Simon Kelner

Simon Kelner was Editor of The Independent between 1998 and 2011. He writes a daily column for i.

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One thing Ryanair got right - charging extra for needless hand luggage

We know what a trip on Ryanair means: cheap and not very cheerful. But why do people now take huge bags on the flight instead of checking them in?

Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, emerge from St Mary's with their newborn son

For Americans, there's magic in our monarchy

Compared to the grind of US politics, our Royal family offers a burst of romance

Coming to America? If it's a Sunday, get ready to queue

A chaotic wait to have my passport franked threw up a surprising titbit

The Concorde made history. Our skies are poorer without it

This aeroplane was testament to the boldest part of human nature

Eyes on the prize: the Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer

Amanda Palmer: Naked, but far from vulnerable

The performance artist has taken on the Daily Mail and music industry of late

School children wave flags in celebration of the birth of the royal baby outside St. Mary's hospital

You have to admit, the Royal Family serves a purpose

But the subject of the new baby has been well and truly exhausted

Did people complain because of what Inverdale said, or because of the fuss about what he said?

What Inverdale was expressing was the sort of sentiment that millions of otherwise right-thinking men watching Wimbledon may have shared

What did I learn from editing a national newspaper? Don't believe what people tell you

Always challenge the official version of events. Ask the awkward question, even if it makes you unpopular

4 July 2013: British Airways' new Airbus A380 comes in to land at Heathrow airport in London

Thanks British Airways, it's like I never went away

I used to have a fear of flying, until I realised it's a bit more complicated than that

Julian Assange has been holed up in Ecuador's west London embassy for almost a year

A year on and it's still unclear: Does God have a Julian Assange complex?

Where once we all had an opinion about Assange - seditious sex criminal or heroic freedom fighter? - we have since had our attention turned elsewhere

Day In a Page

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end