London:

The UK government on Wednesday announced plans to axe 92 House of Lords seats retained for hereditary lawmakers, resurrecting reform of the unelected chamber started under Tony Blair’s Labour government in the 1990s.

King Charles III, opening the first parliamentary session after Keir Starmer’s general election win for Labour, said removing the peers’ right to sit and vote in the Lords was part of “measures to modernise” Britain’s uncodified constitution.

Labour won the July 4 election by a landslide, returning it to power for the first time since 2010, allowing it to put its manifesto pledges into law, including the much-touted Lords reforms.

Parliament’s unelected upper chamber has long been subject to demands for reform to make it more representative and less “a chamber festering with grotesques and has-beens”, as one newspaper columnist famously described it in 2022.

But the extent of Labour’s plans remain unclear.

The scrapping of the hereditary peers — the hundreds of members of the aristocracy whose titles are inherited — has been described as a “first step in wider reform”.

“The continued presence of hereditary peers in the House of Lords is outdated and indefensible,” the government said in briefing notes accompanying the King’s Speech.

Removing hereditary seats

Comprising around 800 lawmakers, the House of Lords is comfortably larger than any other equivalent in a democracy.

Its members, whose current average age is 71, are mostly appointed for life.

They include former MPs, typically appointed by departing prime ministers, along with people nominated after serving in prominent public- or private-sector roles, and Church of England clerics.

The primary role of the centuries-old chamber is to scrutinise the government.

It cannot override legislation sent from the popularly elected House of Commons, but it can amend and delay bills and initiate new draft laws.

That job occasionally propels the Lords into the political spotlight, such as during its recent delays to the previous Conservative government’s contentious Rwanda deportation plan — quickly scrapped by the new government.

Like the Commons, the Lords has specialised scrutiny committees.

The new government’s planned legislation revisits the House of Lords reform agenda that Blair’s Labour government initiated in the late 1990s.

His government had intended to abolish all the seats held by hundreds of hereditary members who sat in the chamber at that time.

But it ended up retaining 92 in what was supposed to be a temporary compromise.

“25 years later, they form part of the status quo more by accident than by design,” said the briefing from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government.

“No other modern comparable democracies allow individuals to sit and vote in their legislature by right of birth,” it added.

“Holding membership of a seat within a Parliament on a hereditary basis is incredibly rare.”

‘Overdue and essential’

The government said the reforms were in part motivated by the gender imbalance of hereditary peers — currently all male, because most peerages can only be passed down the male line.

The rest of the House of Lords fares better, with 242 of other members — 36 percent — female.

Starmer’s new administration also argues that hereditary peers are too politically “static” for a democracy.

Of the 92 seats allotted for them under the 1999 reforms, 42 are for Conservatives, 28 for so-called crossbenchers, three for the Liberal Democrats and just two for Labour.

Meanwhile 15 are elected by the entire chamber from the hundreds of hereditary peers that exist in the UK.

Reformers also argue that hereditary peers do not face propriety checks, compared to life peers who are subject to a vetting procedure from the House of Lords Appointment Committee.

“In the 21st century, there should not be almost 100 places reserved for individuals who were born into certain families, nor should there be seats effectively reserved only for men,” the government argued

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

Britain’s King Charles with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Britain’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer will set out his first package of proposed laws on July 17, fleshing out how he will honour his election-winning pledge to rebuild the country after years of weak economic growth and political turmoil.

In a grand ceremony to mark the opening of the new Parliament, King Charles will read out the laws which the government wants the House of Commons to approve first after Keir Starmer’s centre-left Labour Party won a commanding majority in this month’s national election.

The package of more than 35 Bills will focus on growing the economy, including reforms to make it easier to build homes and speed up the delivery of major infrastructure projects, improving transport, and creating more jobs.

“Now is the time to take the brakes off Britain,” Mr. Starmer said in a statement. “I am determined to create wealth for people up and down the country. It is the only way our country can progress.”

The King’s Speech, which is written by the government, will be read out by the monarch in Parliament from 10.30 GMT in a ceremony full of pomp and pageantry.

Mr. Starmer won one of the largest Parliamentary majorities in modern British history on July 4, making him the most powerful national leader since former Prime Minister Tony Blair, but he faces a number of daunting challenges, including improving struggling public services with little room for more spending.

The speech, and a raft of information published by the government alongside it, is expected to stick closely to the promises Labour made during the election campaign, while giving a clearer picture of Mr. Starmer’s immediate priorities.

Plans to renationalise passenger rail network

According to Downing Street, the government will announce on Thursday legislation to “speed up and streamline the planning process” to help address Britain’s acute housing shortage and the long delays that dog many infrastructure projects.

The government will also set out plans to gradually renationalise the passenger rail network and set affordable fares to draw people back on to trains. The plan would shut private companies out of running passenger trains by folding each operator into state control when their contracts to run trains expire.

This decision would mostly reverse the privatisation of the railways conducted in the 1990s by the then-Conservative government.

The government will announce legislation to devolve more powers to local communities after Mr. Starmer used his first week in power to meet mayors of major cities and representatives from the devolved nations of the United Kingdom.

London:

The first red mail pillar box to bear the cypher of King Charles was unveiled on Friday, keeping up a tradition dating back almost 175 years.

The new box has been installed on the High Street in Great Cambourne, central England, and local school children will get to post the first letters, and missives to the king himself about their interest in the environment.

The mailbox bears the king’s cypher, the monogram that appears on government buildings which consists of the initials ‘C’ and ‘R’ – representing Charles’s name and “Rex”, the Latin for king – alongside a depiction of the crown.

One of Britain’s most recognisable symbols, red pillar boxes appear on countless postcards and souvenir items, with about 115,000 in operation across the country.

The first post box was introduced in the 1850s, and their age can be traced by the royal cypher they bear, with the oldest dating back to the reign of Queen Victoria, Charles’ great-great-great grandmother.

Although new boxes have been installed since Charles succeeded his mother in Sept. 2022, existing stocks bearing the late queen’s cypher were used. 

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

Britain’s head of state King Charles III officially appointed Labour leader Keir Starmer as prime minister on Friday during an audience at Buckingham Palace.

A photograph released by the palace showed the monarch shaking hands with Starmer, whose party won a landslide election victory. The king earlier accepted the resignation of Conservative leader Rishi Sunak.

“The King received in Audience The Right Honourable Sir Keir Starmer MP today and requested him to form a new Administration,” a palace statement read.

“Sir Keir accepted His Majesty’s offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.”

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

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.”
 

Elgin, UK:

Facilities at Gordonstoun School in northeast Scotland include a climbing wall, rifle range and a five-hole golf course, while pupils can even avail themselves of bagpipe lessons.

But there is another reason why the institution in the far north of Scotland is well-known: one of its former pupils happens to be King Charles III.

It is hard to get more isolated than Gordonstoun, which lies near the city of Elgin, on the North Sea coast some 66 miles (106 kilometres) northwest of Aberdeen.

Getting there involves driving along narrow country roads.

Behind its gates are peaceful grounds stretching over 220 acres (90 hectares), with majestic trees and lush grass well watered by the Scottish rain.

Some 500 children and teenagers from about 40 countries attend the school, including Amelia Lee, 17, from Hong Kong, who has Charles’s old rooms.

“It’s just kind of surreal,” she told AFP, pointing out the desk where the future king would have worked and a chest of drawers from the time.

“To be honest, I don’t really use this,” she added. “I do store my snacks there.”

Lee was allocated the room after being elected class captain, just as Charles had been in his schooldays after initially sleeping in a dormitory.

Charles, then known as the Prince of Wales, spent his teenage years from 13 to 18 at Gordonstoun between 1962 and 1967.

His school attendance was a first at the time for a future British monarch, who until that point had been educated by a tutor.

“He was treated just as any other student,” said Gordonstoun principal Lisa Kerr.

Lara Croft

At the end of May, the king, now 75, agreed to become an honorary patron of the Gordonstoun Association of former pupils.

It was the latest public relations coup for the school, which has been working hard to dispel the idea that the monarch hated his time there.

Charles has often been quoted as describing his time at the school as like “Colditz in kilts”, likening it to the World War II prisoner of war camp.

The hit TV series based on the British royal family, “The Crown”, gave the reported comments wider currency.

But Kerr said: “We spent many, many months trying to find the origin of (“Colditz in Kilts”). We were not able to find it, so we have to accept it is a myth.”

Kerr accepted that his days would have begun with a morning jog to get the circulation moving, then a hot shower followed by a cold one.

Gordonstoun still provides a “challenging and broad” education, guided by the motto “plus est en vous” — “there is more in you” — to encourage effort.

On one wall pupils are told: “We don’t grow when things are easy. We grow when we face challenges.”

The school was founded in 1934 by a German-Jewish educator, Kurt Hahn, who fled the Nazis.

Among its first pupils was Charles’s father Prince Philip, who was married to his late mother Queen Elizabeth II.

Charles’s younger brothers, Andrew and Edward, also attended it.

Other royal families also send their children to the school while Sean Connery’s son Jason and David Bowie’s son Duncan Jones both attended it.

The creators of “Tomb Raider” Lara Croft also imagined the adventurer as a former pupil after it opened its doors to girls in 1972.

Charles sent his two sons William and Harry to another elite school, Eton, near Windsor Castle, west of London.

Coastguard

Between classes, pupils wander around the Gordonstoun grounds in small groups in their sky blue and grey uniforms.

A third of the pupils are from Scotland, another third are other British with the remainder from overseas. Fees reach some £50,000 ($64,000) a year. Some pupils are on scholarships.

“It’s not just about passing exams and getting good grades,” said Kerr. “It’s about becoming a better person.”

Fees go towards a range of activities, from cricket and swimming, to tennis, hockey and sailing, while those more interested in music can have private lessons, including on the bagpipes.

One teenager sings in front of her classmates on the same stage where Charles once played Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s Scottish play, watched by his mother in the audience.

All senior pupils must join one of the school’s nine community and rescue services. Amelia Lee is part of the Coastguard Rescue Team.

The pupils train with local coastguards on the cliffs above the sea.

“When it’s pouring down with rain… when it’s really cold, it teaches you about resilience,” Lee said.

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

New Delhi:

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday heaped praise on Kate Middleton, Britain’s Princess of Wales, as she shared a health update on her ongoing cancer treatment.

In a message, Kate said she was “making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days”. She also said she will make her first public appearance on Saturday since surgery revealed the presence of cancer in January.

Responding to her on X, formerly Twitter, Sunak said the Princess of Wales’ statement will be “especially meaningful” to those fighting cancer and their families.

“They will recognise the same struggle in her words and draw hope and inspiration from her strength,” he said.

The Princess of Wales’ statement will be especially meaningful to those who are fighting cancer and for their families.

They will recognise the same struggle in her words and draw hope and inspiration from her strength.

I’m delighted she will be in attendance for His Majesty’s… https://t.co/RBAtvtBjtn

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) June 14, 2024

“I’m delighted she will be in attendance for His Majesty’s Birthday Parade and I know the whole country is behind her,” Sunak, attending a G7 summit in Italy, added.

Kate Middleton Shares Update On Cancer Treatment

Kate Middleton on Friday said her cancer treatment is ongoing and will be for a few more months. She said that she was making good progress as she undergoes preventative chemotherapy but is “not out of the woods”.

The 42-year-old princess also expressed that she had been “blown away” by the thousands of kind messages from across the globe that followed her cancer announcement in March. She said the messages made a “world of difference” to her and her husband Prince William and them through “some of the harder times”.

“I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days. On those bad days you feel weak, tired and you have to give in to your body resting. But on the good days, when you feel stronger, you want to make the most of feeling well,” she said in a lengthy social media post.

She also tagged her picture — taken earlier this week in Windsor, west of London — standing in front of a tree next to a river.

“On the days I feel well enough, it is a joy to engage with school life, spend personal time on the things that give me energy and positivity, as well as starting to do a little work from home,” she wrote.

Kate said that she is learning “how to be patient, especially with uncertainty”.

I have been blown away by all the kind messages of support and encouragement over the last couple of months. It really has made the world of difference to William and me and has helped us both through some of the harder times.

I am making good progress, but as anyone going… pic.twitter.com/J1jTlgwRU8

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) June 14, 2024

“Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much-needed time to heal. Thank you so much for your continued understanding, and to all of you who have so bravely shared your stories with me,” she said.

Kate Middleton’s First Public Appearance In 6 Months

In what would mark her first public appearance in six months, Kate Middleton announced that she will attend King Charles’s annual birthday parade on Saturday with other senior royals.

“I’m looking forward to attending The King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet,” she said.

Kate Middleton’s appearance at the annual Trooping the Colour parade for King Charles’s official birthday will be her first public appearance since she was seen gathering with other royals for Christmas in December last year.

She had announced in a video in March that she had been diagnosed with cancer discovered following abdominal surgery.

A message from Catherine, The Princess of Wales pic.twitter.com/5LQT1qGarK

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 22, 2024

Her announcement came weeks after King Charles revealed that he was being treated for an unspecified cancer.

(With agency inputs)

London:

King Charles III will participate in his annual birthday parade next month from a carriage rather than on horseback, as he battles cancer, British media reported Thursday.

The 75-year-old head of state, who only recently resumed public engagements, will inspect the soldiers taking part in the June 15 Trooping the Colour ceremony from a royal carriage.

The yearly event marks the sovereign’s official birthday and is one of the highlights of the royal calendar.

Last year Charles attended his inaugural parade as king on horseback, the first time the monarch had ridden at it since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1986.

The change for this year’s ceremony follows the announcement in February that he had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer.

The king has been receiving treatment and last month royal officials said doctors were “very encouraged” by his progress, allowing him to resume his official duties.

He has been increasingly visible in recent weeks, maintaining a busy public schedule that included attending the Chelsea Flower Show last week.

Next week he will make his first overseas trip since the cancer diagnosis at an event to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Accompanied by his wife Queen Camilla, 76, and elder son Prince William, 41, the senior royals will be at a commemorative service at the British Normandy Memorial in northern France on June 6.

One notable absentee from those commemorations and potentially the other royal events next month will be William’s wife Catherine, 42.

She is receiving chemotherapy treatment for cancer, and was last seen at a public engagement in December last year.

The Press Association said it was unclear if Kate, as she is widely known, would attend the Trooping the Colour ceremony.

Sky News reported Thursday that the Princess of Wales would not return to public duties for the Colonel’s Review, another ceremonial military event held the weekend before.

As colonel in chief of the Irish Guards, Kate would usually take a salute at the event.

The British Army initially said in March that she would participate, but swiftly removed the reference to the princess for the review from its website.

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

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty’s personal wealth overtook that of King Charles, reported the latest Sunday Times Rich List.

The Sunday Times Rich List compiles the top 1,000 wealthiest individuals or families residing in the United Kingdom, ordered by their net wealth.

As per this index, the couple’s personal fortune has increased by more than £120 million over the past year. Overtaking the UK’s monarch King Charles, their wealth witnessed a jump from last year’s £529 million to £651 million in 2024.

While Sunak has occupied 245th place on the list, King Charles holds 258th rank, after his wealth grew from £600 million to £610 million in the same period.

As per a report in the Mirror, the couple’s fortune is driven largely by Akshata Murty’s stake in Infosys, founded by her father, Narayana Murthy. It is worth noting that they are the wealthiest residents of 10 Downing Street in history. 

According to the BBC, the Sunaks’ wealth also ranked higher than that of the late Queen in 2022. This was after Elizabeth II’s personal fortune was evaluated at £370 million.

However, the report added that estimating the personal fortunes of monarchs is tricky. It must be noted that the wider wealth of the monarchy, which includes various estates and palaces, has been estimated at dozens of billions of pounds. 

With this, the UK Prime Minister also became the first front-line politician to feature on the Sunday Times’ annual wealth list in its 35-year history. This includes Sunak appearing on the list as chancellor in the 2022 edition when the family’s wealth was estimated at £730 million.

Sky News noted that the combined wealth of the list’s 350 wealthiest people amounts to over £795 billion, which is larger than the gross domestic product (GDP) of Poland.

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Hinduja Group Gopichand Hinduja topped the list again in 2024, with his fortune touching £37.196 billion. Last year also, Mr Hinduja occupied first place on the list.

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.”