Jubilee reading, fit for a queen
Elizabeth II's reading habits are largely a mystery – what would you recommend as a diamond jubilee page-turner for Her Maj?Have you ever seen a photograph of the Queen carrying a book? Me neither. It's quite possible that the Queen has a dog-eared p...
On her majesty’s silver service: expats dust off tuxedos for BritWeek in LA
Britons famous, once famous and perhaps to be famous again are beating the drum for the UK in Hollywood this weekFor once, there was no shame in being on the B-list: they came from all corners of Hollywood – peaks of fame, foothills of recognition an...
The Prince of Waves: new UK surf museum unveils sport’s noble roots
How UK surfing flowed from upper-class pioneers such as Agatha Christie and Edward VIII riding reshaped Cornish coffin-lids to the mass sport it is todayIt is the sport of kings: not horse-racing, but surfing. Rare photos have emerged showing King Edwa...
Our attachment to the Queen is perhaps greater than we yet realise | Ian Jack
The Queen is one of our last links to a workaday Britain that has nearly vanished, a country that Dickens would still recogniseDickens never liked the church much, didn't revere the monarchy, and wanted his body to be buried quietly near his home ...
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...
The readers’ editor on… how too much coverage of some people can annoy