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Highgrove to grow herbal remedies(UK Times)
BY ROBIN YOUNG

THE Prince of Wales has made land at Highgrove, his Gloucestershire home, available for growing plants that will supply herbal medicines.
The Prince is a devotee of homeopathic remedies based on herbal extracts, and he hopes that his latest venture will not only boost the production of medicinal plants in Britain but also help to protect endangered species growing in the wild.
About 15 million people in the United Kingdom now use herbal remedies regularly. As a result of the rising demand for herbal medicines, some 200 medicinal plants in Europe are endangered by over-collection.
The Prince’sland at Highgrove will be leased to grow medicinal plants in partnership with the University of Westminster’s Polyclinic Department. In trials, 45 plants have been cultivated, including black cohosh, used in treatment of pre-menstrual tension, and Siberian ginseng, used to increase stamina.
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Easy-read' service book is insult to past, says Prince(Electronic Telegraph)
By Victoria Combe, Religion Correspondent

THE Prince of Wales has joined a protest against the "Disney language" of the Church of England's new service book, Common Worship.
The Prince has submitted a chapter to a book called The Real Common Worship, which condemns the liturgy as "a travesty of Christian faith". The volume of essays will appear the week before the much-trumpeted launch of Common Worship on November 17.
It accuses the Church of England of driving worshippers away with language fit for a Hollywood musical. Common Worship will replace the Alternative Service Book of 1980 as the authorised text for the Church of England.
The Prince is a patron of the Prayer Book Society, which campaigns to keep Thomas Cranmer's liturgy of 1662. His essay, based on a 1989 speech, says the Church has left Cranmer's work "battered and deformed" in an effort to make it "easier to understand". The Prince adds: "Our banalities are no improvement on the past, merely an insult to it. In the case of our cherished religious writings we should leave well alone."
The book is edited by the Rev Peter Mullen, rector of St Michael's, Cornhill, London. He targets the "Disneyfied" wedding service in Common Worship that has the minister saying: "In gentleness let them be tender with each other's dreams." The couple say to each other: "All that I am I give you."
He claims it is "unrealistic" of the Church to leave out the Prayer Book's references to carnal lusts and appetites. Mr Mullen says: "It has the Hollywood musical elements of fantasy. 'All that I am I give you' is like the title of a song by Bing Crosby."
The new Holy Communion Service replaces "He took bread, broke it, gave it to his disciples" with "He had supper with friends". Mr Mullen said: "What - Savoy Grill or Chinese takeaway?. The new words are almost blasphemous and at least profoundly disrespectful to the memory of the Last Supper."
He also attacks the funeral service for replacing the line, "Though worms destroy my body" with the words, "After my skin has been destroyed". And he accuses the Church of adopting the "touchy-feely language" of the counselling clinic.
Other contributors to the book include A C Capey, of the Prayer Book Society, Roger Homan, professor of religious studies at the University of Brighton, David Martin, author of religious books, Diarnaid MacCulloch, fellow of St Cross College, Oxford, and Ian Robinson, author and literary critic.
Mr Homan claims that decline in church attendance has been prompted by revisions to the traditional liturgy since the 1960s. He writes: "From the years of liturgical innovation in the 1960s until shortly after the advent of the Alternative Service Book, the Church of England was virtually reduced to half its size."
The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Rev David Stancliffe, who is chairman of the Liturgical Commission, which oversaw the drafting of the new service book over seven years, has vigorously defended the language. He said the new liturgy offered an "alternative" to those who found the language of the Prayer Book to be "extraordinary historic forms of expression".
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Britain honours movie king(BBC News)

Royal assent: Prince Andrew honours Spielberg in LA Stars of the British film industry joined Prince Andrew in Los Angeles on Saturday to honour the work of director Steven Spielberg.
Spielberg, whose works includes Jaws, ET and Schindler's List, received the special Britannia Award for excellence in film.
Famous names including Ben Kingsley and Brenda Blethyn applauded Spielberg as he paid tribute to the influence of British films on Hollywood.
"The British film industry has created more than a ripple for the last 65 years. It has been a tidal wave of creativity," he said.
The award was made in honour of the American film director Stanley Kubrick who died last year. The director of A Clockwork Orange and Paths of Glory made his home in England.
Spielberg has received numerous accolades throughout his career, including several Oscars and Golden Globe awards.
Saturday's event at the Century Plaza Hotel, in Los Angeles, attracted well known names including Jeff Goldblum and Jane Seymour.
There are 700 members of Bafta in Hollywood. The Britannia Award is their most prestigious annual event.
Prince Andrew has been touring California promoting British business.
He told the audience of celebrities: "I've only been in Los Angeles for a short time, but I've seen a tremendous amount of work by Hollywood's elite. I believe the term is schmoozing."

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