Showbiz royalty: Helen Mirren is ready to bring her Elizabeth II from cinema to stage

Actress Dame Helen Mirren has still not forgotten Michael Parkinson's line of questioning when he interviewed her on his chat show almost 40 years ago.

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A radiologist examines mammograms on a lightbox

Scientists 'put positive spin' on breast cancer studies

Scientists involved in breast cancer research tend to exaggerate the positives and underplay the negatives of their findings, a new study suggests.

Talbot Church: The royals love this sort of thing. I remember Princess Margaret's strip vingt-et-un

The Palace will be greeting ‘The Crown Jewels Affair’ with quiet satisfaction

Linley expands his top-drawer furniture firm

Demand from overseas buyers for British-made bespoke furniture has helped the Queen's nephew, Viscount Linley, to generate record sales and boost plans for his fourth store in London, which will open during the Olympics.

Diane Arbus, a lookalike and a day at Madame Tussauds

In 1969 the American photographer Diane Arbus took some rare photos of the British Royal Family. Or rather not of the real thing, but of waxwork versions of them. The pictures, taken when Arbus visited Madame Tussauds after hours, will go on show in London for the first time next week.

Prince Charles, in London yesterday, will be meeting Sri Lanka's leader for the Jubilee celebrations

Andreas Whittam Smith: We should scrutinise royalty, but leave out the tittle-tattle

When, in 1986, i's sister paper The Independent started publication, the monarchy was going through one of its periodic bad patches. Before that, during the 1950s and 1960s, the Royal Family had been successfully presented as a model family. The Windsors even managed to appear as much conventionally middle class as royal. There were photographs of them enjoying picnics and barbecues together. After the abdication crisis of 1936 and then the Second World War, when many old landmarks disappeared, they had found their role. They represented stability.

Gloria Lloyd: Actress who had a gilded life as Harold Lloyd's daughter

The daughter of the great silent film comedian Harold Lloyd and his actress wife Mildred Davies, Gloria Lloyd had an enchanted childhood.

Jane, Duchess of Buccleuch: Model turned politician’s wife whose efforts helped pave the way for disabled MPs

She was the châtelaine of three of the most beautiful stately homes in Britain, Boughton, near Kettering in Northamptonshire, Bowhill near Selkirk and Drumlanrig, Dumfriesshire, in the Scottish Borders; they were also among the best organised for tourists.

Sounds of the 20th Century, Radio 2, Thursday<br/>The 4 O'Clock Show, Radio 4 Extra, Monday to Friday

Great songs, respected politicians...this must be 1951

Dakota Fanning to play young Princess Margaret

Dakota Fanning will play Princess Margaret in an upcoming film.

Books of the Year: Celebrity memoirs

A Chelsea girl (and more) offer intimate memories

Nigel Dempster and the Death of Discretion, By Tim Willis

To Private Eye he was "GLE" – Greatest Living Englishman – and after their row he was sneered at as "Humpty-Dumpster". To a subordinate on his column he was "Caligula". One of his wives named a python after him – and that was before the divorce.

Lord Glenconner: Owner of the island of Mustique whose friendship with Princess Margaret kept him in the public eye

Colin Tennant, the third Baron Glenconner, had a permanent place in the gossip columns for most of the second half of the 20th century, largely because of his intimate friendship with Princess Margaret; but also because of his Faustian compact with fame – or, perhaps, notoriety. Throughout the 1980s in particular it seemed as though Nigel Dempster had a hot line to Glenconner's bedside phone. Given to extravagant gestures – for his 60th birthday party in 1986, the likes of Jerry Hall, Raquel Welch and Princess Margaret flew to Mustique at his expense for a Peacock Ball – he was seldom out of the limelight. And yet for all these fitful wonders he was an essentially honest and charming man in whose company one was often reduced to helpless laughter.

The Weekend's Television: The Queen, Sun, Channel 4

Divorced from reality

Heathrow terminal closes for &pound;1bn new look

Heathrow Airport's Terminal 2 closed yesterday in a £1bn plan to replace the building.

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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