Brits Want Wills, Not Charles

Annual Trooping the Colour ceremony salutes official birthday

(NEWSER) - Another British occasion, another display of crazy hats: London today rolled out the redcoats and bear-skin hats to fete Queen Elizabeth's 85th birthday—even though it's not her 85th birthday. The annual Trooping the Color ceremony, which dates from 1748, is held on a Saturday in June, when the weather is ostensibly better than the queen's real birthday, April 21. Catherine, the royal clan's newest duchess, nevertheless warded off the chill with a tartan blanket, notes the AP, whilst Prince William rode in the parade in the same Irish Guards uniform in which he married her. More»

US president, first lady welcomed at Buckingham Palace

(NEWSER) - The Obamas were grandly received at Buckingham Palace today, greeted by a 41-gun salute as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip welcomed them to London. Earlier in the day, the president and first lady had a chance to meet with Prince Charles and wife Camilla, as well as newlyweds Prince William and wife Kate—and the Obamas are even staying in the same suite Wills and Kate used on their wedding night. According to the AP , royal watchers say the queen took a liking to the Obamas after their 2009 visit, during which the first lady famously touched the royal back . Click for more pictures, and details on what all the ladies wore . More»

It's not just prime ministers that are notably absent from guest list

(NEWSER) - With just three days left before the royal wedding, the inevitable complaints of guest list snubs are coming to the surface. News came out over the weekend that the last two British prime ministers weren't invited, and now the New York Times notes that some of Princess Diana's close friends were also excluded. Some have speculated that Prince Charles's second wife, Camilla, vetoed any potential guests who may have been on Diana's side in the divorce, but palace officials insist that a lack of space is to blame. More»

The Windsors are pretty wacky, says Christopher Hitchens

(NEWSER) - For those salivating over every bit of cake or gown drivel that oozes out of the royal wedding, Christopher Hitchens is here to rain on your parade. The "constitutional absurdity" (ie, monarchy) is getting ready to claim its latest victim, he writes in Slate, and Kate Middleton had best consider the spectacularly dysfunctional family she's marrying into:

• Queen Elizabeth: Praised for her "stoicism and a certain integrity," she really "refused to allow her younger sister Margaret to marry the man she loved and had chosen, and she let her authoritarian husband have charge of the education of her eldest son." Both to "gruesome" results.

Elizabeth's clan hits church, attracts crowds

(NEWSER) - Britain's Prince Philip remained hospitalized today, recovering from coronary stenting , but the royal show must go on, and so it did: Queen Elizabeth and her entire brood attracted throngs of Brits as they attended Christmas services this morning at the queen's retreat in Sandringham. Kate, in her first Christmas as Duchess of Cambridge, likely boosted the number of watchers, notes People, and impressed in an eggplant-colored coat and hat. The royals were also joined by Mike Tindall, who married the queen's granddaughter, Zara Phillips, this year. More»