Di airbrushed from British royal history?

September 23rd, 2009 LONDON - Prince William has said his idea of royal duties was not to be "an ornament". The second in line to the British throne confessed at a St James' Palace forum that "there is a place" for shaking hands on official visits but he would rather be more involved than just "turning up and opening things".

September 6th, 2009 LONDON - Prince Harry has reportedly turned to a celebrity hypnotist to help him kick his smoking habit. The third in line to the British throne was said to be combing the pages of Paul McKenna's bestseller 'Quit Smoking Now' to fight the addiction.

September 3rd, 2009 LONDON - The mobile phones of British princes William and Harry may have been hacked into by tabloid reporters, a senior British police officer said. Detective Chief Superintendent Philip Williams of the Metropolitan Police spoke of his suspicion at a hearing Wednesday of the British parliament's select committee on culture, media and sport.

August 20th, 2009 LONDON - Prince William reportedly turned prankster as he tried to make pubgoers believe he was just a Royal lookalike. The second in line to the British throne was said to have told unsure drinkers, "I get that all the time." But the 27-year-old's trick was allegedly exposed since his bodyguards were posted around The Lighthouse in Battersea, South West London, reports the Sun.

August 16th, 2009 LONDON - A British soldier has died in the UK from wounds suffered in Afghanistan - the 200th death since operations began in 2002.he soldier was injured in an explosion while on vehicle patrol in Helmand Province. The serviceman, from The 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh, was injured in an explosion while on vehicle patrol in Helmand Province on Thursday.

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 29th, 2009 LONDON - Two years after the British army abandoned a proposal to raise a Sikh regiment, the country's reining monarch has got her first Sikh bodyguards. Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's 83-year-old sovereign, will be guarded by two turbaned and bearded men in their 20s.

July 23rd, 2009 LONDON - Prince William is reportedly drawing plans to see the World Cup in South Africa next year. The royal, who is president of the Football Association, may spend days at the competition cheering for England.

July 21st, 2009 LONDON - The Saudi Arabian princess, who is in secret British asylum after giving birth to an illegitimate child, told the British Asylum Tribunal that her country's law would award her killing by flogging and stoning if she was made to return home. The young woman, who has a love child with a British man, won her claim for refugee status after telling a judge that her adulterous affair made her liable to death by stoning under Sharia law, The Telegraph reports.

July 1st, 2009 LONDON - The foreign troops in Afghanistan are losing the battle against militants because their leaders don't know how to handle the war, a former British diplomat has said. "We're losing," Paddy Ashdown, former British representative for Bosnia, said Tuesday.

June 25th, 2009 LONDON - A British mother created medical history after giving birth to twins in a span of ten seconds. Samantha Heal, who lives in Exeter with partner Mark Down, gave birth in quick succession unlike the usual two-minute time mothers take in between when giving birth to twins.

June 2nd, 2009 LONDON - Prince Charles is expected to represent Queen Elizabeth at a ceremony to mark the landing of Allied troops on a beach in Normandy, France. Pressure from the White House has forced the French Government to invite the British royal family for the D-Day commemoration ceremony on June 6 in Normandy.

May 26th, 2009 LONDON - A Sikh group from Slough has written to Queen Elizabeth requesting her to return property and items belonging to the family of Punjab's last king Ranjit Singh. The Telegraph quoted Jagdeesh Singh, from the Sikh Community Action Network, as saying: "We have written to the Queen asking for access rights and the eventual return of items such as historic copies of the Sikh national sacred writings, together with swords and weapons of the Sikh gurus." According to Singh, letters, diaries and writings of Maharaja Duleep Singh, the Sikh ruler exiled to Britain in the 19th century, are also part of the collection, some of which is housed at Windsor Castle.

April 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Model Jenny McCarthy has admitted that the stunning bikini shot for the cover of Shape magazine was digitally touched up. The actress confessed the picture had been airbrushed to take away her freckles and stretch marks.

January 19th, 2009 PARIS - Former French presidential candidate Segolene Royal said US president-elect Barack Obama was inspired by her campaign and copied it, the online edition of the daily Le Monde reported Tuesday. 'Yes, I inspired Obama and his teams copied us,' Royal said in Washington, where she was to be the only French politician of note to take part in Obama's inauguration later Tuesday.