Queen Elizabeth II by Sarah Bradford
Authors are star-struck by the royal razzmatazzOne of the sharpest moments in TV satire was David Frost's send-up of a BBC "royal broadcast". In the final episode of That Was The Week That Was, Frost adopted the stately tones of a Dimbleby an...
Leveson inquiry: OK! editor denies Kate Middleton cover crossed the line
Magazine's front page on Duchess of Cambridge's 30th birthday celebrations did not mislead readers, says Lisa ByrneThe editor of celebrity magazine OK! has denied to the Leveson inquiry that a recent front page about the Duchess of Cambridge "crossed a...
Jo Shapcott wins Queen’s gold medal for poetry
Costa prize-winning poet follows illustrious predecessors including WH Auden and John BetjemanThe poet Jo Shapcott, who began the year by winning the Costa book of the year award for her collection Of Mutability, has ended 2011 by being named the lates...
Clerics and Queen gather to mark 400 years of Bible translation
Westminster Abbey hosts ceremony to celebrate the authorised version of the Bible as presented to King James in 1611When the quarrelsome clerics who composed the authorised version of the Bible 400 years ago presented it to King James I of England, the...
Royal Manuscripts: British Library lights up the middle ages – in pictures
See highlights from a new London exhibition which brings to life illustrated books belonging to the kings and queens of medieval England
Medieval monarchs’ books showcased by British Library
Illuminated manuscripts owned and annotated by kings and queens go on display in exhibitionFor more than 600 years England's medieval monarchs – many of them better known for their belligerence than their scholarship – collected illuminated manuscr...
Ilkley author’s fresh twist on ‘mis-represented’ Richard III
A former IT consultant from Yorkshire has put a twist on Richard III's troubled life. Guest blogger Martin Hickes reportsA fresh twist on the troubled life of Richard III, arguably England's most 'mis-represented' king, is the focus of a new novel from...
Alastair Campbell diaries: Secret war between Tony Blair and Prince Charles
In his new volume of diaries, Campbell reveals the tensions between the two over GM food, hunting and foot and mouth199931 May Prince Charles's office sent through the article he was doing for the Mail tomorrow on GM food, which would be a huge hit. He...
Thanks for coming to Ireland – but we still need a bailout | Colm Toibin
When Colm Toíbín was a boy, his father took him to see John F Kennedy during his visit to Ireland. This week, he met the Queen in Dublin, and next he will watch President Obama fly in. Visiting celebrities are great, but the Irish economy is still a ...
Andrew Morton publishes royal wedding book in record time
William and Kate title in shops within 72 hours of marriagePublisher Michael O'Mara is hoping to make it into the record books after hustling Diana biographer Andrew Morton's book on William and Kate into shops just 72 hours after the couple were marri...
Martin Amis bemoans England’s ‘moral decrepitude’
Novelist despairs of country with 'philistine' royal family where 'celebrity is the new religion' and 'all is rotten inside'Martin Amis has told a French magazine that he "would prefer not to be English", saying that his native country is in a conditio...
Let Kate Middleton be a princess for our times