The Prince of Wales, Prince William and Prince Harry are travelling to the Swiss Alps to begin their annual skiing holiday.
Later in the year than usual, the royal party will arrive in the village of Klosters for a break lasting around a week.
Usually the prince goes skiing at New Year, but because of this year's millennium celebrations he postponed his holiday.
Last year William, 17, who takes his A-levels this summer, decided not to join his father and brother, preferring to spend timein Britain with friends.
Harry, 15, has enjoyed the holiday for the past few years and each time has tried out something new, including tobogganing,slalom, snowboarding and snowblades.
Neither of the young princes will miss any school while on holiday, because they have broken up from Eton for the Easter vacation.
The royal group are expected to pose briefly on the slopes for a pre-arranged photocall on Thursday in return for being left alone by the press throughout the rest of their holiday.
~*~
Controversy and expediency mark Queen's N.Irish trip(Yahoo: Reuters)
By John O'Callaghan
BELFAST (Reuters) - The Queen's visit to Northern Ireland next week to honour the mainly Protestant police force will be marked by controversy and tight security but political expediency lies at its heart, analysts believe.
The decision to award the George Cross to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) has been widely criticised by republicans.
The April 12 visit comes at a precarious time for Northern Ireland, with the province's peace process bogged down and its fledgling home-rule government suspended over the lack of paramilitary disarmament.
But political analysts see the event as carefully designed to ceremonially bolster the RUC for past service while underlining that the force must move quickly to adopt reforms, including a renaming to excise its royal associations.
"They give them the queen's visit to mean that this George Cross is a real George Cross," Duncan Morrow, a politics lecturer at the University of Ulster, told Reuters.
"It's a part of a choreography by which the RUC is eased into the new Police Service of Northern Ireland."
The queen, who last visited Northern Ireland in 1997 to mark the RUC's 75th anniversary, will present the award at a ceremony at Hillsborough Castle, the mansion outside Belfast now home to Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson.
GOOD FRIDAY PEACE ACCORD
The visit, which comes two days after the second anniversary of the Good Friday peace accord on April 10, will also include a reception for people from the province's rural communities.
Police and the Northern Ireland Office are keeping a tight lid on arrangements to safeguard the Queen and Prince Philip during their one-day trip.
Some security sources expressed surprise that the visit was announced two weeks in advance, giving dissident paramilitary groups not holding to ceasefires ample time to plan an attack.
But with Hillsborough seen as a relatively secue site, security forces will also be on alert for an attack elsewhere that would
seize the attention away from the royal visit.
"There will be a heightened awareness throughout the whole province because, the way these people operate, it would be a
headline-grabbing episode as far as they're concerned," a senior police officer said. "There will be a major security operation."
Analysts said the visit was also an effort by Mandelson to shore up Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble, who narrowly
escaped an internal party challenge last month.
"Some kind of assessment has been made in the Northern Ireland Office that it is more important to bring the queen over to
reassure the unionist community than any damage it could do in terms relationships with nationalists," Morrow said.
The Queen's trip is an affront to many republicans but Sinn Fein said it had no official reaction and was not planning any
demonstrations.
"We don't involve ourselves in royal visits but if our people wish to become involved themselves then that's up to them," a Sinn
Fein spokesman said.
By playing down the visit, Morrow said, Sinn Fein recognised that the event may be difficult for unionists to handle because the
honour the Queen would bestow on the RUC would be the "last thing they got rather than part of their continuity".
~*~
Royal Tournament successor launched(BBC News)
Two Royal Marines abseiled from the top of
Tower Bridge on Tuesday as part of a special
event to launch the Royal Military Tattoo
2000.
The one-off event from
10-15 July will celebrate
1,000 years of military
history and look to the
future of the armed
forces.
About 1,800 personnel
from the Army, Royal
Navy and Royal Air
Force will take part in
the spectacle at Horse Guards Parade, London.
It is the first of the new-style display of
Forces' achievements, after the Royal
Tournament, with its famous field gun race,
was scrapped by the government last year.
Organisers say the
tattoo will be a
"world-class
spectacle", combining
theatrical special
effects with the forces'
expertise.
Baroness Symons,
Minister of State for
Defence Procurement,
met forces chiefs to
launch the event on
HMS Sutherland
moored on the Thames.
She said: "RMT 2000 will present 1,000 years
of key events in our military history.
"It will also cover the role of our Armed
Services as a force for good in the world today
and provide a glimpse into the future.
"The tattoo will combine the best of modern
production technology and traditional
pageantry to provide a unique and memorable
celebration."
Parachutes and videos
The Queen has been invited to take the salute
at one performance. About 13,000 visitors are
expected for the shows.
Freefall parachutists from the Royal Marines
and Parachute Regiment and RAF Falcons will
land in the arena every show. There will also
be a nightly fly-past of aircraft from the Navy,
Army and RAF.
A computer will control the performance of 600
musicians, 200 horses, pageantry, lasers,
fireworks and the world's largest mobile video
screen, which will entertain more than 13,000
people each night.
Two giant video screens, measuring 30 metres
by 20 metres when together, and weighing
three tons each, will move back and forth
showing 1,000 years of military history.
Historic events to be selected for the video
show include D-Day, VJ-Day, the Battle of
Britain, the Cold War and recent conflicts.
The script for the Tattoo will be written by
playwright Rosemary Anne Sisson, who has
worked on Upstairs Downstairs and the Young
Indiana Jones.
It will be produced by Major Michael Parker,
who was responsible for the VE Day 50th
anniversary celebration and the Royal
Tournament.
~*~
England sorry for trophy 'mix-up'(BBC News)
Six Nations champions England have made an
official apology to the Princess Royal, following
their defeat against Scotland at Murrayfield.
England, who saw their Grand
Slam hopes dashed in an epic
battle that finished 19-13,
should have collected the Six
Nations trophy after the
game.
Instead, however, they left the pitch and
failed to collect their prize.
Irrespective of the
game's outcome
England were assured
of being crowned
inaugural Six Nations
champions - courtesy
of a Welsh victory in
Dublin on Saturday.
The Princess Royal handed over the Calcutta
Cup to victorious Scottish skipper Andy Nicol
but the Six Nations trophy remained
un-presented.
The incident sparked talks between
representatives from the Scottish Rugby Union
(SRU) and Rugby Football Union (RFU).
RFU president Jeff
Addison said: "We
unreservedly apologise
for what has obviously
been a breakdown in
communications to Her
Royal Highness the
Princess Royal, the
sponsors and England
supporters who had
travelled to the game."
Addison confirmed the
RFU were already in
discussion with
sponsors Lloyds TSB to organise a suitable
date for the trophy presentation.
SRU president Harvey Wright added: "I am sure
that at the end of a compelling and
highly-charged contest the England players
meant no offence when they were unable to
collect the trophy in the stadium.
"They were worthy winners of the inaugural
championship and I hope they take as much
pleasure from their success as all Scots
derived from our Five Nations Championship
victory last season."
The RFU confirmed they
received a briefing from
the SRU last Thursday
regarding trophy
presentation protocol,
which was relayed to
members of the England
management.
But after being well
beaten by Scotland,
England felt it was only
fair the Scots enjoyed the moment and
received the Calcutta Cup in front of their
home supporters.
"On returning to their dressing room the
England party were informed by the SRU that
the trophy was available for presentation in
the stadium," a joint statement read.
"An alternative was offered for the trophy to
be presented at the post-match function.
"The England management thanked the SRU for
the offer and, with many of the players already
in the process of changing, decided to take up
the latter option. Subsequently, however, this
proved not to be possible."
~*~
Queen's pyramid discovered(BBC News)
French archaeologists have discovered the
4,000-year-old remains of an ancient queen's
pyramid near Cairo.
The pyramid of Queen Ankh-sn-Pepi, wife of
King Pepi I, lies in Sakkara, an ancient royal
cemetery just 32 kilometres (20 miles) south of
Cairo.
Archaeologists, led by Jean Leclant, found a
stone in the queen's burial chamber bearing
special prayers to protect the dead and ensure
sustenance in the afterlife. Until this
discovery, such texts had only been found in
pyramids of kings. Why they were placed in
the Queen's chamber remains a mystery.
The finding was one of several announced at
the Eighth International Congress of
Egyptologists that has drawn some 1,500
archaeologists to Cairo.
Mummy hope
In another discovery, Egyptian archaeologists
said they had found a painted tomb in the
Western Desert. It was built by people from a
600 BC culture that exported wine to the Nile
valley.
Leading Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass
said he saw a burial chamber containing a four
metre (13 feet) long stone coffin through a
hole in a wall of the tomb.
"It may be intact, and
inside there is probably
a wooden sarcophagus
and maybe even a
mummy," said Dr
Hawass. "We will start
excavating next week."
The tomb is in the
Valley of the Golden
Mummies, 344 km (215
miles) south-west of
Cairo. The area made
headlines last year
when 105 mummies
were found in a vast
cemetery of
Greco-Roman tombs.
Archaeologists made this latest discovery while
re-excavating three other similar tombs. Ten
houses built above the newly-discovered tomb
were removed and Dr Hawass said the
government will relocate the homes and
compensate the families.
Mysterious chambers
In a third discovery announced at the
conference, a joint expedition of Egyptian and
French archaeologists said they had found two
additional chambers and a corridor in the
collapsed pyramid of Maidum. The pyramid,
which lies 90 km (56 miles) south of Cairo,
dates back to 2600 BC.
Dr Gaballa said the new chambers had only
been viewed through an endoscope, a 30 m
(99 ft) long flexible tube inserted through
joints in the stones.
He said the purpose of the hidden chambers is
not yet known, but they may have been built
to lessen the weight on the burial chambers
below.
~*~
Friend of Duchess in motorway fight(Electronic Telegraph)
By Bruce Johnston in Rome
COUNT Gaddo della Gherardesca, a friend of the Duchess of York, said
yesterday he would challenge government plans to build a motorway through
a corner of Tuscany where his family has lived since medieval times.
"Enough's enough, I'm ready to have a fight," he said of plans for a north-south motorway through an unspoilt southern Tuscan coastal area, the
Marremma. "I will defend this coastline from invaders, and the 1,200 years of
my noble house will help me to win the cause."
His stand was "not political", but he would accept a proposal to become
president of a citizens' action group. One of his first plans was to raise the flag
of the Italian Legambiente (Environmental League) at his family keep in
Castagneto Carducci, where the Duchess is a regular guest.
He said: "This motorway will not go through one metre of my land. I am not
fighting this for my own interests, but to defend a region of my ancestors."
~*~
Princess bemoans 'selfish' singles(UK Times)
BY ALEX O'CONNELL AND ALEXANDRA FREAN
THE increasing tendency of Britons to live alone to
maximise their independence is "plain selfish", according to
the Princess Royal.
The Princess, talking to Libby Purves in The Times today,
expresses her distaste for the singleton lifestyle of the
Bridget Jones generation. "Life in general nowadays is
more and more isolating," she says. "Most people would
call it independence, but I'm not that sure what that
means. It could mean just plain selfish.
"It could be more convenient just to live all by yourself but
it means that you don't understand the impact of your life
on other people's lives, and how you depend on other
people all the time. It's no good."
According to the latest government figures, more than six
million people in England live on their own, three times as
many as 40 years ago. Projections from the Office for
National Statistics indicate that the number of one-person
households will continue growing to 8.5 million by 2021.
Much of the increase can be explained by the growing
numbers of widows in an ageing population, and a rise in
the number of divorcees.
Ceridwen Roberts, director of the Family Policy Studies
Centre, said that it was incorrect, however, to assume that
the growing trend for young people to remain single and to
live alone was a result of positive lifestyle choices. "We
just don't know how much of it is a result of pressures
from the labour and housing market," she said.
The Princess makes her remarks in the course of a tribute
to the work of one of her favourite causes, the enduring
Victorian charity The Mission to Seamen. She has been its
president since 1984. This week, acknowledging its many
female members, it becomes The Mission to Seafarers.
Continued