Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

I'm not too bothered with the 'again' bit.

She seems like a very nice person and one who will partner well with Prince Harry.

I also think they are both going to do a great amount of 'good' in the world and make a massive difference to a lot of 'under-privileged/disadvantaged' peoples' lives.

From Wikipedia:

Since June 2016, Markle has been in a relationship with Prince Harry, who is sixth in line to the British throne.

Prince Harry and Markle met on a blind date that a mutual friend set up.

The press began to report the relationship in October 2016. On November 8, 2016, the British royal family's communications secretary released an official statement that addressed a "wave of abuse and harassment" directed toward Markle. The statement described sexism, racism and defamatory stories directed at her, including an unspecified "smear on the front page of a national newspaper".

During a September 2017 interview with Vanity Fair, Markle spoke in public for the first time about her love for Prince Harry. Later that month, they made their first public appearances together at an official royal engagement at the Invictus Games in Toronto.

While working on Suits, Markle lived in a rented house in the Seaton Village neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada, where the show was filmed. She moved out in late November 2017 after work on the seventh season had been completed.

In January 2018, Markle deleted her social media accounts, and in a statement issued by Kensington Palace thanked "everyone who has followed her social media accounts over the years".

Megan Markle was a counsellor for international charity One Young World, speaking at the 2014 annual summit in Dublin on the topics of gender equality and modern day slavery.

Also in 2014, she traveled to Afghanistan and Spain as part of the United Service Organizations Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Holiday Tour.

In 2016, Markle became a global ambassador for World Vision Canada, traveling to Rwanda for the Clean Water Campaign, the agency's campaign to provide safe, clean drinking water, and she traveled to India to raise awareness of issues concerning women.

She has also worked with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women as an Advocate.

She identifies as a feminist.

Markle again attended the One Young World summit in 2016.

Markle's first official public appearance with Harry after their engagement was a walkabout in Nottingham on December 1, 2017, in connection with World AIDS Day.

They were invited to celebrate Christmas 2017 with the royal family at the Queen's Sandringham estate and in early 2018, Markle accompanied Harry on his engagements in Brixton, Cardiff, Goldsmiths' Hall and Edinburgh.

On February 28, 2018, Markle made her first joint official engagement with Harry, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Harry's brother and sister-in-law), at the first annual forum of the Royal Foundation, "Making a Difference Together". Markle is expected to become the fourth patron, alongside Harry, William and Catherine, after her marriage into the royal family.

Markle and Harry marked International Women's Day by attending an event in Birmingham hosted by the Stemettes.

Along with the Queen and other members of the royal family, Markle attended the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on March 12, 2018. This was taken as being a prelude for lots of Commonwealth activities.

The couple made their first visit to Northern Ireland on March 23, 2018.

i confess that, perhaps unfairly, i do not see this as a match made in heaven, not least because it will be impossible for her to dispose of the heavy baggage of her awful and dysfunctional family

is MM a (social) gold-digger into the bargain?
i wouldn't rule it out

Not many posts on MAM these days, are there?

to be honest, i mainly use it for the charts

Will James Hewitt be watching this continuing circus act from afar, wishing he was there?

Will he be sending his good wishes? How long before we see Markles book and her Andrew Morton?

i confess i really do not approve of (the idea of) the lords being packed to avoid further gov't defeats, even though that has been a much used ploy for at least a couple of centuries

First dog on the moon cartoon wont post, but worth a look..



https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/19/its-a-fairytale-for-the-modern-age-an-age-filled-with-flying-deathbots-and-murderous-inequality


Not happy wombles, cant think why.

Nice weather for a wedding. Good luck to them both but I'll be watching the FA Cup Final.

Give me a summary later of how the wedding went Fred.

Cheers.

Dil.

They missed your attention!

It was on when I went to brew some tea. The preacher was giving his all; expected Philip to tumble down the aisle. It was hilarious because of the contrast. A family member was laughing on Friday; the usual media suspects gushing and fighting it out to be crowned Queen and King sycophant. Cries of find me some black people stat.

Sadly, as a game, the football turned out to be a non-event. The kick off time doesn't help - stuck in no man's land between 3 PM and 7:45 PM.

Unfortunately, Harry and Megan have not disappeared out of sight for their honeymoon period, instead the country is left with this pair of leaches milking it, while carrying out official functions, so the press can fill their papers with pictures of the gushing crowds sucking up to this pair of lovebirds. How long that will last for is another matter, and when the press are desperate to find a target, then the only thing that will hold them back is being seen to be politically correct. Remember all the fat Fergie pictures that they used to body shame her. What will they do with Megan when they want to hang her out to dry?

clock - i think you are being unfair ..... H+M are out of the direct daily spotlight, for which they must both be thankful ..... H is patently no brainbox, but looks to be contributing quite a not through Help for Heroes and Invictus Games and similar, and deserves to be applauded for that ...... M has yet to carve her own niche so cannot yet be judged

At least the couple of thousand that were invited to the grounds of Windsor were given a bag with a few odds and ends in that they are able to sell to other mugs at extraordinary prices it would seem - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44197388

The dam cheek is putting in a 20% off voucher for Windsor Castle gift shop, so they try to recoup some profit from their so called guests.

Tat just sums them up while they live the extravagant lifestyle at many taxpayers expense, let those that want them, pay for them, and force them to transfer all their great estates over to the country.

what a sour little curmudgeon you are
must have been standing too close to fred for too long

Many have transferred their estates, large and small, to the country. It is called the National Trust which is now the largest "farmer" in the country with over 2000 tenants on over 600,000 acres of land. Little has changed for the tenants I suspect.
I like Harry though agnostic about his wife but I wish them the best; as I do with most of the Royal Family. I think the country would be worse off without them. Dragging everyone down to suit the great unwashed, uneducated and uninspiring has never benefited any country that I can think of. You need to get out and smell the roses CT, you sound bitter and twisted.

IT soundly seconded

Well, CT, you do come over as being bitter and twisted. This makes me prefer all of the people you are speaking about, instead of the likes of you. Funny that, eh?

Importantly, you don't know what the hell you are talking about......

I noticed a young teenage royal standing out, who had a short-sleeved woollen white cardigan(!?) over a blue mini-dress. It was reported this dress was sold by 'Net-a-Porter' so I went to the NaP web site to check on how much it cost. Ans: £2,050.

Here's a link to Net a Porter, in case you want to do a bit of shopping yourself:

https://www.net-a-porter.com/gb/en/

The Royal Wedding was a spectacular affair - and a costly event.

For those who believe these stately occasions to be waste of taxpayers' money, there is the consolation that the Royal Family themselves will pay for most of it.

And we did - including contributing to what is thought to be close to £400,000 for Meghan's dress - designed by a Brummie.

But it doesn't stop there - weddings of that level don't come cheap.

Kensington Palace had earlier released a statement saying: "As was the case with the wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Royal Family will pay for the core aspects of the wedding, such as the church service, the associated music, flowers, decorations, and the reception afterwards."

So how much will it all cost - and what are the benefits?

When Prince William and Kate Middleton tied the knot at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2017, the overall cost was around £24 million.

For Harry and Meghan's big day at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on May 19, 2018, the total spend is £32 million - even though it's in a smaller venue.

So how does it break down? ABC Finance did some number-crunching to come up with these figures:

William and Kate

Wedding dress £250,000

Flowers £563,000

Wedding ring £115,000

Wedding cake £56,000

Security £22 million

Harry and Meghan

Wedding dress £387,000

Flowers £110,000

Wedding ring £250,000

Wedding cake £50,000

Security £30 million

So, much less was spent on flowers for Harry and Meghan but security cost far more this time. The ring was also twice the price.

The costs might seem extravagant but there are said to be many economic benefits from these big royal spectacles.

William and Kate

When William and Kate tied the knot in 2011, an additional 600,000 people come to London for the weekend – 60 per cent from UK, 40 per cent from overseas. While here they spent upwards of £107 million.

The added value to Britain’s ‘brand’ due to global media coverage was worth approximately £1 billion in free marketing and more than two billion people watched the ceremony globally

It wasn’t just visitors to London, the Office for National Statistics reported that an extra 350,000 visitors travelled to the UK compared with the year before.

Tourism also flourished on the island of Anglesey in Wales, where the royal couple lived after the wedding. It’s estimated that it prompted a 20 per cent increase in business in 2011.

Total Economic Benefit = £107 million

Harry and Meghan

Harry and Meghan’s nuptials are projected to generate much, much more - including £200 million that's expected to come from tourism, travel and hotels.

That includes projections by Airbnb which is expecting to make almost £12 million over the Royal Wedding weekend, with around 42,000 guests staying in the capital and surrounding areas so they can go and see the festivities.

A further £150 million will be spent by people having parties and celebrating, with commemorative merchandise projected to bring in £50 million.

It's thought the wedding will provide the UK with around £100 million in free marketing.

Total Economic Benefit = £500 million

There have also been other effects.

For instance, let's take "dogs" as just one topic.....

Meghan Markle has a pet beagle called Guy, adopted from a shelter in 2015.

And since Meghan and Harry confirmed their relationship in November 2016, beagle ownership has increased by 42 per cent from 195,707 to 278,173, according to data gathered by insurers Bought By Many and Consumer Intelligence.

It now makes beagles the fifth most popular dog breed in the UK.

The same period has seen a 4 per cent decline (from 7,828 to 7,518) in the UK population of Welsh Corgis - traditionally the Royal Family's favourite breed.

But there may be some hope for the breed. The Kennel Club reported there was a 22 per cent uplift in enquiries about buying a corgi puppy following the launch of the second series of The Crown in December 2017.

A third series of the Netflix show is in production - meaning corgis could see another boost in the near future.

The most popular beagle names in the UK are Bella, Bailey and Buddy. The most popular corgi names are Merlin, Arthur and Heidi.

Steven Mendel, CEO and co-founder of Bought By Many, said: "We’re accustomed to seeing spikes in popularity of certain breeds with celebrity ownership but such a large rise in the popularity of beagles certainly stands out."