LONDON (Reuters) - It's older than Buckingham Palace and holds the embroidered gloves of the
beheaded King Charles I as well as the medical diaries of King George III during his madness.
But until now Lambeth Palace, the home of Archbishops of Canterbury since 1197, has never been
open to the public. This weekend the current occupant, George Carey, is throwing open the doors --
for a limited time only.
He thinks the public will hear "the whispers of history" around the place, directly across the River
Thames from the Houses of Parliament.
"Here (Sir) Thomas More would have walked around the garden, here (Archbishop Thomas) Cranmer
would have prayed," Carey said, referring to two men who famously lost their lives in bloody 16th-century struggles between
Protestants and Catholics.
"It's a very awe-inspiring feeling."
CHURCH HAD VIOLENT PAST
The archbishop, spiritual leader of the world's 70 million Anglicans, met reporters on Thursday during a preview of what the
public will be able to see from Tuesdays to Saturdays, beginning this Saturday, until November 4.
For six pounds, visitors will tour the palace and see many reminders of "faith in action" -- which often meant violence.
The Guard Room, originally built in the 14th century, has one of the finest surviving mediaeval roofs in London. Beneath it, the
Lord Chancellor Thomas More was interrogated for three days but still refused to recognise Henry VIII as the head of the
Church of England. More was executed in 1535.
Around the walls of the room hang portraits of past archbishops, dressed in white robes and black stoles. The 17th-century
ones are wearing black hats but these later went out of clerical fashion and were replaced by wigs.
Beneath the portrait of Archbishop William Laud -- who was also executed, in 1645, during the English Civil War -- there is a
tortoise shell under glass. It belonged to Laud's pet, which also came to a sticky end after having outlived its master by over a
century.
"It was speared by a gardener," Carey explained. The shell was kept for posterity.
KING GEORGE'S "UNCONTROLLED IMPULSES"
Outside the Guard Room is a portrait of Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop whose hand Henry VIII was holding when he died.
But Cranmer was burned to death in 1556 under Henry's Catholic daughter Mary.
In the library, founded in 1610, is a Gutenberg Bible dating from 1455, a copy of the Nuremberg Chronicles of 1493, and a
copy of Thomas More's Utopia, an account of an ideal state published in 1516.
There's also one of the daily medical reports kept by doctors monitoring King George III, who suffered attacks of mental
derangement during his 1760-1820 reign. One afternoon they observed that the king was becoming "more turbulent".
The king had "given way to uncontrolled impulses of an imagination," the doctors said without elaborating. But they added that
he could still play his harpsichord.
There are the gloves of Charles I, which he handed to a bishop moments before his execution in 1649.
Archbishop Juxon took office in 1660, when the monarchy was restored, and ordered the building of Lambeth Palace's Great
Hall with a fantastic oak hammer-beam roof.
Upon visiting it, the diarist Samuel Pepys declared that he had seen the archbishop's "new old fashioned hall".
The Lambeth Palace Chapel was built in the 1220s and has been used as a chapel ever since except during the Civil War, when
soldiers used it as a dining hall.
It was gutted by German bombs on the night of May 11, 1941, but the walls remained and the rest was restored in the 1950s.
But that was not the only time part of the palace had been destroyed. After the first wooden buildings were erected in the late
12th century, the clergy already ensconced at Canterbury decided they didn't want a rival power centre, Carey said.
"The monks came and burned it to the ground," he said. But it was rebuilt. The oldest part of the palace, the crypt, now dates
back to 1205.
~*~
Prince Charles and the pub pillow fight(Yahoo: Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) - Children all over the world love nothing better than a good pillow fight -- and
the Prince of Wales says it brings back fond memories of his boyhood.
Prince Charles recalled a pillow fight with two friends 41 years ago when he sent a 90th birthday card
to pub landlady Gwen Amis, who intervened after the battle got too rowdy, newspapers reported.
The heir to the throne, then 11, two schoolfriends and other members of the royal family stayed at the
Pleasure Boat Inn in Norfolk when they attended an annual coot shoot.
"I have particularly fond memories of the time we stayed at the Pleasure Boat Inn all those years ago,"
Charles wrote in the card. "The pillow fight is also a vivid memory, but you will be glad to hear that I
have become a little less violent in my behaviour as middle age creeps on."
Amis told the Times: "They were making far too much noise, so I went to investigate...and there were pillows everywhere. I had
no hesitation in telling them all to get back into bed."
~*~
Virgin tycoon is knighted(BBC News)
Entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson has been
knighted by the Prince of Wales in an
investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
The Virgin boss, 49, who is reportedly worth
nearly £2.5bn, celebrated the accolade by
throwing a reception for 250 others also
receiving honours.
Mr Branson, awarded a
knighthood in the New
Year's Honours List for
services to
entrepreneurship, said:
"It is such a lovely
occasion and we are
going to enjoy every minute of it."
Author and academic Sir Malcolm Bradbury was
also knighted, while Mark Knopfler, who was
lead singer with Dire Straits, was awarded an
OBE.
Sir Richard, renowned for his casual attire,
dressed up in a morning suit for the first time
to receive his knighthood.
"I have never worn a morning suit before, but I
quite like it - maybe I will get dressed up like
this more often," he said.
The Prince of Wales said he was very pleased
to see the British being more business-minded
and he was hopeful that it would inspire other
generations of young entrepreneurs to build
great businesses.
When asked by reporters how it felt to be "Sir
Richard", he replied in typical, jovial fashion: "It
feels great. It feels odd sleeping with a Lady
though."
Dare-devil
Educated at Stowe School, Sir Richard went
into business at 16, publishing "Student"
magazine and started a students' advisory
centre to help young people the following year.
In 1972 he founded Virgin as a mail order
record company and opened his first store, in
London's Oxford Street.
He went on to build a
huge Virgin empire
incorporating airlines,
railways, records, and
shops.
He also captured the
public imagination with
his dare-devil attempts
to break records
including his mission to
circumnavigate the
globe in a balloon.
Sir Richard, said he was accepting his
knighthood on behalf of all his employees.
"They have all worked very hard to make Virgin
what it is and I am accepting this honour on
behalf of them."
Others receiving honours included the Prince of
Wales' former bodyguard Chief Superintendent
Colin Trimming.
He was made a Lieutenant of the Royal
Victorian Order (LVO).
He shielded the Prince from a gunman's shots
in Australia during a royal tour in 1994 and
received a Queen's Commendation for Bravery.
~*~
British Queen To Visit North
It has been revealed the Queen is to visit the North to present the RUC with the George Cross. Details
of the visit are being finalised and should take place in the next few weeks. She last visited in 1997,
when she helped celebrate the forceās 75th birthday.