The science fiction writer, Arthur C Clarke, has
been knighted, more than two years after the
title was conferred on him.
UK High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Linda
Duffield, presented the "award of Knight
Bachelor" to the novelist at a ceremony in
Colombo, where he resides.
The investiture ceremony was delayed until Sir
Arthur was cleared of charges of paedophilia,
brought against him after an article published
in the Sunday Mirror.
Sir Arthur has always maintained his
innocence.
He was due to travel to London earlier this
year to receive the award from the Queen, but
was unable to do so because of post polio
syndrome.
"I feel like a lobster," Sir
Arthur, who is confined
to a wheelchair, is
reported to have said.
"I have every reason to be happy and, yes, I
am very happy," Sir Arthur said at the
ceremony at the high commissioner's
residence.
The private ceremony was attended by many
of the author's close friends.
Arthur C Clarke, 82, is regarded as a
space-age visionary, who predicted space
travel in 1945, long before rockets were
tested.
One of the best known science fiction authors,
Sir Arthur has written more than 80 books,
including the classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.
He has made Sri Lanka his home and has lived
on the island since 1956.
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Prince and his consort dance round
Scottish obstacle course(UK Times)
BY MAGNUS LINKLATER
THE Prince of Wales had two delicate relationships to
manage in Scotland this week. As High Commissioner for
the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the heir
to the throne had to be the Crown's ambassador as it
adjusts to a newly-devolved Scotland, as well as a
figurehead for a kirk that is adjusting to modern mores.
He had to show sensitivity to the new Scotland while
proving himself sensible about the handling of his new
consort. It was a task as difficult as picking a pearl from a
field of thistles. But he did it without inducing a single
wince.
His week-long tour of Scotland ended last night with a
glamorous reception at Edinburgh's Palace of
Holyroodhouse, which combined culture and
showbusiness. It was a metaphor for the successful
mingling of the traditional and modern, which Charles
wanted to emphasise as one of the benefits of the Crown
in the new Scotland.
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra played Mozart,
Schubert and Dvorįk in front of 200 guests who then sat
down to a champagne dinner in a marquee in the palace
courtyard. Outside, a full-scale beating of the retreat with
pipes and drums was illuminated by the kind of
multi-coloured spotlights more often associated with Lord
Lloyd-Webber than royal tradition.
The show came to a head when a muscular young Scot,
wearing little more than a singlet and a kilt performed an
energetic dance that left little to the imagination in front of
the cream of Edinburgh society. There was no mistaking
the message that the prince wanted to convey to his
Scottish audience. A year after the creation of its
Parliament he was presenting himself as an enthusiastic
protagonist of a newly devolved nation.
During the past week he has traversed Scotland,
performing his royal duties not as Prince of Wales, but as
Duke of Rothesay, his Scottish title. He launched the
newly-created Scottish section of his Prince's Trust, which
supports the young unemployed; held an evening of
traditional Scottish music at the Palace; and was
photographed twirling a lissom young dancer from the
Dance Base company, of which he is patron.
Dressed in a kilt and a green, velvet doublet at the
Holyroodhouse dinner, he proclaimed himself a patron of
the arts in Scotland, and promised his continuing support
to what he described as a cultural renaissance. The last
time a High Commissioner caused such a stir was in the
17th century when James, Duke of York, later James VII
of Scotland and II of England, set up court in Scotland,
and founded civic institutions such as the Royal Society of
Edinburgh that still exist today - as well as playing golf,
stalking deer and shooting grouse.
Charles's other balancing act this week was personal, not
political. The presence of Camilla Parker-Bowles, which
threatened at one point to provoke controversy from the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, turned into
a plus-point when the Assembly welcomed the couple
"totally and unconditionally".
~*~
Tory advisers tipped to spin for the Queen (UK Times)
BY ANDREW PIERCE
TWO advisers who worked in senior positions for Margaret Thatcher and John Major when they were in Downing Street have emerged as frontrunners to become the next spin-doctor to the Queen.
The favourite is Elizabeth Buchanan, a former assistant to Baroness Thatcher, who was also press secretary to Lord Parkinson, the former Tory chairman. Her main rival is Howell James, former political secretary to Mr Major, who now runs his own public relations company.
Informal interviews have already begun for the prestigious position of director of communications at Buckingham Palace. A shortlist of four will be drawn up next month. The palace declined to be drawn on the names of the eight candidates who have already been sounded out by Simon Lewis, the outgoing director.
The headhunter Valerie Stogdale, who recruited Mr Lewis, has been brought back to find his successor. The spin-doctor will be in the post until the end of 2002, to allow him or her to see through the Queen's golden jubilee year.
The successful applicant will be on secondment from commercial employment as Buckingham Palace can contribute only £75,000 to the salary. Mr Lewis, who will return in August to his £250,000 corporate affairs post at Centrica, formerly British Gas, had a similar financial arrangement with the palace.
The decision to reappoint a communications chief has irritated the old guard at Buckingham Palace who disapprove of any form of spin-doctoring. They believe that the post was created after pressure from Downing Street, following the palace's handling of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Mr Lewis was unkindly dubbed "the meter man" by opponents at the palace, because of his British Gas connection.
Miss Buchanan is no stranger to royalty. She is an assistant private secretary to the Prince of Wales and accompanied him on his highly successful trip to Scotland this week. Her presence at Buckingham Palace would reassure people who had been concerned that the monarchy's agenda was being influenced by the Labour Party. Mr Lewis had impeccable new Labour credentials.
Miss Buchanan is on secondment from Lord Bell of Mayfair, the most influential Tory publicist of the Thatcher era, who rebuilt the image of Britain's first woman Prime Minister. Lord Bell, who has advised General Pinochet and the multinational corporation Monsanto, would relish the chance of being an adviser, albeit at arm's length, to an even more prestigious woman than Baroness Thatcher.
Mr James, 46, who was one of the most important members of Mr Major's inner circle, has had a long career at the highest levels in the boardroom. He was director of corporate affairs at the BBC from 1987 to 1992 and held the same post at Cable and Wireless.
He is a sophisticated political operator. Having survived the Downing Street years in Mr Major's disintegrating administration, he would not be fazed by the complex political intrigue and rivalries which abound at the palace. And although he worked for a Tory Prime Minister, Mr James also has good friends in the Labour administration.
But while he has many supporters at the Palace, some fear that he is too wedded to his own company and may be prised away. One Palace official said last night: "He has exactly the right credentials. Elizabeth Buchanan is there because she has already had two years at the Palace and knows her way round."
The interview panel will include Sir Robin Janvrin, the Queen's private secretary, and Stephen Lamport, private secretary to the Prince of Wales. Other names linked to the post include John Fallon, head of corporate affairs at the Pearson media group, who once worked for John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister. Simon Walker, head of corporate affairs at British Airways, is also in the frame, and after the turbulence at BA, a two-year post at the Palace might appear mild by comparison.