Queen Elizabeth gags royal household staff

September 17th, 2009 LONDON - The younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II destroyed letters from Princess Diana in a bid to protect the British royal family, a new book reveals. The late Princess Margaret told a friend that she had ordered the destruction of large bin bags full of personal papers "because they were so private", says the book - a biography of Queen Elizabeth II's mother, who died in 2002 at age 101.

September 7th, 2009 LONDON - Britain's Queen Elizabeth has reportedly reprimanded Prime Minister Gordon Brown for handling the war in Afghanistan poorly, especially on the issue of equipment shortage for troops. Leading historian and journalist Andrew Roberts, who has close links with the Royal Family, said he had learned of the Queen's anger through a member of the Royal Family, a serving general and a recent Cabinet minister.

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 31st, 2009 Sikh soldiers guard Queen Elizabeth IILONDON — Queen Elizabeth II has switched bearskin hats for turbans outside Buckingham Palace, where Sikh soldiers have begun guarding the monarch and her treasures, Britain's defense ministry said Friday. Signaler Simranjit Singh and Lance Cpl.

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 27th, 2009 LONDON - Queen Elizabeth II has reportedly rented out part of a huge forest near Windsor Castle for the filming of a Harry Potter movie.he shooting for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final part of the series, will allegedly take place in the woodlands over the next two months. Entire sections of the 2,600-acre Swinley Forest in Berkshire, 12 miles from Windsor Castle, were reportedly sealed off for the filming, reports The Sun.

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.

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.

May 14th, 2009 LONDON - A collection of personal letters and photographs addressed to a friend by Queen Mary have come into the limelight for the first time and are set to go under the hammer. The collection, spanning half a century, unravels the correspondence between the royal and her friend, Kate Rube, and later Rube's daughter Elizabeth Gillman.

May 5th, 2009 LONDON - Just a few days after the sex scandal on the Queen's front lawn came to light, a second one has been reported involving the Senior Under Butler of the Monarch. Robert Wilson, who held the job title Senior Under Butler to the Silver and Gilt Pantry, was discovered ogling at gay porn on his laptop, just minutes after he served Her Majesty and Prince Philip their afternoon tea at their Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

April 28th, 2009 Queen Elizabeth honors Yeomen of the GuardLONDON — Queen Elizabeth II honored her Yeomen of the Guard on Tuesday in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey, while her husband reportedly joked about the guards' scarlet stockings. The queen placed flowers at the tomb of King Henry VII, who created the Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth.

April 18th, 2009 LONDON - Prince Philip has become the longest serving royal consort in Britain after he took duties in 1952. The Duke of Edinburgh's became the consort on February 6, 1952, when his wife Princess Elizabeth was crowned as Queen.

March 7th, 2009 LONDON - US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are expected to be received by Queen Elizabeth II during the Group of 20 (G20) summit in London next month, according to media reports Friday. The private visit is due to take place at Buckingham Palace before the start of the one-day summit of world leaders in London April 2.

January 27th, 2009 SYDNEY - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were the targets of an assassination attempt in Australia almost 40 years ago, a retired detective said Wednesday. Cliff McHardy told a Sydney radio station that suspected republican activists put a log on railway tracks to derail the royal train.