Russians Oligarchs’ London pad to rival Queen’s palace

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 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.

August 28th, 2009 LONDON - The world's worst holidaymaker poll suggests that Russians are the worst tourists in the world. The 'Who do you not get on with on holiday' poll surveyed over 1,000 British tourists who went abroad this summer, and suggested that Russians were money flashing chavs who hid sunloungers in their hotel rooms.

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.

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.

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 21st, 2009 LONDON - The Mayor of London Thursday accused the anti-migrant British National Party (BNP) of seeking to whip up a 'political stunt' after its leader was reported headed for the British Queen's garden party. Richard Barnbrook, a BNP member of the London Assembly, said he will take along his leader Nick Griffin as his guest to the Queen's garden party at Buckingham Palace July 21 - an annual event to which all London Assembly members are invited alongside other select members of the public.

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.

May 13th, 2009 LONDON - Prince William had to apologise after a 109-year-old woman wrote to the Queen to complain that Her Majesty wore the same yellow dress in all five royal birthday cards sent to congratulate her. Catherine Masters' letter compelled William to promise that his grandmother would wear a new outfit for the next card.

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 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 2nd, 2009 LONDON - Prince Philip made a gaffe when U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle met the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

March 12th, 2009 LONDON - Using thermal imaging technology, a team of energy surveyors has determined that the Buckingham Palace tops the list of the "dirty dozen" league of London's most environmentally damaging buildings. According to a report in the Telegraph, the team labeled the palace "shocking and appalling", the biggest "central heating radiator" in the Capital and gave it a score of 0 out of 10.

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.

December 22nd, 2008 LONDON - A former butler to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was sentenced by a court in Manchester city Monday to at least six years in prison for child abuse. Paul Kidd was found guilty of abusing underaged boys and possessing more than 18,000 images of child pornography.