THE Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh met farmers, hotel owners and residents affected by the foot-and-mouth outbreak at Northumberland County Hall yesterday.
Peter Wilson, of Castle Morpeth Borough Council, said that his authority had to cope with the first confirmation of the disease at Heddon-on-the-Wall, a burial site and funeral pyre, which had caused environmental damage.
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Prince Fahd Salman(UK Times)
Racehorse owner who won the 1991 Derby with Generous
FAHD SALMAN’S best-known success on the turf, and one which first brought him to the notice of the racing public, was the scintillating career of Generous in 1991.
After finishing fourth in the 2,000 Guineas, this handsome colt swept home majestically in the Derby, five lengths ahead of his nearest rival. Then, in the Irish Derby, he triumphed over Suave Dancer, winner of the Prix du Jockey-Club (French Derby).
Next, Generous had the easiest victory of his career. This was in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes when he claimed, by the impressive margin of no less than seven lengths, the scalp of yet another Prix du Jockey-Club success, Sanglamore, who had won that race in 1990.
Generous was then rested in preparation for his great autumn test in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. But not only Generous was involved: Suave Dancer was also engaged, and the re-match was eagerly awaited. On the day, these two dominated the betting for this championship contest, with Generous, at a shade of odds-on, marginally preferred.
In the race, however, it was Suave Dancer who proved decisively the better colt. The effort of Generous was short-lived and he finished eighth.
Prince Fahd bin Salman al Saud was a nephew of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and son of a governor of the Riyadh region. He was the son-in-law of Prince Khaled Abdullah who was primarily responsible for introducing him to racing in Europe in the early 1980s.
In 1984 Fahd Salman bought Arthur Budgett’s former stable at Whatcombe and Paul Cole became his principal trainer. He also had breeding interests, with a stud in Dorset and another at Lexington, Kentucky.
Generous apart, he had important successes with Knight’s Baroness (Irish Oaks 1990), Ibn Bey (Irish St Leger 1990), Time Star (Derby Italiano 1994) and Ramruma (Oaks and Irish Oaks 1999), who was homebred and trained by Henry Cecil.
Fahd Salman last year announced that he would be cutting down his large string of 50 horses in training, owing to increased work commitments. When not in Saudi Arabia, where he served as Home Secretary, he lived at Harewood House near Windsor Great Park, where a life sized statue of Generous adorns the grounds.
Prince Fahd Salman, Saudi politician and racehorse owner, died of a heart attack on July 24, 2001, aged 46.
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Prince Philip upsets boy in "fat" gaffe(Yahoo:Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) - Gaffe-prone husband Prince Philip waded into another row after he reportedly told a boy he was too fat to be an astronaut.
Several newspapers said Philip, 80, made the remark when 13-year-old Andrew Adams said he had an ambition to go up in a space rocket.
"He told me 'You'll have to lose weight if you want to go in that'," Andrew was quoted as saying by the Mirror.
"I didn't feel too good about what he said. It did hurt my feelings, but I tried to laugh it off by pretending he was only joking."
Philip was visiting a rocket project at Salford University.
Andrew's mother Jacqueline told newspapers she was furious at the prince's comment.
"I couldn't understand why someone of that calibre should make such a distasteful remark," she said.
Buckingham Palace was not immediately available for comment.
Philip is legendary for gaffes that have managed to offend, among others, the deaf, Hungarians, Chinese and Scots.
During a visit to China in 1986 Philip described Beijing as "ghastly" and told British students: "If you stay here much longer you'll all be slitty-eyed."
In 1995, he asked a Scottish driving instructor: "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?"
And in 1981, when Britain was in the grips of a savage recession, he remarked: "Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed."
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Prince William in bodyguard gun drama(Yahoo: Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) - Prince William was involved in a gun scare when his bodyguard dropped a loaded pistol during a scuffle with a photographer, newspapers reported.
The Glock 9mm semi-automatic fell in front of the 19-year-old prince as minders tried to stop the photographer taking a picture. The gun did not go off.
"William was hustled clear, but he looked angry, scared and upset," the Mirror tabloid quoted an unnamed witness as saying.
Other newspapers said the incident was over very quickly and that the prince seemed unaware of what had happened.
William had been enjoying a night out with friends at a London restaurant before the incident, which was caught on camera and splashed over tabloid front pages.
"There was no risk to any individual. We are not prepared to discuss the incident further," a police spokesman told Reuters.
Royal officials were not immediately available for comment.
The royal family is heavily guarded by armed police and Thursday's incident is not the first mishap with a loaded weapon.
In June, an inquiry was launched after a police guard accidentally fired his gun at Buckingham Palace.
Last year, an armed guard travelling with the queen on her royal train accidentally fired two shots just yards (metres) from where the monarch and Prince Philip were sleeping.
William is enjoying a year off from his education. He will begin a degree in art history at St Andrew's University in Scotland in September.