The Queen Mother has attended the formal
unveiling of a new bronze bust commissioned in
her honour.c
It was unveiled by her granddaughter, the
Princess Royal, at St Paul's Cathedral where it
will remain on permanent display.
A service to mark the Queen Mother's 100th
birthday will be held at St Paul's next month.
Princess Anne, dressed in a yellow skirt suit
and lemon hat with a black bag and gloves,
told a packed audience the ceremony was a
chance to repay her grandmother for all the
times she had spoilt her grandchildren in the
past.
Repaying debt
She said: "It is very nice to have the
opportunity to do something however small to
repay her for so much. It is very difficult to
know how to do that for one's own
grandmother. This occasion celebrates a very
important year in her life. I sincerely hope she
will be here again and again to these services
here with you."
The Queen Mother was led up to look at the
sculpture by the Dean of the Cathedral, Dr
John Moses, and she chatted to sculptor
Martin Jennings telling him: "It's very good."
She was then presented with a posy of flowers
by Neil Anderson, the youngest member of St
Paul's Cathedral School at just
seven-years-old.
He said afterwards: "She told me it was very
kind of me. I was very nervous but she was
really nice."
Afterwards the Queen Mother and Princess
Anne listened to a 15-minute recital by the
choristers of St Paul's.
~*~
Palace backs down over William pictures(Electronic Telegraph)
By Tom Leonard, Media Correspondent
OFFICIALS at St James's Palace agreed last night to release special 18th
birthday photographs of Prince William to all newspapers after a strong
protest from the editor of The Daily Telegraph.
Charles Moore had criticised the "appalling" behaviour of St James's Palace
aides after they reneged on an agreement with Ian Jones, the Telegraph's
royal photographer, over the pictures he had taken at Eton.
Palace staff had given unauthorised copies of the photographs, which were
commissioned by the Prince of Wales in preparation for his son's 18th
birthday, to a few "favoured" newspapers, breaking an earlier undertaking and
in breach of Mr Jones's copyright.
In his statement, Mr Moore said that Mr Jones owned the copyright on all the
photographs but had agreed with palace aides to release 10 approved
pictures on Friday June 16 so that they could be published in all newspapers
the following day. Sandy Henney, the Prince's press secretary, told Mr Jones
he could give the pictures to the Telegraph earlier for use in the June 17
Saturday magazine supplement.
However, after two other newspaper groups demanded that the pictures be
released to them early, Miss Henney said she had changed her mind and
proposed to go back on the agreement. Stephen Lamport, the Prince's
private secretary, agreed to meet on Wednesday to discuss the matter with
the Telegraph and Mr Jones. However, before the meeting could take place,
he gave copies of the pictures to the Times, the Sun and the Daily Mail.
Although Mr Jones was within his rights to take legal action, he was anxious
not to mar Prince William's birthday by continuing controversy, said Mr
Moore. Later Palace aides agreed to a call by Mr Jones for the immediate
release of the pictures to all newspapers.
St James's Palace said: "It has always been the practice of the Prince of
Wales's office to deal fairly and equally with all newspapers over access by
the media to Prince William and Prince Harry."
~*~
Statement from St James's Palace(Electronic Telegraph)
IT has always been the practice of the Prince of Wales's office to deal fairly
and equally with all newspapers over the question of access by the media to
Prince William and Prince Harry.
That is why this office made arrangements earlier this year for a set of
photographs to be taken to mark Prince William's 18th birthday which would
be made equally available to everyone. A fortnight ago St James's Palace
wrote privately to all newspaper editors setting out the arrangements for the
distribution of these photographs.
We are pleased to be able to confirm publicly what was said in that letter -
that photographs are being made available to all national and regional
newspapers and magazines for publication on Saturday 17th June and Sunday
18th June. This has been done in accordance with our policy of equitable
treatment for all publications in matters relating to Prince William and Prince
Harry - a policy we have maintained throughout their lives.
~*~
Statement by Charles Moore, Editor, Daily Telegraph(Electronic Telegraph)
I AM taking the unusual step of issuing this statement because I am appalled
by the way in which our Royal photographer, Ian Jones, has been treated by
the Prince of Wales's office.
In preparation for Prince William's 18th birthday, The Daily Telegraph's
photographer, Ian Jones, was commissioned by the Prince of Wales to take a
series of photographs of Prince William at Eton. The Daily Telegraph was
proud to release Mr Jones unconditionally to undertake this work. Mr Jones
has the copyright in all the pictures concerned.
By agreement with St James's Palace, and with the assistance of The Daily
Telegraph, Mr Jones undertook to release the approved pictures on Friday,
June 16 for publication in all newspapers the following day. Sandy Henney,
the Prince of Wales's press secretary, however, told Mr Jones on May 2 that
he was free to give the approved pictures to The Daily Telegraph earlier so
that they could be prepared for publication in its magazine on the day in
question (Saturday, June 17).
Following demands by two other newspaper groups for early release of the
pictures, Miss Henney last week told us that she proposed to go back on her
agreement with Mr Jones. The Daily Telegraph and Mr Jones protested about
this to Ms Henney and to Stephen Lamport, the Prince's private secretary.
Mr Lamport arranged a meeting between the parties concerned to discuss the
matter for the afternoon of Wednesday, June 7.
Before this meeting could take place, however, and without consulting Mr
Jones or The Daily Telegraph, Mr Lamport released copies of the pictures
concerned to Rupert Murdoch's News International and the Daily Mail.
In doing so, Mr Lamport flagrantly disregarded Mr Jones's copyright, broke
his office's agreement with Mr Jones about the procedure for the release of
the pictures, and took a risk with the security of the pictures. In addition, by
distributing them to some, but not all, newspapers, he behaved inequitably
towards all the other papers - both regional and national.
Mr Jones is determined to protect his copyright and would be fully within his
rights to take legal action over what has happened. However, he has decided,
with the support of The Daily Telegraph, that further argument would worsen
an already bad situation. His first concern is that the birthday of Prince
William should not be marked by continuing controversy.
But he is also concerned to make sure, as the Prince of Wales's office has
not, that a "level playing-field" is offered to all British newspapers. He
therefore stands ready, with the help of The Daily Telegraph, to release the
approved pictures at once to all newspapers, both regional and national, for
use on Saturday, 17 June, and hopes that St James's Palace will agree to this.
On behalf of The Daily Telegraph, I must record my extreme disappointment
at the unprofessional behaviour of the Prince of Wales's office in disregarding
Ian Jones's rights, in breaking existing agreements and in issuing unauthorised
copies of the pictures to favoured newspapers.
I hope that Mr Jones's sensible decision will now ensure that his outstanding
photographs of Prince William will be enjoyed by the British public next
Saturday without further mishap.
~*~
Cousin of Queen apologises
BY ADAM SHERWIN
LORD Frederick Windsor, a cousin of the Queen, has
publicly apologised for being photographed in a drunken
heap at a celebrity party this week.
The 21-year-old son of Prince and Princess Michael of
Kent insisted in an open letter to The Sun that he
deserved his place at Oxford University, despite his
display of drunkenness. He admitted that he "had too
much to drink" at the party for Madonna in London and
accepted that he had a "responsibility to set an example".
In a reference to the row over Laura Spence, the
comprehensive student rejected by Magdalen, Lord
Frederick's Oxford college, he wrote: "I am very grateful
to be at Oxford, which I take very seriously. I have many
friends who did not win places at their chosen university
and I know how disappointing it can be."