LONDON: Upon receiving his first treatment for cancer, Britain’s King Charles III retreated to Sandringham House, a private estate where the monarch has long taken refuge while walking and shooting along the windswept North Sea coast of eastern England.
Sandringham, the private home of the last six British monarchs, sits amid parkland, gardens and working farms about 110 miles (180 kilometers) north of London. It has been owned by the royal family since 1862, passing directly from one monarch to the next for more than 160 years.
This history has made Sandringham a special place for Charles and his entire family. But the king has gone there for a very practical reason, said former BBC royal reporter Michael Cole.
“He needs isolation, and Sandringham of all his royal properties, with the possible exception of Balmoral, where the weather is not terribly good at this time of year, is isolated,’’ Cole said. “It’s only 100 miles from London, but it is surrounded by its own grounds. … He can be separate, because when you are having cancer treatment of any kind, infection must be avoided.’’
Charles, who started visiting the estate as a child, first found sanctuary at Sandringham when he was a student at Cambridge University and later after his marriage to Princess Diana collapsed.
Now it is a place of shelter once again.
WHERE HAS THE KING GONE?
One of the most famous stately homes in Britain, Sandringham sits on an 8,000-hectare (20,000-acre) estate in Norfolk on the eastern coast of England.
It was recorded in the Domesday Book, the survey of lands in England compiled by William the Conqueror in 1086, as “Sant Dersingham,” or the sandy part of Dersingham. That was shortened to Sandringham in later years.
Queen Victoria bought Sandringham for her eldest son, Edward, in 1862, largely in hopes that becoming a country gentleman would keep the playboy prince out of trouble in the nightspots of London, Paris, Monte Carlo and Biarritz.
George V, the late Queen Elizabeth II’s grandfather, described the estate as “Dear old Sandringham, the place I love better than anywhere else in the world.’’
George VI, the king’s grandfather, loved it as well. On the day he died, George reportedly spent the afternoon on the estate with his dogs and a gun.
Charles began joining the shooting parties as a child in the 1950s, with one photograph catching him blowing a miniature hunting trumpet while sitting on horseback.
But Sandringham was also a place where Charles and his sister could play hide and seek or tag with their mother and father, with the adults ‘’casting off all inhibition and chasing one another, as well as the prince and princess, around the saloon, along the corridors, into the drawing room, up the stairs and along the landing, tripping up guests, shrieking ad squealing all the while,” biographer Jonathan Dimbleby, wrote in his 1994 book “The Prince of Wales.’’
WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT SANDRINGHAM?
Charles, who continues to hike and shoot at the age of 75, is said to revel in the chance to be outdoors and breathe the fresh air along the Norfolk coast.
“There is absolutely nothing between Sandringham and the North Pole,” Cole said. “So, when the cold winds blow, they blow straight down from the Arctic Circle into North Norfolk. So, you better have your woolly underwear on when you’re there.”
Charles also enjoys meeting with the estate’s staff and tenants, with whom he has developed personal relationships over the years, Dimbleby wrote.
When he was at Cambridge, Charles would often invite friends to spend weekends with him enjoying the shooting at Sandringham.
“Any excuse to escape from Cambridge and plod across plowed fields instead of stagnating in lecture rooms is enormously welcome,” he said in a letter quoted by Dimbleby.
Much later, it was Princess Diana’s refusal to let Princes William and Harry join a weekend party at Sandringham that finally convinced Charles the marriage was over.
“Eventually, when it became clear that she was not going to relent, he snapped,” Dimbleby wrote. “Unable to see any future in a relationship conducted on these terms, he decided he had no choice but to ask his wife for a legal separation.”
CAN THE PUBLIC VISIT?
Yes, but the public only gets to see so much.
The main eight ground floor rooms of Sandringham House, a sprawling structure that was built in 1870, are open to the public from April to October.
Guests can also visit the parklands, which cover more than 243 hectares (600 acres), and 25 hectares (60 acres) of gardens. There’s also a museum with gifts given to the royal family by dignitaries from around the world.
A restaurant and cafe offer food throughout the year, including afternoon tea.
In order to keep litter under control, the late Queen Elizabeth II advised that the paper cups for tea and coffee should have the words “Sandringham House’’ printed on them so that visitors would take them home as souvenirs, Cole said.
Charles retreats to Sandringham, an estate with brisk winds and splendid isolation
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Charles retreats to Sandringham, an estate with brisk winds and splendid isolation
- Sandringham, the private home of the last six British monarchs, sits amid parkland, gardens and working farms about 180 kilometers north of London
- Charles, who started visiting the estate as a child, first found sanctuary at Sandringham when he was a student at Cambridge University
Suspected Kashmir rebels kill Indian air force corporal
- Suspected rebels ambushed military convoy in Indian-administered Kashmir, Indian Air Force says
- Since 1989, rebel groups opposed to Indian rule have waged insurgency in disputed territory
SRINAGAR, India: An Indian air force member was killed and four more injured when suspected rebels ambushed a military convoy in Indian-administered Kashmir, an official statement said, as campaigning for national elections continues in the disputed territory.
The convoy was attacked by an unknown number of armed militants who sprayed automatic rifle fire toward at least one air force truck in the mountainous Poonch area, 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of the main city of Srinagar, the air force said in a statement.
Five air force personnel were hit in the firefight late Saturday and “one Air Warrior succumbed to his injuries later,” it said, identifying the dead man as a corporal.
A neighboring constituency took part in the first phase of India’s general election on April 19, and Poonch voters were originally scheduled to cast their ballots this week but the Election Commission of India has postponed the polling to May 25 because of inclement weather in recent days.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947, with both claiming the high-altitude territory in full but administering it in parts.
Since 1989, rebel groups opposed to Indian rule have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir, demanding either independence or a merger with Pakistan.
The conflict has left tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and militants dead.
Rebel activity in the territory has registered an uptick since last month as campaigning for the elections picked up in the restive region.
In April, three suspected rebels were killed and a police officer and three soldiers wounded in three separate clashes across the territory.
Violence has drastically dropped since 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked the region’s limited autonomy and stepped up a security chokehold.
Voting in India’s six-week-long national election, which started last month, will end on June 1.
Driver dies after crashing into White House perimeter gate, Secret Service says
- The driver was not immediately identified
WASHINGTON: A driver died after crashing a vehicle into a gate at the White House Saturday night, authorities said.
The driver was found dead in the vehicle following the crash shortly before 10:30 p.m. at an outer perimeter gate of the White House complex, the US Secret Service said in a statement.
Security protocols were implemented but there was no threat to the White House, the agency said.
The driver was not immediately identified.
The Secret Service will continue to investigate the matter, while turning over the fatal crash portion of the investigation to the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, the agency said.
Fake videos of Modi aides trigger political showdown in India election
- Indian police arrest nine people for circulating fake video of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah
- With more than 800 million Internet users, tackling misinformation in India is a huge challenge
BENGALURU/LUCKNOW: Manipulated videos are taking center stage as campaigning heats up in India’s election, with fake clips involving two top aides of Prime Minister Narendra Modi triggering police investigations and the arrest of some workers of his rival Congress party.
In what has been dubbed as India’s first AI election, Modi said last week fake voices were being used to purportedly show leaders making “statements that we have never even thought of,” calling it a conspiracy “to create tension in society.”
Indian police — already investigating the spread of fake videos showing Bollywood actors criticizing Modi — are now investigating a doctored online clip that showed federal home minister Amit Shah saying the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party will stop certain social guarantees for minorities, a subject sensitive for millions of voters.
Shah retorted on X, posting his “original” and the edited “fake” speech and alleging — without providing any evidence — that the main opposition Congress was behind the video it created to mislead the public. The minister said “directions have been issued to the police to address this issue.”
Indian police arrested at least nine people, including six members of Congress’ social media teams, in the states of Assam, Gujarat, Telangana and New Delhi last week for circulating the fake video, according to police statements.
Five of the Congress workers were released on bail, but the most high-profile arrest made by the cybercrime unit of New Delhi police came on Friday, when they detained a Congress national social media coordinator, Arun Reddy, for sharing the video. New Delhi is one region where Shah’s ministry directly controls police. Reddy has been sent into three-day custody.
The arrest has sparked protests from Congress workers with many posting on X using the #ReleaseArunReddy tag. Congress lawmaker Manickam Tagore said the arrest was an example of “authoritarian misuse of power by the regime.”
Congress’ head of social media, Supriya Shrinate, did not respond to messages and an email seeking comment.
MISINFORMATION
India’s election from April 19 to June 1 will be the world’s largest democratic event. With nearly a billion voters and more than 800 million Internet users, tackling the spread of misinformation is a high stakes job. It involves round-the-clock monitoring by police and election officials who often issue take down orders to Facebook and X as investigations start.
In India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, more than 500 people keep tabs on online content, flagging controversial posts and coordinating with social media companies for their removal when needed, police chief Prashant Kumar told Reuters on Saturday.
Another fake video that sparked a storm last week showed Yogi Adityanath, the state’s chief minister, criticizing Modi for not doing enough for families of those who died in a 2019 militant attack. Though fact checkers said the video was created using different parts of an original clip, state police called it an “AI generated, deepfake.”
Using Internet address tracking, state police arrested a man named Shyam Gupta on May 2 who had shared the fake video post on X a day earlier, receiving over 3,000 views and 11 likes.
The police have accused Gupta of forgery and promoting enmity under Indian law provisions that can carry a jail term of up to seven years if convicted. Reuters could not reach him as he is currently serving a 14-day custody period.
“This person is not a tech guy. Had he been tech savvy, arresting him quickly would not have been possible,” said police officer Kumar.
Australian police shoot boy dead after stabbing with ‘hallmarks’ of terrorism
SYDNEY,: Australian police said on Sunday they had shot dead a boy after he stabbed a man in Western Australia’s capital Perth, in an attack authorities said indicated terrorism.
There were signs the 16-year-old, armed with a kitchen knife, had been radicalized online, state authorities said, adding they received calls from concerned members of the local Muslim community before the attack, which occurred late on Saturday night.
The attack, in the suburb of Willetton, had “hallmarks” of terrorism but was yet to be declared a terrorist act, police said.
“At this stage it appears that he acted solely and alone,” Western Australia Premier Roger Cook told a televised press conference in the state capital Perth, regarding the attacker.
The victim, stabbed in the back, was stable in hospital, authorities said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had been briefed on the incident by police and intelligence agencies, which advised there was no ongoing threat.
“We are a peace-loving nation and there is no place for violent extremism in Australia,” Albanese said on social media platform X.
The incident comes after New South Wales police last month charged several boys with terrorism-related offenses in investigations following the stabbing of an Assyrian Christian bishop while he was giving a live-streamed sermon in Sydney, on April 15.
The attack on the bishop came only days after a stabbing spree killed six in the Sydney beachside suburb of Bondi.
Gun and knife crime is rare in Australia, which consistently ranks among the safest countries in the world, according to the federal government. (Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and William Mallard)
North Korea’s UN ambassador says new sanctions monitoring groups will fail
- Earlier this year, Russia vetoed the annual renewal of a panel of experts amid US-led accusations that North Korea has transferred weapons to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine
SEOUL: Efforts led by the US and other Western countries to form new groups to monitor sanctions on North Korea will fail, the country’s UN envoy said on Sunday, according to state media KCNA.
Ambassador Kim Song made the comment in response to a joint statement the US and its allies issued this week calling to continue the work of a UN panel of experts monitoring longstanding sanctions against Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
Earlier this year, Russia vetoed the annual renewal of the panel amid US-led accusations that North Korea has transferred weapons to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine.
“The hostile forces may set up the second and third expert panels in the future but they are all bound to meet self-destruction with the passage of time,” KCNA quotes Kim as saying in a statement.
Last month, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield visited the Demilitarized Zone, a heavily fortified border between the two Koreas, which remain technically at war and urged Russia and China to stop rewarding North Korea for its bad behavior.
Her trip came after Russia rejected the annual renewal of the multinational panel of experts that has over the past 15 years monitored the implementation of UN sanctions aimed at curbing North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
