'Smithgate' could be end of the monarchy

The Paul Burrell trial aired much of the Windsors dirty laundry in public. The airing was cut short when the Queen famously "remembered" that Burrell had told her that we was going to keep some of Diana's personal belongings for safe keeping.

A trial on which hundreds of thousand of pounds had been spent on had been stopped by one phone call from the Queen, presenting evidence she'd refused to give when asked by Burrell's defence team.

Once again, allegations of extremely unpleasant royal acts are back in the news, this time accompanied by suggestions that if they ever reach the light of day the monarchy could be fatally damaged.

It appears the Royals are now considering spending £5m (taken from your taxes) to silence Burrell, this time in the form of a bribe, rather than a car crash.

More:
The Scotsman - 'Smithgate' could bring down the monarchy
The Guardian - What the butler (and a few other people) knows but you don't

New queen sculptor previously worked for Saddam

The Queen has unveiled a new sculpture of herself in Windsor Great Park.

She is portrayed as she looked in the early 70s, riding a horse.

The firm producing the statue, Morris Singer of Lasham, near Alton, Hampshire are no strangers to working with unelected heads of state.

In the 1980s Morris Singer helped create a statue of Saddam Hussein, as another ego maniac pissed away public funds on shameless self-promotion, whilst many of his people lived in poverty.

Of that previous customer, Morris Singer director Chris Boverhoff loyally stated

"We are of course pleased to be associated with such a fine piece of work and we are justly proud of the craftsmanship that went into it, but like right-thinking people the world over we deplore the regime that Saddam created and presided over."

Morris Singer was of course happy to take Saddam's money.

More information:
BBC News - Queen unveils statue of herself
The Telegraph - UK firm may have a hand in Saddam's fall

Burrell claims Diana feared car crash plot

Ever since the death of Diana, it was inevitable that there would be speculation that she was murdered.

Motives for this 'murder' are various, Mohammed Al Fayed claims that his son Dodi and Diana were engaged and that she was killed by the British establishment who could not tolerate the mother of the future king being married to a muslim. Others speculate that she was pregnant.

Burrell claims that Diana believed she would be killed to smooth the way for Prince Charles to become king. If that was the intention then it hasn't been overly successful.

At present there has still been no public enquiry or inquest into the death of Diana, a death which does appear to have some suspicious circumstances.

One must also consider that Burrell is currently writing a book. It seems curious that such an apparently important document has only just been released by him.

Ultimately its seem clear that if anything illegal did happen in the tunnel in Paris, its unlikely the British authorities believe the British people have any right to know the truth.

More Info
BBC News - Diana 'feared car accident plot'
Coverups.com - Princess Diana's Death

Dutch prince to marry former gangster's moll

The Dutch royal family is involved in a scandal as it emerged that one of its members is to marry someone considered so unsuitable by the Dutch government that they have refused to sanction the marriage. Prince Johan Friso is to marry Mabel Wisse Smit, a former gangster's moll.

A Dutch government press release on the subject stated:

"The Dutch royal family has standards to maintain. She assured us that she had a long term relationship with a mob godfather and was personally involved in murdering and torturing rivals to her lover's drug empire as well as smuggling large quantities of crack in her pants which she handed out to young children outside schools, occasionally blasting away at passing cars with an Uzi that she concealed in her handbag. It has subsequently emerged that she may not have been personally involved in the drugs business and may have simply been shagging a gangster for the money to supplement her student income. The intelligence services have investigated her family for fascist relatives who may have been involved in crimes against humanity, but alas none have been found. We therefore find her quite unsuitable for a position in the monarchy."

More info:
BBC News - Dutch prince renounces throne

The Dutch royals don't half pick 'em:
Dutch prince takes junta link bride

Oath to Queen is discriminatory

An Australian anti-discrimination tribunal has ruled that requiring an oath of allegiance to the Queen is effectively discrimination based on political beliefs. It ruled the decision by the RSL (Returned and Services League, Australian veterans organization) to reject an 81 year old applicant purely because of his refusal to swear the oath was illegal.

The ruling has huge implications for the official status of the monarchy in Australia and potentially in other countries too.

The Age (Australia) - Veteran wins RSL fight over swearing loyalty to Queen