? Is the position and/or duration of Presidential duties already decided in advance?

Barack Obama picks a fight with Rush Limbaugh as bipartisan spirit crumbles – Telegraph.

King George V would be as pleased as punch after reading this article in the New York Times.

The king who was famous for his modest living would be happy to know that the era of “bling” and look-at-me gaudiness is over. His thrifty granddaughter Lilibet is probably pretty chuffed, too.

High-end consumers everywhere are refraining from purchasing luxury goods, an industry that was once considered a recession-proof. Everyone is hard-hit these days, it seems, and luxury companies such as Chanel and jewelry firm Mauboussin are laying off staff and cutting costs.

The news comes straight from the high-priced horse’s mouth.

“This whole crisis is like a big spring housecleaning — both moral and physical,” Karl Lagerfeld, the designer for Chanel, said in an interview. “There is no creative evolution if you don’t have dramatic moments like this. Bling is over. Red carpety covered with rhinestones is out. I call it ‘the new modesty.’ ”

Can it be? Will Windsor thrift actually take over the French and, dare I say, the world? What a relief to know that ugly status symbols like SUVs will finally go away.

Details about the marriage of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard are being brought to light in a new book – Juliana & Bernhard. The story of a marriage, 1936-1956.

According to NRC Handelsblad, the parents of the current Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands are having their first 20 years of marriage recorded by royal historian Cees Fasseur.

The Dutch royal couple’s marriage had turned supremely sour, but during the early Fifties the general public knew nothing of the private lives of their royals. That changed in 1956, when the German magazine Der Spiegel broke the story of the tumultuous marriage and exposed faith-healer Greet Hofmans and his role in the royal relationship.

Apparently, Prince Bernhard felt he had lost his wife to Hofmans and believed his pacifist views and advice were harmful to Juliana’s reputation. They fought bitterly over Hofmans, and eventually a divorce and Juliana’s abdication became very serious – and very real – options. To save the marriage and avoid a constitutional crisis, Prince Bernhard and Queen Juliana agreed to the appointment of a commission. This was headed by the former prime minister Louis Beel.

While divorce was avoided, Queen Juliana did eventually abdicate in favor of her eldest daughter Beatrix in 1980.

Despite a parliamentary motion in January 2005, Beatrix refused access to documents and would not release details of the Beel report. Later that year she relented, and decided to allow Cees Fasseur to write about her parents and the findings of the commission.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende praised the decision by Queen Beatrix to open the archives even though it reveals “painful private matters for her and her sisters.”