January 2009 so far...the condensed version.

Prince William has shaved off his beard, but still hasn't managed to ditch Kate.
Picture courtesy of The Sun.

Many appologies for our recent hiatus. Here's a quick recap and run down of links to what has been quite an eventful January for the royals so far. Normal blogging service will now resume.

1st January 2009 Prince William and his "klingon" Kate Middleton go to Scotland for the New Year.

6th January 2009 Prince William sans beard and Kate are photographed together for the first time this year - at Heathrow airport returning from Scotland

January 6th 2009 The Queen hands out 9 bravery awards.

8th January 2009 Zara Phillips' boyfriend Mike Tindall is banned from driving for 3 years after being caught drink driving.

8th January Princess Beatrice's BMW is stolen after it is left unlocked with the keys in the ignition whilst Beatrice went shopping.

8th January 2009 Princes William and Harry become patrons of their late friends charity; The Henry Van Straubenzee Memorial Fund.

8th January 2009 Prince Harry is photographed outside London's Troubadour Club with his cousin Lady Eliza Spencer who photo agencies confuse for his girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

9th January 2009 Prince Edward is cleared of animal cruelty by the RSPCA after photographs appeared to show him hitting 2 gundogs with a stick.

9th January 2009 It emerges that The Duchess of York's sister has been impersonated on social networking site MySpace.

10th January 2009 A video of Prince Harry taken 3 years ago is sold to the News Of The World by a former friend where Harry allegedly calls a colleague "paki" - the media delights in calling Harry racist and tries to spark a royal "racism row".

13th January Prince Charles is now accused of racism by the British media after it emerges he calls an Indian polo player friend "Sooty".

15th January 2009 The wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Cherie, describes Prince Philip as the real "First Lady of Britain".

18th January 2009 It is speculated that Kate-couldn't-work-in-an-iron-lung-Middleton is to take a sabbatical from her non-job at Party Pieces to work in New York's fashion world.

18th January Camp Middleton leaks details of Prince William's present to Kate to the press; a sniper sight gun.

Pink angry at the British Royal Family

Pink's p***ed off and HM is 'incommunicado'.

Rock singer Pink is angry that after taking the time to write to them, she has not received a reply from the British Royal Family. According to the Daily Star, Pink wrote to HM and family over 2 years ago to demand "why synthetic material couldn’t be used to replace Royal Guards’ bearskins".

Pink said: “It’s a bit rude that they didn’t reply, isn’t it? I don’t get why we can’t question people just because of their position in society. I don’t care if they have a crown. One or two Canadian bears are killed to make each hat and that is totally unnecessary.”

The Daily Star quotes a Brigade of Guards spokesman: “We would be willing to wear fake fur if a suitable alternative could be found. But we haven’t been supplied with anything that stands up to the wear, durability and practicality of real fur.”

Click here to read more.

Brits vote their royal family as one of the "best"

Best of British: The Royal Family comes in at #2.

Britain's have voted on what makes Britain truly Britain. Coming in at #2 were the British Royal Family aka the Windsors.

The survey was conducted by British bread company Warburtons, with spokeswoman Jane Sutton, telling the Daily Express: “Our new advertising campaign takes a look at Britain through the eyes of a businessman visiting for the first time, so we commissioned this research to discover what Britons think distinguishes us from other countries. The results reveal a nation that can find humour in the many eccentricities, quirks and peculiarities that set us apart, but is ultimately very proud of them.”

The results were as follows:

1. Fried breakfasts.

2. British Royal Family.

3. Pubs & warm beer.

4. Sense of humour.

5. Regional accents.

6. Pop festivals.

7. Gritty soap operas.

8. Chatty taxi drivers.

9. Obsession with sport.

Click here to read more.

Media Quote of the Day #1

Her Majesty: A picture of duty and dedication.

A right royal muddle at the BBC - Deborah Orr, The Independent , 08/10/08: 'When people talk about respecting the Queen, but not thinking quite so much of the rest of her crew, what they really mean is that she has succeeded in subsuming her own personality in the service of the institution she inherited, while the others have not. As far as we can see, the Queen has no problem with the limitations dictated by her role, and no feeling that she ought to have “a normal life” as well. It is clear that none of her children, or their children, is able to manage these difficult matters with quite such discipline.'

Click here to read the Royal Truth Forum.

Royal stalkers are psychotic

A Camilla fan perhaps?

Monash University in Melbourne and the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health have released findings of a study into the behaviour of those who stalk members of the British Royal Family. The most startling fact was that in 80% of cases the stalker was suffering serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia and hallucinations.

The boffins looked at over 20,000 incidents involving members of the Royal Family and found that over a 15 year period, 600 people managed to get close to a royal family member and there was 17 attacks on members of staff, police protection officers and/or property.

Forensic psychiatrist, Paul Mullen, from Monash University in Melbourne said: "We didn't expect such high rates of psychosis. It was very surprising to us."

Perhaps the most imfamous instance of a royal being stalked was when Michael Fagan broke into Buckingham Palace in 1982. The Queen woke when she was disturbed by a curtain moving only to realise that Mr Fagan was in her bed chamber. He then sat at the edge of her bed and chatted to her for over 10 minutes. He was arrested but not charged with trespass.

Click here to read the Royal Truth Forum.