Today’s news summary – Paper Talk 

Royal tragedies & Fury ahead of march budget

Good Morning! Your Wednesday front pages are in! It’s another mixed bag this morning, with no one story dominating the headlines. 

Several of the right-leaning newspapers note the death of 45-year-old Thomas Kingston, who was the husband of Lady Gabriella Kingston and son-in-law of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

Elsewhere, a variety of domestic topics take the lead. 

‘Royals on the front pages’

Wednesday’s newspapers cover a variety of stories with no single topic dominating the front pages. The traditional right-leaning newspapers lead on royal news – including the death of Thomas Kingston (pictured) and Prince William pulling out of his godfather’s memorial service.

A few of the papers – left and right – speculate about the upcoming Budget but all in all there’s not much unity with today’s leads.

‘Royal tragedy’ & ‘William no-show’

The Daily Mail says it was “a day of royal tragedy and drama” as it covers the death of Thomas Kingston. Elsewhere, the paper reports that Prince William “mysteriously” missed a memorial service for his late godfather King Constantine of Greece. 

The Times also covers the royal news. The paper says the royals were shocked by Kingston’s sudden death. The Telegraph and the Times carry the same photo of Thomas and his wife on their front pages. 

The Mirror also leads on a royal story as Prince Andrew ‘led the way’ for the royals at the memorial service for King Constantine. The paper points out that “shamed Andrew” was “front and centre” while Queen Camilla “discreetly went in by a side door”. The prince continues to be dogged by questions over his friendship with the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein but denies any wrongdoing.

‘UK rejects Nato troops idea’ 

The Telegraph reports that the UK rejected a proposal by the French President Emmanuel Macron – to send NATO troops to Ukraine. The paper says Macron was speaking after a meeting of EU leaders and said that “boots on the ground” should not be ruled out. But Downing Street said there were no plans for a British deployment of personnel, warning that it would be a “major escalation” in the war. 

The Times’ lead is on James Cleverly who has told pro-Palestinian protesters to stop their regular demonstrations in London because they are putting a huge strain on policy. Cleverly, speaking to the paper, said organisers should recognise that they had made their point and that the rallies were “not really saying anything new.” 

An alleged victim of sexual assault by a Tory MP makes the front page of the Guardian. The paper reports the alleged victim says the party is more concerned with protecting its reputation than her welfare.

‘Upcoming March Budget’

A couple of the papers look ahead at next week’s Budget. 

The Mail reports “indefensible” and says the chancellor is facing “fury” because according to the paper, he has no plans to announce an increase in defence spending – despite wars in Europe and the Middle East. 

The Metro says cigarettes will be targeted by the chancellor in the Budget – the paper reveals that a packet of twenty will go up to sixteen pounds as Hunt steps up his “war on smoking and vaping.” 

The i newspaper leads with a poll which shows Labour us yet to convince 40 per cent of its target voters to back the party ahead of a general election. It also reports that Tory support among these voters has collapsed but says that failing to convince sceptical voters could prove damaging to Labour’s chances of winning a healthy majority.