Ex French Prez Pens Steamy Princess Novel

(NEWSER) - Caustic socialite Brooke Astor lashed Camilla Parker Bowles for perpetuating the "family mistress business" by sleeping with Prince Charles even while he was married to Diana, reports the Guardian. "Your grandmother would be proud of you," snorted Astor, referring to Camilla's great-grandmother, who was believed to be one of Edward VII's many mistresses. Charles finally married Parker Bowles in 2005, eight years after Princess Diana was killed in a Paris car crash. More»

Oil ministry issues ultimatums to European refineries to sign long-term contracts

(AP) - Iran has halted oil shipments to Britain and France, the Oil Ministry said today, in an apparent pre-emptive blow against the European Union's sanctions on Iran's oil exports. The EU imposed tough sanctions against Iran last month, which included a freeze of the country's central bank assets and an oil embargo set to begin in July. Iran's Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi had warned earlier this month that Tehran could cut off oil exports to "hostile" European nations. The 27-nation EU accounts for about 18% of Iran's oil exports. 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.

Young princes were asked to walk with him

(NEWSER) - After Princess Diana’s death, Buckingham Palace feared Prince Charles might also be in danger—at Di’s funeral. In his newly published diaries, former Tony Blair aide Alastair Campbell writes that an attack on the prince as he walked behind the coffin was considered a risk—unless his sons walked with him. An official warned Prince William of the threat, and asked him to walk alongside his father, the Telegraph reports. More»