Royal news – live: King Charles and Queen Camilla ‘utterly shocked and horrified’ by Sydney stabbing attack
Emergency services rushed to the scene in the Australian city at 3:30pm local time on Saturday as shocking videos showed a man wearing shorts and a green and yellow shirt carrying a blade
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King Charles and Queen Camilla have said they were “utterly shocked and horrified” by the knife attack at a Sydney shopping mall.
Their statement follows one issued by the Prince and Princess of Wales earlier today in which they praised the “heroic” emergency responders.
Emergency services rushed to the scene in the Australian city at 3:30pm local time on Saturday as shocking videos showed a man wearing shorts and a green and yellow shirt carrying a blade.
One of his victims is a nine-month-old baby, who is undergoing surgery in hospital.
The attacker was also shot dead by a police officer, who confronted the attacker and shot him as he faced her and raised a knife.
Police do not believe the act was terror-related, but that the man is known to law enforcement.
In a statement, the King said: “My wife and I were utterly shocked and horrified to hear of the tragic stabbing incident in Bondi.
“Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of those who have been so brutally killed during such a senseless attack.
“While details of these shocking circumstances are still emerging, our thoughts are also with those who were involved in the response, and we give thanks for the bravery of the first responders and emergency services.”
Harry ‘eager to return to London’ amid royal family health concerns
Prince Harry is reportedly “eager to return to London” and “help take up some of the slack” amid the royal family’s health crisis, a royal author has claimed.
The claims come from Christopher Andersen, author of The King: The Life of Charles III, as Harry prepares to return to the UK for the tenth anniversary celebrations of the Invictus Games next month.
“In fact, he’s eager to return to London and help take up some of the slack now that the medical issues of the King and the Princess of Wales have thrown the monarchy into a state of crisis,” he told author told HELLO! Magazine.
He added: “If they [the royal family] could all put these perceived slights and resentments behind them, Harry and Meghan could be hugely valuable assets to the monarchy at a time when it could use all the help it can get.”
Kate crowned ‘most popular royal’ in new poll
The Princess of Wales has been crowned Britain’s favourite royal in a poll describing her as popular “across the generations”.
A new YouGov survey revealed that 76 per cent of Britons have a positive view of Kate – a six-point increase since the start of the year.
The surge in popularity comes weeks after the princess revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer in a heartfelt video message following weeks of speculation around her health.
Her husband, William, also garnered the support of 73 per cent of the country while 63 per cent had a favourable opinion of King Charles.
When it comes to the institution of the monarchy in general, 58 per cent of Britons overall have a positive view, but this ranges from 79 per cent of the over-65s to 32 per cent of 18-24 year olds.
Princess Kate’s health silence ‘down to William’, royal author claims
A Royal author has claimed that Princess Kate’s silence surrounding her health is “because of Prince William”.
Last month, the Princess of Wales revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer in an emotional video filmed after weeks of baseless conspiracy theories about her health.
Speaking to GB News, author Alexander Larman said the social media conspiracies shows the world is “obsessed by the health of the Royal Family”, and claimed the silence was largely William’s choice.
Comparing King Charles’ cancer announcement to Kate’s, he said: “Buckingham Palace came forward fairly quickly and gave a fairly candid idea of whats happening with Charles and what his illness is - Kensington Palace didn’t.
“I think that’s because Prince William is much more into the vain of ‘never complain never explain’ which was his grandmother’s motto and his great-grandmother’s motto has always served the royal family well but it doesn’t hold up in 2024.”
King chuckles as he is shown new banknotes with his portrait
King Charles inspected the four £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes – the first low-numbered note of each denomination with 01 000001 serial numbers – and pointed and smiled at the details as Mr Bailey turned the pages, showing the front and back.
They were joined by Sarah John, the Bank of England’s Chief Cashier, whose signature appears on the currency, and the King gave a broad grin as he greeted his guests in the 1844 Room.
He is only the second British monarch to grace the Bank of England’s notes – and it is the first time one sovereign’s image has been replaced with another.
Mr Bailey said as he prepared to hand over the book: “We have come to present you with your bank notes.”
It prompted Charles, who was stood with his hands behind his back, to chuckle and remark: “Oh right.”
Mr Bailey told him: “This is quite a big moment because we’ve never changed the sovereign on the bank notes because the Queen was the first sovereign to be on the bank notes.”
Charles replied: “This is what is so surprising. You would think that it goes back.”
The King inspected the notes and praised the intricate features incorporated to prevent counterfeits, saying: “A lot trouble taken in on the security side.”
“They’re very well designed I must say,” he added.
Journalist who took infamous photo of Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein in Central Park speaks out
The journalist who took the infamous photograph of Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein in Central Park
Annette Witheridge was a US-based British journalist and was tasked with tracking down Andrew in New York in 2011.
Appearing on Lorraine on Tuesday, Ms Witheridge explained how she followed several leads to find the Prince at Epstein’s lavish residence, where she eventually captured a key photograph of him with Epstein.
She said: “I didn’t think he [Andrew) would be stupid enough to stay there, because he [Epstein] had been to prison and was a sex offender, but as I arrived I heard British accents.”
Lucy Leeson reports:
Princess Eugenie to ‘support’ sister Beatrice after Netflix feature
Princess Eugenie is set to “support” her sister Beatrice after her role in their father’s disastrous Newsnight interview was featured on Netflix.
Beatrice was featured briefly in the new film, Scoop, earlier this month about Prince Andrew’s infamous interview about his friendship with Jeffery Epstein.
The 35-year-old is also said to feature more prominently in another three-part series about the interview on Amazon Prime later this year.
A royal source told OK! Magazine that Beatrice is “dreading” the upcoming series and that she feels “unfairly targetted”.
“Beatrice is luckily a very resilient young woman. She is trying her very best to stay focused and weather the storm, but it’s been tough for her,” they said.
“Eugenie and her close friends have been there for support and she’s putting on a very brave face. Both girls [Beatrice and Eugenie] wish the whole thing would just go away but fear they could be tarred with this brush for the rest of their lives. It’s difficult to see them like this.”
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