They’ll be sending out for extra tin hats and body armour at Windsor Castle. The Queen has agreed to throw a 21st birthday bash there for Prince Harry, king of the royal party-goers.
And with Harry’s previous achievements in this field in mind, she has ruled very firmly: “strictly no fancy dress”.
Harry will be celebrating his birthday quietly this Thursday, but the Queen says he must wait for his party until later in the year when he’s finished his officer training at Sandhurst.
It should be a lively affair, though. Not only has Harry acquired a bit of a reputation as a party animal, but such occasions can often be overtaken by events. When the Queen threw a 21st birthday do for Prince William it was gatecrashed by Aaron Barschak, an alleged comedian who disguised himself in a peach frock to slip past the police guard.
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And the royal ban on fancy dress recalls the uproar earlier this year when Harry was forced to apologise after attending a party dressed as a Nazi, complete with swastika armband. He was pictured on the front page of The Sun, clutching a drink and a cigarette, under the headline “Harry the Nazi”.
Hague has his colours nailed to yet another leadership hopeful's mast
William Hague has lost none of his political skills. The former Tory leader turned biographer has been yomping across hills with rugged, manly leadership contender David Davis, who’d like him on his team as shadow chancellor.
Could this possibly be the same William Hague who was touted earlier in the campaign by the David Cameron team as a “high-profile supporter” and by backers of Liam Fox as somebody who would “publicly support” their man? With this astonishing talent to be all things to all men, perhaps we shouldn’t rule out Hague as next leader of the Liberal Democrats.