Astor Lashed Camilla for Bedding Prince

Royal accounts reveal surge in spending

(NEWSER) - Anti-monarchists in Britain are wondering why public spending on Prince Charles and his household shot up 18% at a time when most government departments are grappling with major cutbacks. The prince's annual accounts show that government grants to cover things like his official travel and the upkeep of his residence rose to $3.13 million over the last year, reports the Independent. 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.

Public would skip Charles & Camilla to crown Wills & Kate

(NEWSER) - The British want the monarchy to skip a generation, passing over Charles to Prince William, Reuters reports. More than half of those polled preferred a King William to having his pop ascend the throne. Younger people were especially keen to see Wills crowned. A clear majority were in favor of keeping the monarchy. More»

Historian says Elizabeth II is uneducated and incurious, even about her predecessors

(NEWSER) - Queen Elizabeth II is undereducated and lacks curiosity about culture and her predecessors, a British historian charges in an interview with the Guardian. "I think she's got elements a bit like Goebbels in her attitude to culture," David Starkey says. "You remember: 'Every time I hear the word culture I reach for my revolver.'" Starkey, who winds up a 17-part TV series on the monarchy next week with a look at the Windsors, also calls Princess Diana hysterical and destructive but has kind words for Prince Charles. More»