British Royal Family brings capital to a halt

IT HACKS ON important business dashing from one press conference to another found themselves stymied by phalanxes of "reporters" and police waiting for the Queen to come out of the Ritz last night.

Large swathes of the West End of London, already hit by tube stoppages as a result of a 48 hour strike by firefighters, were shut down by soaking wet tax-paid Bobbies as the Queen, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles hosted a huge shindig at the expensive hotel.

Why shouldn't the woman have a party, you might ask. Why not indeed. But as she and her family have bloody big palaces all very close to the Fritz, why didn't she hold them there?

Or switch on the lights in Oxford Street or do something useful, rather than hinder the progress of hacks from one important Intel even to another.

Just as well there wasn't an emergency in the West End last night.

Mrs Windsor belongs to the same family that changed its name from Battenberg to Mountbatten during the First World War to counter populist anti-German feeling. The USA is a republic that got rid of German kings who ruled Britain during the 18th century. µ

* ONE OF THE QUEEN'S MINISTERS responsible for University education in Britain said that Britain had to "enable innovation". No, she doesn't work for Microsoft, at least to the best of our knowledge.