Baby llama among diplomatic Jubilee gifts to Queen
The Queen received armfuls of Diamond Jubilee gifts from well-wishers during 2012 - even a baby llama and infant elephant.
The Queen received armfuls of Diamond Jubilee gifts from well-wishers during 2012 - even a baby llama and infant elephant.
In the last episode before Christmas, Tonight celebrates 2012 and asks was it the year that the Great in Great Britain was truly realised?
Some of the suits worn by Margaret Thatcher during key moments during her rise to power will go under the hammer today.
The first feature length royal documentary in more than 20 years will be shown this weekend.
Our Queen features unique access during the Diamond Jubilee year to members of the Royal Family, to Her Majesty's staff - some talking for the first time - to her Prime Ministers and to her residences.
Gallery: The Queen over the years.
Watch Our Queen on ITV on Sunday at 8pm.
The Earl of Wessex, will unveil a specially commissioned bronze in honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in Winchester today. The Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, Dame Mary Fagan, commissioned the bronze of Her Majesty The Queen for future generations to enjoy
It is being installed in the Great Hall in Winchester, following the example that took place in 1983 when the famous Royal Wedding Gates were commissioned for the wedding of The Prince and Princess of Wales.
The bronze sculpture is six feet in diameter. The Queen is shown wearing a necklace and diamond tiara. The surround for the bronze is a representation of the Hampshire Rose which provides an informal frame for the sculpture.
The Queen received armfuls of Diamond Jubilee gifts from well-wishers during 2012 - even a baby llama and infant elephant.
Read the full storyReferring to the way June's Thames river pageant was covered by the BBC, Michael Buerk said:
Nobody knew anything and nobody cared. The main presenter couldn't even work out what to call the Queen. The Dunkirk Little Ships, the most evocative reminders of this country's bravest hour, were ignored so that a pneumatic bird-brain from Strictly Come Dancing could talk to transvestites in Battersea Park. I was so ashamed of the BBC, I would have wept if I hadn't been so angry.
Much of the blame for the Jubilee coverage was directed at George Entwistle, the then head of BBC Vision who went on to become director-general.
Referring to Mr Entwistle's short-lived tenure at the top, after resigning in the light of the Jimmy Savile scandal, the former 999 presenter went on:
The worst thing was that it was deliberate - planned that way to be 'light' and 'inclusive'. The BBC actually congratulated itself, and the executive ultimately responsible (George Entwistle) was promptly promoted to become the most disastrous director-general in the corporation's history.
BBC veteran Michael Buerk has said he was "ashamed" of the corporation's "cringingly inept" coverage of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, the ex-newsreader launched a stinging attack on the summer's live broadcasts, for which the BBC received 2,400 public complaints, which he said had ridiculed the Royal family.
"The one enduring British institution was mocked by another that had shamefully lost its way," he said, adding that instead, "A succession of daytime airheads preened themselves, or gossiped with even more vacuous D-list 'celebrities'."
In the last episode before Christmas, Tonight celebrates 2012 and asks was it the year that the Great in Great Britain was truly realised?
Read the full story
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall, joined Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard today at the unveiling of Queen Elizabeth Terrace in Canberra.
The terrace was originally called Parkes Place and was renamed in honour of the monarch's Diamond Jubilee this year.
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall are to begin a Diamond Jubilee tour in honour of the Queen in Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand in a two-week trip.
Charles and Camilla's celebration of her 60-year reign will include a traditional Aussie barbecue with outback sheep farmers and time with race goers at the Melbourne Cup.
They will also be given a sneak preview of the film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey by director Peter Jackson.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh have greeted guests during a reception for organisers and supporters of the celebrations for the Diamond Jubilee at Buckingham Palace.
Gary Barlow said he and the other performers feared the summer's Diamond Jubilee Concert would be cancelled on the day amid heavy rain and the Duke of Edinburgh's health scare.