25 March 2007

Harry accidentally falls into tabloid journalist

According to Buckingham Palace, a stone cold sober Prince Harry 'accidentally fell into a tabloid photographer' on his way home from a quiet night out in London last night. The spokesman said that the prince had enjoyed half a shandy early in the evening followed by one or two orange juices and a handful of bombay mix around 11pm.

While leaving the club after not feeling up a girl who was not his girlfriend, he spotted a tabloid photographer and greeted him with a cheerful "And what do you do?" before posing politely for some photographs. However, in the poor light he stumbled on an uneven paving stone before accidentally shouting "I'm going to fucking kill you" while inadvertently attempting to rip the man's head off.

Harry's pending posting to Iraq has caused controversy after it emerged he would have minders to make sure he didn't come to any harm. The British Army explained the decision, "Prince Harry has experienced a number of accidents outside nightclubs due to poor quality pavement surfacing. Iraq has some of the most uneven sidewalks in the world, and Prince Harry is obviously at greater risk than the other troops because he will have the added distraction of trying not to fall onto tabloid journalists as well as avoiding snipers' bullets, roadside bombs and suicide attacks.

The British Army has asked the media not to attempt to follow the prince or reveal which suite in the heavily-fortified Basra Ritz-Carlton he will be patrolling.

For more information see
News of the World - Prince Harry Orf his head
BBC News - Harry club fracas claims denied

02 March 2007

Diana inquest will have jury

Since Diana's death in 1997 there have been persistent conspiracy theories that her death was not an accident.

An inquest has still not been held nearly 10 years later.

When the coroner for her inquest was finally appointed she decided to hold the inquest without a jury - she alone would decide the verdict.

ThroneOut criticized this decision. Such an inquest would be seen by those who disbelieve the official version of events as a whitewash.

After legal action by Mohamed Fayed, this decision has now been overturned, and the inquest will proceed with a jury.

It unlikely that true conspiracy buffs will be convinced by anything, including the verdict of a jury of randomly selected people, but for most the selection of an unbiased jury of ordinary members of the public will give much more legitimacy to whatever decision is reached.

Justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done. A single coroner acting alone may well come to the right decision, but in the eyes of many it would be a verdict that means nothing.

One has to ask why this commonsense decision was not made initially. It will be interesting to see if there is any legal attempt to appeal it, and again leave the decision on this controversial event to a single "estblishment" figure.

For more information see
ThroneOut - Public cannot be trusted with Diana inquest verdict
BBC News - Diana inquest to be heard by jury