Buckingham Palace tops list of London’s most environmentally damaging buildings

September 27th, 2009 LONDON - A high-profile Russian political family is all set to give stiff competition to the Queen's Buckingham Palace, as they plan British capital's second biggest residential building at a cost of about 100 million pounds. The Witanhurst, a dilapidated mansion in Highgate, north London, was purchased for 50 million pounds by a British Virgin Islands-based company.

September 13th, 2009 LONDON - A letter retrieved from the Royal Archives at Windsor Palace reveals Britain's late Queen Mother Elizabeth was left trembling with fear after a Nazi bomb landed on Buckingham Palace.he wrote: "My knees trembled a little bit for a minute or two after the explosions." Referring to her husband, King George VI, she went on: "We both feel quite well today, tho' just a bit tired." The letter was written to her mother-in-law Queen Mary, and will feature in her official biography next week. The insight into the Queen Mum, who died aged 101 in 2002, is fascinating because little is known of her personal views.

August 24th, 2009 LONDON - A team of archaeologists has unearthed rare 15th century Valencian tiles during excavations at the ruins of a Surrey palace, once owned by Henry VIII. According to a report by BBC News, the items, which were made in Valencia, Spain, between 1450 and 1490, were discovered at Woking Palace.

August 10th, 2009 LONDON - The royal tradition of servants and guests walking backwards when leaving a room after seeing the Queen has reportedly been deserted over health and safety concerns. The practice was reportedly dropped for most Palace staff and all visitors over fears that it could lead to someone getting injured, and perhaps slapping Buckingham Palace with a lawsuit for damages.

July 26th, 2009 British economists send apology to queenLONDON — Sorry Ma'am — we just didn't see it coming. A British newspaper reported Sunday that a group of eminent economists have apologized to Queen Elizabeth II for failing to predict the financial crisis.

July 6th, 2009 LONDON - Following the global slow down and economic crisis, the Queen is determined to switch from the LPG-fuelled black cab to an environmentally friendly car service, to save money. The Queen's staff at the Buckingham Palace has signed up with Toyota's 'Green Tomato Cars' to cut costs, after they found out about the car from Prince Charles's London office, which switched to its cheaper carbon-efficient Toyota Prius fleet, the Daily Express reports.

July 4th, 2009 LONDON - Legendary playwright William Shakespeare-known for his plays like 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Hamlet', etc.-has officially been named Britain's greatest national treasure in a new poll. The poll was sponsored by ice-cream makers Mivvi.

June 30th, 2009 LONDON - A former royal protection officer, who has been accused of being involved in a 3-million-pound betting and property scam, has laid claims that his colleagues played poker and traded pornography while working at Buckingham Palace. Paul Page, 38, of Granville Road, Chafford Hundred, Grays, Essex, is said to have allegedly cheated colleagues and others out of their life savings.

June 30th, 2009 LONDON - An annual account of the Royal Household's expenditure has revealed that Queen will run out of funds by 2012, her Diamond Jubilee year, unless the government increases the Civil List. The Civil List, which pays for the running of the Royal Household, has not increased in the last 20 years, and at the moment any request for an increase in funds would be difficult to tackle, as UK is suffering from the global economic crisis- the worst since the Second World War.

June 27th, 2009 LONDON - British monarch Queen Elizabeth II has said that she will not accede to an MPs demand to open Buckingham Palace more often to the public to generate millions in extra revenue for badly needed repairs. According to The Telegraph, the Commons Public Accounts Committee has urged the royal household to devise a business plan for keeping the building open longer to try to pay for a backlog of maintenance that has risen to 32 million pounds.

June 14th, 2009 LONDON - Queen Elizabeth II and Michelle Obama have struck a firm friendship since they first met at the G20 summit in London in April, according to sources. The Queen, in what was suggested to be a sign of close bonding, allegedly let the US First Lady and her daughters to have a rare guided tour of Buckingham Palace during their visit to the capital last week.

May 27th, 2009 LONDON - Buckingham Palace officials are very angry with French President Nicolas Sarkozy because he has not invited the Queen as a guest at next week's D-Day 65th anniversary. Organisers have revealed that the French President is focused on the "main event" of hosting his US counterpart Barack Obama.

May 17th, 2009 LONDON - As the astounding disclosure in Britain's parliamentary expenses scam continues to roll out names, Queen Elizabeth has expressed her "dismay" privately. "Her Majesty has made clear her displeasure at what she has learnt.

April 22nd, 2009 LONDON - A former Royal cop has claimed that police officers stationed at Buckingham Palace spent their night shifts running gambling syndicates, selling hard-core pornography and posed for pictures on the Queen's throne. A jury has heard the extraordinary account of how Royal protection officers slept off hangovers in private palace rooms, smuggled "uninvited and unvetted" guests into Royal garden parties and allowed business associates to park their cars at Buckingham Palace.

April 8th, 2009 LONDON - Katie Price a.ka. Jordan has claimed that she was invited to lunch at Buckingham Palace but declined the offer because she was in America.