‘Royal blood disorder’ that afflicted Queen Victoria’s family line identified

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 8th, 2009 Victoria's secret: royal bloomers join collectionLONDON — A set of roomy bloomers that once belonged to Queen Victoria are back in royal drawers. The underwear — which has a 56-inch (142-centimeter) waist — has been added to Britain's Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection at Kensington Palace.

September 8th, 2009 Queen Victoria's royal bloomers join collectionLONDON — A set of roomy bloomers that once belonged to Queen Victoria are back in royal drawers. The underwear — which has a 56-inch (142-centimeter) waist — has been added to Britain's Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection at Kensington Palace.

September 8th, 2009 LONDON - A bizarre heirloom of the Royal Family has emerged in the form of a pair of oversized knickers belonging to Her Majesty Queen Victoria. The linen "split drawers", which had been hidden in a private collection for 100 years, measured 52 inches around the waist, and were sold at auction for 600 pounds to the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection charity.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

April 15th, 2009 LONDON - The Queen had sent her "warmest good wishes" to Jade Goody a week before the reality star lost her life to cancer. The Royal had taken the unusual step of sending the heartfelt message in a note that had arrived at the late 27-year-old's home in Upshire, Essex as she lay struggling for her life.

April 4th, 2009 LONDON - President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have become the 11th US First Family to meet with the Queen. The Royal meeting is said to have been the most touchy-feely gathering that anyone could ever remember, especially after the Queen and Michelle Obama hugged one another, doing away with the Palace protocol, reports the Mirror.

March 3rd, 2009 LONDON - British actress Emily Blunt read diaries and letters of Queen Victoria to prepare for her role in 'The Young Victoria'. Blunt was allowed into Windsor Castle and was allowed to look at the queen's personal notebooks and letters.