A new portrait of King Charles in military attire has been unveiled in honour of Armed Forces Day. The photograph, captured in Windsor Castle’s Grand Corridor, depicts the monarch seated in his Field Marshal’s ceremonial dress adorned with medals, sword, and decorations.

The release of this image coincides with Queen Camilla’s tribute to armed forces members, whom she described in a video message as a source of inspiration, reassurance, and pride.

Armed Forces Day, observed on the final Saturday in June, pays homage to veterans, military personnel, and service families, a tradition established in the UK in the late 2000s, BBC reported. 

Photographed last November by Hugo Burnand, known for his royal photography including the King’s 2023 coronation portraits, King Charles is adorned in the Field Marshal’s uniform, the highest rank in the British Army. As monarch, he serves as ceremonial head of the armed forces.

During his recent attendance at D-Day commemorations in Normandy, France, King Charles donned a tan version of the Field Marshal’s uniform.

In her video message from Clarence House, Queen Camilla praised the ‘incredible bravery’ of military personnel who initiated Europe’s liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944.

She said that 80 years on, the “same spirit and those same qualities remain much in evidence throughout our Armed Forces”, who “undertake your duties in the face of a multitude of challenges and dangers”.

The Queen added: “In so doing, you not only protect these Isles, but also defend liberties way beyond these shores.

“Your determination, unrelenting efforts and selfless loyalty to each other and to the United Kingdom are as enduring as our gratitude.”

The patron of the British Forces Broadcasting Service charity, responsible for the video, extended gratitude to the families of servicemen and women who maintain home life while their loved ones serve abroad.

Reflecting on her father Major Bruce Shand’s service in North Africa and Dunkirk during World War Two, where he earned the Military Cross, the Queen remarked, ‘As the daughter of an Army officer, I understand the profound impact military life has on families. You too are heroes.'”

“In times of war and in times of peace, whether seen or unseen, our armed forces support and strengthen our nation. You are a source of inspiration, reassurance and pride – and I salute you all.”
 

King Charles III revealed his first official painted portrait on Tuesday, marking the first since his coronation a little more than a year ago. The captivating oil artwork depicts him gazing directly ahead, set against various shades of red, pink, and fuchsia.

The royal family announced the unveiling of the painting, created by the esteemed portrait artist Jonathan Yeo, at Buckingham Palace through social media channels. A video clip captured the king pulling a ribbon, revealing the towering portrait. His reaction hinted at a pleasant surprise as the fabric fell away.

Mr Yeo, known for his portraits of prominent figures such as David Attenborough, Idris Elba, and activist Malala Yousafzai, initiated the portrait project in June 2021, when the king held the title of Prince of Wales. The painting showcases him adorned in the uniform of the Welsh Guards, a regiment for which he served as Regimental Colonel, with a butterfly poised delicately over his shoulder.

Much like that butterfly, the king’s “role in our public life has transformed,” Mr. Yeo said in the statement released on Tuesday by the royal family. “I do my best to capture the life experiences and humanity etched into any individual sitter’s face, and I hope that is what I have achieved in this portrait,” he said, noting that to try to capture the king was “both a tremendous professional challenge and one which I thoroughly enjoyed and am immensely grateful for.”

The Worshipful Company of Drapers, a medieval guild once dedicated to wool and cloth merchants and now focused on philanthropy, commissioned the portrait. Measuring 7.5 feet by 5.5 feet, it will find its place in Drapers’ Hall, the guild’s majestic headquarters located in London’s financial district. The hall already hosts a gallery featuring monarchs spanning from King George III to Queen Victoria, The New York Times report said.

The unveiling ceremony took place just weeks after the king announced his return to public duties. This announcement came nearly three months after he disclosed his battle with cancer, offering palpable relief to a nation anxious about potential upheavals within the British monarchy.

Queen Camilla is said to have looked at the painting and told Yeo: “Yes, you’ve got him.”

King Charles allegedly held a private meeting with David Beckham after being unable to meet with his son Prince Harry during his visit to the United Kingdom earlier this week. According to The Times, the 49-year-old former England football captain had a “private meeting” with the 75-year-old to discuss King Charles’ charity, the King’s Foundation. on Friday. “Beckham is understood to have visited Charles to learn more about his charity, the King’s Foundation,” the outlet said.

The Duke of Sussex arrived in the UK on May 7 for events marking the anniversary of his Invictus Games. His spokesman had said that he won’t meet his father, who is undergoing cancer treatment. “In response to the many inquiries and continued speculation on whether or not the duke will meet with his father while in the UK this week, it unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full programme,” said the spokesman.

The statement said, “The Duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.”

However, according to news agency AFP, it was expected that the pair would meet at some point during his latest trip.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are on a brief tour of Nigeria to promote the Invictus Games, an international sporting event that the Duke of Sussex started a decade ago for troops injured in action. During their first trip to Nigeria, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited the school as one of their first stops. They were invited to Nigeria by the country’s highest-ranking military official, the Chief of Defence Staff.

Meanwhile, at a reception for military families in Abuja, Prince Harry spoke in Nigeria of the tragic loss of the “brave souls” in the country’s military who had lost their lives in conflicts and said he felt “goosebumps” after seeing plans for a new centre to rehabilitate injured troops.

He said he had on Friday met 50 wounded soldiers during a trip to northern Kaduna and could see that the injuries were defining their lives, but there were some who had smiles on their faces. Nigerian forces are fighting jihadists in the northeast of the country and armed kidnapping gangs in the northwest. “What this proved to me, what this reminds me of, is the power of seeing what is possible post-injury,” said the 39-year-old, adding that “seeing the plans for the new Invictus Centre gives me goosebumps.”

Buckingham Palace is hiring new staff amid the controversy surrounding Princess of Wales Kate Middleton. The palace is recruiting for a ‘Communications Assistant’ for the office of private secretary, as per a report in the Independent’s Indy. The job advert is available on the official website of the Royal Family.

“It’s developing your skills on a worldwide platform. And it’s pride in joining the team at the heart of a world famous institution. This is what makes working for the Royal Household exceptional.The Royal Communications team promotes the work, role, relevance and value of the Royal Family to a worldwide audience. The reaction to our work is always high-profile, and so reputation and impact will be at the forefront of all that you do,” the palace said about the job.

They added, “Whether working on a state visit, ceremonial event or Royal engagement, you’ll make sure our communications consistently spark interest and reach a range of audiences. Although based primarily at Buckingham Palace, you’ll also travel in the UK to support visits and engagements.”

The pay package is around 25,642 pounds per annum with 25 days of annual leave and other perks. Candidates who wish to apply for the position have time till April 7.

Meanwhile, Kate Middleton has been away from the public eye since December, leaving social media users speculating about the UK royal. According to Kensington Palace, the 42-year-old is recovering at home after a “planned abdominal surgery” in January.   Other than a couple of blurry pictures and videos, she has not been seen and social media has been abuzz with speculation about her health, generating global headlines and rumours.

She was spotted at a farmer’s market with her husband Prince William on March 16. The new video, published by the British media, showed a smiling Princess, dressed in a black outfit, walking with her husband, carrying shopping bags at the Windsor market. Some people allege that the woman in the video did not resemble the Princess of Wales while others say that they are happy to see Ms Middleton “happy and healthy”. 

London:

Officers arrested a man who crashed a car into the gates of London’s Buckingham Palace over the weekend, police said on Sunday.

The Metropolitan Police said the car “collided with the gates” of the royal residence at 02:30 GMT on Saturday.

Armed officers arrested the man at the scene on suspicion of criminal damage and he was taken to hospital, a spokesperson for the force said.

They added that no one was injured and enquiries were ongoing to establish the circumstances, the spokesperson added.

Security measures at Buckingham Palace, the British royal family’s official residence, are stringent, with the building in the heart of the capital constantly monitored by armed officers.

The palace has faced multiple break-in attempts in the past. 

In September last year, a 25-year-old man was arrested after trying to enter the royal stables. 

In the lead-up to King Charles III’s coronation last May, a man was arrested for throwing shotgun cartridges into the grounds of Buckingham Palace. 

The same month a 43-year-old man was arrested for ramming his car into the gates that guard Downing Street, home of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kericho, Kenya:

When the then-Princess Elizabeth visited Kenya in 1952, Kibore Cheruiyot Ngasura was among a group of young men chosen to sing for her at an event near Lake Victoria.

The men planned to use the occasion to petition Elizabeth to relocate their parents from a detention camp in the barren, mosquito-infested town of Gwassi, where members of the Talai clan had been held for nearly two decades on suspicion of fomenting resistance to British colonial rule.

The event never happened. Before Elizabeth could make it to Lake Victoria, word came that her father, King George VI, had died. The new queen hurried back to London.

More than 70 years later, Elizabeth’s son, King Charles, will visit Kenya this week on a state visit. And Ngasura, now about 100 years old, again has a message for the royal visitor.

“I wish to inform him that we should be compensated for the hardship that we went through,” Ngasura told Reuters outside his house, a small wooden and iron structure on a grassy hill with two lightbulbs and no running water.

Buckingham Palace has said Charles’ visit, which begins on Tuesday, will acknowledge “painful aspects of the UK and Kenya’s shared history”. The British ruled for more than six decades before Kenyan won its independence in 1963.

But for some communities in western Kenya’s fertile highlands, the injustices caused by British colonisation are as much present-day realities as historical memories.

A U.N. report in 2021 said more than half a million Kenyans around the western town of Kericho suffered gross human rights violations including unlawful killings and land expropriation during British colonial rule.

The colonial administration took hundreds of square kilometres of land that communities in western Kenya had lived on for generations and handed it to British settlers. Much of it became tea plantations that today belong to multinational companies, the U.N. report said.

“Our people, most of them, are living below poverty level,” said Joel Kimetto, a representative of the Kipsigis ethnic group, of which the Talai are one of 196 clans.

“The majority of the vast fertile lands were taken by the British and our people were chased away to the native reserves where it is hilly, rocky, slopey and unproductive,” he said.

A spokesperson for the British government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office noted that the UK government had previously expressed regret for abuses committed during a 1952-1960 uprising in central Kenya against colonial rule.

It agreed to an out-of-court settlement in 2013 to pay almost 20 million pounds to elderly Kenyans who suffered torture and abuse during what is known by Kenyans as “the emergency” after a London court ruled the victims could sue.

“We believe the most effective way for the UK to respond to the wrongs of the past is to ensure that current and future generations learn the lessons from history, and that we continue to work together to tackle today’s challenges,” the spokesperson said in response to questions from Reuters.

The spokesperson did not address the allegations raised by the Kipsigis and Talai, which are separate from the abuses during the emergency. Buckingham Palace did not respond to a request for comment.

‘NO INTENTION’ TO COMPENSATE

Charles will not travel to western Kenya during his visit, which will take him to the capital Nairobi and eastern port city of Mombasa, according to a statement from the palace.

The British government has not been receptive in the past to requests by the Kipsigis and Talai to discuss compensation. In 2019, it informed the communities it had “no intention to enter any process” to resolve the claims, according to the U.N. report.

Ngasura said he was about 12-years-old – he does not know his exact birth date – in 1934 when the British rounded up around 700 Talais and forced them to march for weeks to reach Gwassi.

Following protests by the young men, he and a few dozen others were relocated in 1945 to a detention camp closer to Kericho, where they could find wives from their community.

They were finally released in 1962, but the land where they had once grazed their livestock and collected honey now belonged to British settlers and tea companies.

Ngasura was able to scrape together the money to buy a small plot from a British army captain. Today, he and his descendants who live there survive off of a half-dozen cows and some maize crops.

It is no comparison to what he knew as a child.

“We could take cows anywhere. The land was huge,” he recalled. “This land is not big enough. Otherwise we would have kept a lot of cows and grown coffee.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

London:

A man has been arrested for trespassing after police were alerted to a person climbing into the Royal Mews close to Buckingham Palace, London’s Metropolitan Police said Saturday.

At 1:25 am (0025 GMT) on Saturday morning, “officers at Buckingham Palace responded to a person climbing the wall and entering the Royal Mews”, Met Police said.

“A 25-year-old man was detained by officers outside the stables in the Royal Mews,” it said, adding that “At no point did the man enter Buckingham Palace or the palace gardens”.

He was arrested for “trespassing on a protected site” and taken into custody at a London police station.

The Royal Mews, housing carriages and stables as well as modern cars, organises the road travel arrangements for King Charles III and members of the royal family.

Intrusions have taken place before at royal premises, including Buckingham Palace.

One of the most famous security breaches was in 1982, when Michael Fagan managed to get into the bedroom of Queen Elizabeth II and spent 10 minutes talking to her before she could raise the alarm.

The unemployed decorator had had a few drinks and climbed up a drainpipe to enter the late queen’s London residence.

He wandered into her bedroom and reportedly sat on the end of the bed for a chat with the perturbed monarch before a palace staffer lured him away with the promise of a shot of whisky.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)