As a reasonable democratic esquire of the human species, planet earth, Gus is of course anti-monarchist... Monarchy represents an archaic way to rule over the plebs, a way that is unacceptable — even in its constitutional monarchy democratic system like Orstralya... Hey, only this morning (25/08/2012) we are reminded of the ghastly dismissal of Whitlam, Prime Minister, in which a prominent "third" player had been hidden behind the curtain of her majesty's bloomers...

We knew that... but we could not name the culprit unless the culprit got fairly and squarely exposed...

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Meanwhile the resting place of kings is in car parks — according to the way the press writes it:

British archaeologists are hoping to find the lost remains of King Richard III by digging up a car park believed to be his burial site.

The newspaper regulator said it had not, however, received a complaint from any representative of the prince, despite a stiff warning issued by Prince Charles's personal lawyers that publication would be a breach of his son's privacy.

"Almost all the complaints are from members of the public and nearly all are about invasions of privacy," said a spokeswoman for the PCC.

The Sun carried the photos on its front page on Friday with the headline: "Heir It Is – pic of naked Harry you've already seen on the internet."

It said the royal family was trying to "muzzle the world's most vibrant newspaper" and there was a "clear public interest" for publication, claiming it was important its readers were fully informed about a "legitimate public debate about the behaviour of the man who is third in line to the throne".

St James's Palace, which had used law firm Harbottle & Lewis to warn papers that publication would be a breach of the PCC's code of conduct in relation to photos taken on private property, said it had "no comment to make on the photos or the prince's privacy". Harbottle & Lewis had said there was no justification under English law to publish and that "the only possible reason for publication of the photographs is one of prurience and nothing more".

Reaction to the Sun's decision was mixed: press freedom campaigners came out in support but some media lawyers branded it a cynical move designed to make money from increased sales.

An angry Rupert Murdoch ordered The Sun to publish pictures of a naked Prince Harry against the wishes of the Royal Family because he wanted to send a warning shot to Lord Justice Leveson, sources said yesterday.

The owner of the red-top phoned the News International chief executive Tom Mockridge from New York on Thursday amid suggestions that The Sun and other papers did not carry the photos for fear of recriminations in the Leveson report.

When the images emerged on Wednesday, St James's Palace asked the Press Complaints Commission to tell editors it did not want them published, and all British papers abided by the request on Thursday. But on Friday, The Sun carried a picture of a naked Prince Harry, taken during a game of strip pool in his hotel suite in Las Vegas last weekend, raising questions over why the paper changed its stance.

News International has refused to comment on speculation that Mr Murdoch intervened. But according to a well-placed source, Mr Murdoch told Mr Mockridge in his transatlantic phone call on Thursday: "There is a principle here. I know this is about Leveson but this is humiliating. We can't carry on like this. We should run them, do it and say to Leveson, we are doing it for press freedom."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/angry-murdoch-used-harry-photos-to-defy-leveson-8081427.html

... Murdoch has defended the decision of the Sun to publish pictures of a naked Prince Harry in Las Vegas, saying it was necessary to make a point about the lack of "free press" in Britain.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/aug/26/rupert-murdoch-defends-sun-prince-harry-pictures

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Gus: You should see Uncle Rupe's telephone bill for the hacking thingy, including the backhands to the police and the private investigator fees... WHOOhooooo!!! Nothing is free!...  Thus the press isn't free in England... nor anywhere else in the world...

It costs a packet to run... No free lunch...

The ad is displayed at every gate in the airport, with a hashtag warning visitors to "#KnowTheCode" so the sanctity of Vegas is not further violated by opportunists with sub-par cell phone cameras (seriously, we could barely tell it was Harry) and greedy instincts.

In an open letter to those persons responsible for the photos winding up online -- including the picture-taker and the TMZ-buyer, the official tourism commission writes, "For Shame! To those who traded in their pledge to their Las Vegas brethren, WE DEPLORE YOU. We are calling on you, the defenders of what happens in Vegas staying in its rightful place -- in Vegas. We are asking for a shun on those exploiters of Prince Harry. We shall boycott partying with (whoever exploited Harry). No bottle service. No bikini clad girls." 

There's even a new website where you can brush up on the Vegas code (protect the moment!), and shame any of your frenemies who dare to break it (report code-violators!). Go to VisitLasVegas.com/KnowTheCode to make sure you're informed. At press time, over 90,000 tourists and Harry fans had made the pledge.

http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2012/08/prince-harry-nude-pics-inspire-vegas-ad-campain-know-the-code.html

Whatever the royal family may think of his exploits in Las Vegas, many Britons can barely hide their support for Prince Harry, posting naked pictures of themselves online in tribute.

A Facebook group entitled "Support Prince Harry with a naked salute!" - featuring people posing in various states of undress saluting the third-in-line to the throne - has won 13,000 members and is still growing.

The group sprang up after Harry, 27, was photographed naked with a mystery woman during a game of "strip billiards" in a Las Vegas hotel suite.

RadarOnline claims there’s a video in existence of prince’s romp in Las Vegas hotel suite

THE SCANDAL over the naked photos of Prince Harry is about to become even worse for the royal family, according to the US gossip site RadarOnline.com, which claims a naked video of the prince partying in his hotel room will surface shortly.

The site claims the video was taken as Harry played ‘strip billiards’ in his Las Vegas hotel suite. It is not known if it was shot by the person who took the infamous photos.

Radar admits it has yet to see the video but says it was told by a source that the video owner is making “very quiet inquiries” about how much the film might be worth.

The source said: “The video has not been shopped around yet, its existence is being kept as discreet as possible. With all the attention the photos got, the people with the video know it could be worth a fortune.”

The popular verdict on James Murdoch’s performance at the various UK phone hacking inquiries last year was that Rupert’s son and heir was either a fool or a liar, and that if he didn’t know his journalists at the News of the World were hacking into voicemails on an industrial scale, he certainly should have done. 

You may remember that in May 2008 James was shown an email and a legal opinion which revealed the hacking at the NotW was rife. He claims he didn’t read either, yet agreed to buy off a victim who was suing News International with a 700,000 pound settlement.

So, has young Jimmy been sacked, demoted, or shown the door? Well, no. He’s been promoted to News Corp’s Deputy Chief Operating officer and Chairman and CEO International.

And, as the 96-page notice of News Corp’s October annual general meeting shows, he has also been given a pay rise, and awarded a US$5 million cash bonus for having such a great year. 

James did the decent thing in 2011 and refused to take the $6 million bonus the board was keen to give him then -- in view of what had happened on his watch at the News of the World and The Sun, dozens of whose journalists have now been arrested on suspicion of phone hacking or corruption. But this year, he has had no such qualms.

Accordingly, his pay packet has swollen to US$16,838,072 from the paltry US$11,921,625 he had to make do with last year.

His dad has done even better, taking home US$30,022,292, or almost twice as much, but poor Rupert has been forced to tighten his belt after last year’s US$33,292,753 because the board has made him take a share of the blame for what went at his favourite British papers.

News Corp’s compensation committee goes to great lengths to explain to shareholders why this sort of money is entirely deserved, and make a fair shot at it with Rupert, whose “leadership” helped send the stock price up by 23% in 2011-12. But they struggle to find much to say about James’s contribution, suggesting that two of his key achievements were that he “transitioned into his new role” and “successfully transitioned into his new role”.

Another way of putting James’s flight from the UK is that he was forced to resign as Chairman of BSkyB after the NotW phone hacking scandal derailed News Corp’s US$12 billion bid for the 61% of BSkyB it didn’t already own.

One might arguably also blame James for the closure of the News of the World, with the loss of some 200 jobs, for the $224 million in legal and other costs, and for the huge reputational damage done to News, because he let the phone hacking scandal get out of hand. 

It must be said in his defence that James helped turn BSkyB into a powerhouse after joining in 2003 and that, as pay-TV executive, he’s no chump. But it’s hard to believe he would have survived the disasters at the News of the World and The Sun -- or his subsequent performance before the House of Commons committee -- if his dad didn’t run the company and his family didn’t own 40% of News Corp’s voting shares.

Not surprisingly, the resolutions for this year’s AGM -- due to take place in Los Angeles at the Darryl  F. Zanuck Theater on 16 October -- include one to scrap the gerrymander that keeps the Murdoch family in power, and another to split the roles of Chairman and CEO, both of which are currently held by Rupert. Not surprisingly, the board is “unanimously opposed” to both suggestions.

We’ll see what happens on the day, and whether the opposition can do more than register a loud vote of protest, as it did last year. But The Power Index couldn’t notice that the board has been thinking about a succession plan if something should happen to Rupert. It seems it does this every year, and part of the process is that the Compensation Commitee (which awarded James that $5 million cash bonus) discusses “potential internal candidates” with the CEO, ie Rupert.

We’d love to have been a fly on the wall at that meeting, when James’s suitability and recent stellar performance came up.

We see from the 96-page blurb for the AGM that the committee also identifies “development needs ... of specific individuals”.

We wonder if they’ve told James he needs to work on reading those emails? Can someone please ask this question at the AGM? 

Murdochs Still Get Big Bonuses Despite Phone Hacking Scandal

The Duchess of Cambridge is topless in the French magazine Closer, and it is too close. The Duchess is no feminist, or anything like one. She is a semi-silent, semi-saintly doll (the recent photographs of her in a headscarf touring the Far East invite comparison with plastic Madonnas), who in her engagement interview clutched her husband's hand and called him "a good teacher", as the feminist clock tick-tocked in the wrong direction.

To me, her choices are inexplicable – why educate a woman to be a publicist for a less equal society, where her loveliness is a distraction from other less lovely things? But too many people defend only duchesses they approve of, or duchesses who choose to leave, because they can no longer bear their husbands or people who read Closer.

Any sensible debate about the royal family and its corruption, which is rampant, despite claims of modernisation – their income has risen in this recession, thanks to George Osborne's intervention, and they are as profligate as ever – does not need a topless duchess on a sunlounger. She deserves criticism for her perfect interpretation of a surrendered wife, a wilting companion to William's barely disguised rage, and also for her obvious materialism. But this is too naked a punishment.

She is a reactionary figure, and this is a reactionary crime, even if the editor-in-chief of Closer – a self-serving monster called Laurence Pieau – calls it great fun. "What we see is a young couple, who have just got married, who are very much in love, and who are splendid," Pieau said. "She's a real 21st-century princess," Pieau said. "It's a young woman who is topless, the same as you can see on any beach in France or around the world." Why couldn't she just tell the truth and admit that Kate's breasts are profitable, easily converted into gold? 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/14/kate-duchess-cambridge-topless-photos/print

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Nothing against the person who seems to be a "nice young woman"... Only annoyed at the royal issue that does not have any relevance in our "modern" world... But then there is a ton of other stuff that does not have relevance either, such as religion in all its form — but especially its angry face...

St James's Palace: 'There can be no motivation for this action other than greed'

An Irish tabloid has published the topless photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge causing more anguish to the young couple.

The Irish Daily Star follows French magazine Closer, and Italian gossip magazine Chi as it publishes the images, taken while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were on holiday in the south of France.

The Irish paper ran the nine pictures which were not pixelated in today's paper over two inside pages. 

Prince William and his wife Catherine are set to make a criminal complaint against the photographer who took topless pictures of the Duchess sunbathing at a secluded French villa.

The grainy photos of the Duchess of Cambridge on holiday in Provence were originally published in French celebrity magazine Closer.

Over the weekend the Irish Star broke ranks with its local and UK rivals to publish the photos, and Italian magazine Chi is set to splash them across a 26-page special edition later today with the headline "The Queen is naked".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-17/royals-prepare-criminal-complaint-against-photographer/4264726?WT.svl=news2

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It would be a great idea if the royals started to be less royal and, say, became involved in the science of global warming rather than tour expensively around the globe to show off... To me, their trip around the world is far more obscene than any pictures of their bums and/or tits...

whatever... La regina è nuda.

Prince Charles will visit Australia later this year as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

The Prince of Wales and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will arrive in November for a six-day tour.

They are expected to travel to Longreach, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart, Sydney and Canberra.

It will be the first visit by Prince Charles since 2005 and the first time the Duchess of Cornwall has come to Australia.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-18/prince-charles-to-visit-australia-in-november/4268302

And I believe they won't be travelling cattle-class, will they? 

Hi Gus.

Fat chance of that.

Let's just hope that some-one sneaks & publishes photos of these horror stories ... it would surely mean the end of royalty!!

Cheers,

John.

yes John...

A celebrity magazine in Sweden has become the latest European publication to print photos showing Prince William's wife, Catherine, sunbathing topless while on holiday in France.

A Danish tabloid says it also plans to publish the photos, despite a French court issuing a nationwide injunction banning their further publication, distribution and syndication.

The editor of Danish celebrity magazine Se og Hoer says she is "incredibly proud" of a plan to publish topless pictures of Prince William's wife Catherine.

The Duchess of Cambridge was photographed holidaying at a private property in southern France with her husband earlier this month.

"Se og Hoer has exclusively (in Denmark) obtained the pictures of the topless Duchess of Cambridge, Kate," it said.

"We will publish a 16-page spread full of piquant photos of England's future queen."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-19/danish-mag-to-publish-topless-kate-photos/4270890

Meanwhile we think of Assange...

528-year mystery of what happened to the body of the last Plantagenet King has been solved

Steve Connor

A skeleton found last year under a council car park in Leicester has been shown “beyond reasonable doubt” to be that of King Richard III who died in the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, experts have concluded.

A detailed forensic examination of the skull and bones, including DNA tests, has solved the 528-year mystery of what happened to the body of the last Plantagenet King, claimed the University of Leicester, which funded the archaeological dig.

Radiocarbon dating has placed the age of skeleton within the time frame of Richard’s death, and the skull and bones bear the brutal hallmarks of being cut down on a medieval battlefield. 

The man also suffered severe spinal curvature, which would have made his right shoulder higher than the left. This is consisted with the Shakesperian notion that Richard, the “hunchbacked king”, had a deformed stature - but there were no signs of the fabled withered arm. 

Scientists said that the age of the man at death was between 30 and 33, which is  consistent with the age of the 32-year-old king. He also had a slender, almost feminine physique, which matches historical descriptions of Richard.

Crucially, DNA extracted from the teeth and bone match the two living maternal relatives of Richard who genealogy has been confirmed, university scientists said. The chance of this being a random match are only “a few per cent”, they added.

“It is the academic conclusion of The University of Leicester that the individual exhumed at Greyfriars in August 2012 is indeed King Richard III the last Plantagenet King of England,” said Richard Buckley, the lead archaeologist on the four-year project.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/dna-tests-prove-skeleton-found-in-leicestershire-car-park-really-is-king-richard-iii-8479620.html#

While back in Afghanistan:

When Prince Harry compared fighting in Afghanistan to playing a video game, the Taliban were quick to accuse him of mental illness and cowardice, joining a chorus of criticism from all sides.

But in Afghanistan's highest reaches of government he has found at least one ally.

President Hamid Karzai, usually quick to condemn western mis-steps in his country, told the Guardian that the young royal's comments may have been a mistake, but he should be let off the hook because of his age.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/karzai-says-harry-should-be-forgiven-2013-2#ixzz2Jy8Ejtpi

Ah, the hand on the joy stick... See toon at top... Meanwhile in Australia, Uncle Rupe, a rabid 'republican" is supporting Tony Abbott — a catholic in love with the Anglican queen — and is lambasting Julia, an atheist republican, to the hilt.... Go figure what's in the head of this old man...

With that in mind, it was revealed over the weekend that $150,000 has been wasted on a two days visit to Australia by the fun loving Prince Harry a grandson of the absent head of state.

Now, this young man, who is Prince William’s only brother, has little or no relevance to this country whatsoever.

When Harry springs to mind, most people probably remember when he donned a Nazi uniform for a party or was photographed nude in Las Vegas.

Is he worth a $150,000 holiday here?

In the event of William’s death, Harry slips down the line of succession, since the birth of baby George and, as it is highly unlikely either William or George will ever be our heads of state, it makes Harry’s situation in the Australian context even more bizarre.

Abbott quaintly invited Harry here to undertake three engagements.

One was to watch the International Fleet Review, which celebrated 100 years of the “Royal” Australian Navy.

The second was to meet SAS troops in Perth.

And the third?

The third, interestingly enough, was to meet Abbott’s daughters at Kirribilli House and have some photographs taken.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/sir-tony-abbotts-d-day,6540

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/i-wanna-marry-harry-the-tackiest-dating-show-ever/story-fn8yvfst-1226937832114

Bild reels off British holiday ailments, from 'underwear amnesia' to 'Prince Harry syndrome'

British holidaymakers are drunk, fat and sunburnt, according to a scathing piece published this week in the German tabloid Bild.

After thousands of Brits complained about developing a cough from drinking cheap vodka in Spanish resorts, Bild has put together a list of other British holiday "ailments".

The cheeky piece, entitled "Bild explains the English Patients (of Majorca)", pokes fun at British men with "wandering-hands disease" and women with "underwear amnesia".

Brits abroad put on too much weight from drinking, it says, and develop "toasting arm", a pain akin to tennis elbow caused by lifting too many pints.

"If you burn red and white abstract art onto your body by unprotected sunbathing, you must allow us a little schadenfreude," it says.

Tattoos are branded "Anglo-Saxon rash" ("Men have 'Made in England', women have paws in green ink") and British women are accused of thinking they can have a free holiday by offering sexual favours to men.

Read more: http://www.theweek.co.uk/europe/59753/big-burnt-and-boozy-german-tabloid-scoffs-at-brits-abroad#ixzz3B7LNmnVj

See toon at top...