THE royal dedication of London's first new bridge across the Thames for
nearly 30 years was fittingly marked yesterday by plenty of pomp and
circumstance.
Coloured banners, fanfares, fireworks
and barges greeted the Queen and
assorted local dignitaries as they set out
across the Millennium Bridge.
However, the majesty of the event was
somewhat marred because the VIP
party could walk only a third of the
way across before being forced to
retrace their steps - it will not be
finished for another month.
The Queen maintained her aplomb and said: "I dedicate this bridge, as a
symbol of the new Millennium, to the peoples of Southwark and the City of
London and to all who shall pass over it from all over the world."
When it opens on June 10, the £18 million footbridge will span the Thames
between St Paul's Cathedral and the new Tate Modern. It was due to open
last month but rare molluscs needed to be protected and its supports required
additional work.
~*~
Stoppard merits place among
Queen's elite (UK Times)
BY TIM REID
SIR Tom Stoppard, who showed playwrights winning
royal favour in Shakespeare in Love, is among four new
members of the Order of Merit chosen by the Queen.
The dramatist is joining the order - the highest personal
award conferred by the Queen on individuals of
"exceptional distinction" - with the Nobel laureate chemist
Sir James Black, the mathematician Sir Roger Penrose
and the sculptor Sir Anthony Caro.
Membership of the order is limited to 24 people at any
one time, and yesterday's announcement was the greatest
number awarded in a single day. Unlike knighthoods,
granted on the advice of ministers, the Order of Merit,
founded in 1902 by Edward VII, is in the Sovereign's
personal gift. Other members include Baroness Thatcher,
Sir John Gielgud, Dame Joan Sutherland and Lucian
Freud. Nelson Mandela is the only honorary member.
Yesterday's appointments came after the deaths of
Cardinal Basil Hume and the former Poet Laureate Ted
Hughes, both of whom joined the order last year when
they were terminally ill. All 24 places have now been
filled.
Buckingham Palace said: "The award is very much in the
gift of the Queen. It is given when and if vacancies arise,
on an ad hoc basis."
Stoppard, 63, who was knighted in 1997, has written
nearly 20 plays including Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
are Dead, The Real Inspector Hound, Jumpers and
Arcadia, as well as television and radio scripts and
screenplays - notably Shakespeare in Love in which
Dame Judi Dench played the first Queen Elizabeth.
His agent said last night that it was an "amazing" honour,
but the playwright was in a foreign "hideaway" writing and
could not be contacted.
~*~
Queen meets new mayor Ken(Evening Standard)
London's new Mayor Ken Livingstone met the Queen
today.
The two came face to
face at the royal
inauguration of the new
£13 million Millennium
Bridge.
At a service of
dedication at St Paul's
the Queen was
introduced to Mr
Livingstone and shook
him warmly by the hand.
Mr Livingstone spent a long time talking to the Queen and
both exchanged warm smiles throughout their chat.
The new bridge, which opens on 10 June, spans from near
St Paul's to the new Tate Modern building on the South
Bank.
The 350-metre footbridge is the first new central London
crossing since Tower Bridge was opened in 1894.