Note: This was a day later than usual because I wrote yet another post on the aftermath of Prince Andrew’s latest scandal on Monday: “The next step: Narrowing the list of which Windsors get royal titles”
It’s really a peppercorn rent.
As in Prince Andrew submits an actual peppercorn to the Crown Estate for his annual rent on the 40-room Royal Lodge at Windsor (when they ask for it).
That was one of the biggest revelations from a major coup by the Times, which got their hands on the lease that Andrew signed with the Crown Estate in 2003 when he took over the rundown property after the death of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. He had to pay some rather big up-front costs for the 40-hectare estate in the heart of Windsor Great Park: “£1 million for the lease plus at least £7.5 million for refurbishments completed in 2005.”
What was equally revealing is how the Times got a copy of the lease: the Crown Estate gave it to them immediately after receiving a Freedom of Information request. Normally those can take days, weeks, months, or even years. Often private information is withheld. In this case, the journalist got it within a day, as can be seen by the date of the email request.
There are important trips.
There are essential visits.
But rarely are there historic tours.
The two-day state visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla to the Vatican on Wednesday and Thursday of this week is the latter.
King Charles III will pray with Pope Leo during what is being billed as a “unique ecumenical service” at the Sistine Chapel. It will be the first time a British monarch has prayed with a pontiff since Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church five centuries ago. As the palace explains:
It will mark a significant moment in relations between the Catholic Church and Church of England, of which His Majesty is Supreme Governor, recognizing the ecumenical work they have undertaken and reflecting the Jubilee year’s theme of walking together as “Pilgrims of Hope.”
Then there’s a second history-making aspect to the trip when Charles becomes “Royal Confrater” at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls (this is a recognition of spiritual fellowship). In addition, St. Paul’s Outside the Walls has “created a special seat for His Majesty, which will remain there as a perpetual sign of mutual respect between Pope Leo and the King. It will be available for future use by the monarch and his successors.
It took just seven minutes for thieves to steal eight pieces of royal and imperial Crown treasure from the Louvre. It would have been nine but they dropped Empress Eugénie’s crown on their way out of the museum.
The stolen items have been added to Interpol’s list of stolen works of art but experts believe the thieves will break apart the pieces to sell the stones.
The items are:
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source writeroyalty.substack.com ’
