Prince William, Prince of Wales. and King Charles III walk behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II
The royal family is required to follow an extensive list of rules and pieces of royal protocol.
However, King Charles and his family members also enjoy a number of royal perks.
They’re exempt from things like taxes and jury duty, and the king is allowed to break any law.
The British monarch can’t be arrested or be the subject of civil and criminal proceedings, meaning he is effectively exempt from the law.
Queen Elizabeth II and the then-titled Prince Charles during the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster in 2019.Paul Edwards – WPA Pool/Getty Images
King Charlesenjoys sovereign immunity, meaning he can’t be prosecuted under a civil or criminal investigation.
This rule also applied to the late Queen Elizabeth II. According to previous guidance on the royal family’s official website, “although civil and criminal proceedings cannot be taken against the Sovereign as a person under UK law,” the Queen was careful to ensure that activities in her personal capacity were carried out in strict accordance with the law.
The royal family does not have to obey legal speed limits, but only when they’re driven by police on official royal duties.
Queen Elizabeth II in her Range Rover at the Royal Windsor Horse Show on July 2, 2021.Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
When the king, prime minister, and other members of the royal family are driven by police officers on official royal business, they can drive as fast or as slow as they please.
According to The Sun, the Road Traffic Regulation Act gives permission for police, fire, ambulance, and other enforcement agency vehicles to break speed limits. Since the royals are always driven by police escorts while completing royal duties, their vehicles are thus exempt from following speed regulations.
The Queen didn’t have to use a passport to travel, and this is likely to also be true for King Charles.
King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla arrive in Belfast, Northern Ireland, ahead of the Queen’s funeral.Liam McBurney/pool via AP
Every passport in the United Kingdom is issued with the Queen’s name. As a consequence, the Queen didn’t need her own passport to travel, according to the royal family website.
Following the Queen’s death, passports are likely to be altered to reflect King Charles as the new sovereign. However, much like the process of altering British money and stamps, this will be a gradual change and could take a number of years, Euronews reports.
All other members of the royal family hold their own passports, the royal family website adds.
Her Majesty was never required to have a driver’s license.
Queen Elizabeth II driving a vehicle.Carl De Souza/Stringer/Getty Images
At the age of 18, Queen Elizabeth II trained as a driver and mechanic for the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II.
The Queen was never required to take an actual driving test and was also able to drive without a number plate because all driver’s licenses in the UK are issued in the Queen’s name, according to the Daily Express.
The Mirror reports King Charles is no longer required to use a driver’s license because he is the new monarch.
The royals don’t have to use their legal last names.
King Charles and Prince William.The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge/Twitter
The royals are not required to use their legal last names, even though they technically do have one.
Before 1917, members of the British royal family had no surname, but now, the male-line descendants of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip bear the last name Mountbatten-Windsor, according to the royal family website.
While regular grandparents have to go through the courts if they want custody of their grandchildren, the king has automatic legal custody of all of his descendants and his minor grandchildren.
Prince Charles, Prince George, and Prince William at Trooping the Colour 2015.Samir Hussein/Contributor/Getty Images
The monarch has legal custody of their grandchildren, royal historian Marlene Koenig told News.com.au. in 2018.
This means Charles technically has custody of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s three children, Prince George, Prince Charlotte, and Prince Louis, and Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s children, Archie and Lilibet.
This 300-year-old rule may seem odd, and though it’s unlikely the king would ever take his grandchildren away from their parents, the law is still technically there.
Members of the royal family are exempt from paying taxes in certain instances.
Queen Elizabeth II, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, and Prince William at an official royal engagement.Getty Images
Though the monarch is not legally required to pay taxes, the Queen made voluntary payments on income, assets, and gains not used for official purposes, Insider previously reported.
Other parts of the royal family’s income, like the Prince of Wales’ income from the Duchy of Cornwall, are also exempt from taxes. However, he also “voluntarily pays income tax on all revenue from the estate,” according to the official website.
The royals are also able to skip out on jury duty.
Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles.Chris Jackson/Getty Images
One royal perk is that members of the king’s family do not have to take part in jury duty. In normal instances in the United Kingdom, evading jury duty results in a fine of up to £1,000, or around $1,100.
However, for the king and members of his immediate family, jury duty is not required, The Guardian reported.
The monarch typically has two birthdays.
Queen Elizabeth II cutting a birthday cake.John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty Images
According to the royal family’s official website, the Queen celebrated two birthdays each year: her actual birthday on April 21 and her official public birthday celebration on the second Saturday in June.
Across generations, sovereign rulers have often held their public birthday celebrations on days other than their actual birthday, especially when their real birth dates fall in the autumn or winter. This is in order to increase the likeliness of good weather for the annual Trooping the Colour parade, according to the royal family website.
Since King Charles’ birthday is in November, he could follow his mother’s lead and have a second celebration in June too, although this is yet to be confirmed.
The monarchy is also exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.
The royal family.ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The Royal Household is not a public authority within the meaning of the FOI Acts, and is therefore exempt from their provisions,” according to the royal family website.
This rule allows the royal family to exercise more privacy over their day-to-day duties and financials. For instance, while the royal household releases an annual financial report, the UK public is prevented from accessing detailed information on its spending.
Prince Harry and Prince William walked side by side at the Queen’s funeral on Monday.
The decision wasn’t a PR stunt, according to King Charles’ former butler Grant Harrold.
Harrold said the brothers showed they were “a united family” leading up to the funeral.
Grant Harrold, a former butler to King Charles, spoke to Insider about Prince Harry’s relationship with the royal family following the Queen’s funeral.
Harry and William walked side by side in the funeral procession for Queen Elizabeth II on Monday. It was a contrasting image to Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021, where their cousin Peter Phillips stood in between the brothers.
King Charles III, Prince William, and Prince Harry at the funeral of Prince Philip on April 17, 2021.Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage
It’s unclear whether the brothers have reconciled following reports of a rift that dates back to 2018. The Guardian reports that William and Harry made no eye contact and kept a physical distance apart during the funeral.
Harrold was employed by the royal household from 2004 until 2011 and worked closely with Charles, Harry, and William. He said he doesn’t believe Harry and William’s joint appearance would have been a PR stunt, but rather a decision that was made naturally.
“Things don’t just happen. They are always planned. But I don’t think this was intentionally planned,” Harrold said.
Harrold said the brothers already previously showed they were “a united family” when they had a walkabout with their wives at Windsor Castle to view tributes to the Queen a couple of days after she died.
“It could be short-lived, but the Queen’s death brought them together,” Harrold said.
William invited Meghan Markle and Harry to join them for the walkabout, a Kensington Palace spokesperson previously told The Times of London.
“The Prince of Wales thought it was an important show of unity at an incredibly difficult time for the family,” the spokesperson said, according to The Times.
Harrold added that Harry’s relationship with the king could be improving as well. The monarch mentioned his “love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas” in his first speech as king on September 9.
“The fact that Charles said that, it was him extending an olive branch,” Harrold said.
“He acknowledged their new life in California, but made clear they are part of the family. This was his first major statement as king, and he made it clear that even if people don’t like Meghan, she is part of the family,” he added.
Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, and representatives for the Duke of Sussex did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Every week on the Gregorian calendar, there is an independence day celebration by a former British colony. Today, 62 countries – a great many of them African – exist as reminders of British imperial ambition. In the wake of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the British empire, quite predictably, is facing another emotionally-charged scrutiny, more especially in Africa.
White European and American sensibilities have been offended with the pillorying the British monarchy is receiving in the aftermath of the queen’s death. While some have claimed that they do not necessarily object to criticisms of British imperialism but would rather have the conversation at a more appropriate time, the offense has largely been taken as a result of a divergence of views of what imperialism means. There are many who would like Africans to be grateful for British imperialism or to spare Elizabeth in particular, the rancor.
The global public has a tricky relationship with what empire is. Here, I do not wish to provoke the historiographical question of what reign and subjugation deserve to be called imperial. Rather, my concern is moral – do we think empire is bad? What do we think happens when the imperialists come to town?
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My argument is that those who are confused and frustrated with the section of Africans who would prefer to spit on Queen Elizabeth’s grave may not be entirely conversant with what British and European imperialism fashioned. At best, they are very forgiving or forgetful.
The point of European imperialism
One may cite two main theories for why empires exist. There is the view that an imperial status is a natural consequence of growth, and in a rather competitive world, it is key to the sustenance of a nation. The curious case of Belgium owning an African colony that was more than 70 times the size of Belgium, follows from this tradition. The very first Belgian monarch, King Leopold I, considered owning a colony in accordance with the expectations of nation-building in 1840s Europe. Belgium, founded in 1830, needed to exact its sphere of influence over an area where it could also extract materials.
The second opinion on empire is right up Rudyard Kipling’s poetic alley – that imperialism occurs when some people take it upon themselves to civilize others. Kipling’s White Man’s Burden implores the white man to “seek another’s profit” and “work another’s gain”, language that likens imperialism to charity missions. The 19th century British colonial entrepreneur Cecil Rhodes was certainly a man who thought himself a Christian soldier even if he expropriated African wealth.
Both theories invite a certain sympathy for the imperialist cause. We are asked to understand empire as a matter of necessity, and in this light, the evils of empire tend to be unintended repercussions of either a nation’s raison d’être or the small price to pay for civilization.
Imperialism is not specifically European but European imperialism, birthed by their age of enlightenment, is specifically treacherous in a way and to a magnitude that other systems of domination cannot compare.
It is absolutely necessary to remind all that the internationalization of the counter-imperialist movement is only a little more than a century old. For the longest while in global affairs, history is written by the victors”, as the saying goes, and at this juncture, by victors who were unified in a supra-kingdom identity. The creation of race, for one, during this period literally incentivized a wider European participation in colonisation because the idea of white supremacy justifies the atrocities meted out to those who were seen as philosophically and physically sub-human. And this is partly why the concept of empire has enjoyed hallowed glorification, thanks to the ‘winners’ who wrote world history.
This is as true as it is Thrasymachian. And that brings me to the point of European imperialism.
Apart from territorial expansionist politics, European imperialism was also a ‘world-making’ opportunity where the values, truths and thought processes of the vanquished gave way to those of the victors. European imperialism in Africa was designed to pursue the interests of crown, capital and if you can believe, Christ, but the processes of whipping our fore-parents in line was also to culminate in the standardization of a certain kind of world where the African and all other peoples knew their place beneath the white European.
We often refer to the usurpation of a people’s intangible way of life as cultural imperialism and it
is as if that is separate from colonization. But this is a consequence of recency bias because in fact, in the long history of human evolution, cultural imperialism has been occasioned only through overtaking lands. Americanisation, a perfect example of imperialism through Hollywood, Bretton Woods and Silicon Valley, is a very recent phenomenon. Even that is often spurred by military adventurism.
But European imperialism was the motherboard. From about the 17th century, the seeds of the world we now know had begun to bear fruits. Colonies in Africa, Asia, and Americas were situated in compliance with the conveniences of London, Brussels, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon et al. The writer Howard French also notes in Born in Blackness that this period was the beginning of the obscuration of Africa’s primary contributions and agency in the making of the modern world. Plundering the continent and belittling Africans was essential to Eurocentric world-making. Indeed, by colonizing virtually everyone else, Europe essentially created the modern world in its own image and in obeisance to its own interests.
Sadly, in many history textbooks across Africa, young people are taught the ‘merits’ of colonization. But if imperialism was an opportunity to construct a world apropos of Europeanism, any merit of colonization is literally the tools the colonized was bequeathed to survive in a world created by the colonizer.
Elizabeth and African anger
Indeed, no other imperial European power proved as successful as the British colonial experience. The lengths reached by British domination were the stuff of envy, with crown providing the arms and legs to the dreams of capitalist exploitation, particularly in Africa. That was the case for more than 200 years before Elizabeth became the queen of her people and the colonized.
In conversations with various individuals, I have urged an elevation of the target of our polemics and I stand accused of humanizing the woman whose political office represents so much of how things have historically gone south for Africans. I often feel that to single out the departed queen for the iniquities of the empire can seem mean-spirited and intellectually myopic. After all, Elizabeth, like her father George and her son Charles, was born to ceremonial duty and destiny.
It’s not personal, it’s business, and the machinery that props them – which should be our target – has been grinding for nearly half a millennium
Since 1660, the British monarchy has been updated with the times and lest we forget, the clamor for its dissolution is older than Britain’s exploits in Africa. But the question of why the monarchy persists in the United Kingdom is not an interesting question and it is one I am grateful not to answer. Mine is to seek to understand how and why the monarchy expanded its grandeur and allure internationally. Why has it also, in contemporary times, maintained its popular mystique despite the advent of liberal democracy and in spite of the stories of its dying and dead counterparts? (The European monarchies that survived World War I are not half as intriguing or powerful as Buckingham Palace today).
Perhaps, that is where Elizabeth and her reign come in. In 1952, when her father died, Elizabeth was on a family vacation in the British colony of Kenya. Later in the same year. the Kenyan Land and Freedom Army (KLFA) lit the fires of what has come to be known as the MauMau Uprising. It was a response to the British government’s sanction that forced locals off their lands to make room for colonial settlers. The uprising was only one of several ominous acts of civil disobedience after World War II in British Africa. The independence struggle had picked up across the continent by this time and in Britain, the colonial power was planning and pitching postcolonial scenarios. In 1953, Elizabeth told New Zealanders in a Christmas message broadcast via radio that she felt at home anywhere the British had colonized but was ditching the imperial tradition for a “new conception of an equal partnership of races and nations”, i.e. the Commonwealth.
But the significance of that fateful day when George I died for many Africans is that Elizabeth’s ascension began in Africa. If the argument is therefore that Africa should have occupied more than a footnote in Elizabeth’s imperial reign – as history has shown – those who make it have been sorely disappointed. In fairness, the future queen had already announced on an earlier visit to the continent – Cape Town, South Africa in 1947 – that she was committed “to the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong”. She did not attempt to depart from this pledge even if the British substituted “imperial” for “Commonwealth”.
Sometimes, Elizabeth’s defenders cite her evangelism of the commonwealth in the former colonies as proof that she welcomed positive change. But the imperial-to-commonwealth argument falls at the first hurdle – what is our common wealth when our alliance is not on common grounds? Where are the reparations and acknowledgements that equal partners require to forge forward?
For a large part of the three score years and a decade that she reigned, Elizabeth was singularly the most effective arsenal in the British diplomatic toolkit and she was deployed quite effectively. By whatever design or spell, the queen was often regaled with excellent hospitality in the former colonies whose leaderships could separate her person from the politics. Even in Ghana, the magnificent force of decolonization, Kwame Nkrumah, danced famously and heartily with Queen Elizabeth in 1961 when she visited that country.
She was around for the consensuses that have shaped the post-World War II world in the last 50 years and incredibly failed to take advantage of watershed moments to kick off what will undoubtedly be a long and hard conversation. She seemed content to play envoy of imperial purpose and perhaps, this is what I overlook when I extend her grace.
The monarchy’s allure has been perpetuated by more efforts than the Machiavellian attempts in London. But critically, what we have witnessed is the power of an institution to soften the blows thrown at British colonialism, dissuade retrospection and offer nothing more than gesture politics.
With this in mind, what many Africans are saying today is that the queen made the choice to star as alibi for imperialism.
Oluwole Omofemi’s trip to see his works on display in New York earlier this year at Volta art fair, where three of his pieces (which had already been sold) were shown, marked the completion of his arrival on the international market. Three years ago the Nigerian artist sold 12 paintings to a friend for £1,000. Since the beginning of this year he has shifted 21 for a combined total of more than $1mn, including one for $189,000. His rocket trip to stardom was fuelled by the commission for a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II for the cover of Tatler’s platinum jubilee issue.
The 34-year-old’s vast portraits of women plucked from the streets of his home city of Ibadan, Nigeria — pop in palette but Old Master in sensibility — have contributed to a surge of interest in African portraiture, making him one of the most sought-after artists in a continent of increasingly sought-after artists.
Oluwole Omofemi’s portrait of the Queen, which appeared on Tatler’s platinum jubilee cover last year
Since the rapid rise in his fortunes, Omofemi has begun a new life, involving handshakes with princes, champagne toasts with hangers-on and the curious reappearance of bygone acquaintances. He was thrilled to meet Prince Charles at a Buckingham Palace jubilee reception, where the prince asked him about his techniques. “I said I use oil and acrylic. He said: ‘Oh, nice to meet you, you are doing well’ and shook my hand.”
But, the artist insists, he remains unchanged. He shuns the glamour of Lagos and London, though he is hunting for a home in the British capital for his wife and two children. He eats pounded yam and fufu at the same roadside shacks. He drops in on his grandfather in the cramped streets of home. He financially supports his two sisters and a group of local widows, while setting up a residency for aspiring artists. However hard galleries try to prise him away, he says, he will always be an artist of Ibadan.
We meet in his two-room, first-floor studio, from which he gazes out at the brown roofs of his city and its spreading yellows, greens and purples — which have a habit of ending up in his pictures. It’s a national holiday, and he has arrived back from New York only 24 hours earlier.
“I’m not even rested, seriously. Today I should be staying at home with my family.”
‘Awaiting’ (2021) by Oluwole Omofemi
Family, Omofemi gives the impression, lies at the root of everything. After attending the art fair in New York he flew to Sacramento to surprise his father, who left his mother when he was a baby and whom he had not seen since the older man moved away from Nigeria 14 years ago. “That was the first time we slept together in the same bed . . . My dad was in the sitting room and just there, and at one point I appear like a ghost. And he was like: ‘What am I seeing?’”
Godwin Oluwole Omofemi was born in central Ibadan, Nigeria’s sprawling third city, to that departing father and a mother of whom he will say no more than that “she did everything possible for me to get a better life”. His parentshad “some issues”, and after his father left she took him to his grandfather, who “accepted me and accepted my mother too for who she is”.
Omofemi’s grandfather nurtured him, and seeing the toddler fashion strange objects out of cans and paper, pointed him towards a career as an electrician. The boy had other ideas. From the age of eight he washed cars, scrubbed plates, hawked beer, toiled in a restaurant. “These are the things that I passed through as an artist growing up.”
Working from a small studio as a schoolboy, he sold paintings, mostly portraits, for £3 or £4, “just raising money”. He got commissions from friends and even from his teacher, at one stage, as birthday gifts for people. He made it to the Polytechnic Ibadan, taking a diploma in art and a higher diploma in painting. He studied the works of the city’s figurative heroes, Ebenezer Akinola and Tope Fatunmbi. (Ibadan, Omofemi says, boasts the most technically gifted artists in Nigeria, and Nigeria the best in west Africa.)
He learnt ceramics, textiles, sculpture. He began to sustain himself through sales, and 10 years ago won representation from Alexis Gallery, a key launch pad in Lagos. He became a familiar figure on the Nigerian art scene, along the way discovering and falling in love with foreign artists such as Picasso and Klimt but forming a growing sense of his own identity as an artist.
In March 2020, Signature African Art gallery in London held a show for him; early in 2021 Out of Africa gallery displayed his work. His first piece on the secondary market sold for $8,000 in June 2020. Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Phillips and Bonhams began auctioning works that have consistently outpaced their estimates until “Invader”, an arresting portrait of a bald young woman covered in sapphire against a sun-yellow background, set his record of $189,000 at Christie’s in March this year (the estimate was $10,000-$15,000).
‘Invader’ (2021) by Oluwole Omofemi, which sold for $189,000 at Christie’s in March
He paints “friends or people I see on the street. At times I use my wife as a model.” He works from photographs, hundreds of which he takes in his studio, looking for the right faces to suit the theme or the idea in his mind. Occasionally he paints prostitutes, whom he came to know when his old studio was next to their quarters. “There’s a fence that separated us from their buildings, so men came to their place to sleep with them. They came to my place as well, to see my art, to visit me. We talked about art because mostly I paint women. And, you know, women have always been most of the friends that I have.”
He paints several pieces at once, which take about a month each, depending on his mood. Omofemi’s central motif is hair, which he uses to endorse the liberation of African women from colonial racism through the natural hair movement that began in the 1960s. Afro hair, elaborately plaited hair, conspicuously absent hair — for him they are all a “symbol of power”, a “metaphor for freedom”.
It therefore made total sense for Omofemi to give Queen Elizabeth, a “symbol of hope” whom he considers to have “conquered life”, a halo of black hair in her jubilee portrait. After he got the commission from Tatler, he faced the terrifying task of finding “a new palette” to “capture the essence” of the first white woman he had ever painted. And now he is planning a series of portraits of black women evoking iconic royal photographs.
‘Seduction’ (2021) by Oluwole Omofemi
The commission for the Queen’s portrait had a powerful impact, however. He took to sleeping separately from his wife in a room filled with printouts of his new subject.
“At one point I was having a kind of spiritual communication with some of the pictures . . . I was imagining that the Queen was sitting down with me.” As he explained to his wife: “What I’m about to do is going to put my name in the history of art.”
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The year was 1956, and there was much fanfare and anticipation for Queen Elizabeth’s first visit to Nigeria.
The young monarch was just a few years into her reign and making a highly anticipated visit to the West African country, which had yet to become a republic.
Ahead of her arrival, famed Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu received a royal commission to commemorate her visit with a statue, which made him the first African artist to create an official portrait of a member of the royal family.
He began working on the sculpture the following year, visiting Buckingham Palace in London for several sittings.
“In 1957, Queen Elizabeth II sat for Enwonwu for a large bronze sculpture,” noted the Royal Collection Trust, which oversees the art collection of the British royal family.
He began working on the sculpture the following year, visiting Buckingham Palace in London for several sittings.
“In 1957, Queen Elizabeth II sat for Enwonwu for a large bronze sculpture,” noted the Royal Collection Trust, which oversees the art collection of the British royal family.
Ben Enwonwu working on the bronze sculpture of the queen Credit: Courtesy Oliver Enwonwu/The Ben Enwonwu Foundation
In all, Queen Elizabeth sat for Enwonwu 12 times, eight of which were at Buckingham Palace, according to the Ben Enwonwu Foundation’s website.
The rest of the sittings took place at a private studio belonging to Sir William Reid-Dick, Enwonwu’s colleague at the Royal Society of British Artists.
During this time, Enwonwu “finished a portrait bust and a sketch model of the sculpture,” according to the foundation.
Ben Enwonwu and HM Elizabeth II looking at his sculpture of the queen Credit: Courtesy Oliver Enwonwu/The Ben Enwonwu Foundation
‘African features’
Enwonwu completed the sculpture in 1957 and raised some eyebrows at the time for depicting the queen with fuller lips. His son Oliver said that it was part of Ben Enwonwu’s signature style to “Africanize” his subjects.
“Some of the rave reviews that the sculpture received was that the artist depicted the queen through his African eyes, the work had African features, which was characteristic of his work,” Oliver Enwonwu told CNN.
Oliver, also a renowned artist, described the queen’s sculpture as one of his father’s greatest works.
“My father was very proud of it. It was one of his masterpieces that showed his dexterity as an artist,” he told CNN.
“At the time, it (Enwonwu making a sculpture of the queen) was a big deal because he was an African artist. But he was the most famous in the Commonwealth at the time so it was very easy that he would be given the nod,” Oliver added.
Unveiling of the statue in Nigeria Credit: Courtesy Oliver Enwonwu/The Ben Enwonwu Foundation
While the sculpture later ended up in Nigeria, Queen Elizabeth acquired the bust and, according to the Royal Collection Trust, had another Enwonwu sculpture as well as a number of his paintings.
The bronze of the queen was later placed at the Nigerian parliament building ahead of preparations for the country’s independence from Britain in 1960.
The work now resides in the Nigerian national museum.
An influential African artist
Enwonwu has come to be known as one of Africa’s greatest modernists.
His portrait of Nigerian princess Adetutu “Tutu” Ademiluyi, dubbed the “African Mona Lisa,” sold for over $1.6 million (£1,205,000) at a London auction in 2018.
Born in 1917, Enwonwu has been described as the most influential African artist of the 20th century.
He had become an eminent artist even before his royal commission, and in 1954, was given a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) award by the queen for his services to art.
Enwonwu earned a scholarship in 1944 from Shell West Africa and the British Council to study fine art in the UK after a successful solo exhibition. He received a classical education at the Slade School of Fine Art in London and attended Oxford University. Enwonwu later returned to Nigeria to become a lecturer.
He was appointed Nigeria’s first professor of art by the University of Ife, now known as Obafemi Awolowo University, in 1971 and received a National Merit Award from the Nigerian government nine years later.
It was in the 1950s, the seeds of decolonization began to sprout, and nearly every fabric of social life was drenched in the sweet odour of a people longing for a special kind of Freedom. Independence. The euphoria found expression in native art, music and fashion. The latter, although less written about in the respectable commentary of history, still occupies a most ambient chapter in the annals of the history of that era.
The Kariba suit strode off from the land of Jamaica into Africa.
Jamaican males decided to break free from the yoke of the jacket and tie after gaining independence from Great Britain. The stylish, open-neck, over-the-pants Kareeba and matching trousers suit evolved into the country’s official standard for formal occasions, work attire, and everyday wear.
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Elsewhere, the safari suit and leisure suit are other names for it, but in Jamaica, the Kareeba, a stylized abbreviation of Caribbean clothing is something unique. Its wearing involves more than just fashion and comfort. There’s also the politics of it.
When Prime Minister, Michael Manley, came into power in 1972, he and his administration chose the Kareeba as their official uniform to show that they were breaking with the past. The Prime Minister donned a fancy black one when he saw Queen Elizabeth II, and the Government even had a statute approved in Parliament confirming the appropriateness of the attire for formal events.
It has been around in different forms in numerous hot, tropical countries, but it wasn’t well-known in Jamaica till a delightful designer by the name of Ivy Ralph decided to expand from bush jackets into “a total look,” and called it Kareeba a name that is now frequently used to refer to the entire genre, irrespective of the manufacturer.
Other noteworthy politicians who wore the style of the suit were D.K. Duncan, a PNP member, Errol Barrow, the prime minister of Barbados, Forbes Burnham, the president of Guyana, the president of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and Julius Nyerere, the president of Tanzania. Ivy Ralph, the creator of the Kariba suit, received the Order of Distinction in 1999 for her exceptional work in advancing fashion.
A representation of “cultural decolonization” was indeed the Kariba suit. Manley referred to wearing a jacket and tie in the Caribbean’s tropical climate as the “first act of psychological surrender” to “colonial trauma” in his autobiography The Politics of Change. It was declared in 1981 by the newly elected JLP government that the Kariba suit was no longer appropriate attire for lawmakers. Then, parliament mandated that MPs, guests, and media should “dress with decorum,” which was interpreted to mean avoiding Kariba suits and guayabera shirts.
There are formal Kareebas with a tunic neck and a tiny slit breast pocket in place of the casual ones, as well as Kareebas in dark tones and shocking turquoise with opposing stitching and embroidered, wide flare lapels. They cost between $65 and $70 when custom-fitted, which was how Mrs. Ralph sold the majority of her kareebas. They sold for $10 less off the rack.
The period after independence saw most of the colonies moving disassociating themselves from their colonial masters symbolically. For some countries, flags, national anthems were the way to go and for Jamaica, the Kariba suit was another symbolic representation of decolonization.
In the 21st century, the Kariba suit is not known as it is it has evolved aesthetically and is widely known as a political suit and is worn not just by politicians, but by all men who take a liking to it.
Nims Obunge is a pastor at the Freedom’s Ark Church in Tottenham, North London. This is a part of Europe‘s most diverse city where one is destined to meet a lot of Black people of African and Caribbean descent. In 2011 when protests broke in North London, the world was given a view of how these Londoners lived in desperate, if not squalid conditions, compared to the image we have of the city.
In 2008, Obunge told the BBC what he made of life in North London from the perspective of a pastor.
“[W]e had a big problem with violent crime here. I was burying young people who had been shot or stabbed and I was speaking at their death, yet I’d never had the opportunity to speak in their lives. So, I felt challenged by God to see whether I could pastor people who I knew would never come to my church,” Obunge said at the time.
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This experience as undoubtedly shaped his understanding of what it is to be a Londoner. His Christian ministry is now well-received and he commands respect beyond Tottenham and the pulpit. He was once a Deputy Lieutenant to the Lord Lieutenant of Greater London. But he is still a Black man in Great Britain, Obunge claims.
He told The Africa Report: “[T]he history of the black experience has painfully revealed the base nature of our humanity. Slavery, colonialism and imperialism must never be forgotten as eras of cruelty and total violations of basic human rights.”
Obunge wants to be in a position of influence where his decisions edge towards the restoration and defense of Black humanity. And so when polls open in London on Thursday, May 6, he will be one of 20 individuals vying for the position of London mayor. This list includes incumbent Sadiq Khan, a Labour Party politician of Pakistani descent. Obunge is thought to be an unlikely winner and part of it is that he is an independent runner but the 56-year-old has a plan if the unexpected happens.
“I will call a truce against gang warfare, set up a program for offenders who need to be trained to change their outlooks and immediately establish a Covid-19 Recovery Plan for businesses that need to get back on their feet,” he summarized.
But Obunge is not the only among the hopeful lot to have intimate knowledge of gang violence in London. The Conservative Party’s Shaun Bailey, another Black man, has also touted his experience with the phenomenon among poor ethnic minorities and has said “politics isn’t scary when you’ve seen stabbings”.
Yet, Obunge believes he comes to his conclusions and construction of his identity quite differently than Bailey who is of Jamaican descent. The latter’s parents were among the Windrush generation but the former believes being in Africa and being an African is a phenomenon that forces an appreciation of Blackness like no other.
Obunge was born to Nigerian parents in 1956 in Kensington, London. His father was a diplomat and that meant Obunge’s family traveled a lot. He lived for a while in Nigeria, graduating from the University of Jos in the 1980s. He then returned to the UK after his brother was diagnosed with cancer and has since made his birth country his home.
Kendra Robinson is an extremely talented woman and arguably one of the few black entrepreneurs exhibiting professional excellence in three different career fields. She is a lawyer, a real estate investor and a reality TV star.
She is founder of the real estate firm SRS Title and Associates, and the law firm Kendra Robinson and Associates. So, how did all start for Robinson?
The South Carolina native studied mathematics at Kentucky State University and continued to the University of Louisville where she completed her law degree. Robinson’s inspiration was inspired in part by the time she spent watching episodes of “Law & Order” with her mother and the need to fight racial injustice in her community.
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According to her, being a lawyer is the most rewarding thing she has ever done. It was through her professional career as a lawyer that she became a real estate investor. She created a niche for herself as a real estate closing attorney and a criminal defence attorney.
She ventured into real estate at the behest of her husband and Grammy-nominated rapper Jasiel Robinson (aka Yung Joc.). This allowed her to learn how to do real estate closings and title work. Now she is a certified real estate agent.
She attributes her success to divine providence, asserting that God is her motivation, and adding that she could not have come this far without his blessings.
“I give all glory and credit to God. I’m not self-made. I didn’t do it all by myself. It was God,” she told theatlantavoice. “The best part is the impact that I know that I’ve been able to make, just simply by trying to help somebody or trying to put somebody in a better position, whether it’s to get them out of a criminal situation, an immigration situation, or helping them close on a house,” she continued.
“Providing them with that long-term security of home ownership, and the benefits that come with that. Basically, changing people around me for the better has been my highlight.”
In addition to her professional career as an attorney and her real estate business, she is also a reality TV personality. She appears on “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta” although she was initially reluctant to appear on it.
Asked by BET what are some of the important lessons she has learnt as an entrepreneur, she responded: “One of the most important things I learned is to delegate tasks and also find a mentor. In any endeavour, I’ve engaged in or any businesses I own, I have my mentors to help guide me.”
She continued: “I have a mentor who was the first boss I had coming out of law school, his name is Craig Lewis. Anytime I have a question I call Mr Lewis. Because when you’re starting out on your own, and whatever it is, unless you’re already an expert, even if you are already an expert, starting a business is different, because you don’t get a paycheck, and you don’t get an insurance playing, you are the provider of all these things. So having a good mentor that is key.”
The diversity of African cultures and peoples is often reflected in the range of hairstyles and headgear used by its citizens.
Hairstyles and headgear have been utilized by various civilizations to indicate tribal affiliation, gender, religion, occupation and social rank. As a fashion item, diverse cultures have produced wigs, hats, hair accessories, razors, and combs. The numerous statues and masks from ancient Africa that display intricate hair adornments provide evidence of the significance of headgear to African culture.
Women in Nigeria traditionally wear a gele on top of their heads. A huge headscarf called ‘gele’ is used on different occasions as a decorative head covering or as a fashion accessory. Even though they can be worn every day, Nigerian women prefer to dress up for special occasions like weddings and church services. They are composed of sturdy materials and can cover a woman’s hair and even her ears during wedding ceremonies, leaving the face and earrings uncovered.
It is a quotidian ornamental feature of Women in West Africa, especially among Ghanaians and the Yoruba people of Nigeria.Aside from ceremonies, it has also become a staple of women’s daily attire because it comes in different variations, some of which are only appropriate for ceremonial settings.
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Historically, a can serve the utility of identifying a woman’s marital status; if worn to the right, she is married, while if worn to the left shows that she is single. Due to the fact that larger Geles are more expensive, they are typically prestige symbols.
Aso-oke gele is now in style; it is often not too expensive. However, one can add more flair to it by increasing the number of steps of its fold. The sequined or beaded variants are more expensive.
There are numerous creative ways to tie a Gele, most of which require a level of skills which can only be learned by constant practice. There are plenty of skilled hands on offer to help wear a Gele, but even that is being replaced by the influx of already molded styles.
A gele is seen and worn in steps, and for descriptive purposes, it sort of looks like a fan with two arms sitting atop the wearer’s head. Its form shows ingenuity because there are so many lovely styles that can be created with the Gele. Hence, a lady who is dressed up in Gele is seen as being proud of exhibiting her culture publicly.
In Igbo culture, the Gele is typically worn over a blouse and ‘George Wrapper’. As a result, the Gele is currently a fashion statement. In actuality, not wearing a Gele when wearing the traditional Yoruba gele In fact, it will be regarded as a fashion faux pas to wear the traditional Yoruba Boba and iro without a Gele.
These are geles that are produced especially for celebrations of significant events like chieftaincy title ceremonies, milestone birthdays, traditional marriages, and other noteworthy occasions. Aso-Oke, a woven cloth spun by hand or machine specifically for each customer, is typically used to create custom-made Geles.
Today, the Gele is worn on a variety of garments, including cocktail dresses, skirt suits, and pantsuits. As Gele’s uses are still developing, the options are virtually limitless.
The wife of a Black manwho was handcuffed by police after a couple wrongfully accused him of stealing their truck, says she believes race played a factor in the way her husband was treated.
According to ABC7, the Black Oakland resident was in his vehicle on September 13 when he was approached by a couple. “He described it like they were looking in his truck bed and he rolled down his window and said to them ‘Can I help you with something?’ and they said to him something to the effect of ‘Our truck was stolen,’” the man’s wife, Nicole Hirsch, said.
Hirsch said her husband, who works as a landscaper, had his tools in the car at the time. But she said the couple went ahead to claim the car he was driving was stolen, and it belonged to them. That was after the Black man showed them a picture that was taken of the truck some four years ago. Several police officers later arrived at the scene and surrounded him with their vehicles.
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“He put his hands up is my understanding and followed their orders,” said Hirsch. “He told me that it’s embarrassing to be in handcuffs on the street with many cop cars around. It’s humiliating. It’s infuriating.”
Hirsch said the officers handcuffed her husband even before they asked for his license and registration, adding that he also tried to prove that the truck indeed belonged to him. She believes race played a factor in the way her husband was treated.
“I definitely do,” Hirsch said. “Just like this couple that is claiming this is our truck. He is also a person and why is his voice and his opinion not given the same weight and credence that the couple was given.”
Responding to the incident, the Oakland Police Department said that they “received a call from a victim who’s vehicle had been recently stolen in Oakland, advising that they found their stolen vehicle occupied in the 700 block of 35th Street.”
“When officers arrived, they located a vehicle that matched the year, make, model and color of the victim’s vehicle and detained the occupant, pending further investigation. Officers later determined that the vehicle in question was registered to the individual who was detained,” the OPD added.
A neighbor who spoke with ABC7 also concurred with Hirsch’s sentiments. “He is Black so they look at us like since we are Black we are the most targeted to either steal a car,” the neighbor said.
Hirsch is a sociologist, and she specializes in diversity, equity, and inclusion research. She said her husband’s recent experience is the reason why she took up that career.
“My hope is that protocol changes. My hope is that the Oakland police department finds better ways to treat particularly folks of color and my hope is that this doesn’t happen to anybody else ever again,” Hirsch said.
The couple said they’re looking at the possibility of taking legal action.
The former Philadelphia police officer Eric Ruch Jr, accused of fatally shooting an unarmed Black motorist in 2017, was on Tuesday September 20th, found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. As previously reported by Face2FaceAfrica, Ruch’s murder trial for killing Dennis Plowden Jr. commenced last Tuesday.
The former cop’s prosecution was described as Philadelphia’s first-ever police murder trial for a civilian killing, NBC Philadelphia reported. And though Ruch was not convicted of a third-degree murder charge, the jury found him guilty of possession of an instrument of crime. Following the verdict, the former police officer was taken into custody after the judge revoked his bail. His sentencing date was set for November 17.
Ruch fatally shot Dennis Plowden following a high-speed chase, The Associated Press reported. But during the first day of his trial, the convicted man’s lawyer told the court that his client became distraught when he got to know the man he had shot wasn’t armed.
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Prosecutors said Ruch opened fire on Plowden, 25, a few seconds after he responded to the scene, adding that his other colleague officers had held their fire at the time. The deceased Black man crashed the car he was driving during the police chase. And following the crash, an investigation by a grand jury determined that he raised his left hand and attempted to obey commands. The jury also determined that Plowden was dazed at the time.
But Ruch’s lawyer, David Mischak, argued that Plowden’s right hand was out of sight and he had placed it close to a pocket. “As soon as my client discovered it was heroin and not a gun, he was upset. He was distraught,” Mischak told the jurors.
Mischak also encouraged jurors to also look into the events leading up to the fatal shooting. Police believed the car Plowden was driving was connected to a homicide that had recently happened. But it was established Plowden wasn’t connected to that case, and he had borrowed the vehicle.
Besides Ruch, two other Philadelphia police officers have also been charged with murder over their actions while on the job, The Associated Press reported.
Tania Bond, who is Plowden’s widow, testified last Tuesday. She said her husband succumbed to his injuries at a hospital the day after he was shot. Last year, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the city agreed to pay her $1.2 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.
Ruch had served on the police force for 10 years. But during his years on the job, a number of complaints were filed against him. During a pretrial hearing, Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Barbara McDermott reportedly prevented prosecutors from notifying jurors about the complaints as internal affairs determined he did not commit any wrongdoing in most of the complaints.
Ruch faces up to 25 years in prison, per The Philadelphia Inquirer. But his sentence could be reduced to around five years because of advisory sentencing guidelines.
It is never easy to list and rank a country’s wealth.
There are undoubtedly numerous obstacles to economic growth and maintaining a prosperous, healthy, and productive society, including social-economic status, commerce, economic shifts, natural disasters, long-standing colonialism, poverty and inequality, and political corruption.
Africa is home to 1.33 billion people who reside in 54 different countries and who generate $2.2 trillion in nominal GDP through trade, agriculture, and the extraction of diverse energy sources (oil being the dominant one in certain countries).
Africa has the fastest growth rate in the world in 2013, at 5.6% per year.
The continent of Africa is in for a bright future, but as we’ll explain in the following pages, it’s crucial to comprehend the present.
Meet Atlanta, Georgia native Dianna King, a software engineer and foodie who is also the co-founder and CEO of Eat UNrestricted, one of the only brands of plant-based vegan cheese products run by a woman of color.
Vegan cheese accounts for a sizable share of sales of vegan goods as hundreds of thousands of individuals move to plant-based diets.
The demand for vegan consumer packaged goods (CPG) is immense, and Future Market Insights’ research shows that the supply cannot keep up with the demand’s explosive growth in popularity.
According to Diane, she wants to address this issue with her company, which is committed to offering the highest-quality products to supporters of vegans, those who have food allergies, and anybody else who wants to improve their health.
Dianna is an engineer by trade, having earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, but she claims that she was first and foremost a foodie.
She claims that addressing the growing need for wholesome, high-quality, vegan goods is a significant motivation behind the development of Eat UNrestricted.
Her leadership abilities were evident from a young age, and she was motivated to use her abilities to have an impact.
She comments, “I am an electrical engineer by trade. However, I have always been an entrepreneur and foodie.
I remember founding the first physics class at my community college during my time as a high school and college student simultaneously through the dual enrollment program offered by my local college.
My parents were also leaders and showcased it daily as entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry.”
A boxer from Detroit, Isiah Jones was shot and killed by his brother on Monday during a fight, according to his trainer Roshawn Jones, who spoke to the media at Detroit .
The 28-year-old boxer’s trainer claimed that he was informed of the tragic event one hour after it occurred.
Roshawn Jones admitted, “I instantaneously broke out in tears and was hurt.” “It’s tragic that it happened that way.”
Police in Detroit have confirmed the gunshot event.
And while claiming that a family member shot and killed an adult male, they withheld the victim’s identify.
However, neighbors also gave the news organization confirmation that the victim was Isiah Jones and that his brother had shot him as a result of a conflict.
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“I was trying to get him for the last 30 days to come down (to Toledo, Ohio) to the gym and start training at the gym, so he could isolate himself from his friends and that type of negative energy that was in Detroit at the time,” Roshawn Jones said.
“People aren’t perfect in life, but when they are fighting demons, sometimes the demons take over. Whether it’s their friends they’re involved with, family they’re involved with, they just can’t overcome those obstacles.”
Following the shooting, police said the suspect fled the area. The fatal incident is also under investigation.
“He set the tone for everybody. He was the hardest working person in the gym and he’s just a great overall guy,” the deceased boxer’s trainer said. “He was a great guy, great family man, loved his kids and he did the best he could to provide for his children.”
Jones won the National Golden Gloves in 2016, TMZ reported. He also turned professional that same year. His professional record stood at 9-7 while his amateur record was 52-2.
The West African country of Nigeria’s narcotics enforcement agency claimed to have carried out what appears to be the greatest cocaine seizure in its history, according to the BBC.
Near the commercial district of Lagos, in the Ikorodu neighborhood, 1.8 tons of cocaine were discovered in a warehouse. This quantity is thought to be worth approximately $278 million (£243 million).
The drugs were stashed in 13 drums and 10 travel bags, according to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
In different parts of Lagos, four Nigerian men—ages 69, 65, and two 53—were seized.
A foreign individual was also apprehended in what the agency characterized as a “well structured and intelligence led operation” extended over two days.
The individuals wanted to sell the medicines to customers in Europe, Asia,and other continents, according to NDLEA.
Underneath the throne of its King to the halls, where visitors are customarily anticipated to undergo some formalities before being brought inside the palace, lies the glory of the Shona Kingdom, which was located in modern-day South Africa.
The second-most significant individual in the kingdom, the principal councilor of the palace, is expected to schedule appointments for visitors to the monarch of Shona.
He resides in the terrace enclosure next to the museum due of his prominence.
He was in command of the court of dare, where the Shona Kingdom’s politicians gathered to hear legal disputes and deliberate on issues important to the empire.
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The court’s design places a public gathering space and the dare in the middle of a settlement beneath the museum.
Historical accounts claim that the daring served as the Shona kingdom’s equivalent of an appeals court.
Archeologist Thomas Huffman of the Witwatersrand University in South Africa wrote in his book, Symbols in Stone, that the chieftainship status in the Shona culture was comparable to the majesty and solitude of the hills.
According to him, the political elite lived on high grounds, ritually secluded as a symbol of authority. Leaders in the Shona tradition were referred to as mountains because that was where their thrones were situated.
According to Huffman, the Shona people think that their kings and royal families must reside at the summit of the Zimbabwe Hills.
The only component of the mountain historically referred to as Dzimbahwe, which can be interpreted to mean “house of the chief,” is the center hill.
The King of Shona lived in a very large, lofty house, which his subjects frequently walked to, according to historical materials written by the Portuguese author Edward Barbosa in 1918.
Thomas noted that besides giving protection, the King was expected to be provided fertile soil and abundant crops to his people. Oral history has it that the stone towers next to the monoliths are symbolic grain bins, representing the responsibility of the chief to his subjects.
He maintained that the reason the king resided apart from the people was due to the king’s supreme importance and sacred nature.
Few officials resided in the Kings courtyard, according to Shona custom.
These officials included a messenger who notified the king of guests and court procedures and a diviner who guarded the king against satanic assaults, according to historical documents.
One of the most powerful empires in the 14th century AD was the Shona monarchy, which ruled over a region of more than 100,000 square kilometers between the Zambezi and the Limpopo rivers.
More than 18,000 people lived in the Great Zimbabwe, the nation’s capital.
The physical division of the social classes between commoners and the ruling class was one feature of the Shona kingdom.
Trevor Noahis a South African comedian, writer and television host said to be one of the highest-paid hosts in America. He is presently the host of The Daily Show, an American satirical news program on Comedy Central.
Career
Noah started his career playing a minor role in an episode “Isidingo,” a South African TV show when he was only 18 years old and went on to host his own radio show titled ‘Noah’s Ark’ on YFM.
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He also hosted the educational TV program ‘Run The Adventure’ from 2004 to 2006 as well as the gossip TV series “The Real Goboza” in 2007. His versatility in the media space also saw him co-hosting the dating game show “The Amazing Date.”
In addition to his radio and television programs, he also hosted the South Africa Film and Television Awards in 2009, co-hosted the South African Music Awards in 2009 and 2010, and eventually got his own TV show entitled “Tonight with Trevor Noah.”
He also performed as a comedian in programs like ‘The Blacks Only Comedy Show,’ the ‘Vodacom Campus Comedy Tour,’ the ‘Heavyweight Comedy Jam,’ the ‘Cape Town International Comedy Festival,’ ‘Bafunny Bafunny’ and the ‘Jozi Comedy Festival.’ His comedy career also saw him perform renowned comedians like Paul Rodriguez, Gabriel Iglesias, and Russell Peters.
As he became famous in South Africa and across the globe, he began attracting endorsement deals. He also became a recurring contributor on the late-night talk and news satire program ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’. His career reached a milestone when he became the regular host of The Daily Show in 2015.
Career earnings
Noah is one of the highest-paid show host in the world and reportedly has a higher net worth than the likes of Jimmy Kimmel and James Corden. When he was first signed to host The Daily Show, his salary was somewhere around $5-8 million per season. However, in 2017, his salary hit $16 million per season.
His memoir, “Born a Crime” became a best-seller, selling over one million copies from 2016 to 2019 and according to The Hollywood Reporter, he made seven figures from his book deal.
Also, a 2019 profile of Noah by the Hollywood Reporter claimed that he grossed almost $14 million from his comedy tours. In 2018 alone, the platform noted that Trevor grossed $5 million.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Noah has a net worth of $100 million with his source of worth coming from comedy, endorsement deals and events as earlier noted. In addition, he is also into real estate, splashing $20 million on a Bel-Air mansion in 2019 and flipping it for $21.5 million two years later.
Also, in January 2021, Trevor bought another Bel-Air mansion for $27.5 million and flipped it for $30 million in October of the same year.
Early life
Noah was born to a Black mother and a White father. He was brought up by a fiercely loving and tenacious mother.
He childishly made fun of his mother’s Christianity, to which she was devoted, only to later learn and rely on her ethical compass that saw him through a mischievous rebellion and slightly criminal youth.
Noah earned his smarts the hard way on the streets of Johannesburg’s slum townships. Survival was a matter of learning to navigate the racial and political turmoil.
Coming of age at the moment when apartheid was finally crushed, he was branded an outsider not white and not completely accepted as Black.
Noah slipped comically between racial barriers by fragile deception and duplication, making sure that he came out ahead of the game always. Well mostly.
Little short of a miracle being tossed out of a moving vehicle and surviving, Noah would later be introduced to a brutally abusive stepfather.
He also juggled an education in a vigorously disciplined Catholic School with the chaos of the streets and his own unruly spirit that rejected every social norm.
His name was misspelled by athletic officials and journalists when he originally participated as the black heavyweight wrestler in 1908, his name was lost in the abyss of British Olympic history for more than a century.
Louis Bruce, who was born in Edinburgh in December 1875, made it to the second round of the 1908 Olympics in London.
Olympic wrestling documents had captured his name as Lawrence and Louise. The iron-clad rule in sports journalism during the 1900s, further deepened the mystery about his real identity as they identified him as L Bruce. The sports rule was to use the first initial and surname for athletes.
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But, a trove of documents and digging by Canadian researchers Connor Mah and Rob Gilmore in their attempt for synthesize official athlete records from London from 1908 brought the findings to light.
This makes Louis Bruce the sixth earliest popular black athlete to have competed in the Olympics in the 1900s. The first was Constantin Henriquez, who played rugby for France in 1900. The US hurdler George Poage and two South African marathon runners, Len Tauyane and Jan Mashiani, competed in 1904, while the American 400m runner John Baxter Taylor Jr first raced on 21 July 1908, two days before Bruce wrestled in the 73kg catch-as-catch-can wrestling division, according to the Guardian.
Sprinter Harry Edward was initially thought to have been the first black athletic to compete in the Olympics after he won two bronze medals at the 1920 Antwerp Games.
But, 12 years before Harry set this record, an unsung hero, Louis Bruce, had participated in the 1908 Olympics in London. He is also celebrated as one of the first black tram drivers in Britain by historians and transport observers.
Director of Communications of British Olympic Association, Scott Field, indicated that the findings only goes to confirm the respect for diversity that existed in British Olympics.
The first hurdle they faced is that many competitors’ full names were not included in the official records. In Bruce’s case there was a further complication as he was erroneously identified in some history books as “Lawrence Bruce”.
The Canadian researcher Connor said they were able to piece bits and pieces they gathered on Bruce through newspaper reports and census archives.
He explained that though Bruce name had been misspelt, census archives on his residence matched with his present location.
He observed that newspaper advertisement had described him also “Darkey” Bruce in his bout with Ernest Nixxon.
Connor said historical records from the snake pit wrestling club in Wigan solved the puzzle for the research team as it provided insights on entry forms and lists of the participants of the 1908 Olympic wrestling. He explained that the details included the full names and address of all the Olympians who represented the British team and clarified the true identity of Louis,
He indicated that the information the team carried along was that he was Lawrence Bruce and a member of the Hammersmith Amateur Wrestling Club who happened to have competed in the heavy weight division of the 1908 Olympics and defeated Alfred Banbrook in the first round.
The Canadian researcher said they were able to acquire the full names of every single competitor with their original handwriting and the home addresses.
He said all doubts were cleared when sports historian Andy Mitchel provided the team with the birth certificate of Bruce as well as his photograph from his days as a tram driver in 1906.
Connor further added that Bruce’s sporting feat did not die after the 1908 Olympics but he moved on to win the London United Tramways heavyweight title in 1913 and also was the winner in a one-mile walking handicap race at Griffin Park.
Bruce passed away in 1958 at the age of 82. But, researchers say like how history treated him unfairly by burying his glory, another mystery to unravel is the true identity of his father. His birth certificate indicates that his mother Jane Elizabeth Doney was white but details about his father remains obscure.
A complaint has been made to Australia’s Human Rights Commission by the mother of two Black girls who were “unenrolled” from their school after a disagreement over their African hair. The mother claims that her daughters’ enrollments were canceled because of their race.
According to ABC News, Amayah and Safhira Rowe missed a week of class in July after learning from their administrator that they couldn’t go to Highview College with their hair undone. The sisters’ hair is braided, and their father is Ghanaian. They claimed it hurts to tie their hair behind their heads.
The sisters later returned to school with “some-up, some-down” hairstyles without encountering any problems, but on September 13 things took a turn for the worst.
Then the media came in the wake of their story being extensively reported by the media.
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Rebecca Rowe, who is the mother of the girls, said the school’s principal sent her a letter notifying her about her daughters’ “unenrollment” from Highview. She said she received the letter after Amayah had a conversation about the issue with the principal and staff. The discussion, which lasted over an hour and took place in the school office, was done without the presence of the girls’ mother or another adult. The school had also banned Rowe from entering its premises because of the uniform policy dispute.
In the letter, the school claimed that Amayah had aggressive behavior and continued to wear jewelry that wasn’t allowed by the school. The letter also claimed that Safhira had absented herself from class.
Responding to their “unenrollment” in a statement, Principal Melinda Scash said “their behaviour on Tuesday afternoon was unacceptable. They were unenrolled from Highview that afternoon”.
But Rowe, in her complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission, alleged that her daughters weren’t treated fairly and they were “unenrolled” because of the color of their skin, ABC News reported. The school and the family will meet the commission for mediation in October.
Scash also told the news outlet that the girls were “unenrolled” from the school because they had received news that the two had gained admission into another school. But Rowe said that wasn’t the case, and their “unenrollment” was more like a dismissal.
And though Safhira gained admission into another school, Rowe said Amayah hadn’t. She explained that Amayah being enrolled at a different school was dependent on her passing Highview’s end-of-year exams. Amayah is also in her VCE [high school completion certificate] year.
“We will have to try to get her in anywhere that will take her and hope for the best. That will reflect poorly on her results I imagine,” Rowe said.
Amaya also disputed Scash’s claims that she was aggressive. “I don’t appreciate her repeatedly calling me aggressive which is a well-perpetuated black female stereotype which has been put on all women of colour,” she said.
“I don’t appreciate her … disregard for my personal or mental wellbeing, or my education. She is an educator.”
The girls’ mother said she believes her daughters were singled out by the school because of their decision to publicly talk about the uniform policy disagreement, ABC News reported.
“They have never had complaints about anything behaviour wise, have really high academic goals and have always been reported as a pleasure to have in classrooms,” Rowe said.
“They are great kids. If I was running a school, these are the kids I would want there, not to get rid of them.
“They want to be there and continue their education.”
The Mubende district of Uganda has recorded an additional 11 suspected Ebola cases, according to the Ministry of Uganda.
In a statement issued on Tuesday September 20, 2022, the ministry stated that the death of a one-year-old was most likely caused by Ebola.
It indicated that samples from the 1-year-old and the 10 suspected cases that are being kept in isolation are being analyzed at the Uganda Virus Research Institute.
After a case of the relatively uncommon Sudan strain was discovered in the nation, Uganda declared an Ebola epidemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), on Tuesday.
A sample from a 24-year-old male in the Mubende district, who the government claimed had died after exhibiting symptoms, was tested to confirm he contracted the virus.
Former Speaker of the Gabonese parliament, Guy Nzouba-Ndama, , has been under house arrest for the past week.
This comes after he was cited in a viral video trying to enter the neighboring Republic of Congo.
He was seen in the video carrying a luggage containing the CFA equivalent of $2 million (£1.8 million) went viral.
Mr. Nzouba-Ndama, who may run as the opposition in the forthcoming presidential elections, is now being held on two accusations.
One, with violations of import controls and two, cooperation with a foreign power.
Meanwhile The BBC Africa LIVE page is reporting that his party, The Democrats, say the accusations are politically motivated.
The media also has it that the 76-year-old served as speaker of the National Assembly for 19 years and was a devoted supporter of the late president Omar Bongo, father of the current president Ali Bongo Ondimba.
Nigerians have referred to the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, as “insensitive” following a post she shared on social media.
According to reports, the First Lady posted pictures of herself at her daughter-in-graduation law’s in the United Kingdom.
Aisha Buharicongratulated her daughter-in-law Zahra on receiving First Class Honors in Architectural Science on her verified Instagram page.
She wrote; “Congratulations to Mrs. Zahra B Buhari on your graduation with First Class Honors in Architectural Science. Wishing you all the best!”
Following the ongoing ASUU strike in Nigeria, which has lasted more than nine months, the images have since drawn a number of criticisms from citizens of that nation.
Reacting to her post, many took to Twitter to share their thoughts.
@PoojaMedia: ASUU was on strike for over 9 months & Aisha Buhari still posted their daughter’s graduation in the UK.
The height of taking citizens for granted.
So insensitive. Na wa
@henryshield: Thousands of students are at home because our schools are shut, but 1st Lady Aisha Buhari is sharing pictures of her graduating family member. This isn’t about being insensitive, Aisha has drunk a full dose of the visible madness that has disconnected Asorock from the people.
@JamiluSufi: Dear H.E Aisha Buhari, your husband has achieved everything failure can offer, name them… Destruction of Nigerian Educational System…
Musa Ahmed: Aisha Buhari’s tweet on her daughter-in-law’s graduation ceremony at a time when the public Universities are on strike is insensitive and very unfortunate.
Unfortunately Aisha buhari has a very strong heart for celebrating her daughter’s graduation publically amid ASUU strike while the poor children sit at home without studying for 7 months and neither her nor her husband has shows his anger, Nigerian students are disappointed in U. pic.twitter.com/BJW5e2R4nJ
“The Woman King” claims to be “inspired by historical events,” but it’s evident that it isn’t bound to them. Instead, it uses the underlying tale of 19th-century female warriors in an African kingdom as the springboard for an exhilarating action film that is heavily melodramatic.
With a cast and setting that serve to update its tried-and-true formula, this combination creates a compelling showcase for the stars.
As General Nanisca, the commander of the Agojie, also known as the Dahomey Amazons, a group of women who swear off marriage and childbirth in order to pursue martial arts and defend the kingdom, Viola Davis, in her typically regal role, serves as the movie’s rock-solid core.
In a world where the king (John Boyega) still has a sizable harem, there is an egalitarian streak.
The point of entry into this warrior culture is provided by Nawi (“The Underground Railroad’s” Thuso Mbedu, with another potent performance opposing vast canvas), an independent-minded, headstrong young woman who refuses to marry for money, ultimately leading to her frustrated father dropping her off at the palace.
She is taken under Izogie’s wing there and trained to go through the grueling process that would eventually let her to join this corps of elite forces (Lashana Lynch, who is adding to an action resume that already includes “Captain Marvel” and “No Time to Die”).
The subsequent boot camp, which will undoubtedly serve as a model for contemporaryexercise routines, proceeds in tandem with the prospect for war against the Oyo Empire, a rival country that has long been extorting tribute from the Dahomey.
Nanisca, meanwhile, urges the king to depart from his participation in the slave trade, arguing that selling captured foes to the Europeans has created “a dark circle” as they increasingly intrude upon their lands.
Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (“Love & Basketball”), the sweeping contours of the story are, quite simply, a lot to digest, especially with the various subplots and Nanisca’s back story that gets tossed into the mix. (The script is by Dana Stevens, who shares story credit with actor Maria Bello.)
Shot in South Africa, the film helps bridge some of the expository gap by opening with a brutal action sequence, demonstrating just how fierce Nanisca and her loyal soldiers can be. It’s the first of several such encounters, and although the scenes are carefully shot to mitigate gore, the level of violence and form of warfare are such that the PG-13 rating seems questionably generous.
Nanisca worries that her warriors “do not know an evil is coming,” a tease for the pending battle against the Oyo. But “The Woman King” perhaps excels most in portraying this fascinating subculture given the time and place, playing like a celebration of African traditions while incorporating a decidedly modern tone, and still servicing the escapist demands of a Friday-night audience.
Prince-Bythewood has accomplished that last goal with brisk pacing and the sheer muscularity of the exercise, with a significant assist from Terence Blanchard’s epic score. With its heavily female and almost entirely Black cast, the movie could give a welcome boost to other projects that have historically struggled in terms of studio support.
Somehow, the film manages to feel like a throwback to the action movies of old while featuring people who were seldom allowed to occupy prominent roles back then. If the finish is a bit too busy to be as rousing as intended, by then, “The Woman King” has made the most of its formidable arsenal.
“The Woman King” premieres September 16 in US theaters. It’s rated PG-13.
Hey Upper East Siders, did you hear the news? Queen B (Blake Lively, that is) is expecting her fourth baby!
The Gossip Girl alum debuted her baby bump during an appearance at the Forbes Power Women’s Summit on Sept. 15. Two days later, Blake took to Instagram to address her pregnancy on her own terms and slam the invasive paparazziwho follow her.
“Here are photos of me pregnant in real life so the 11 guys waiting outside my home for a sighting will leave me alone,” she wrote on Sept. 17, along with a slideshow of photos which showcased her growing baby bump. “You freak me and my kids out.”
She also took the opportunity to thank her fans for “continuing to unfollow accounts and publications who share photos of children.”
“You have all the power against them,” she continued. “And thank you to the media who have a ‘No Kids Policy.’ You all make all the difference.”
Blake’s bold social media post marks the first time she explicitly spoke about expecting another child. At the Forbes event, the A Simple Favor star made a sly cheek-in-tongue comment alluding to her growing family, saying, “I just like to create. Whether that’s baking or storytelling or businesses or humans, I just really like creating.”
The actress is currently a mom to daughters James, 7, Inez, 5, and Betty, 3, with husband Ryan Reynolds.
Blake also spoke candidly about how she hopes to inspire her kids as a working mom at the event.
“I grew up watching a woman be everything: be a mom and also be the hardest working business woman I knew,” Blake said of her own mother. “So it’s important for me for my kids to see that you don’t have to choose one or the other.”
She added, “I don’t need them to choose to be a businesswoman or a mom. They can be both or neither. But just for them to see that anything is possible. So it’s really important for me to do that.”Mike Coppola/Getty Images
For her part, Blake has taken being a mom in stride. In the past, the actress has admitted she’s grateful for even the not so glamorous sides of motherhood.
“It’s tough when you get pooped on and barfed on, but having a baby is wonderful,” she jokingly told NW Magazine in 2016. “Even when it’s tough and I’m exhausted, I think, ‘I am so fortunate.’”
Priyanka Chopra took her and Nick Jonas’ daughter Malti Marie to New York City for the first time when she was in town to speak at the United Nations General Assembly.
Priyanka Chopra Proves She’s Nick Jonas’ No. 1 Fan at Concert
Priyanka Chopra and Malti Marie are taking in the big city.
The Quantico star touched down in New York City with her 8-month-old daughter to give a speech at the United NationsGeneral Assembly on Sept. 19.
The next day, Priyanka shared a glimpse into her trip with her daughter with Nick Jonasin a series of photos.
In the first pic, the new mom, 40, is sitting on a windowsill with Malti in her lap. Malti is looking down at the busy city street outside of the window, while Priyanka gazes adoringly at her daughter.
The second photo is a close up of Priyanka looking into the camera with eyes full of emotion as Malti continues to look out of the window at the world beyond. Priyanka captioned the photos: “Our first trip to the big apple.”
This latest post marks the first time that Priyanka has posted a photo with Malti this month. Over the summer, she captioned the sweet snap of her holding her daughter, “Love like no other.”
Priyanka and her husband Nick welcomed their first child together in Jan. 21 via surrogate. Priyanka posted a statement at the time to Instagram, saying, “We are overjoyed to confirm that we have welcomed a baby via surrogate. We respectfully ask for privacy during this special time as we focus on our family. Thank you so much.”
Malti spent more than 100 days in the NICU after her birth. On Mother’s Day 2022, Priyanka and Nick reflected on those months. “We can’t help but reflect on these last few months and the rollercoaster we’ve been on, which we now know, so many people have also experienced,” the couple wrote on Instagram. “After 100 plus days in the NICU, our little girl is finally home.”
In July, a source confirmed to E! News that Priyanka and Nick were thriving as new parents. The source enthusiastically shared that they are a “very happy couple just thriving, having fun and still living their lives. They work hard, do business, host social events and take care of Malti.”
Shakirabreaks silence on split from Gerard Piqué, the ‘Darkest Hour of My Life’Shakira opened up about the dissolution of her relationship with Gerard Piqué for the first time.
Shakira attends the 2022 NBCUniversal Upfront at Mandarin Oriental Hotel at Radio City Music Hall on May 16, 2022 in New York City.Roy Rochlin/GI
It’s been three months since Shakira and Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué confirmed their split, and the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer opened about the dissolution of their relationship for the first time.
“I feel like in this moment of my life, which is probably one of the most difficult, darkest hours of my life, music has brought light,” Shakira said in a new Elle cover story published on Wednesday (Sept. 21). “I’ve remained quiet and just tried to process it all. Um, and yeah, it’s hard to talk about it, especially because I’m still going through it, and because I’m in the public eye and because our separation is not like a regular separation. And so it’s been tough not only for me, but also for my kids. Incredibly difficult.”
She continued, “I have paparazzi camping outside, in front of my house, 24/7. And there’s not a place where I can hide from them with my kids, except for my own house. You know, we can’t take a walk in the park like a regular familyor go have an ice cream or do any activity without paparazzi following us. So it’s hard. And I’ve tried to conceal the situation in front of my kids. I try to do it and to protect them, because that’s my number one mission in life. But then they hear things in school from their friends or they come across some disagreeable, unpleasant news online, and it just affects them, you know?”
Shakira added that she feels as though the whole thing is a “bad dream” she’ll eventually wake up from. “But no, it’s real. And what’s also real is the disappointment to see something as sacred and as special as I thought was the relationship I had with my kids’ father and see that turned into something vulgarized and cheapened by the media,” she told the publication. “And all of this while my dad has been in the ICU and I’ve been fighting on different fronts. Like I said, this is probably the darkest hour of my life. But then I think about all those women around the world who are going through hardship, who are going through a situation as bad as mine or as difficult as mine or worse.”
She also shared that in 2014, after the former couple’s first son Milan had gotten a little older, she knew she had to stop touring. “I knew that when he started school I had to settle down, plant roots in Barcelona, and be there for him and for Gerard and then later on for [their second son] Sasha as well,” she explained. “As a soccer player, he wanted to play football and to win titles and I had to support him. I mean, one of the two of us had to make a sacrifice, right? Either he would stop his contract with Barcelona and move to the U.S. with me, where my career is, or I would have to do that instead.”
Shakira met the Barcelona defender while she was promoting her 2010 World Cup anthem, “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).”
It’s been three months since Shakira and Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué confirmed their split, and the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer opened about the dissolution of their relationship for the first time.
Global pop superstar Shakira’s unique blend of Latin pop music infused with the dance moves of her Arabic heritage has blazed a trail in the music industry, bringing joy to millions of her fans around the world and heralding the boom in Latin music. Her stature reached a pinnacle in 2010 when she wrote and performed the theme song for the World Cupin South Africa, where she met and fell in love with Spanish soccer star Gerard Piqué. They eventually settled down together and started a family. In 2013, she told ELLE, “I even had lost my faith for a while…I started to think that there was no God. And suddenly I meet Gerard, and the sun comes out.”
Times have changed. Even though she is preparing to drop her first album in five years, in an exclusive interview with ELLE from her home in Barcelona, she describes the current moment as “her darkest hour.” In June, she announced her split from Piqué, amid a swirl of tabloid headlines, and they have yet to determine custody of their two sons, Milan, 9, and Sasha, 7. She is also headed to a showdown with the Spanish government over accusations that she evaded paying taxes—something she flatly denies. A trial date has not yet been set.
Jaume De Laiguana
Shakira’s astonishing rise began when she was a teenager in Barranquilla, Colombia, doing gigs in mining towns until, at the age of 14, she heard a music executive was in town and did an impromptu audition. She then taught herself English and ultimately crossed over to U.S. fame in 2001 with her album Laundry Service. Passionately committed to both her charity work in building and running schools in her homeland and her political activism, it’s music, she says, that is now her main inspiration and solace.
She sat down with ELLE to talk publicly for the first time about her long-awaited new music, the collapse of her relationship, and why she’s determined to have her say about her finances.
I just saw you celebrated your dad’s birthday. You serenaded him with a bolero song. It was beautiful. He’s been a key figure in your life, right?
Yeah, he’s my hero. He’s an example of resilience and wisdom. He’s been my best friend, the person I got the best advice from. And, unfortunately, he had a really difficult year. He came to Barcelona when he heard about my family crisis, and he came to give me his support. But then he fell and had a subdural hematoma. And so he had brain surgery. And then a week later, he fell again and broke many bones in his face.
Oh, my goodness.
So it’s been really hard, you know, a hard year for him. But it’s a testament to his strength and his resilience. He still dances when he listens to music. He tries to sing along. And I’ve learned that to seniors, the best gift that you can give them is not only your presence and your company, but also music. When you think about the power that music has, it makes me realize, yeah, my job might not be as heroic as the job of a doctor or a nurse or in the middle of war, but it somehow has a very noble aspect, which is exactly that: to connect people to life.
Dress, Dior. Ring, Bulgari.
I do want to ask you about your music, because you have a very eagerly awaited album. You haven’t had an album out since 2017.
Yeah, I have a full album’s worth of music that I’m so excited about. And some songs you’ll hear imminently, some are collaborations. Some are in English and some in Spanish, different genres. But I’m really, really thrilled about not only the body of work that I have right now to share with the people who are waiting for it, but also how gratifying the whole process has been for me. How therapeutic as well. I thought I was done with my album. But every time I get in the studio to do, like, one line or something, or to mix a song that’s almost ready to come out, then I end up with new music because I feel creative right now, and I feel that is an incredible outlet for me to make sense of things.
Tell me a little bit about that process that music is somehow therapy for you when you are going through a hard time. How do you tap into that and use that?
I think everyone has their own processes or their own mechanisms to process grief or stress or anxiety. We all go through stuff in life. But in my case, I think that writing music is like going to the shrink, only cheaper [laughs]. It just helps me process my emotions and make sense of them. And it helps me to heal. I think it’s the best medicine, and along with the love of my family and my kids that sustains me, music and writing music is definitely one of those tools—one of the few tools I have for survival in extreme conditions. It is sort of like driftwood for a man drowning in the sea, that piece of wood that you hang on to when you feel like you’re drowning. I think that music is a life raft. There have been days when I had to pick up the pieces of me from the floor. And the only way to do that, to actually do that, has been through music. You know, to really, like, put myself back together and to see myself in the mirror and know that I am a mom and my kids depend on me.
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But also that I have so many things to say. And on those days when I felt that my strength was escaping me, like I didn’t have legs, those days I wrote songs, and I felt like I was revitalized and invigorated after a writing session. It’s like an injection of vitamins [laughs]. Sometimes I dreaded my work so much in the past because I just wanted to be there for my kids. I mean, I just wanted to cuddle with my kids in bed a little bit longer. And then I had to, like, get up and shoot a video and fulfill my obligations. But now I’m so thankful for my work, the possibility that it gives us to put ourselves back together and to realize who we are and why we’re here on this planet—what’s our purpose, our mission. I think you can find that reconstructive power in any kind of work. [In Spanish] El trabajo dignifica el hombre.
In this moment of my life, which is probably one of the most difficult, darkest hours of my life, music has brought light.”
It gives dignity to the person.
Exactly. And I feel like in this moment of my life, which is probably one of the most difficult, darkest hours of my life, music has brought light.
I want to talk about this dark moment for you. You’ve used words like “feeling like you’re drowning.” How are you doing with the dissolution of your relationship?
Oh, this is really hard to talk about personally, especially as this is the first time I’ve ever addressed this situation in an interview. I’ve remained quiet and just tried to process it all. Um, and yeah, it’s hard to talk about it, especially because I’m still going through it, and because I’m in the public eye and because our separation is not like a regular separation. And so it’s been tough not only for me, but also for my kids. Incredibly difficult. I have paparazzi camping outside, in front of my house, 24/7. And there’s not a place where I can hide from them with my kids, except for my own house. You know, we can’t take a walk in the park like a regular family or go have an ice cream or do any activity without paparazzi following us. So it’s hard. And I’ve tried to conceal the situation in front of my kids. I try to do it and to protect them, because that’s my number one mission in life. But then they hear things in school from their friends or they come across some disagreeable, unpleasant news online, and it just affects them, you know?
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How have they been dealing with it? This must be incredibly difficult for them.
Yeah. I try to conceal the situation from them as much as I can. It’s really upsetting for two kids who are trying to process their parents’ separation. And sometimes I just feel like this is all a bad dream and that I’m going to wake up at some point. But no, it’s real. And what’s also real is the disappointment to see something as sacred and as special as I thought was the relationship I had with my kids’ father and see that turned into something vulgarized and cheapened by the media. And all of this while my dad has been in the ICU and I’ve been fighting on different fronts. Like I said, this is probably the darkest hour of my life. But then I think about all those women around the world who are going through hardship, who are going through a situation as bad as mine or as difficult as mine or worse.
For those women like me who believe in values like family who had the dream, the big dream of having a family forever, to see that dream broken or shredded into pieces is probably one of the most painful things that you can ever go through. But I think that women, we are resilient. You know, we have this resiliency that is just innate in all of us. And we are meant to nurture and to take care of those who depend on us. So you ask me how I manage this. And I just manage, I guess, reminding myself that I need to become an example for my kids, that I need to be what they want, what I want them to become. And I want to be there, also, for all the people who have shown me their love and support. That is my biggest strength. That’s my most powerful engine right now.
Dress, Carolina Herrera. Earrings, Messika by Kate Moss. Necklace, Bulgari. Shoes, Christian Louboutin.
Jaume De Laiguana
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It seems like there is at the moment a custody battle with your ex-partner over where the children should be. Is that an accurate reflection of where things are at the moment?
Honestly, the depiction in the local press here in Spain has been so hard to watch. And invasive for my kids. They don’t deserve to feel observed or watched every second, photographed at school drop-off, or followed by paparazzi. They deserve a normal life. It’s just a total circus, and everyone is speculating about all of these aspects of our, and more importantly our children’s, lives, and a lot of it isn’t even true. Regardless of how things ended or how Gerard and I feel about each other as ex-partners, he is the father of my children. We have a job to do for these two incredible boys, and I have faith that we will figure out what is best for their future, their own dreams in life, and what is a fair solution for everyone involved. And I hope and would appreciate if we were given the space to do that privately.
I do want to ask about the dissolution of your relationship. Your ex-partner has been seen in a new relationship. It sounds like you did not want your relationship to end, and it was a surprise to you that the relationship was over. How did you come to understand that you weren’t going to be together anymore?
I think that those details are somehow too private to share, at least at this very moment—everything is so raw and new. I can only say that I put everything I had into this relationship and my family. Before my kids started school, I had a really nomadic life—I had lived my entire existence as an artist, traveling non-stop, going to different places around the world, touring, doing shows, promotion, building schools in Colombia, and recording in different countries around the world. Even for the first few years of my relationship with Gerard and when I had my first son, Milan. I took him with me everywhere from the time he was 2 months old. I even remember breastfeeding him constantly on the set of The Voice.
Once Milan started school, at the end of 2014, I knew that my constant travel and nomadic existence had to be put on the back burner and my career had to be put in second gear. I knew that when he started school I had to settle down, plant roots in Barcelona, and be there for him and for Gerard and then later on for Sasha as well. As a soccer player, he wanted to play football and to win titles and I had to support him. I mean, one of the two of us had to make a sacrifice, right? Either he would stop his contract with Barcelona and move to the U.S. with me, where my career is, or I would have to do that instead.
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And so, one of the two had to make that effort and that sacrifice. And I did it. I put my career in second gear and I came to Spain, to support him so he could play football and win titles. And it was a sacrifice of love. Thanks to that, my kids were able to have a present mom, and I have this amazing bond with them that is unbreakable and that sustains us. You know, that is it. That’s all I can say.
Dress, Versace.
Jaume De Laiguana
I will just ask you, because you did write a song called “Te Felicito” (“I Congratulate You”), which came out in April. I’m translating the lyrics from Spanish, but you wrote, “To make you whole. I broke myself in pieces. I was warned, but I didn’t take heed. Don’t tell me you’re sorry. I know you well and I know you’re lying.” And obviously now those lyrics carry a lot more weight, just hearing you talk about putting your career in second gear. Is that what you were talking about when you said, “I broke myself in pieces”? Is that the feeling that you had that you kind of had to give a part of yourself during that relationship, which perhaps was hard to get back?
I can only say that either consciously or subconsciously, everything I feel, everything I go through is reflected in the lyrics I write, in the videos I make. When the glove fits, it fits. Like I said before, my music is that channel.
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This isn’t the only challenge you’re facing. The Spanish government has accused you of tax fraud. You’re facing up to eight years in prison. They said you were a resident of Spain for tax purposes from 2011 to 2014, meaning for them that you spent over 183 days in the country. You decided to fight these accusations instead of settling with them. Why?
[Sighs] Because I have to fight for what I believe; because these are false accusations. First of all, I didn’t spend 183 days per year at that time at all. I was busy fulfilling my professional commitments around the world. Second, I’ve paid everything they claimed I owed, even before they filed a lawsuit. So as of today, I owe zero to them. And finally, I was advised by one of the four biggest tax specialist firms in the world, PricewaterhouseCoopers, so I was confident that I was doing things correctly and transparently from day one.
However, even without evidence to support these fictional claims, as they usually do, they’ve resorted to a salacious press campaign to try to sway people, and apply pressure in the media along with the threat of reputational damage in order to coerce settlement agreements. It is well known that the Spanish tax authorities do this often not only with celebrities like me (or [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Neymar, [Xabi] Alonso, and many more), it also happens unjustly to the regular taxpayer. It’s just their style. But I’m confident that I have enough proof to support my case and that justice will prevail in my favor.
I can only say that either consciously or subconsciously, everything I feel, everything I go through, is reflected in the lyrics I write.”
Jumpsuit, Fernando Claro. Boots, Elisabetta Franchi.
Jaume De Laiguana
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What are the questionable methods that you see? The prosecutors say they went through your social media, your credit card receipts. They mapped out when and where you were at different times in the country.
While Gerard and I were dating, I was on a world tour. I spent more than 240 days outside of Spain, so there was no way I qualified as a resident. The Spanish tax authorities saw that I was dating a Spanish citizen and started to salivate. It’s clear they wanted to go after that money no matter what. Even for the next few years, I was traveling the world, working nonstop while pregnant or with Milan as a baby, when my C-section had barely closed. They knew I wasn’t in Spain the required time, that Spain wasn’t my place of work or my source of income, but they still came after me, with their eyes on the prize.
This seems like it’s a matter of principle to you to have your day in court.
Yeah, exactly. That’s exactly what it is. It’s a matter of principle.
I want to bring it back to this moment and you saying it’s the darkest moment of your life. I’m wondering as you look to the next few months, how you think you’re going to move forward?
Every time life tests you, I think that you always find a helping hand that you can hold on to while you cry. I think that even when you feel like you’re falling down an abyss and there’s no end to that abyss, there’s always a certain safety net at the bottom. And that safety net is formed by family and friends. And if you’ve done things right, you will find that helping hand. And friendship, they say, is the purest form of love, and maybe the most long-lasting one. It’s been so incredible to find the support of so many colleagues, not only friends, but also colleagues, people who have been checking in on me constantly.
Tell me about that. Who has been checking in on you? When you say colleagues, I imagine your colleagues are different from my colleagues.
[Laughs] Yeah. I’ve been pleasantly encountering an amazing, humane side to people, you know, people that I considered were in my life maybe because of the work that we do together. But no, these people really have an empathy and a heart that explains why they’ve been so loved by so many. For example, will.i.am. He regularly checks in with me, and one day he even sent me a beautiful prayer, praying for my kids and for me to find peace. Chris Martin is always checking in and telling me that he’s there for me, anything I need. Juan Luis Guerra. Alejandro Sanz. [Switches to Spanish] Dear friends who have become people who I believe don’t just care about me as an artist but as a person, as a human. [Back to English] Their support has made me feel that I might be alone, but I am not lonely. Sometimes a woman can be enough. I can be enough at this point for myself and for my family, for my kids.
Is that sense of discovery then a new thing, that you can be alone and not lonely?
That I actually can? Yes. Yes, I mean, my whole life I’ve been in relationships and I thought that that was the ideal state for a person. You know, to be a part of a couple. Right now, it’s just me and the kids and my family and those friends who check in on me periodically.
And that feels like enough for now?
Yeah, I feel like it’s plenty. For now. Yeah. Let’s wait for that hole in my chest to close and then see what happens.
Jumpsuit, Fernando Claro. Boots, Elisabetta Franchi.
Jaume De Laiguana
Hair by Beatriz Matallana; makeup by Tom Pecheux for Yves Saint Laurent Beauté; styling: Sylvia Montoliú; stylist’s assistant: Emma Guardans; photographer’s assistant: Jordi Blancafort.
Lulu Garcia-Navarro is a multi-award winning broadcaster and the host of the NYT Opinion podcast ‘First Person’.
Beirut, Lebanon – Karish is a relatively small untapped gasfield in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, but its location between Israel and Lebanon means that it could lead to a new conflict between the two neighbours.
While Lebanon’s PresidentMichel Aoun said on Monday that United States-brokered negotiations over the exploration of Karish had reached the “final stages”, Israel is expected to begin preliminary work on Tuesday to start extracting gas, a move that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called a “red line” on Saturday.
For its part, Israel’s Defence Minister Benny Gantz has said if Hezbollah harmed an offshore rig in Karish, “the price will be Lebanon”.
The two countries have a history of conflict, most notably when Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 during the latter’s civil war, as well as the 2006 Lebanon War.
Many fear that the dispute over where exactly the maritime border crosses Karish could unintentionally ignite a new fight.
However, it appears as though the current tension may be more about appearances than actual preparations for war.
“It’s pure politics, to be able to say that any deal that comes in, Hezbollah had a role in it, and they defended the rights of Lebanon,” said Laury Haytayan, MENA director of Natural Resources Governance Institute.
“They want to bring back the idea that their power and weapons are used in the national interest and not in the Iranian agenda, reshaping the narrative that they protect Lebanon’s wealth,” Haytayan told Al Jazeera.
According to Haytayan, the two countries also view the maritime border dispute differently; while Lebanon sees it as an energy and economic issue, Israel sees it as a security issue.
“For Israel, it’s very important to deal with this to take away one element of tension and possible escalation with Hezbollah,” Haytayan said. “If Lebanon starts exploration and has its own oil and gas, Hezbollah won’t be able to threaten Israel’s platforms any more because it would be: you threaten my platform, I threaten your platform.”
While both sides agree that the rich gasfields in the Eastern Mediterranean should be divided, the question is over where the line should be.
In 2020, Lebanon attempted to submit a new interpretation of the border that would have given it the northern part of Karish, which is estimated to have $1.3bn worth of gas.
That was rejected by Israeland the US, and negotiations stalled for nearly two years.
This year, Lebanon dropped the 2020 border proposal, and the two countries are expected to compromise on a border position similar to the Hof line – originally proposed in 2012 by then-mediator Frederic Hof – which gives all of Karish to Israel and most of the South Saida Prospect, or Qana field, to Lebanon.
However, negotiations have hit a sensitive point pertaining to where, on land, the maritime border starts, which could have implications on territorial delineation and sovereignty.
A senior government official close to the negotiations told Al Jazeera that Beirut has asked Israel to “clarify” what the latter has labelled “security issues” regarding the land border.
“If it’s a security issue there won’t be a problem and we will reach an agreement because there will be an arrangement, [but] we cannot agree on any modification on the land or any consequence that would lead to any modification of the land [border],” the source said.
After his last visit to Beirut on September 9, US mediator Amos Hochstein said progress was made, but that “more work needs to be done” in the coming weeks to reach an agreement.
However, as the negotiations drag on, there is more potential for their collapse.
Hezbollah has threatened to attack a ship sent to Karish by Israel, and on July 2 Israel said it shot down three drones headed towards the gasfield launched by Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, Energean, the company licensed by Israel to extract gas from Karish, has announced it will start imminently, with Israel under added pressure to increase its energy output after it signed a deal with the European Union to export gas for the first time, as the bloc seeks alternatives to Russian energy.
“Until now the negotiations are going in the right way, it’s normal to go back and forward in negotiations,” the Lebanese official added.
“There is progress, but I don’t know if the progress means we will reach an agreement.”
Solution for Lebanon’s economic crisis?
At home, the Lebanese government has sold the promise of the Qana field as the light at the end of a financially-collapsing tunnel, despite experts warning that no deal can be a substitute for the urgent reforms needed to stabilise Lebanon’s economy.
Internal oil production would ease the country’s deep energy crisis, which has seen residents coping with little, if any, state-run electricity. Politicians have also sold it as a leveraging tool to negotiate an International Monetary Fund loan from a stronger position.
However, if negotiations with Israel fail, Lebanon will be left to convince the French energy company Total, which owns the contractual rights to exploit the area, to operate in a disputed area, something the company has said is not willing to do.
In addition, if oil and gas are found in Qana, it may still fall within Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone, meaning that further negotiations would be needed.
Funding would also be needed to restore decrepit power infrastructure, and the use of the Arab Gas Pipeline to export to other Arab countries.
And, according to Diana Kaissy, an advisory board member at the Lebanese Oil and Gas Initiative, the existence of oil and gas in Qana is still uncertain.
“We cannot say a field exists unless you drill and you find that reservoir,” Kaissy told Al Jazeera. “So far no drilling has happened and no reservoir was found, and so the existence of Qana is just a name given to an idea to what we might find when we drill.”
The Chinese yuan is rapidly gaining popularity in Russia amid Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
Trading on the Moscow Exchange, the currency has risen more than 50 fold this year, jumping from 0.5 percent of the total transactions in January to 26 percent in August.
It is increasingly used in Russia’s international trade settlements and several of its largest companies have started issuing yuan-denominated bonds in a bid to raise capital.
Russians have also begun stocking up as a growing number of banks offer clients the option of opening deposits in yuan.
Individuals bought a record high of 4.5 billion yuan ($0.6bn) last month, according to data from Russia’scentral bank.
Analysts said that Russia’s pivot to the yuan could provide a boost to China’s ambitions of promoting greater international usage of its currency, while also helping Moscow to bypass Western sanctions aimed at severing it from the global financial system.
“The popularity of yuan is due to the growing toxicity of the dollar and euro for Russians,” said Alexandra Prokopenko, an independent analyst who previously worked as an adviser to the Russian central bank.
“As a result of sanctions, Russian accounts abroad can be frozen at any moment, not all foreign banks are willing to work with Russian banks, and transactions involving dollars and euros take a very long time to process,” she explained. “There are no such issues with the yuan.”
Shortly after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine, the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions against Russia’s central bank, sovereign wealth fund, and several of the country’s largest financial institutions.
The administration of US President Joe Biden also banned the export of dollar notes to Russia.
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Russia has responded to these unprecedented sanctions by drawing even closer to China.
Over the first eight months of this year, the trade turnover between the two countries increased by 31 percent to reach $117.2bn and officials have predicted that it is on course to hit a record of $200bn before 2023.
Beijing has emerged as Moscow’s single biggest energy customer and Chinese companies have slowly begun to fill the gaps in the Russian market created by the mass exodus of Western corporations.
“China is Russia’s largest trading partner so it’s logical that there’s a growing demand for yuans on the Russian market,” Prokopenko said. “Businesses need yuan to conduct trade settlements because under the current conditions, it’s easier to do so in yuan than in dollars or euros.”
Since the start of the war, Russia has become the third-largest market for yuan payments outside mainland China, accounting for nearly 4 percent of international settlements involving the Chinese currency in July, according to the SWIFT payment system.
Earlier this month, state energy giants Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation signed a deal under which China would begin to pay for Russian natural gas supplies exclusively in yuan and rubles.
A growing number of Russian corporate giants are also seeking to attract funding in the Chinese currency.
Over the past two months, state oil conglomerate Rosneft, aluminium producer Rusal, gold miner Polyus, and metallurgical company Metalloinvest have issued yuan-denominated bonds with a total value of 25.6bn yuan ($3.7bn).
Meanwhile, the Russian finance ministry has announced plans to issue sovereign bonds in yuans, although it is widely expected that preparations for the placement will take at least another year or two.
Valery Yemelyanov, a stock market analyst at BKS Mir investment firm, told Al Jazeera that due to the high demand for the yuan in Russia, companies which had accumulated large amounts of the currency were able to sell it at a favourable interest rate.
“This is a fairly new experience for the Russian market, but a successful one so far,” he said. “Many companies are willing to place a bet on the yuan and plan their future business processes around it.”
Russian banks have also been moving to expand their yuan offerings.
Russians can now open yuan-denominated accounts at 10 of the country’s largest 30 banks, the RIA Novosti state news agency reported.
Earlier this month, VTB Bank and Alfa-Bank became the first two Russian banks to allow clients to send money transfers to China in yuan without using the SWIFT international payment system.
Alexander Borodkin, the head of the savings and investment unit at Otkritie bank, said that this growing interest in the yuan was driven by the Russian banking system’s efforts to dump the dollar and euro.
He explained that banks were actively trying to discourage customers from storing savings in dollars or euros by refusing to open new deposits in these currencies, offering poor rates, or charging commissions.
“The ideal option for the banking system is to have all of its clients convert their dollars and euros into rubles, but since not everyone will want to do that, it’s good to have the yuan as an option for those who want to diversify their savings account,” he said.
Despite the yuan’s recent momentum, serious questions still remain about the Chinese currency’s ability to replace the dollar and euro for Russia.
Yemelyanov of BKS Mir warned that because the yuan is not a freely convertible currency, Russians could lose out should Beijing decide to weaken the currency.
Another problem is that the yuan is liquid and less convenient for investments, compared with the dollar or euro.
“Beyond bonds and deposits, there really aren’t many other ways you can use the yuan in Russia, ” he said. “So if a person has significant capital, he will think 10 times about converting his resources from dollars and euros to yuan because it’s not all that clear what he can do with it afterwards.”
A joint probe by Forensic Architecture and Al-Haq uncovers evidence that an Israeli sniper repeatedly shot at Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
A joint investigation by a London-based multidisciplinary research group and a Palestinian rights group has uncovered further evidence that refutes Israel’s account that the killing of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was a mistake.
Forensic Architecture and Al-Haq said that Abu Akleh’s killing was deliberate.
Abu Akleh, who was with Al Jazeera for 25 years and known as the “voice of Palestine”, was shot in the head and killed by Israeli forces on May 11 while she was covering an army raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
The probe examined the Israeli sniper’s precise angle of fire, and concluded that the sniper was able to clearly tell that there were journalists in the area. It also ruled out the possibility of confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinians in Jenin at the time of the attack.
According to the investigation, for which Al Jazeera provided material, the Israeli sniper shot for two minutes, and deliberately targeted those who tried to rescue Abu Akleh.
The sniper shot three times, releasing six bullets the first time, then after eight seconds, seven more. One of these bullets was the one that killed Abu Akleh, hitting her just under her helmet.
Two minutes later, the sniper shot three more bullets, to stop efforts to rescue her.
ICC complaint
The findings come on the same day that Abu Akleh’s family formally submitted an official complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC), demanding justice for her killing.
Her brother Anton said the family would do whatever it takes to ensure accountability for her killing.
“Like we said before, and like other reports said previously, there were more than 16 shots fired towards Shireen and the media and her colleagues who were standing in that ally,” he told Al Jazeera. “They even targeted the person who was trying to pull her into safety after she was shot down.”
The complaint is supported by the Palestinian Press Syndicate and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
Earlier this month, Israel said that there was a “high possibility” that its forces had killed Abu Akleh, but said it would not be launching a criminal investigation.
Multiple investigations carried out by the United Nations, Israeli and Palestinian human rights organisations, and leading news outlets have concluded that Abu Akleh was killed by an Israeli soldier.
The late Queen Elizabeth II was known to be close to her many descendants. One relation who is said to have been among the Queen’s favourites is the youngest of her eight grandchildren, James, Viscount Severn. The second childof her youngest son, Prince Edward, 14-year-old James and his sister, 18-year-old Lady Louise Windsor, were born a good few years after their royal first cousins – who range between 32 (Princess Eugenie) and 44 (Peter Phillips) in age.
Born by caesarean section at Frimley Park Hospital on 17 December 2007, James’s full name, James Alexander Philip Theo, was announced four days later. The BBC reported at the time that his father described his newborn son as ‘very cute and very cuddly’. As the youngest child and only son of Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex, he’s currently – as of the birth of Beatrice’s baby last year – 15th in the line of succession to the British throne.
James, Viscount Severn, with his mother, feeding a giraffe as they visit The Wild Place Project at Bristol Zoo, 2019Max Mumby / Indigo / Getty Images
At the time of his birth, however, he was eighth in line, ahead of his older sister, Lady Louise. The Succession of the Crown Act now means that male offspring no longer take precedence over females in the Royal Family, but the Act was passed in 2013, and only applies to those born after October 28, 2011. Therefore James’s place in the order of succession remains ahead of Louise, and was unchanged when his cousin Zara Tindall gave birth to her third baby, Lucas, last year (because Zara is the daughter of Princess Anne, who, although older than Edward, was also born before the Act came into force).
The Countess of Wessex and Prince Edward outside Frimley Park Hospital with a newborn James, Viscount Severn, 2007Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images
James was baptised in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle in April 2008. He became the first royal baby to wear a newly-made replica of the royal christening gown that dates back to the christening of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s eldest child, also named Victoria, in 1840. The original 1800s gown has now been preserved, with most royal babies since the Viscount having also been christened in the replica.
The Countess of Wessex and James, Viscount Severn, 2010Chris Jackson
James’s styling as Viscount Severn (one of his father’s subsidiary titles) is a nod to his mother’s Welsh familial roots, alluding to the River Severn. Although it’s customary to assign princely status and the style of Royal Highness to all children of a monarch’s sons, it was announced by Buckingham Palace on Edward and Sophie’s marriage in 1999 that their children would be styled as the children of an earl, rather than as prince or princess. The Countess told the Sunday Times in 2020: ‘We try to bring them up with the understanding that they are very likely to have to work for a living… Hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles. They have them and can decide to use them from 18, but it’s highly unlikely.’
The Wessex family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the annual Trooping the Colour Ceremony, 2013Max Mumby / Indigo / Getty Images
Both Lady Louise and James have lakes named after them in Canada, an honour bestowed on them by the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba-in-Council when their father visited the Canadian province of Manitoba in 2008. The Vancouver Sun reported at the time that the then-Manitoba Premier, Gary Doer, ‘presented the Prince with a pair of framed notices naming two Northwestern Manitoba lakes after his two children, Louise, four, and James, five months.’
James lives with his parents and older sister at the family home of Bagshot Park in Surrey, 11 miles from Windsor – conveniently close to one of his grandmother’s royal residences, Windsor Castle. James has reportedly been educated at both Eagle House School and St George’s School Windsor Castle, two nearby independent, co-educational prep schools. As both schools only go up to age 13, however, he most likely started at a new school last year.
South Africa will bid to stage the 2027 Fifa Women’s World Cup, hoping to bring the event to Africa for the first time.
South Africawas the first – and so far only – country on the continent to host the men’s World Cup, in 2010.
“The NEC (National Executive Committee) has resolved that we must bid to host the World Cup for women in 2027,” South African Football Association (Safa) chief executive Tebogo Motlanthe said.
“We as [an] administration will duly inform Fifa and then start the process of hosting the World Cup.“
In July, South Africa became African champions for the first time after beating hosts Morocco in the final of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Rabat.
Almost two years ago Netherlands, Belgium and Germany launched a joint bid for the 2027 competition, and that will be among the South African proposal’s principle rivals.
A joint Scandinavian bid has also been has been floated, but with Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden bidding together to host the 2025 European Championship, the continental tournament could take precedence.
Those four countries had previously explored a bid for the 2027 World Cup alongside Iceland and the Faroe Islands.
Meanwhile, the United States has also indicated a desire to bid for either the 2027 or 2031 World Cups.
Next year’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand will be the first finals with 32 teams, an increase of eight teams from France 2019.
It will also leave Africa and South America as the only populated continents never to have staged the Women’s World Cup.
Safa had been in the running for the 2023 World Cup but pulled out, claiming it wanted to focus on developing the women’s national league.
South Africa’s women’s side, Banyana Banyana, went out in the group stage on their first appearance at the World Cup in 2019.
A Hong Kong man who went to the British consulate on Monday night to pay tributeto Queen Elizabeth II, among scores of mourners, has been detained.
Local reports say the man, 43, played several songs on his harmonica, including one linked to 2019 protests, as well as the British national anthem.
He was detained under the colonial-era sedition law, police told BBC Chinese.
This law had until recently been rarely used by prosecutors.
But the past few months have seen an increasing number of people charged under this law, including five speech therapists who were found guilty earlier this month of publishing “seditious” children’s books.
Footage shared widely on social media shows the man standing outside the consulate playing “Glory to Hong Kong”, the unofficial anthem of protesters during 2019 pro-democracy protests, on his harmonica.
A large crowd, which had gathered to watch an online live broadcast of the later Queen’s state funeral in the UK, is seen singing along to the tune.
The song’s lyrics make reference to the “tears on our land”, and also mention “democracy and liberty”.
Police told the BBC the man had been detained on suspicion of carrying out an “act with seditious intent”.
Hong Kongers have over the past week been lining up for hours to pay their respects to the Queen, in what has been perhaps the biggest display of affection for the late monarch seen outside the UK.
The city, formerly a British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Under the terms of the handover, China agreed to govern Hong Kong under the principle of “one country, two systems”, where the city would enjoy “a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs” for the next 50 years.
But a crackdown on protests, Beijing’s imposition of its national security law and only allowing “patriots” to govern are seen by many as reneging on that promise.
It was a day when people stood still – on the streets and in their homes – to witness Queen Elizabeth II’s final journey.
Royals and world leaders were inside Westminster Abbey. But outside there were many more, ordinary mourners lining the streets of central London. And further beyond – in living rooms and parks, in pubs, cinemas and town squares – the British public marked the first state funeral for nearly six decades in millions of individual ways.
In Doncaster, Alistair Mitchell brought afternoon tea and sandwiches for his mother, who had not been able to make the journey to London. At the Curzon cinema in Sheffield, there were no pre-show trailers, or the sound of rustling popcorn – just an audience dressed mostly in black as they watched the ceremony. Blackpool’s illuminations were switched off.
At 06:32 BST, the final mourner filed past the Queen’s coffinat Westminster Hall as her four-and-a-half-day lying-in-state drew to a close. The Queue had come to end. But overnight, Monday’s crowd was already gathering. At Horse Guards Parade, it was 10-people deep before 08:30. By 09:10, viewing areas for the procession route were full.
At The Mall, the Rowlassons – Kyre, 23, his mum Beveley, 41, and granddad Fred, 72 – had secured a front-row spot, after setting off from Birmingham the previous day. All three had spent the night on the ground in their sleeping bags. Had they slept? “Not a wink,” says Kyre.
And then, at 10:44, the Queen’s coffin began its short journey to Westminster Abbey.
As she went to switch on her television, Liz Perry, 59, was struck by the silence outside her living room, in Derby. It was, Liz thought, as if a blanket had been draped over the entire street – clearly, all her neighbours were tuning in too.
At St Anne’s Church, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, Sue Lalor had taken her seat in a pew. A screen above the altar was showing the service. Sue could have watched at home but that would have meant doing so alone. “This was a moment I wanted to share with other people,” she said.
Not everyone in the country has been as caught up in the emotion of recent days but some 250 miles (400km) away in Harwich, Essex, landlord Nick May agreed with Sue. His first instinct had been to close his pub, The Alma, out of respect, but his staff persuaded him to stay open.
“This is a group moment of grief,” Nick said. Gathered in the bar were about 35 people from around the coastal town. Several were veterans. Others, said Nick, had lost parents or grandparents and saw the Queen as a reminder of times past.
Waiting for the service to begin, Andrew Smith stood in Birmingham’s Centenary Square and felt goosebumps rising on his arm. He and his wife Margaret, from Barnwell, Northamptonshire, were in the city to celebrate their 51st wedding anniversary.
Margaret’s mind was on 1953, when she had been taken to watch the Queen’s coronation at her nan’s house and later to a street party. “She’s like our grandmother, she’s always been there,” Margaret said, visibly emotional.
At 11:00, the funeral was under way. The Very Rev David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, spoke of the Queen’s “unswerving commitment to a high calling over so many years as Queen and Head of the Commonwealth”.
Meanwhile, in Manchester’s Cathedral Gardens, rain was falling. Rebecca Watson, 38, thought of those who had filed through the streets of London over the weekend to witness the Queen’s lying-in-state and resolved to stay where she was. “If people have been in a queue for 14 hours I think we can cope with this,” she said.
As she watched in a park in Hastings, Jo Musson, 62, who had set off on holiday from her home in Worcestershire in her campervan before the Queen’s death, worried that she had not packed any black clothes.
Inside Westminster Abbey, the congregation began to sing The Lord Is My Shepherd. More than 300 miles away in Belfast, Simon Freedman, 51, from Coleraine, County Londonderry, thought of his mother, Olive. It had been her favourite hymn, but when she died of Covid in 2020 at the age of 79, the family had been unable to hold a service in which they could sing it. “I knew when that hymn came on I’d shed a tear.”
Ahead of the two minutes’ silence, everyone in the Royal British Legion, in Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire, stood, bowed their heads, and sang along to the national anthem.
Afterwards, a lone bagpiper played a lament. For Emma Parsons-Reid, 55, watching at home in Ely, Cardiff, with family and neighbours, it was at this point that the Queen’s death struck home. “For the first time, it felt real,” she said.
On The Mall, many spectators had watched the service on their phones. As the Queen’s coffin made its way towards them, spectators stood on tiptoes, with children lifted on to shoulders, as the crowd collectively craned its necks for a final glimpse.
Then, as the procession passed, they fell silent.
In Windsor, a committal service would be held at St George’s Chapel – where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan, were married in 2018 and where the Queen’s late husband Prince Philip’s funeral was also held.
Dianne Turner, 62, didn’t intend to go to Windsor’s Long Walk to watch the funeral procession. She had wanted to be in the crowds in central London when she had set off from Somerset but there were problems with the trains so she went to Windsor instead.
As she watched the committal service on the screens at Windsor, she wept. “I think I got so emotional because my mum loved the Queen and this would have meant a lot to her.” Dianne had never met the Queen, but – like so many others – felt as though she had.
By the time the state hearse slowly passed Dianne, taking Queen Elizabeth II towards her final resting place, businesses had already begun to reopen. Life was returning to normality.
But not entirely as before. People had paused and thought about what was gone.
Large crowds gathered in central London on Monday to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II as she made her final journey from Westminster to Windsor.
The coffin, topped with the Royal Standard and Imperial State Crown, was carried to Westminster Abbey on the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy, drawn by 142 sailors. King Charles III and other senior members of the Royal Family followed behind on foot.
Some 2,000 guests were inside the Abbey for the funeral service, including wider members of the Royal Family and dozens of world leaders and politicians from across the globe.
While the streets of Westminster were packed, other parts of London were eerily quiet with many people using the Bank Holiday to gather round TV screens at home to watch the historic events.
Big Ben tolled at one-minute intervals as the procession made its way slowly through the streets of the capital. Gun salutes were also fired every minute from Hyde Park.
Among the personal touches was a handwritten message from the King, which was placed on top of the coffin in a wreath of flowers cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Highgrove House and Clarence House at his request. It read: “In loving and devoted memory. Charles R.”
Union jacks around the UK and the world had been flying at half-mast since the Queen’s death
Flags on British government buildings around the world are flying at full-mast once again, as the period of national mourning following the death of Queen Elizabeth II draws to a close.
The Queen was buried in a private ceremony in Windsor on Monday evening, following a state funeral in London and military procession to Windsor Castle.
But the Royal Family will continue to observe another week of mourning.
Senior royals are not expected to carry out any public duties during this time.
Flags at royal residences will remain at half-mast until 08:00 BST on 27 September – the day after their mourning period ends.
Buckingham Palace has said royal household staff, representatives of the household on official duties and troops committed to ceremonial duties will also observe the extended mourning period.
An intensive clean-up operation is under way after hundreds of thousands of people across the UK flocked to London to watch the Queen’s funeral.
Council workers wearing black ribbons and bows were deployed on Monday evening to pick up litter and remove sand on roads around Westminster.
Cleaners at Southwark Council in south London worked an extra 24 hours over the time mourners queued to visit the Queen lying-in-state – removing seven tonnes of rubbish in the process.
Media caption, Watch moments from the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II
On Monday, world leaders and foreign royalty joined a 2,000-strong congregation at Westminster Abbey for the funeral, where the Dean of Westminster paid tribute to her “lifelong sense of duty”.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby spoke of the affection so many people felt for the late monarch. “Few leaders receive the outpouring of love we have seen,” he added.
About 100 presidents and heads of government were in the abbey – including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.
Royal families from around the globe also attended – with kings, queens and emperors from Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, Malaysia and Jordan present.
Image source, ReutersImage caption, Thousands of people flocked to Windsor to catch a glimpse of the State Hearse driving to St George’s Chapel
After the funeral, the Queen’s coffin was taken by gun carriage to Wellington Arch in London and then on to its final journey via funeral cortege, along a route that avoided motorways to allow as many as possible to pay their final respects.
Many thousands of people lined the streets to see the procession taking her coffin to to Windsor Castle and a committal service.
As a day of spectacle and mourning drew to a close, the UK’s longest-reigning monarch was laid to rest alongside her late husband the Duke of Edinburgh and in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, found inside St George’s Chapel in Windsor.
The scale of the funeral and mourning arrangements over the 10-day period, which included a miles-long queue snaking along the south bank of the River Thames to see the Queen’s lying-in-state, led to what police described as “probably the biggest operation we’re likely to launch in the UK”.
With thousands flocking into central London and dignitaries from around the world gathering to pay their respects, the funeral represented the “final and most complex phase” of the operation, the Metropolitan Police has said.
Hundreds of thousands of people queued to visit the Queen lying-in-state in Westminster Hall, with some mourners waiting all night to pay tribute.
Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said the government was crunching the final figures, but at least 250,000 people are estimated to have stood in line to pay their respects.
She told BBC Breakfast: “The queue was phenomenal. It was a real team effort to enable people to have that moment to say goodbye. I want to thank everyone involved.”
Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockImage caption, Police officers from around the country were deployed to London to help keep the capital safe
More than 3,000 officers from almost every force in the country were in London to help with the security for the funeral, including snipers stationed on rooftops and armed police, horseback teams and other specialist units patrolling the streets.
As of 17:00 BST on Monday, 67 arrests had been made as part of the operation for a range of offences.
The royal galleries will reopen later this week while the Royal Family continues mourning.
The Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace in central London, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Queen’s Gallery in Edinburgh will all reopen to visitors on Thursday.
Blooms of gold, pink and deep burgundy, sitting amid rich green foliage, adorned the Queen’scoffin during her funeral service.
The colourful flowers and plants, taken from the gardens of royal properties, were chosen for their symbolism.
At King Charles III’s request, the wreath for Her Majesty’s funeral contained flowers and foliage cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace and Clarence House in London – and Highgrove House in Gloucestershire.
It included foliage chosen for its symbolism:
Rosemary for remembrance – rosemary has long been associated with remembrance
Myrtle, the ancient symbol of a happy marriage, cut from a plant that was grown from a sprig of myrtle in The Queen’s wedding bouquet in 1947
English oak, a national symbol of strength, in a nod to the Queen’s constancy and steadfast duty. It also symbolises strength of love
In among the flowerswas a handwritten card which read: “In loving and devoted memory, Charles R.”
The Imperial State Crown, and the Sovereign’s orb and sceptre, were on top of the coffin with the wreath
The Queen’s coffin was carried into Westminster Abbey
The handwritten card from King Charles: “In loving and devoted memory, Charles R”
The flowers in the Queen’s funeral wreath featured scented pelargoniums, garden roses, autumnal hydrangea, sedum, dahlias and scabious, all in shades of gold, pink and deep burgundy, with touches of white, to reflect the colours in the Royal Standard flag on which it sat.
Royal funeral wreaths have traditionally been sombre, in white and green tones, says Gemma Kavanagh, from London florist Moyses Stevens, but the colours of the flowers can also be chosen to reflect a flag – which is what we saw on Monday.
King Charles is well-known for his commitment to the environment and, at his request, the wreath was made in a sustainable way – without the use of floral foam but, instead, created in a nest of English moss and oak branches.
Rosemary, a herb, has long been a symbol of remembrance because herbalists thought it was good for memory, says Prof Fiona Stafford, author of The Brief Life of Flowers. “But rosemary is also associated with love and loyalty, and it was used for marriage bouquets or for burials, as well for strewing on the dead. So it’s a really, really appropriate one to be part of the wreath,” she says.
Rosemary also featured when the King gave his first TV address to the nation. He was flanked by a portrait of his mother on one side and a small silver vase with sweet peas and sprigs of rosemary on the other.
The Queen loved flowers from her garden – every Monday, the gardeners at Buckingham Palace would send up a fresh posy of flowers for her desk when she was in residence. Gardener Alan Titchmarsh recalled in an article that the Queen “loved primroses, lily-of-the-valley and other modest blooms far more than elaborate exotics; something that speaks volumes about her personality”.
White wreaths
Unlike Monday’s colourful wreath, more traditional white funeral wreaths sat atop the Queen’s coffin on her final journey from Balmoral, via Edinburgh, to Westminster Hall in London. But all included personal flowers cut from royal gardens.
When the Queen’s coffin left Balmoral Castle, it was accompanied by a wreath made of dahlias, sweet peas, phlox, white heather and pine fir, all collected by her staff from the Balmoral Estate. The sweet peas echoed the Queen’s choice of flowers for her husband, Prince Philip’s wreath in 2021.
The wreath on top of Her Majesty’s coffin in Scotland was more white
When she was lying in state in Westminster Hall, the wreath included pine from the gardens at Balmoral – and pittosporum, lavender and rosemary from the gardens at Windsor.
Flowers on top of the coffin in Westminster Hall
The Queen was buried with Prince Philip in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, Windsor on Monday. The flowers in St George’s Chapel included:
Longiflorum lilies “Watch up”, Bouvardia “Royal white”, Dahlia “Caro”, Dahlia “Maarten Zwaan, Eusroma “Rosita” (Lisianthus) and Rose “Avalanche”
With greenery: Eucalyptus “Popules Bes”, Soft ruscus, and other greenery picked from Home Park
Senegal forward Keita Baldehas been suspended until December 5 over an anti-doping violation in Italy, his new club Spartak Moscow announced, severely compromising his chances of playing at the World Cup.
Balde, 27, signed a three-year deal with Russian Premier League side Spartak last month after spending the past season with Cagliari in Serie A.
Balde “has been suspended by the Italian national anti-doping agency until December 5 for a procedural violation during an anti-doping inspection while he was playing for Cagliari,” Spartak said in a statement.
The Russian club did not specify the nature of the infraction, but said that no prohibited substance had been detected in the sample tested.
According to Spartak, Balde will not be able to resume training until three weeks before the end of his suspension, in line with Fifa regulations.
Spanish-born Balde won the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal in February, but the suspension could see him left out of the squad for the World Cup in Qatar, which runs from November 20-December 18.
Senegal play the Netherlands on November 21 in their opening Group A match. They also face hosts Qatar and Ecuador.
Balde’s suspension would rule him out until the quarterfinals.
French referee Mikaël Lesage has been appointed to officiate the International friendly between Brazil and Ghana on Friday.The 47-year old is a top referee who officiates in the French Ligue 1 and European competitions. Mikaël has officiated over 150 games in the French Ligue 1 and the Europa League.He will be assisted by Alexis Auger – Assistant I and Valentine Evrarde – Assistant II, while Guillaume Paradis works as the fourth referee.The match which is scheduled for 20:30 kick off will take place at Stade Oceane, Le Harve on Friday, September 23, 2022.
Black Stars trained at Stade du Commandant Hebert in Deauville, France on Monday evening after assembling in camp for this month’s International friendlies against Brazil and Nicaragua.
24 players trained under the tutelage of coach Otto Addo and his backroom staff with four others expected to join the camp later.
Training continues on Tuesday, at the Stade du Commandant Hebert in Deauville at 16:30Hrs.
Four Ghana playersare yet to to join coach Otto Addo’s squad for this month’s International friendlies against Brazil and Nicaragua.
Southampton defender Mohammed Salisu. Leicester City’s Daniel Amartey, Orlando Pirates ace Richard Ofori and new Cremonese signing Felix Afena Gyan are the players yet to join the rest of the players.
The 24 Black Stars players trained at Stade du Commandant Hebert in Deauville, France on Monday evening under the tutelage of coach Otto Addo and his backroom staff.
Ghana will play Brazil at Stade de Oceane in Le Havre on Friday, September 23 before taking on Nicaragua on Tuesday, September 27 on Lorca – Spain.
The players who trained included:
Abdul Manaf Nurudeen, Joseph Wollacott, Tariq Lamptey, Stephen Ambrosius, Denis Odoi, Joseph Aidoo, Gideon Mensah, Inaki Williams, Baba Abdul Rahman, Alexander Djiku, Elisha Owusu, Alidu Seidu, Thomas Partey, Issahaku Fatawu, Mohammed Kudus, Suleymana Kamal Deen, Daniel Kofi Kyere, Jordan Ayew, Andre Ayew, Baba Idrissu, Daniel Afriyie Barnieh, Osman Bukari, Antoine Semenyo, Ransford Yeboah Koningsdorffer.
Training continues on Tuesday, at the Stade du Commandant Hebert in Deauville at 16:30Hrs.
Black Stars captain, Andre Ayew has welcomed new players to the national team ahead of the friendly games against Brazil and Nicaragua.
Spain-based Williams, Brighton wing-back Lamptey, Stephan Ambrosius of German side Karlsruhe, Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer of Hamburg SV, and Southampton defender Mohammed Salisu and Patrick Pfeiffer of German second-tier side, Darmstadt 98 have all completed their nationality switch to play for the West African country.
Except for Pfeiffer, the remaining five players have been named in the Black Stars squad for the pre-World Cup friendlies.
The Al Sadd forward speaking ahead of the games has urged the new players to be in the right frame of mind.
“First of all, the fact that they considered themselves as Ghanaians and are ready to play for Ghana means they are welcome,” he told the media.
“We’ll open the door for anybody that can help us to achieve something and for the long term is welcome.
“They should come with the right heart and the right idea and everyone will welcome them into the team,” he added.
Ghana plays Brazil at the Stade Oceane in Le Havre on September 23 and against Nicaragua in the South-eastern Spanish city of Lorca four days later.
Black Starscaptain, Andre Ayew has insisted the national team will need stability and consistency to succeed at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Ghana will engage Brazil at the Stade Oceane in Le Havre on September 23 and against Nicaragua in the South-eastern Spanish city of Lorca four days later as part of the preparations for the Mundial slated for November 20.
Ahead of the games, five out of the six players who have completed their nationality switch have been named in Ghana’s squad for the game.
Andre, 32, speaking in an interview said head coach of the side, Otto Addo, assistants Mas-Ud Didi Dramaniand George Boateng, as well as Chris Hughton as technical advisor, would provide the right guidance and some stability needed for the team’s progress at the World Cup and beyond.
“I remember an interview about a year ago during which I said that we needed to get some stability in what we did because it is stability and consistency which would take us to the next level, and hopefully we can get a core team and a core staff that is here for a while from whom we can learn and build something big for this football-loving nation,” the Al Sadd forward told Graphic Sports.
Spain-based Williams, Brighton wing-back Lamptey, Stephan Ambrosius of German side Karlsruhe, Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer of Hamburg SV, and Southampton defender Mohammed Salisu are all expected to make their debut for the Black Stars.
In November, the Black Stars will take on Switzerland in their final preparatory game.
The Black Stars have been housed in Group H alongside Portugal, South Korea, and Uruguay.
As the remains of Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest today, some of African leaders are in the United Kingdom to bid farewell to the fallen leader.
It is not wrong for African leaders to attend the ceremony, however something caught the attention of people which got them talking.
As it is well known that African leaders are praised and seen as gods in their respective countries, it is not the case with how they are being treated at Queen’s funeral.
In a picture making rounds on social media, the African leaders are seen packed in one bus though it seems to be of a good standard but they look like university students.
From the look of their faces, one can see the embarrassment the leaders are carrying some might even regretting coming to London.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry put on a united front with the rest of the royal family as they attended Queen Elizabeth’s funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday, September 19th.
However, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex opted not to bring their two children to the service for Her Majesty, who passed away at the age of 96. And the reason they decided to keep their brood at their Montecito home in California rather than have them attend their great-grandmother’s funeral is simply because of their age.
With their son Archie being three and their daughter Lili only one year old, they are too young to attend and understand royal events, especially those as solemn as the Queen’s passing.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate Middleton, also decided to leave their youngest son, Prince Louis, at home while their two eldest children, Prince George, 9, and Princess Charlotte, 7, were in attendance.
According to Hello!, there is no official rule preventing children under a certain age from attending the funeral of a Sovereign – and it is up to the parents to make the decision on whether they can handle such events.
It is unclear who Archie and Lilibet are staying with back home in California, but Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland may be stepping in to help with childcare. Meghan has also previously gushed about the children’s “amazing” nanny named Lauren.
Meanwhile, Meghan Markle arrived with her husband, Prince Harry, Duke Of Sussex, at the Queen’s funeral on Monday. This is the first time Meghan has attended a royal or state funeral. She missed Prince Philip’s funeral in 2021 as she was pregnant with her and Harry’s second child, Lilibet, at the time.
In the days following the Queen’s death on 8 September, Meghan Markle and her husband, Prince Harry – who moved to California and stepped back from their position as senior royals in 2020 – reunited with Prince William and Kate Middleton to attend several official events.
Meghan chose to show her respect for her husband’s grandmother by placing her hit Spotify podcast, Archetypes, on hold. Her coming cover for Variety‘s Women in Power issue and gala has also been postponed.
World leaders from across the globe gathered together on Monday to say goodbye to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and people could not help but notice the different ways they arrived at Westminster Abbey.
In a motorcade and private car known as The Beast, US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden arrived in their typical fashion.
But arriving in several coach and minibuses were other world leaders, including those from African countries.
“President William Ruto and other African leaders inside a bus vs. America’s Joe Biden motorcade as they head to the Buckingham Palace in honor of Queen Elizabeth II,” media outlet Kenyans wrote on Twitter.
In the photo, President of Kenya William Ruto and other leaders sit together on one of the busses as they make their way to Westminster Abbey.
Later, the world leaders were photographed arriving at the Abbey and it seems nearly every one was forced to take the bus unlike the US President and First Lady.
Social commentator, Kwame Asare Obeng has stated that the funeral ceremony of the late Queen Elizabeth II should teach Africans to uphold their culture and tradition.
His comment comes after his attention was drawn to a ram that was slaughtered as part of ceremonial activities performed at the Queen’s funeral.
On his official Facebook post, A Plus wrote, “I didn’t know that British people slaughter a ram to perform rituals until the queen died. Herrrh!!” he exclaimed.
This led the musician-turned-politician to say that Africans have indeed been fooled for several years.
He has promised to promote anything Ghanaian culture because and appreciate people despite the tribal differences.
“After the death of the queen and the display of British culture that followed, I’ve realised how we have been fooled for many years. I’ve decided to spent more time promoting my own people. I don’t care if they are Ewe, Ashanti, Ga, Dagati, Frafra, Fante, whatever. We must preserve our culture too,” he added
A Plus argued that the only book the white man spent time translating into almost every language is the bible. He had a plan to use that book to deceive you to depart from your culture.
He knew that if he tells you that a snake told a naked woman to eat half of a juicy apple and give the other half to one a man in a garden called Eden in your local language, you’ll understand it easier and faster, and you’ll believe it. He didn’t teach you mathematics in your language. He left you to go and find the definition of equation, before you embark on a long journey in search of Y and his girlfriend X.
Background
The comments of A Plus comes in wake of the ongoing Queen Elizabeth II funeral today. Some video evidence showed that, the British killed a Sheep as part of customs during the queen’s funeral. View pictures in App save up to 80% data.
Britain, world leaders and royalty from across the globe are bidding a final farewell to Queen Elizabeth II, the last towering figure of her era, at a state funeral of inimitable pageantry. It is said that Thousands of people camped overnight in London to get the best spots for viewing Queen Elizabeth’s funeral procession.
Look carefully and you can see the royal guards rocking ever so slightly, forwards and backwards, to keep the blood flowing My husband is – imperceptibly, infinitesimally – swaying. Backwards and forwards he goes, gently, so, so gently. Blink and you’d miss it; to all intents and purposes he is standing stock still, eyes front, unsmiling, upright.
You’d only catch the tiny movement if you were looking very intently.
But then, I am looking very intently – because my husband is standing guard at the foot of the late Queen’s coffin, one of four watchers playing their part in this long vigil, the chance for the nation to pay their respects to their late beloved monarch before she is laid to rest on Monday. The rocking – forwards and backwards from the heel to the ball of the foot – keeps the blood flowing; stops him passing out. Watch really carefully and they’re all at it.
It is just after midnight and outside, the shuffling queue of hundreds of thousands of people is making its patient way along the Thames, over Lambeth Bridge and into Victoria Tower Gardens, to stream endlessly through Westminster Hall. Inside, under the bright lights hanging from the mediaeval beams, it is silent, bar the tapping of feet, the discreet click of an official photographer’s lens and once, the wail of a baby.
Suddenly comes the bang of sword on stone, the signal for the guard to change. It is precisely 12:20am and the four on the corners swing their swords in a graceful arc in perfect time, before making their careful way down the steps of the dais on which the late Queen’s catafalque stands.
They are ungainly as they march slowly out – their thigh-high boots, complete with spurs, are made for riding, not walking – yet still they are militarily in time, clanking unsmilingly up the stone staircase, swords still aloft, to exit stage right, like so many toddlers climbing awkwardly up to bed.
My husband tells me afterwards that all he could think of, at this point, was not to trip, fall – and become a global meme.
For all the pomp and ceremony, the clicking of heels and the raising of swords, the vigil itself is an honouring of the dead in a ceremony that would be recognised at almost any point in history, in even the smallest village in the farthest-flung corner of the earth.
A vigil can at once be grand or simple, awe-inspiring or strangely intimate – or all of those things – and Queen Elizabeth II’s is no exception. Ignore the velvet ropes and the electric lights – and the anoraks, trainers and clutched plastic bags – and this could be a moment from another time; it is timeless.
Soothing, too; the endless river of people filing by the coffin. Most slow, some bow, others curtsey, some blow kisses. Many linger after they have passed by, reluctant to leave this sanctuary that it has taken them so long to reach. Exhaustion is etched on faces; there is the odd dazed-looking child stumbling along between its parents.
Among this stream of awkward humanity, the officers on guard stand in marked contrast – statues, doing their duty. They have been practicing all week: their entrances and exits, their synchronised sword drills run through at home in spare half hours with umbrellas. Standing orders have been dusted off, breastplates refitted, helmets adjusted, boots polished. I have seen the pomp and ceremony hundreds of times, yet never carried out so silently; there is no shouting of orders in here.
The sword bangs once more; it is time to leave. On top of the coffin, the Black Prince’s Ruby suddenly flashes red. I pause, bow my head, say a prayer of thanks – for Her Majesty’s life, but also, in her death, to have been able to see this, to watch my husband carry out this enormous honour.
At some point, guilt has to stop. We need to accept ourselves, give ourselves permission to try being happy. After all, what happened, happened, and no self-torture will change it. So, it’s time to situate in the present. If no one else has forgiven us, at least we can. According the Second Law of Thermodynamics, nothing is forever, and that applies equally to putting oneself through the wringer.
Of course, sometimes we contrive an image of ourselves that’s so apparently real that no amount of self-forgiveness seems adequate. “I’m stuck with myself. It’s just who I am.” We collapse into believing ourselves to be flawed—maybe our parents belittled us, or we messed up so many relationships that we feel congenitally emotionally incompetent. The feelings become self-fulfilling; we withdraw; the world appears to confirm our convictions. We drift towards negativity. Even if there’s real truth in what we think, we’ve perfected the mechanism for making ourselves seem worse than we are. In trying to climb out of our rut, we dig ourselves deeper. So, the question is: is there any way to stop?
Yes, if you understand what’s going on. Studies show that we believe unfounded ideas when, for example, it’s easy to ignore good evidence to the contrary or we distort such evidence on account of anxiety.When we work ourselves up into believing the worst of ourselves, we’re liable to fall into both these states. To escape, we have to calm down. We have to try to look objectively at all the stuff that we’ve done right. Then, slowly, we have to try to unwind our negative self-impression. We can comfort ourselves that we have (at least) stopped the downward spiral.
I’m thinking about self-acceptance now because I’m thinking about Mr. Lauren.
Years before entering treatment with me, he’d helped a bankrupt client with whom he’d stayed in touch. “I thought I’d done something for the guy and that he appreciated it,” he said one day as we rehearsed his history.
Alas.
What seemed to engage Mr. Lauren’s idealism led to his serious derelictions—not just in the eyes of his peers but, by implication, in his own eyes. It started when the old client sent him new ones, mostly with tough business problems. Mr. Lauren enjoyed the challenge. But he failed to see that some of these individuals were involved in illicit or even illegal schemes. When the authorities finally swooped in and uncovered what was afoot, Mr. Lauren was caught in the middle. The firm’s management went ballistic and demanded that he quit. Mr. Lauren’s reputation was sullied, if only because he’d failed to perform the due diligence required of any lawyer involved in business matters.
“I thought I was being so helpful. Shrewd, even. How dumb can you get?” He said he deserved what he got.
Mr. Lauren’s “crime,” if you want to call it that, was taking a leap of faith, ignoring the procedures that his firm had in place to prevent leaps of faith. He took the cowboy rather than the bureaucratic route, in part because he felt that he knew how he could help. He was a little too sure of himself—when he shouldn’t have been. He had allowed his ego to get in the way of common sense, his training, and the established procedures of an organization that had trusted him to follow those procedures. “I felt like I betrayed them,” he said.
But being clear-eyed about one’s actions, and expressing remorse, has to give way to rebuilding. It took months for Mr. Lauren to see that.
Still, a few people offered to help—at least insofar as they refused to participate in Mr. Lauren’s perpetual self-takedown. Some even casually mentioned firms that might be interested in entrepreneurial guys who had, perhaps, “matured,” as they delicately put it. After a while, and after we spoke repeatedly about his next steps, he took the plunge: he began sending out carefully worded letters to carefully researched firms that seemed like they wanted to take on the world. There was no more time left to sulk. Besides, he had to put on a suit in the morning and present a confident face.
Eventually, it paid off. The self-acceptance that he finally achieved was made up of practical considerations, i.e., he allowed himself to get on with life. He got to work, ditched the cockiness, tried to be more of a team-player. He allowed himself to feel productive again, but within parameters acceptable to his new firm and his profession. If he wasn’t sure what to do, he’d ask someone, rather than just relying on instinct. For Mr. Lauren, self-forgiveness meant acting like a renewed person, like someone who’d learned his lesson and was putting into practice what he’d learned.
It took time, of course. As we worked through the process, he expressed surprise that he wasn’t making great moral decisions about how he’d behaved. This made things easier. “I’m turning self-forgiveness into a series of practicalities,” he told me. “I know I behaved badly,” he said, “but the cure isn’t so much repentance as it is acting like a person transformed.” This was a stunning insight. He didn’t have to keep indulging in anger at himself—which, perversely, he thought would make him feel better—when he could just act as if he knew how to behave better. In fact, he had learned and now did know better (and as a consequence felt better).
Maybe this wasn’t back where he had started. But, in effect, he had translated grieving about himself, which was ultimately static, into productive, forward-looking actions that were self-redeeming. He didn’t forget how he had acted, but he had learned and was moving on.
In pursuing happiness, we have to calibrate where we have been with where we wish to go so that we can take the necessary steps along the way. We can’t just will ourselves to be another person; we can’t just forgive ourselves and pretend that the past will have no effect on the present. Rather, we have to allow the past to work for us constructively so that we can learn from it and effectively move on.
In this sense, self-forgiveness is not a clean break with the past. It requires an informed continuity, understanding, and, ultimately, an initiative to employ the past to our present advantage.
One of the most interesting neuroscience articles I’ve read recently looked at the short-term impacts on motor function in the brain after putting a cast on people’s dominant arm for several weeks.
This study, led by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, entitled “Plasticity and Spontaneous Activity Pulses in Disused Human Brain Circuits,” used a dense-sampling methodology (Newbold et al., 2020).
This means that rather than having one or two brain scans on numerous individuals, as is typical in neuroimaging research, researchers collected daily brain scans of only three volunteer participants over the course of two months (42-64 brain scans per participant). To appreciate the massive investment this study required, the typical neuroimaging study scans participants only once, with a median sample size of 25, and each MRI scan costs upwards of $500 (Marek et al., 2022). (Plus, however much money it took to convince people to have their arm bound for two weeks!)
Before casting participants’ arms, the mean motion of both arms was captured over the course of two weeks using an accelerometer that participants wore for the duration of the study period. Researchersalso measured participants’ grip strength, fine motor control ability, and baseline brain activity for the two weeks prior to casting.
Each participant had their dominant arm casted for a total of two weeks, during which time the motion of the casted arm decreased by 41-55 percent, and the motion of the non-dominant arm increased by 15-24 percent. Within two days of casting, brain scans revealed significant decreases in functional connectivity in the somatomotor cortex and cerebellum, areas of the brain that process motion, fine motor control, and balance.
Functional connectivity (FC) measures how much a given brain area communicates with the rest of the brain. Depending on the particular participant and brain subregion, functional connectivity decreased between as little as 7 percent and as much as 86 percent.
The largest declines in FC were between the left somatomotor cortex, which controls motor function and sensation in the right arm (the dominant and casted arm of all participants), and the right somatomotor cortex, which controls the left arm. These areas are normally highly interconnected to coordinate fine motor control between both hands, but FC declined dramatically when the dominant arm was casted. In other words, use it or lose it!
When the casts were removed, participants’ grip strength in their dominant hands decreased by 27-42 percent, and fine motor skills decreased by 12-29 percent. Interestingly, grip strength or fine motor skills did not improve in the non-dominant hand, despite the increased usage. Within three days, brain activity in all motor areas returned to normal; within two weeks, fine motor skills and grip strength returned to normal.
These results are a classic demonstration of brain plasticity: the ability of your brain’s flexibly and rapidly change as your environment or behavior changes. Everyone expected motor function to decrease during the casting period and return to normal once the cast was removed. But another set of findings was entirely unexpected.
The two regions in the left hemisphere that saw significant decreases in FC with the rest of the brain, the somatomotor cortex and cerebellum, increased in FC with each other and began to fire rapidly. During the casting period, researchers noted “spontaneous pulses” of brain activity in these regions, which were higher amplitude than typical background brain activity. They did not look anything like typical motor signaling.
Researchers termed these signals “disuse pulses” and think they may be a protective mechanism. Rather than giving up and atrophying, unused brain regions decide to band together and spontaneously fire together. This serves one of two purposes. Either they aim to keep these regions active and healthy—like exercise—so that it’s easier to return to normal functioning once these brain regions are used again. Or, it could be the beginnings of activity attempting to respecialize—if the left motor cortex can no longer control the right hand, perhaps it will find a new function.
Either way, the next time you find yourself in a bind, brain plasticity will help you out.
References
Marek, S., Tervo-Clemmens, B., Calabro, F. J., Montez, D. F., Kay, B. P., Hatoum, A. S., Donohue, M. R., Foran, W., Miller, R. L., Hendrickson, T. J., Malone, S. M., Kandala, S., Feczko, E., Miranda-Dominguez, O., Graham, A. M., Earl, E. A., Perrone, A. J., Cordova, M., Doyle, O., Moore, L. A., … Dosenbach, N. (2022). Reproducible brain-wide association studies require thousands of individuals. Nature, 603(7902), 654–660. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04492-9
Newbold, D. J., Laumann, T. O., Hoyt, C. R., Hampton, J. M., Montez, D. F., Raut, R. V., Ortega, M., Mitra, A., Nielsen, A. N., Miller, D. B., Adeyemo, B., Nguyen, A. L., Scheidter, K. M., Tanenbaum, A. B., Van, A. N., Marek, S., Schlaggar, B. L., Carter, A. R., Greene, D. J., Gordon, E. M., … Dosenbach, N. (2020). Plasticity and Spontaneous Activity Pulses in Disused Human Brain Circuits. Neuron, 107(3), 580–589.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2020.05.007.
The Imperial State Crown, and the Sovereign’s orb and sceptre, were on top of the coffin with the wreath
The Queen’s coffin was carried into Westminster Abbey
