Today’s news summary – Paper Talk: Royals named & tributes to Alistair Darling
Friday’s newspapers report on the aftermath of a new royal book. Many of the papers’ lead pictures pay tribute to Shawn MacGowan, the Pogues singer, or Alistar Darling, the former Labour chancellor, who died yesterday.
Royal scandal continues
Several papers have named two senior royals – Charles and Kate – as being the two royals who speculated about Prince Harry’s son’s skin colour.
The Daily Mirror reports Buckingham Palace is furious over Omid Scobie’s Endgame. The paper quotes a Palace source: “The entire Royal Family is united in outrage over this whole episode.”
The Guardian reports an inquiry is happening into why the names were printed. The publisher in the Netherlands has now withdrawn that edition.
The Daily Mail picks apart Omid Scobie’s defence – that he never produced a version of his book that included names. The paper says the Dutch translator said the names of the royals were in the manuscript she was given to work on.
The Daily Telegraph reports the royal family are considering legal action. The paper quotes sources close to the Palace as saying “there is no basis to the claims” made about the royals. The paper says that the row threatens to overshadow Charles’s appearance at Cop28 in Dubai.
The Daily Express does not print the names saying it would be “a rank injustice” to name them “especially as they have no effective way of defending themselves”.
“Keep calm and carry on,” is the Metro’s headline. The paper says the royals have shrugged off damaging new twists in what it calls the “racism storm” and have “calmly carried on with their jobs”.
The i newspaper leads on an interview with the shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, who says that a “shift” in relations with the EU would be “the number one priority” for a Labour government.
Alistar Darling tributes
The deaths of Alistair Darling, Henry Kissinger and Shane MacGowan are marked across the papers.
The FT hails the former chancellor Alistair Darling as a “steady hand” saying he “helped steer Britain through the financial crisis.”
The Daily Telegraph calls Henry Kissinger “a wily and controversial adviser to US leaders”. Whilst the Times says he was a “divisive giant.” His “tireless negotiations” turned him into a celebrity, but he also “collected many enemies along the way”, the paper says.
“And the bells are ringing out for… Shane,” reads the headline on the front of the Sun, as it pays tribute to the Pogues frontman. He put the “Fairytale into Christmas,” says the paper.