The Queen will not be attending tomorrow’s State Opening of Parliament for the first time in 59 years, Buckingham Palace has said. The Prince of Wales will read the Queen’s Speech on her behalf, with the Duke of Cambridge also in attendance. In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “The Queen continues to experience episodic mobility
UK
The royals will visit all parts of the UK over the bank holiday Jubilee weekend, with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Wales, Buckingham Palace has announced. The Earl and Countess of Wessex will visit Northern Ireland and the Princess Royal will be in Scotland. All will attend public events marking the platinum anniversary.
Labour’s Lisa Nandy has defended “Mr Rules” Sir Keir Starmer and said it was “not illegal to eat” after latest claims about alleged COVID rule breaking by the party leader. Sir Keir has said he was working and stopped to eat when he was filmed having a beer in a room in Durham in April
Sinn Fein is to become the first nationalist party to take control of the Northern Ireland Assembly in its 101-year history. The party has 27 seats, pushing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which has 24 into second place. The most seats the DUP can return with is 25 and Michelle O’Neill is now set to
A treasure trove of footage of the Queen taken from her personal film archive is to be shown for the first time, including clips of the young princess showing off her engagement ring months before the announcement was made public. The monarch granted documentary-makers unprecedented access to hundreds of home recordings filmed by her, her
The Conservatives face losing their Commons majority if local election results are replicated at a general election, according to a Sky News projection. Analysis suggests that it would mean a hung parliament with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Tories remaining the largest party at Westminster but falling 48 seats short of an overall majority. The projection
The Queen has decided that only working members of the Royal Family will join her on the balcony at Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Colour – meaning Prince Andrew, Prince Harry and Meghan will not be alongside her for the Platinum Jubilee moment. The confirmation from Buckingham Palace ends speculation about whether the public will
The Conservatives have lost former leader Margaret Thatcher’s ‘favourite council’ Wandsworth to Labour in a significant boost for Sir Keir Starmer’s party. The south London council had been held by the Conservatives for more than forty years, turning blue in 1978 just before Mrs Thatcher’s election as prime minister. A Labour source said: “Boris Johnson
Polls have closed for local elections that represent Boris Johnson’s first test at the ballot box since he was fined for breaking lockdown rules. Voting has been taking place for councils in some parts of England, with more than 4,000 seats up for grabs, as well as across the whole of Scotland and Wales, each
The Queen will not attend this year’s annual garden parties and will be represented by other family members, Buckingham Palace has said. It said “details on attendance will be confirmed in due course”. Every summer, up to three garden parties take place at Buckingham Palace, as well as one at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in
Shop prices increased at their fastest rate in more than a decade last month, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said. Retail prices went up from 2.1% in March to 2.7% in April, according to the BRC-NielsenIQ price index. This was the highest annual rate of inflation it recorded since September 2011. The figures will
Patients who overcome severe COVID infections suffer the same cognitive impairment that people generally go through between the ages of 50 and 70, a new study has found. This is the equivalent of losing 10 IQ points say the team of scientists from the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London. Their findings suggest that
The parents of Madeleine McCann have used a quotation from the Winnie the Pooh children’s stories to illustrate their thoughts on the 15th anniversary of their daughter’s disappearance. The caption, to a drawing of Pooh and his friend Piglet, posted on the Find Madeleine website reads: “But the most important thing is, even if we’re
Boris Johnson will address the Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday, becoming the first world leader to do so since the outbreak of war in February. In a recorded address, the prime minister will praise Ukraine’s resistance against tyranny and announce a new £300m package of military aid to support the country’s ongoing defence against Russia. In
The man suspected of abducting Madeleine McCann insists he was many miles from the scene having sex in his camper van with a young woman who will back his alibi. Christian B says he drove the woman to the airport at Faro, Portugal, for a flight home the next day and they were stopped and
Mother-of two Katie Kenyon died of head injuries, police have said, as they confirmed a body discovered in the Forest of Bowland is hers. The 33-year-old from Padiham, Burnley, was found on Friday following “extensive searches”, Lancashire Constabulary said, and has now been formally identified. She was last seen at about 9.30am on Friday 22
Many voters in England, Wales and Scotland will head to the polls today to elect their new local representatives. More than 4,350 seats are being contested in England on over 140 councils, with all of Scotland’s 32 councils and all 22 councils in Wales also holding local elections. These elections will directly decide who is
A woman who says she was branded a witch as a child and accused of giving her mother cancer fears the faith leader behind the claims is still operating in the UK today. Phoenix Faith told Sky News she was starved, beaten and subjected to an exorcism where her head was shaved after attending a
An MP has said he will resign after admitting to watching pornography in the House of Commons. The 65-year-old farmer said he watched adult material twice in Parliament, claiming the first time was accidental after looking at tractors online but that the second was “a moment of madness”. The select committee chairman had initially vowed
The Metropolitan Police is seeking another appeal against a High Court ruling, which found the force breached the rights of organisers at a vigil held for Sarah Everard last year. The bid marks the forces’ second attempt to overturn the ruling after judges refused to give it permission to appeal its decision earlier this month.