POLICE pursued a man flying a paraglider, before his arresting after he
landed in the forecourt at Buckingham palace entertained sightseers.
Soldiers swooped on Brett De La Mare, an
Australian, after he came down. He was arrested
at the scene and treated for mild hypothermia
before being questioned at a central London police
station and granted bail.
The 36-year-old, who had announced his
intentions to land in the palace grounds on his web
site, had been trying to get publicity for his
unpublished book Canine Dawn, which he has
described as a Tarantino-style "sex, money and
adventure" novel set in the Australian outback.
He has been involved in similar stunts in the past
and claims on his web site to have recently flown around the World Trade
Centre and the Empire State building in New York. His parachute carried the
site's address, www.brettdelamare.com, on its canopy. A spokesman at
Buckingham Palace said no member of the Royal Family was in the building at
the time. Senior members of the Royal Family are celebrating Christmas and
the New Year at the Queen's estate in Sandringham, Norfolk.
Dr James Le Fanu, who writes a medical column for The Daily Telegraph,
was among thousands of people who saw the stunt as he walked with his
family through St James's Park. He said: "We saw him first coming out over
Trafalgar Square, at a height of around 500ft. I was surprised he was allowed
to fly so low. No sooner had I thought that than this police helicopter
appeared and started threatening him, round and round. It was quite dramatic.
"They used a loudspeaker. I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying but it
was something like, 'You are performing an illegal operation. You must
descend'. Then the place was crawling with police. I imagine they were not
quite sure where he was going to land because they were weaving around. By
then a large crowd had congregated. He circled down and down, obviously
heading directly for Buckingham Palace. The whole thing, I guess, took 10
minutes. All we could see was he had www. something on his glider.".
Six soldiers from the Coldstream Guards, dressed in combat fatigues and
carrying SA80 assault rifles, rushed from the Palace guardroom to seize the
man as he landed. Martin Churchill, 53, from north London, who saw the
incident, described the landing. "The parachutist was about 150ft in the air
and a police helicopter was in front of him. At one point, he caught the
downwash from the helicopter, which almost collapsed his chute. He was
doing 360 degree turns and landed in front of Buckingham Palace and he was
whisked away by military people."
Alan Corey, 22, an American student from Atlanta, Georgia, said: "The
helicopter had a PA system and was telling him to come down. He steered
with a propulsion fan on his back like they use in James Bond films." Alex
Kirby, 45, a Royal Parks gardener, was having his lunch break in St James's
Park when he heard the helicopter pursuing De La Mare. He said: "He was
just on top of the trees, circling as if to gain height. At one point we thought he
would come down in the trees."
Karen Edwards, 22, an Australian teacher who lives in Leytonstone, east
London, was taking friends sightseeing and took pictures of the incident. She
said: "The guards and police inside the palace were just watching him, but
they had their guns out. I couldn't believe he was going to land in there. He
came down really quickly and I thought he was going to crash into the palace
wall."
It is the second time a flying intruder has breached royal security. In 1994, a
naked American paraglider, Jim Miller, landed on the roof of the palace.
Scotland Yard confirmed that a 36-year-old man was arrested at 1.10pm in
the forecourt of the palace. A spokesman said: "Officers from the Royal
Diplomatic Protection Group arrested a man who descended into the
forecourt in a motorised paraglider. He was questioned and detained at a
central London police station before being released on bail.
The helicopter had tailed the paraglider from Hampstead Heath over Regent's
Park, down Whitehall and The Mall before it landed. The man was arrested in
connection with various offences under the Air Navigation Act, said police.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "He certainly did not have permission
to land on the forecourt. I think he was surprised by the vigour and speed of
the police response." The author was apparently expecting to be arrested and
left a message on his telephone answering machine saying: "I'm sorry you've
missed me, I'm incarcerated or something. Please leave me a message and I'll
get back to you as soon as I'm free."
~*~
Spielberg to receive an honorary
knighthood(Electronic Telegraph)
By Philip Delves Broughton in New York
STEVEN SPIELBERG will receive an honorary knighthood, to go with his
many Oscars and assorted movie gongs.
He joins an elite list of honorary American knights, which includes the former
Presidents Reagan and Bush and the actor Bob Hope. They can put KBE
after their names but cannot style themselves "Sir".
Though Spielberg made his name directing blockbusters such as E T, Jaws,
Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park, his critical reputation has grown in
recent years with his treatment of more serious subjects in Schindler's List and
Saving Private Ryan.
He has also been a keen supporter of British film-makers, actors and
technicians, often coming to Britain to make his films. Last summer he filmed a
10-part, £75 million television series, Band of Brothers, in Hertfordshire. The
Prime Minister's son, Euan Blair, spent a week on the set on a work
experience placement.
Last November, Spielberg spoke of his admiration for the "unbelievable
talent" within the British film industry when he received a British Academy of
Film and Television Arts award for excellence. He will receive his knighthood
on Jan 29 at the British Embassy in Washington DC.
The embassy said Spielberg's honorary knighthood was in recognition of his
"extraordinary contribution to the entertainment industry and the British film
industry over the last 25 years". He is the most successful director in
Hollywood history.
~*~
Soft-hat Zara rides into storm(UK Times)
ZARA PHILLIPS cantered across fields outside Sandringham
yesterday. She has been condemned by safety campaigners for
riding in heavy snow without a protective hat, days after she was
injured in a car accident (Sam Coates writes). The Queen’s
granddaughter, 19, spent an hour riding, wearing a baseball cap
and a hood. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
said that she should take more care. Jane Eason, a RoSPA
spokeswoman, said: “It is disappointing that someone who is in the
public eye is not setting an example to others.” A British Horse
Society spokeswoman said: “The fact that she chooses not to
wear a proper hat is foolish. She must know better.”
~*~
Royal wedding fever grips Spain(UK Times)
FROM EMMA DALY IN MADRID
SPECULATION is growing that the heir to the Spanish throne,
Crown Prince Felipe de Borbón, is planning to marry a
Norwegian former model. Eva Sannum, 25, is studying advertising
and public relations at Oslo university.
Although the couple have occasionally been spotted in public over
the past three years when their romance is said to have begun, the
rumour mill went into overdrive this month when the gossip
magazine Hola! ran exclusive photographs of the couple on
holiday in India last summer.
The week before Hola!, considered by many in Spain to be the
semi-official gazette of royal affairs, dedicated a cover story to Ms
Sannum (“beautiful, discreet, speaks six languages”) after her brief
return to the catwalk in Oslo.
The Prince of Asturias will be 33 on January 31, and he has
almost finished building himself a house, and possible family home,
in the Zarzuela palace compound on the edge of Madrid.
Opinion polls say that he should marry for love rather than royal
ancestry. The country was enchanted when his elder sister,
Princess Cristina, married Iñaki Urdangarin, captain of the
Olympic handball team.
The clamour is so loud now that even the country’s best-selling
newspaper El País, owned by the Socialist-leaning Prisa group,
felt obliged to dispatch a correspondent to Oslo to find out more
about Ms Sannum and her family. It reported that her parents
were divorced and remarried and that her father was doing well
with his mechanics business.
The Zarzuela Palace restricted itself to “absolutely no comment”
on the speculation yesterday afternoon.
Ms Sannum has remained just as tight-lipped, despite the best
efforts of the press. Ole Bjorna Loe Welde, of the Norwegian
newspaper Dagbladet, said: “She has become more professional,
she has learnt to smile and say ‘no comment’ with elegance which
has followed the story closely. At first she talked a little bit to the
press; now all the doors are shut, but very easily, there’s no
aggression.”
The Spanish magazine, 10 Minutos, recently cornered Ms
Sannum outside her classes, just after she was said to have
returned from a quick holiday to the Caribbean, apparently taking
advantage of Prince Felipe’s official visit to Mexico for the
presidential inauguration of Vicente Fox.
But the magazine did not get far with its questions, which Eva
answered in English — though Spanish is said to be one of her
languages. Asked whether the Indian holiday snaps had been
stolen and not leaked to the press she replied: “You could say
that.”
Had Prince Felipe come to visit in October? “Excuse me, but I’m
not going to talk about my private life. Everyone knows we are
friends. I am not going to say anything about Felipe.”
Prince Felipe is quoted as saying “it is better to wait until you are
40 than to marry the wrong person”, allowing 10 Minutos to claim
that his sisters “married for love and so will he. In spite of his
position, the Prince believes in love and will wait patiently for the
best moment to announce that he plans to say ‘I do’.”
Over the past years, the gossip magazines have confidently
predicted Prince Felipe’s marriage to Catalina of Austria, Maria
Pilar de Borbón-Orléans and Carolina de Borbón. They agree this
time, though, that the Prince, who needs the permission of his
father and parliament to marry, will face no opposition in being
allowed to plight his troth to Ms Sannum.
However, some commentators are concerned by her lowly birth.
Carlos García-Calvo, a journalist and author, wrote in El Mundo:
“To me it seems unacceptable that the future heir to the throne
should marry a model, even if she is Class A. We have seen these
women half-naked, changing backstage, when we go to
congratulate the designer. What’s appropriate for Leonardo
DiCaprio is not appropriate for His Royal Highness.”