Princess Anne has visited the Australian town
where a fire at a backpackers' hostel killed 15
people, six of them British.
More than 1,000 people, including survivors of
the fire, lined the streets to greet the princess
with a spontaneous round of applause as she
stepped from her car.
The Princess Royal visited the burnt-out
Palace Backpackers Hostel in Childers,
Queensland, and met survivors of the fire,
emergency service officers, volunteers and
residents.
She laid a bouquet of
white roses, freesias
and lilies at the hostel
before being taken
inside and shown the
main staircase.
Two survivors of the
fire showed her the
rooms they had been
staying in and
described how they
escaped by climbing
onto neighbouring
roofs.
The Princess said she was amazed that more
people had not died.
After the visit, the mayor of Childers, Bill
Trevor, said the two hours she had spent in
the town had at last "brought something
cheerful to Childers".
She is in Australia as president of the British
Olympic Association to attend a fund-raising
dinner.
Queensland premier Peter Beattie said that
following the tragedy on 23 June, Buckingham
Palace had agreed to alter the princess'
programme.
Suspect in jail
Last month the Queen sent condolences to the
families and friends of those who died as they
attended a memorial service in Childers.
Itinerant fruitpicker Robert Long, 37, chief
suspect in police investigations of the fire, is in
a Brisbane jail charged with the attempted
murder of a policeman who was trying to arrest
him.
Police hope to interview Mr Long this week
about the fatal fire.
All 15 bodies have been
recovered from the
gutted hostel and
taken to Brisbane for
formal identification.
A partial list of those
who died has been
issued by police.
Five of the Britons who
died were Natalie
Morris and Sarah
Williams of Aberfan,
Wales, Gary Sutton and Michael Lewis of
Bristol, and Melissa Smith.
Police also named 22-year-old twins Stacey
and Kelly Starke, from Western Australia,
Atsushi Toyono of Naruto City, Japan, Julie
O'Keefe of Limerick, Ireland, and Joly van der
Velden and Sebastien Westerfield from the
Netherlands.
Two other Australian victims, a Korean and a
Briton have yet to be identified.
British backpacker Nicola Morgan was initially
named among the dead, but she later
approached police to say she was alive.
~*~
Queen's footmen 'stole champagne'(BBC News)
Four of the Queen's footmen have been
suspended from duty at Windsor Castle amid
allegations that they stole boxes of
champagne.
The men - normally
based at the castle or
at Buckingham Palace -
are the subject of an
internal inquiry following
the alleged theft.
The Queen is reported
to have been informed
of the suspensions, concerning bottles left
over following birthday celebrations 10 days
ago for five of the royals, including the Queen
Mother.
Last month, police discovered cannabis at
Buckingham Palace after raiding the kitchens
following a tip of from a member of Palace
staff.
A spokesman for
Buckingham Palace
said: "We can confirm
that four footmen have
been suspended
pending the outcome
of an internal
investigation. The
police are not
involved."
The party from which
the alcohol was left
over was held on the
day of Prince William's
18th birthday, and also marked the birthdays
of Princess Margaret, the Princess Royal and
the Duke of York.
It was alleged that the footmen were seen
loading the champagne into the boot of a car
by another member of staff.
The suspensions follow a theft last month of
six bottles of champagne from the Prince of
Wales's offices at St James's Palace.
~*~
Mark Phillips loses his contract at
Burghley (UK Times)
Thomas Harding
CAPTAIN Mark Phillips has lost a lucrative
contract to design the world's top horse
trials circuits, it emerged last night. The
former husband of the Princess Royal was
said to be severely disappointed by the
setback after 10 years of creating his tough
courses at the Burghley Pedigree horse
trials.
New safety recommendations played a large
part in organisers' decision to ask Phillips to
step down at the three- day event, which attracts crowds of 100,000.
Last year a rider was killed and in the past three years only top
medical care at the circuit has prevented further fatalities.
Bill Henson, the director of Burghley, last night said: "After 10 years
the committee decided it was not going to re-employ Mark Phillips.
We decided it was time for a change. If you don't have a change you
can lose vitality. In the last year or two he was getting a bit pushed.
"I think 'disappointed' is the appropriate word to use for how Mark
took this news."
Phillips, who is coaching the American team for the Olympics in
Sydney, said: "I've brought more publicity to Burghley than any
course designer they've ever had. That's one of the spin-offs that an
organiser gets from me - the attendant publicity that follows me
around.
"I can understand people saying, feeling and thinking that it is good
to change course designers. I'm not sure I completely agree with it.
"The committee obviously thought they wanted a change. That's
their prerogative."
However, the Burghley organisers are likely to ask Phillips back in the
next three or four years.
Extending an olive branch, Henson said: "Mark is one of the top
three course designers in the world. He will be very high on our list
when we next seek someone to design a course for us in coming
years. There are no hard feelings between us - only yesterday I had
breakfast with him."
Last year Simon Long was killed and three other riders were seriously
injured at the event in Stamford, Lincolnshire, on a circuit that was
called "over the top" by some commentators.
Another influence on the committee's decision came from the
recommendations of a safety review carried out by Lord Hartington
after a series of rider deaths in horse eventing. The report
recommended course designers being changed every three or four
years.
Henson said: "We also made this decision for reasons of safety.
Because we are the leading horse event in the world we thought it
would look a lot worse if we did not take the Hartington report on
board."
Phillips, a former Olympic medallist, will create this year's circuit
before being replaced by the German designer Wolfgang Feld in 2001,
for a contract thought to be worth a five-figure sum.
Princess Anne, Phillip's former wife, became European champion at
Burghley in 1971, after riding in only her second three-day event.
~*~
Prescott and Beckett fuel Labour split on
monarchy(Electronic Telegraph)
By David Cracknell, Deputy Political Editor
JOHN PRESCOTT and Margaret Beckett have reopened the Cabinet row
over the monarchy, disclosing to The Telegraph sympathy for republicanism
sharply at odds with the position of the Prime Minister.
Mr Prescott's official spokesman, Derek Plews, said the Deputy Prime
Minister would have no problem with being described as a "republican". Mrs
Beckett, who has monthly audiences with the Queen as President of the Privy
Council and is a former Labour leader, said there was a "legitimate argument"
for abolishing the monarchy.
The statements contrasted sharply with the view of Tony Blair, who last week
ordered Mo Mowlam to apologise for suggesting that the Royal Family move
out of Buckingham Palace into a "a good modern building". They demonstrate
the resentment felt by Cabinet ministers, several of whom have expressed
republican views for many years, at the treatment of Miss Mowlam.
The interventions of Mr Prescott and Mrs Beckett came after an influential
republican pressure group told The Telegraph that "at least two" Cabinet
ministers are paid-up members of their organisation. Republic, which boasts
Miss Mowlam's husband, Jon Norton, as a "sponsoring member" on its
website, said yesterday that it was "fully behind outing people as republicans".
Mike Richards, the organisation's administrator, said: "On the grounds of
confidentiality I can't name names, but I can confirm that there are at least two
members of the present serving Cabinet who are currently members of
Republic." Senior members of the organisation pointed the finger at Mr
Prescott, Mrs Beckett and Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, who was once
the Labour Party's chief critic of the monarchy.
In opposition, Mr Straw published a pamphlet urging reform and derided the
Royal Family as "deeply decadent and detached". However, a spokesman for
Mr Straw said he was not a member of Republic. Others believed to be
sympathetic to republicanism include Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, Robin
Cook, the Foreign Secretary, and Clare Short, the International Development
Secretary.
Yesterday Mr Prescott's spokesman said: "He has described himself as 'not a
monarchist' and if you are not a monarchist you are a republican. I don't think
he would have any problem with that." Mrs Beckett has a monthly audience
with the Queen before meetings of the Privy Council, the group of senior
statesmen who have advised the monarch since the Middle Ages and still
carry out some formal executive functions.
While Mrs Beckett made clear abolition of the monarchy was not "on her
agenda", she conspicuously failed to stick to Mr Blair's firm line of being an
"ardent supporter" of the monarchy and that ministers should be silent on
reform of the institution. Asked for her views, Mrs Beckett said: "I've always
thought that there are people who feel strongly about whether or not there
ought to be a monarchy in this country. For myself, I think that there are much
more important things to worry about.
"While there is obviously a legitimate argument to be had, I think most people
are perfectly content with the Royal Family - or certainly perfectly content
with the Queen - and I feel the same way." In a separate development,
debates on the future of the monarchy are to become part of the national
curriculum for schools. Classroom discussions would involve pupils in
arguments on the merits of an elected head of state against the monarchy.
The Education Department confirmed that it was the "sort of area" that will
come under a new section of the curriculum, entitled "Citizenship", this
September. Republicans have already expressed delight that children will be
encouraged to be good "citizens" rather than "subjects".