London:

King Charles shared a joyful moment with the New Zealand women’s rugby union team at Buckingham Palace, where he exchanged hugs with the Black Ferns.

The rugby team also clicked a selfie with King Charles, in a memorable moment shared by the Black Ferns on social media.

It was New Zealand’s winger Ayesha Leti-I’iga who broke the protocol and asked the King if he was okay to share hugs with the Black Ferns. To which King Charles did not waste any time and immediately agreed to it.

“We all wanted a hug, but only if it’s okay with you,” Leti-I’iga asked politely.

“A hug? Why not?” King Charles replied.

Currently, The Black Ferns are in the UK to take on England’s Red Roses on Saturday at Twickenham.

Ahead of the match, Buckingham Palace hosted the New Zealand women’s rugby union team to honour the visiting players.

Meanwhile, The Royal Family announced that the King and Queen will travel to Australia and Samoa from October 18 to 26.

“Their Majesties The King and Queen will undertake an Autumn Tour from Friday 18th – Saturday 26th October 2024. This will include a Royal Visit to Australia, State Visit to The Independent State of Samoa and attendance at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2024,” The Royal Family stated in a statement.

King Charles will also attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which will take place in Samoa.

“The King’s visit to Australia will be His Majesty’s first to a Realm as Monarch, whilst the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa is the first The King will attend as Head of the Commonwealth. In both countries, Their Majesties’ engagements will focus on themes designed to celebrate the best of Australia and Samoa, as well as reflecting aspects of The King and Queen’s work,” it added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

An extravagant feast for King Charles has cost the French government a whopping $500,000 million (Rs 4 crore), an audit report has found. 

President Emmanuel Macron’s office planned a lavish spread during the monarch’s visit in September last year. The grand state banquet held at the Palace of Versailles was attended by over 150 people as part of an attempt to boost a key alliance between the UK and France.

The event was a star-studded affair with actor Hugh Grant, football manager Arsene Wenger and Rolling Stone’s Mick Jagger among those in attendance.

On the menu were blue lobster (a rare French delicacy), crab, poultry marinaded in champagne and a gratin of French mushrooms. 

FRANCE: Images from the royal dinner at the Château de Versailles/ Images from the royal dinner at the Château de Versailles.

50% of the population can’t feed themselves and Macron spends the money with the pedophile King Charles pic.twitter.com/5GYXMF6kDe

— Angelus iustitiae (@AIustitiae) September 21, 2023

An assortment of vintage wines, champagnes and a selection of international cheeses were on offer. For dessert, French macaroons with lychee, rose sorbet and raspberry compote were served.

In its annual report, the French auditing organisation Cour des Comptes warned that spending on state receptions had left the budget nearly $9 million in the red.

According to the new audit report, the whole dinner cost a total of $513,000 of which $179,000 was spent on food and $46,000 on drinks.

Speaking at the banquet, King Charles said President Macron’s “generosity of spirit brings to mind how my family and I were so greatly moved by the tributes paid in France to my mother, the late queen”.

However, this was not the only lavish state dinner organised by the French government. In 2023, the president’s office spent $446,000 on a dinner for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Louvre museum.

London:

The UK government on Wednesday announced plans to axe 92 House of Lords seats retained for hereditary lawmakers, resurrecting reform of the unelected chamber started under Tony Blair’s Labour government in the 1990s.

King Charles III, opening the first parliamentary session after Keir Starmer’s general election win for Labour, said removing the peers’ right to sit and vote in the Lords was part of “measures to modernise” Britain’s uncodified constitution.

Labour won the July 4 election by a landslide, returning it to power for the first time since 2010, allowing it to put its manifesto pledges into law, including the much-touted Lords reforms.

Parliament’s unelected upper chamber has long been subject to demands for reform to make it more representative and less “a chamber festering with grotesques and has-beens”, as one newspaper columnist famously described it in 2022.

But the extent of Labour’s plans remain unclear.

The scrapping of the hereditary peers — the hundreds of members of the aristocracy whose titles are inherited — has been described as a “first step in wider reform”.

“The continued presence of hereditary peers in the House of Lords is outdated and indefensible,” the government said in briefing notes accompanying the King’s Speech.

Removing hereditary seats

Comprising around 800 lawmakers, the House of Lords is comfortably larger than any other equivalent in a democracy.

Its members, whose current average age is 71, are mostly appointed for life.

They include former MPs, typically appointed by departing prime ministers, along with people nominated after serving in prominent public- or private-sector roles, and Church of England clerics.

The primary role of the centuries-old chamber is to scrutinise the government.

It cannot override legislation sent from the popularly elected House of Commons, but it can amend and delay bills and initiate new draft laws.

That job occasionally propels the Lords into the political spotlight, such as during its recent delays to the previous Conservative government’s contentious Rwanda deportation plan — quickly scrapped by the new government.

Like the Commons, the Lords has specialised scrutiny committees.

The new government’s planned legislation revisits the House of Lords reform agenda that Blair’s Labour government initiated in the late 1990s.

His government had intended to abolish all the seats held by hundreds of hereditary members who sat in the chamber at that time.

But it ended up retaining 92 in what was supposed to be a temporary compromise.

“25 years later, they form part of the status quo more by accident than by design,” said the briefing from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government.

“No other modern comparable democracies allow individuals to sit and vote in their legislature by right of birth,” it added.

“Holding membership of a seat within a Parliament on a hereditary basis is incredibly rare.”

‘Overdue and essential’

The government said the reforms were in part motivated by the gender imbalance of hereditary peers — currently all male, because most peerages can only be passed down the male line.

The rest of the House of Lords fares better, with 242 of other members — 36 percent — female.

Starmer’s new administration also argues that hereditary peers are too politically “static” for a democracy.

Of the 92 seats allotted for them under the 1999 reforms, 42 are for Conservatives, 28 for so-called crossbenchers, three for the Liberal Democrats and just two for Labour.

Meanwhile 15 are elected by the entire chamber from the hundreds of hereditary peers that exist in the UK.

Reformers also argue that hereditary peers do not face propriety checks, compared to life peers who are subject to a vetting procedure from the House of Lords Appointment Committee.

“In the 21st century, there should not be almost 100 places reserved for individuals who were born into certain families, nor should there be seats effectively reserved only for men,” the government argued

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

London:

The first red mail pillar box to bear the cypher of King Charles was unveiled on Friday, keeping up a tradition dating back almost 175 years.

The new box has been installed on the High Street in Great Cambourne, central England, and local school children will get to post the first letters, and missives to the king himself about their interest in the environment.

The mailbox bears the king’s cypher, the monogram that appears on government buildings which consists of the initials ‘C’ and ‘R’ – representing Charles’s name and “Rex”, the Latin for king – alongside a depiction of the crown.

One of Britain’s most recognisable symbols, red pillar boxes appear on countless postcards and souvenir items, with about 115,000 in operation across the country.

The first post box was introduced in the 1850s, and their age can be traced by the royal cypher they bear, with the oldest dating back to the reign of Queen Victoria, Charles’ great-great-great grandmother.

Although new boxes have been installed since Charles succeeded his mother in Sept. 2022, existing stocks bearing the late queen’s cypher were used. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Britain’s head of state King Charles III officially appointed Labour leader Keir Starmer as prime minister on Friday during an audience at Buckingham Palace.

A photograph released by the palace showed the monarch shaking hands with Starmer, whose party won a landslide election victory. The king earlier accepted the resignation of Conservative leader Rishi Sunak.

“The King received in Audience The Right Honourable Sir Keir Starmer MP today and requested him to form a new Administration,” a palace statement read.

“Sir Keir accepted His Majesty’s offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A new portrait of King Charles in military attire has been unveiled in honour of Armed Forces Day. The photograph, captured in Windsor Castle’s Grand Corridor, depicts the monarch seated in his Field Marshal’s ceremonial dress adorned with medals, sword, and decorations.

The release of this image coincides with Queen Camilla’s tribute to armed forces members, whom she described in a video message as a source of inspiration, reassurance, and pride.

Armed Forces Day, observed on the final Saturday in June, pays homage to veterans, military personnel, and service families, a tradition established in the UK in the late 2000s, BBC reported. 

Photographed last November by Hugo Burnand, known for his royal photography including the King’s 2023 coronation portraits, King Charles is adorned in the Field Marshal’s uniform, the highest rank in the British Army. As monarch, he serves as ceremonial head of the armed forces.

During his recent attendance at D-Day commemorations in Normandy, France, King Charles donned a tan version of the Field Marshal’s uniform.

In her video message from Clarence House, Queen Camilla praised the ‘incredible bravery’ of military personnel who initiated Europe’s liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944.

She said that 80 years on, the “same spirit and those same qualities remain much in evidence throughout our Armed Forces”, who “undertake your duties in the face of a multitude of challenges and dangers”.

The Queen added: “In so doing, you not only protect these Isles, but also defend liberties way beyond these shores.

“Your determination, unrelenting efforts and selfless loyalty to each other and to the United Kingdom are as enduring as our gratitude.”

The patron of the British Forces Broadcasting Service charity, responsible for the video, extended gratitude to the families of servicemen and women who maintain home life while their loved ones serve abroad.

Reflecting on her father Major Bruce Shand’s service in North Africa and Dunkirk during World War Two, where he earned the Military Cross, the Queen remarked, ‘As the daughter of an Army officer, I understand the profound impact military life has on families. You too are heroes.'”

“In times of war and in times of peace, whether seen or unseen, our armed forces support and strengthen our nation. You are a source of inspiration, reassurance and pride – and I salute you all.”
 

New Delhi:

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday heaped praise on Kate Middleton, Britain’s Princess of Wales, as she shared a health update on her ongoing cancer treatment.

In a message, Kate said she was “making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days”. She also said she will make her first public appearance on Saturday since surgery revealed the presence of cancer in January.

Responding to her on X, formerly Twitter, Sunak said the Princess of Wales’ statement will be “especially meaningful” to those fighting cancer and their families.

“They will recognise the same struggle in her words and draw hope and inspiration from her strength,” he said.

The Princess of Wales’ statement will be especially meaningful to those who are fighting cancer and for their families.

They will recognise the same struggle in her words and draw hope and inspiration from her strength.

I’m delighted she will be in attendance for His Majesty’s… https://t.co/RBAtvtBjtn

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) June 14, 2024

“I’m delighted she will be in attendance for His Majesty’s Birthday Parade and I know the whole country is behind her,” Sunak, attending a G7 summit in Italy, added.

Kate Middleton Shares Update On Cancer Treatment

Kate Middleton on Friday said her cancer treatment is ongoing and will be for a few more months. She said that she was making good progress as she undergoes preventative chemotherapy but is “not out of the woods”.

The 42-year-old princess also expressed that she had been “blown away” by the thousands of kind messages from across the globe that followed her cancer announcement in March. She said the messages made a “world of difference” to her and her husband Prince William and them through “some of the harder times”.

“I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days. On those bad days you feel weak, tired and you have to give in to your body resting. But on the good days, when you feel stronger, you want to make the most of feeling well,” she said in a lengthy social media post.

She also tagged her picture — taken earlier this week in Windsor, west of London — standing in front of a tree next to a river.

“On the days I feel well enough, it is a joy to engage with school life, spend personal time on the things that give me energy and positivity, as well as starting to do a little work from home,” she wrote.

Kate said that she is learning “how to be patient, especially with uncertainty”.

I have been blown away by all the kind messages of support and encouragement over the last couple of months. It really has made the world of difference to William and me and has helped us both through some of the harder times.

I am making good progress, but as anyone going… pic.twitter.com/J1jTlgwRU8

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) June 14, 2024

“Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much-needed time to heal. Thank you so much for your continued understanding, and to all of you who have so bravely shared your stories with me,” she said.

Kate Middleton’s First Public Appearance In 6 Months

In what would mark her first public appearance in six months, Kate Middleton announced that she will attend King Charles’s annual birthday parade on Saturday with other senior royals.

“I’m looking forward to attending The King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet,” she said.

Kate Middleton’s appearance at the annual Trooping the Colour parade for King Charles’s official birthday will be her first public appearance since she was seen gathering with other royals for Christmas in December last year.

She had announced in a video in March that she had been diagnosed with cancer discovered following abdominal surgery.

A message from Catherine, The Princess of Wales pic.twitter.com/5LQT1qGarK

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 22, 2024

Her announcement came weeks after King Charles revealed that he was being treated for an unspecified cancer.

(With agency inputs)

London:

King Charles III will participate in his annual birthday parade next month from a carriage rather than on horseback, as he battles cancer, British media reported Thursday.

The 75-year-old head of state, who only recently resumed public engagements, will inspect the soldiers taking part in the June 15 Trooping the Colour ceremony from a royal carriage.

The yearly event marks the sovereign’s official birthday and is one of the highlights of the royal calendar.

Last year Charles attended his inaugural parade as king on horseback, the first time the monarch had ridden at it since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1986.

The change for this year’s ceremony follows the announcement in February that he had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer.

The king has been receiving treatment and last month royal officials said doctors were “very encouraged” by his progress, allowing him to resume his official duties.

He has been increasingly visible in recent weeks, maintaining a busy public schedule that included attending the Chelsea Flower Show last week.

Next week he will make his first overseas trip since the cancer diagnosis at an event to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Accompanied by his wife Queen Camilla, 76, and elder son Prince William, 41, the senior royals will be at a commemorative service at the British Normandy Memorial in northern France on June 6.

One notable absentee from those commemorations and potentially the other royal events next month will be William’s wife Catherine, 42.

She is receiving chemotherapy treatment for cancer, and was last seen at a public engagement in December last year.

The Press Association said it was unclear if Kate, as she is widely known, would attend the Trooping the Colour ceremony.

Sky News reported Thursday that the Princess of Wales would not return to public duties for the Colonel’s Review, another ceremonial military event held the weekend before.

As colonel in chief of the Irish Guards, Kate would usually take a salute at the event.

The British Army initially said in March that she would participate, but swiftly removed the reference to the princess for the review from its website.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A British woman who heroically fought off an 80kg crocodile to save her twin sister will be honoured for her bravery in the King’s first Civilian Gallantry List. According to the Independent, Georgia Laurie, 31, punched the reptile in the face when it attacked her twin Melissa while they were in Mexico in June 2021.

The fearless actions of Ms Laurie have now earned her the King’s Gallantry Medal.

Following the announcement, Ms Laurie expressed her surprise and gratitude saying, ”It’s an honour. I was so shocked as well when I received the letter because I didn’t see it coming, I didn’t expect it. I feel privileged, it’s a silver lining to have come out of the terrible ordeal … it kind of softens the whole traumatic experience. It’s been a good thing for not just me but for the whole family, I feel like I have to share it with my sister because, let’s face it, I don’t think I would have been nominated for it if she didn’t survive.”

She added: ”What’s made this story so incredible is Melissa’s unwavering bravery throughout it all because she was so strong during it and I don’t think I would be here without her, she gave me the strength to keep fighting.”

Notably, Melissa and Georgia Laurie, 28, were swimming in a lagoon when the attack occurred. According to the BBC, the crocodile dragged Melissa underwater as she swam in the lagoon near Puerto Escondido. Her life was saved by her sister, who found her unresponsive and floating face down after she disappeared underwater. 

As Georgia Laurie tried to carry her twin back to the boat, the crocodile attacked again. Ms Laurie punched the crocodile repeatedly in the head and managed to drag her sister back to the boat. Melissa was put into a medically induced coma but ultimately survived.

She suffered an open fracture to her wrist, severe puncture wounds to the abdomen and multiple injuries to her leg and foot, while Georgia was bitten on her hand.

Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, said, ”It is impossible not to be moved by the stories of those receiving the gallantry awards today. Their acts of bravery have saved lives in impossible circumstances. I commend them for their accomplishments and congratulate them for receiving this honour.”
 

Britain’s King Charles III waves as he arrives for a visit to University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre in London, on April 30, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

King Charles III on April 30 reportedly told fellow cancer patients “I’m well”, as he carried out his first official public engagement since being diagnosed with the condition.

The British head of state appeared relaxed as he and his wife Queen Camilla met patients and staff at the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre in central London.

He talked to patients receiving chemotherapy at a day unit, including 60-year-old Asha Millen, who has bone marrow cancer.

“I said, ‘How are you?’ and he said, ‘I’m well’,” she told reporters afterwards.

Another patient, Lesley Woodbridge, 63, said the king sympathised with her, and added: “I’ve got to have my treatment this afternoon as well.”

Charles, 75, suspended most of his duties in February after cancer was found while he was being treated for an enlarged prostate the previous month.

The exact nature of his cancer has not been disclosed but doctors said last week they were “very encouraged” by the progress of his treatment as an out-patient and “positive” about his recovery.

His daughter-in-law Catherine, Princess of Wales, 42, underwent abdominal surgery in January and said in March that she was receiving chemotherapy.

Again, no details were given about what type of cancer she has. Kate, as she is widely known, is married to Charles’s elder son and heir Prince William.

‘Positive’

Tuesday’s event was the first in a number of planned engagements in the coming weeks and designed to raise awareness of the importance of early cancer diagnosis and highlight innovative research, Buckingham Palace said.

Charles, who succeeded his mother Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, was officially crowned king on May 6 last year.

He has been seen attending church services since his diagnosis and at selected audiences. He has also continued his official state business.

His treatment will continue but his schedule in the coming weeks will be reduced and subject to medical advice, a spokesperson added.

His engagements will include a state visit by Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan in June.

The chief executive of University College London Hospitals group, David Probert, said Charles “deliberately went out of his way to meet as many staff and patients as he could”.

Patients were “delighted” to see him, he told Sky News, and described the visit as “incredibly uplifting”.

Members of the public last week welcomed the king’s return to some duties, praising him for raising awareness about cancer, which will affect one in two people, according to Cancer Research UK.

‘Huge issue’

Probert said the king’s announcement had led to a surge in people looking up symptoms and seeking out treatment.

“It’s a huge issue in today’s society,” Keegan Gray, 23, a demolitions manager from New Zealand, told AFP on Friday.

“A lot of people have cancer and a lot of people they keep it to themselves, they’re a bit shy about it,” he added after the news Charles would resume some public duties.

Gray said it was “really beautiful” that the king was raising awareness of cancer and the work of treatment clinics.

Charles and Kate’s cancer diagnoses have created a headache for the royal family, with both having postponed public engagements.

William has also taken a step back to support his wife and their three young children, leaving fewer senior royals to fill the schedule.

Camilla, 76, has stepped in to take over many of her husband’s engagements. Charles’s sister Princess Anne and his youngest brother Prince Edward have also taken on more prominent roles.

Charles’s largely estranged younger son, Prince Harry, is no longer a working royal but is expected in London on May 8 to mark the 10th anniversary of his Invictus Games for disabled military veterans.

He will then join his American wife Meghan on a visit to Nigeria.