SEAN CONNERY, film star, fervent Scottish nationalist and former
milkman, was knighted yesterday just a few miles from the tenement where he
grew up.
Sir Sean, 69, who has "Scotland Forever" tattooed
on his forearm, wore full Highland dress for the
ceremony at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in
Edinburgh. The Oscar-winning actor was knighted
for his services to film and drama, including seven
outings as James Bond.
After being tapped on each shoulder by the Queen,
Sir Sean arose to shake hands and exchange a few
words. He said later: "She just asked how often I
come up here." He has lived in the Bahamas for
several years and, although he once promised to
move back to Scotland after independence, he
gave no indication yesterday that his knighthood would encourage him to
return.
The investiture marked an end to a bitter political row after claims two years
ago that his knighthood was blocked by Donald Dewar, Scotland's First
Minister, because of his support for the Scottish National Party. After the
ceremony, Sir Sean emerged from the Palace with his wife, Micheline, his
brother, Neil, and his brother's wife, Eleanor, and walked towards cheering
crowds at the gates. He said: "It's one of the proudest days of my life."
Sir Sean started his working life as a milkman on a horse-drawn float before
embarking on a 40-year career in films, including the Bond films, and winning
an Oscar for his performance in The Untouchables. Following the ceremony,
he and his friends adjourned to a hotel for lunch, where he was toasted with a
limited edition of his own beer - Big Tam's Ale - a reference to his nickname,
based on his real name, Thomas.
~*~
Belsky, royal sculptor with a unique
signature, dies aged 79(UK Times)
BY ADAM SHERWIN
A SCULPTOR known for his ritual of placing an empty
Guinness bottle, a copy of The Times, a coin and a note
stating that he was the artist inside his works died
yesterday at the age of 79.
Franta Belsky created the Mountbatten memorial at
Horseguards Parade in London as well as many royal
likenesses. Buckingham Palace said last night: "The Queen
will be very sorry to hear of his death, bearing in mind that
she sat for one of his busts."
Belsky created a bronze head of the Queen in 1981 for
the National Portrait Gallery. His first link with the Royal
Family was a model of Queen Elizabeth the Queen
Mother in 1962.
He died yesterday morning at Abingdon Hospital in
Oxfordshire after suffering from prostate cancer, said
Anthony Stones, a fellow artist who succeeds him as
president of the Society of Portrait Sculptors. "He was
one of the most outstanding sculptors to emerge in Britain
after the Second World War," he said.
Belsky, who was born in Brno in what was then
Czechoslovakia, modelled four generations of the Royal
Family. His other works include the Shell Fountain on the
South Bank in London and the Triga in Knightsbridge. He
completed a series of sculptures of mothers with children,
one of which, The Lesson, stands at Bethnal Green.
Belsky was selected by a government panel to create a
memorial to Lord Mountbatten of Burma in 1982, three
years after he was killed by the IRA. The 9ft statue
depicted Mountbatten, the Queen's cousin, in naval
uniform as though on the bridge of a ship.
Belsky had also already produced sculptures or portraits
of the Duke of Edinburgh and Sir Winston Churchill. His
statues of Churchill and President Truman stand in
Missouri in the United States.
Belsky grew up in Prague but left the city in 1938 to study
sculpture in London at the Central School of Arts and
Crafts and then the Royal College of Art. Last year he
was given the President's Special Medal for Merit in the
Czech Republic by President Havel.
He is survived by his second wife, Irena Sedlecka.