11
Fun, Games And Silliness / Re: Word Association
« Last post by Lil angel on August 27, 2025, 04:18:45 PM »detector
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Articles / Re: My night of misery in A&E for a broken ankle left me in tears. I was treated....
« Last post by PippaJane on August 23, 2025, 04:32:40 PM »I know being a nurese isn't easy, I was a nurse years ago, but there is no excuse for rudeness.
13
Faith / Re: Devotions
« Last post by PippaJane on August 21, 2025, 08:08:08 PM »https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2024/08/16/3-questions-to-ask-when-weariness-sets-in?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9x_UbVDG9tV0dbU5SZb0Q2P3uLv6oWULC4N9hQB3tANig9-9kZ5GxNf8oSkN8fl3Gkm9i5xYPG13GeLCGGHh1-EwMzew&_hsmi=316554894&utm_content=316554894&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread
3 Questions To Ask When Weariness Sets In
August 16, 2024
by Stacy J. Lowe
Este devocional está disponible en español
“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’” Isaiah 6:8 (ESV)
Life. Is. Hard. (Can I get an “amen” from the choir?) And it feels like it’s getting harder every day. All it takes is a quick look around to understand this world is messed up. Be it a global-scale atrocity or an injustice felt only by us, the weight can be heavy, especially when it feels like evil is winning. Jesus knew we would experience that burden, so He invited us to come and learn from Him, to find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-29). Let’s take Him at His word and do just that. When weariness sets in, let’s look in, look out and look up!
1. Look in and ask: What do I feel?
“Jesus wept” (John 11:35, ESV). These two words from Scripture carry deep meaning. Arriving at the scene where His friend Lazarus had died days before, Jesus was deeply moved by grief. He knew how the story would end (spoiler alert: He raised Lazarus back to life), and yet He still felt. If it was important for Jesus to acknowledge His feelings, surely it’s important for us too.
2. Look out and ask: What am I focusing on?
It can be hard to understand why, in His sovereignty, God allows people to act in ways opposite to His heart. While I don’t claim to know the answer, I do know the promise of Romans 8:28 that “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (NLT). Everything. Even this, whatever it may be. So instead of focusing on the problem, we can choose to focus on the potential of what God will do through it.
3. Look up and ask: What should I do about it?
In Isaiah 6:8, we read, “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’” Is this our attitude? You see, we can fret over all that’s wrong or allow our feelings and newfound perspective to drive us straight to God, asking what we can do to help make it right. This won’t solve all the world’s problems, but partnering with God allows that heaviness in our souls to shift to a sense of empowerment.
We can reflect God’s Kingdom here on earth and make our corner of the world a better place, one step of faith at a time. And as we each do our part, collectively, we can change the world.
3 Questions To Ask When Weariness Sets In
August 16, 2024
by Stacy J. Lowe
Este devocional está disponible en español
“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’” Isaiah 6:8 (ESV)
Life. Is. Hard. (Can I get an “amen” from the choir?) And it feels like it’s getting harder every day. All it takes is a quick look around to understand this world is messed up. Be it a global-scale atrocity or an injustice felt only by us, the weight can be heavy, especially when it feels like evil is winning. Jesus knew we would experience that burden, so He invited us to come and learn from Him, to find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-29). Let’s take Him at His word and do just that. When weariness sets in, let’s look in, look out and look up!
1. Look in and ask: What do I feel?
“Jesus wept” (John 11:35, ESV). These two words from Scripture carry deep meaning. Arriving at the scene where His friend Lazarus had died days before, Jesus was deeply moved by grief. He knew how the story would end (spoiler alert: He raised Lazarus back to life), and yet He still felt. If it was important for Jesus to acknowledge His feelings, surely it’s important for us too.
2. Look out and ask: What am I focusing on?
It can be hard to understand why, in His sovereignty, God allows people to act in ways opposite to His heart. While I don’t claim to know the answer, I do know the promise of Romans 8:28 that “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (NLT). Everything. Even this, whatever it may be. So instead of focusing on the problem, we can choose to focus on the potential of what God will do through it.
3. Look up and ask: What should I do about it?
In Isaiah 6:8, we read, “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’” Is this our attitude? You see, we can fret over all that’s wrong or allow our feelings and newfound perspective to drive us straight to God, asking what we can do to help make it right. This won’t solve all the world’s problems, but partnering with God allows that heaviness in our souls to shift to a sense of empowerment.
We can reflect God’s Kingdom here on earth and make our corner of the world a better place, one step of faith at a time. And as we each do our part, collectively, we can change the world.
14
Articles / My night of misery in A&E for a broken ankle left me in tears. I was treated....
« Last post by Cocopops on August 13, 2025, 07:52:25 PM »https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-14994527/My-night-misery-E-broken-ankle-left-tears-treated-indifference-verging-contempt-NHS-broken-SARAH-VINE.html#newcomment
My night of misery in A&E for a broken ankle left me in tears. I was treated with indifference verging on contempt. The NHS is broken: SARAH VINE
By SARAH VINE, COLUMNIST
Published: 01:19, 13 August 2025 | Updated: 01:20, 13 August 2025
There is no question that violence against medical staff is totally unacceptable. Yesterday’s report by the Royal College of Nursing paints a worrying picture of physical and verbal assault in hospitals and in particular A&E, with one worker attacked every two hours. Nothing excuses such behaviour. But there is a telling line in the RCN’s report: ‘Middle-class patients and their families are among those driven to rage by long waits and dehumanising care in corridors.’
Britain’s middle classes are the backbone of this country. We are polite, hard-working, law-abiding and, for the most part, non-complaining. We get up early, do what we’re told and generally try to live useful and productive lives. Our hard work and taxes pay for education, healthcare, infrastructure and, of course, for all those who, for whatever reason, are unable (or unwilling) to fend for themselves. We get no thanks for it, of course. In fact, we are often mocked for our values, belittled for our love of fairness and order, characterised as bourgeois and small-minded. Our political classes take us for granted. We live in a world which increasingly seems to reward failure, and where those who do the right thing are punished by a system seemingly ever-more intent on bleeding us dry. Inheritance tax on pensions, crippling taxes on small business, rapacious grabs on property the list is endless. Sometimes you have to ask yourself: why do I even bother?
Still, we plough on, because it’s who we are. But when even the docile and compliant middle classes are ‘driven to rage’, you know something is seriously wrong. In the case of frontline health services, we all know budgets are tight. But that’s not our fault; that’s the fault of successive governments who have shied away from the tough decisions needed to reform the NHS while allowing wave after wave of uncontrolled migration to place ever more pressure on the system. Meanwhile, we’ve kept our side of the bargain, funding this profligacy through our (rising) taxes. I think we’re perfectly entitled to feel a bit miffed when things don’t work. Especially when, on the rare occasions when we do need to access some of the services we’ve paid for, we are treated at best with indifference, at worst contempt. We all get that staff are stretched. And I understand that this report by the RCN is designed to flag a real problem. But they might also want to consider a few hard truths: kindness and compassion cost nothing. And the sad fact is there seems to be precious little of either in the health service these days. I’d go so far as to say that many medical staff seem to actively despise their patients. That has been my experience, at least, in the past few years of dealing with the NHS. If you are polite and patient, you just end up being penalised, while those who make the loudest fuss are dealt with quickly. And when, last week, I was foolish enough to break my ankle while visiting friends in north Norfolk, this grim reality was brought into sharp (and painful) focus. The trouble with that part of the world is that it’s so damn pretty you take your eye off the road. In my case, distracted by a church on the horizon, I stumbled into a ditch. There was an audible pop, and an explosion of pain. ‘Oh dear,’ said my friend. ‘That sounds like a trip to the hospital.’
We headed to King’s Lynn A&E. But when we arrived, the queue was so long it was snaking out onto the road. I decided to go back to her house, pop some paracetamol, pack it with ice and wait and see. It was probably just a sprain. Fat chance. By the time we got back, I couldn’t put any weight on it at all. Any sort of movement was agony and it was turning an unpleasant shade of mushroom. I had planned to stay the weekend but clearly that was pointless now. My friend knew someone who was driving to London that evening, so I decided to hitch a ride in the hope I could get it seen to closer to home. Three hours and what felt like about a million potholes later, the dogs and I arrived back in West London. With the help of my daughter, I hauled myself up the stairs and into the house on my bum and then up another two floors to the bathroom. Whereupon I fell over and banged the affected ankle trying to go to the loo. Ouch. The ambulance crew were very sweet. One of them said his mum read the Daily Mail (if you are reading this and your son was on duty in West London last Thursday, please send him my thanks). Despite my protestations, they insisted I go to hospital. And that, dear reader, is where my troubles really began. In fairness, I was ‘assessed’ relatively quickly and sent for an X-ray. But when I got there, I was instructed to lie my foot flat on the machine, which I just couldn’t do: it was too painful. Impatiently, the nurse rather more of the Ratched than Florence Nightingale school just held it and forced it firmly into place. Tears pricked my eyes, but I was too embarrassed and actually a bit shocked to say anything. After she had finished, I hopped back to the wheelchair, shooting pains in my leg. ‘Where am I supposed to put you now?’ she asked, as she wheeled me back down the corridor.
How was I supposed to know?
After some deliberation she parked me back in the main waiting room. By now it was about 1.30am, more than eight hours since the fall which, as it turned out, had broken my ankle. I was tired, shivery and in a lot of discomfort. No one had offered me painkillers and, since Ratched had disappeared behind the double doors, there was no one to ask. I’ve sat in public toilets more salubrious than that waiting room. The stench of booze, cigarettes and urine was impossible to escape. Several gentlemen of the road were in residence, in various stages of stupefaction. A few seats away, one was asleep on a rucksack. Every now and again he would come to, shout a few unintelligible words then pass out again. Further away, towards the vending machine, a man in his 20s was talking to himself, eyeing the other patients with ill-concealed malice. The seats were hard and edged with rigid metal armrests, obviously designed to prevent people from falling asleep in them. Unless blind drunk and insensible, of course. For anyone not under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the Guantanamo Bay-style strip lighting and incessant pop music made any semblance of comfort or rest impossible. In fact, the entire set-up had clearly been designed to encourage people to give up and go home. Which several people did, including one elderly man who had come in with his wife, complaining of chest pains. I hope it was nothing serious. The only point of contact with authority was a Cerberus-like creature behind a glass screen, which one had to address via a narrow slit, as though through a cell door. One by one as the hours ticked past, we supplicants made the pilgrimage. ‘Please sir, when will I be seen?’ the answer wasn’t quite a growl, but almost.
Somewhere around 4am, by now needing a pee, I approached the altar myself, hopping on one foot. One of the security guards watched me with faint amusement. I don’t imagine it occurred to him to help. I asked whether I could be given a pair of crutches so I could go to the loo. I was told that I couldn’t have crutches until I had seen a doctor. When would that be, I wondered?
When they were ready for me. I hopped back to my perch, crossed my legs and waited. It was approaching 6am when my name was finally called. Almost 12 hours since the accident. A young female doctor told me what I already knew: I had fractured my ankle. I would need a boot and a course of blood thinners. Our interaction lasted approximately four minutes, maybe less. The nurse arrived with the boot (doctors don’t do boots, apparently). Perhaps because she didn’t speak much English, perhaps because I was very tired and not making much sense, she failed to understand me when I said I couldn’t put my foot flat inside the boot. She kept pushing my heel down, which as I had not had any painkillers was horrible. Eventually she got me strapped in and handed me some crutches. I stood up, and it was agony. She could see I was in pain, yet she said nothing, just went away and came back with a cup of water and two white pills. ‘Co-codamol,’ she said, and I took them.
I spent the next few minutes trying, and failing, to control my tears. All I wanted now was to get out of there. She returned a few minutes later with my blood thinners, a box of daily injections, and an appointment card for the fracture clinic. I was done. I made my way back to the waiting room, unaided, every step agony, messaged my daughter to come and get me and sat there, woozy with the drugs, wondering what I had done wrong to be treated with such contempt. I wasn’t angry, I wasn’t abusive, I wasn’t drunk. This injury wasn’t self-inflicted. It was a simple accident. And yet – along with pretty much everyone else that long night I had been made to feel like something you find on the bottom of your shoe. So, I’m just putting it out there: maybe that’s why patients are getting upset. Maybe that’s why they are losing their tempers. We all appreciate that the system is under pressure, and we all appreciate the hard work that doctors and nurses do. As I said, violence is never acceptable. I condemn it completely. But if you treat people with hostility and incompetence, you can’t expect them just to take it lying down. When you treat us like scum, can you really expect us to just keep smiling?
My night of misery in A&E for a broken ankle left me in tears. I was treated with indifference verging on contempt. The NHS is broken: SARAH VINE
By SARAH VINE, COLUMNIST
Published: 01:19, 13 August 2025 | Updated: 01:20, 13 August 2025
There is no question that violence against medical staff is totally unacceptable. Yesterday’s report by the Royal College of Nursing paints a worrying picture of physical and verbal assault in hospitals and in particular A&E, with one worker attacked every two hours. Nothing excuses such behaviour. But there is a telling line in the RCN’s report: ‘Middle-class patients and their families are among those driven to rage by long waits and dehumanising care in corridors.’
Britain’s middle classes are the backbone of this country. We are polite, hard-working, law-abiding and, for the most part, non-complaining. We get up early, do what we’re told and generally try to live useful and productive lives. Our hard work and taxes pay for education, healthcare, infrastructure and, of course, for all those who, for whatever reason, are unable (or unwilling) to fend for themselves. We get no thanks for it, of course. In fact, we are often mocked for our values, belittled for our love of fairness and order, characterised as bourgeois and small-minded. Our political classes take us for granted. We live in a world which increasingly seems to reward failure, and where those who do the right thing are punished by a system seemingly ever-more intent on bleeding us dry. Inheritance tax on pensions, crippling taxes on small business, rapacious grabs on property the list is endless. Sometimes you have to ask yourself: why do I even bother?
Still, we plough on, because it’s who we are. But when even the docile and compliant middle classes are ‘driven to rage’, you know something is seriously wrong. In the case of frontline health services, we all know budgets are tight. But that’s not our fault; that’s the fault of successive governments who have shied away from the tough decisions needed to reform the NHS while allowing wave after wave of uncontrolled migration to place ever more pressure on the system. Meanwhile, we’ve kept our side of the bargain, funding this profligacy through our (rising) taxes. I think we’re perfectly entitled to feel a bit miffed when things don’t work. Especially when, on the rare occasions when we do need to access some of the services we’ve paid for, we are treated at best with indifference, at worst contempt. We all get that staff are stretched. And I understand that this report by the RCN is designed to flag a real problem. But they might also want to consider a few hard truths: kindness and compassion cost nothing. And the sad fact is there seems to be precious little of either in the health service these days. I’d go so far as to say that many medical staff seem to actively despise their patients. That has been my experience, at least, in the past few years of dealing with the NHS. If you are polite and patient, you just end up being penalised, while those who make the loudest fuss are dealt with quickly. And when, last week, I was foolish enough to break my ankle while visiting friends in north Norfolk, this grim reality was brought into sharp (and painful) focus. The trouble with that part of the world is that it’s so damn pretty you take your eye off the road. In my case, distracted by a church on the horizon, I stumbled into a ditch. There was an audible pop, and an explosion of pain. ‘Oh dear,’ said my friend. ‘That sounds like a trip to the hospital.’
We headed to King’s Lynn A&E. But when we arrived, the queue was so long it was snaking out onto the road. I decided to go back to her house, pop some paracetamol, pack it with ice and wait and see. It was probably just a sprain. Fat chance. By the time we got back, I couldn’t put any weight on it at all. Any sort of movement was agony and it was turning an unpleasant shade of mushroom. I had planned to stay the weekend but clearly that was pointless now. My friend knew someone who was driving to London that evening, so I decided to hitch a ride in the hope I could get it seen to closer to home. Three hours and what felt like about a million potholes later, the dogs and I arrived back in West London. With the help of my daughter, I hauled myself up the stairs and into the house on my bum and then up another two floors to the bathroom. Whereupon I fell over and banged the affected ankle trying to go to the loo. Ouch. The ambulance crew were very sweet. One of them said his mum read the Daily Mail (if you are reading this and your son was on duty in West London last Thursday, please send him my thanks). Despite my protestations, they insisted I go to hospital. And that, dear reader, is where my troubles really began. In fairness, I was ‘assessed’ relatively quickly and sent for an X-ray. But when I got there, I was instructed to lie my foot flat on the machine, which I just couldn’t do: it was too painful. Impatiently, the nurse rather more of the Ratched than Florence Nightingale school just held it and forced it firmly into place. Tears pricked my eyes, but I was too embarrassed and actually a bit shocked to say anything. After she had finished, I hopped back to the wheelchair, shooting pains in my leg. ‘Where am I supposed to put you now?’ she asked, as she wheeled me back down the corridor.
How was I supposed to know?
After some deliberation she parked me back in the main waiting room. By now it was about 1.30am, more than eight hours since the fall which, as it turned out, had broken my ankle. I was tired, shivery and in a lot of discomfort. No one had offered me painkillers and, since Ratched had disappeared behind the double doors, there was no one to ask. I’ve sat in public toilets more salubrious than that waiting room. The stench of booze, cigarettes and urine was impossible to escape. Several gentlemen of the road were in residence, in various stages of stupefaction. A few seats away, one was asleep on a rucksack. Every now and again he would come to, shout a few unintelligible words then pass out again. Further away, towards the vending machine, a man in his 20s was talking to himself, eyeing the other patients with ill-concealed malice. The seats were hard and edged with rigid metal armrests, obviously designed to prevent people from falling asleep in them. Unless blind drunk and insensible, of course. For anyone not under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the Guantanamo Bay-style strip lighting and incessant pop music made any semblance of comfort or rest impossible. In fact, the entire set-up had clearly been designed to encourage people to give up and go home. Which several people did, including one elderly man who had come in with his wife, complaining of chest pains. I hope it was nothing serious. The only point of contact with authority was a Cerberus-like creature behind a glass screen, which one had to address via a narrow slit, as though through a cell door. One by one as the hours ticked past, we supplicants made the pilgrimage. ‘Please sir, when will I be seen?’ the answer wasn’t quite a growl, but almost.
Somewhere around 4am, by now needing a pee, I approached the altar myself, hopping on one foot. One of the security guards watched me with faint amusement. I don’t imagine it occurred to him to help. I asked whether I could be given a pair of crutches so I could go to the loo. I was told that I couldn’t have crutches until I had seen a doctor. When would that be, I wondered?
When they were ready for me. I hopped back to my perch, crossed my legs and waited. It was approaching 6am when my name was finally called. Almost 12 hours since the accident. A young female doctor told me what I already knew: I had fractured my ankle. I would need a boot and a course of blood thinners. Our interaction lasted approximately four minutes, maybe less. The nurse arrived with the boot (doctors don’t do boots, apparently). Perhaps because she didn’t speak much English, perhaps because I was very tired and not making much sense, she failed to understand me when I said I couldn’t put my foot flat inside the boot. She kept pushing my heel down, which as I had not had any painkillers was horrible. Eventually she got me strapped in and handed me some crutches. I stood up, and it was agony. She could see I was in pain, yet she said nothing, just went away and came back with a cup of water and two white pills. ‘Co-codamol,’ she said, and I took them.
I spent the next few minutes trying, and failing, to control my tears. All I wanted now was to get out of there. She returned a few minutes later with my blood thinners, a box of daily injections, and an appointment card for the fracture clinic. I was done. I made my way back to the waiting room, unaided, every step agony, messaged my daughter to come and get me and sat there, woozy with the drugs, wondering what I had done wrong to be treated with such contempt. I wasn’t angry, I wasn’t abusive, I wasn’t drunk. This injury wasn’t self-inflicted. It was a simple accident. And yet – along with pretty much everyone else that long night I had been made to feel like something you find on the bottom of your shoe. So, I’m just putting it out there: maybe that’s why patients are getting upset. Maybe that’s why they are losing their tempers. We all appreciate that the system is under pressure, and we all appreciate the hard work that doctors and nurses do. As I said, violence is never acceptable. I condemn it completely. But if you treat people with hostility and incompetence, you can’t expect them just to take it lying down. When you treat us like scum, can you really expect us to just keep smiling?
15
Articles / Marilyn Manson leads rock royalty at Ozzy Osbourne's funeral as Black ....
« Last post by Lost Soul on July 31, 2025, 05:44:39 PM »https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14959577/Marilyn-Manson-leads-rock-royalty-Ozzy-Osbournes-funeral-Black-Sabbath-star-laid-rest-grounds-mansion.html
Marilyn Manson leads rock royalty at Ozzy Osbourne's funeral as Black Sabbath star is laid to rest in grounds of his own mansion
READ MORE: Sharon Osbourne's hidden tributes to late husband Ozzy
READ MORE: Fans share heartwarming clips of the Osbournes
By KATHERINE LAWTON and AIDAN RADNEDGE and NICK FAGGE
Published: 16:12, 31 July 2025 | Updated: 17:07, 31 July 2025
Marilyn Manson has led the stars arriving at Ozzy Osbourne's private funeral this afternoon as the heavy metal icon is laid to rest. The Black Sabbath frontman, who died aged 76 on July 22, is being buried in the grounds of his own mansion in Buckinghamshire as he had said he desired. Ozzy's widow Sharon and their children were joined by heavy rock icons at today's event at the family's home near Gerrards Cross, where he was being laid to rest near a lake ay the heart of the sprawling 250-acre estate. Guests also included Manson's wife Lindsay Usich and Ozzy's lead guitarist Zakk Wylde. And in true Ozzy fashion, stars arrived in gothic and heavy metal attire, with Rob Zombie donning skulls on a black scarf while Manson wore a long black jacket. A huge floral tribute in the grounds of the mansion spells out an affectionate tribute to the heavy metal legend, with the words, 'OZZY F***ING OSBOURNE', on the banks of the Osbourne lake. A version of a floral 'Ozzy' tribute that featured at yesterday's memorial procession was also placed atop a fountain. Today's events follow a funeral procession attended by thousands of fans through Birmingham city centre on Wednesday. Ozzy's widow Sharon, 72, was supported by their children Jack, Kelly and Aimee who laid floral tributes and made a peace sign as they gestured their gratitude to fans while accompanied by Ozzy's son Louis from his first marriage to Thelma Riley. Floral tributes to the rock star first displayed at the public memorial in Birmingham yesterday were on show for the intimate farewell. Goodwill messages have continued to pour in for Osbourne, who died aged 76 last week and had spoken in the past about his wishes for a lack of funeral fuss. Speaking in 2011 about how he imagined his future send-off, the Black Sabbath legend said: 'I honestly don't care what they play at my funeral they can put on a medley of Justin Bieber, Susan Boyle and 'We Are The Diddymen' if it makes 'em happy. But I do want to make sure it's a celebration, not a mope-fest.'
The funeral cortege yesterday was led by a live brass band, Bostin' Brass, who performed versions of Black Sabbath songs such as Iron Man, as thousands of tearful devotees lined the streets and sang along in Ozzy's memory. Today, marquees and a music stage had been erected next to pond where the private tributes were paid at his home. Guests were seated under huge awnings due to the rain showers that had fallen earlier in the day - while catering facilities, with their own generators, were provided in the garden. A huge security operation was in place from early this morning to ensure the ceremony was strictly invitation only, in accordance with widow Sharon's wishes. A team of bodyguards and private security dog handlers patrolled the perimeter of the estate and traffic marshals directed traffic through the narrow country lane leading to the Osbourne estate. However, diehard fans did leave flowers outside the gates to their rock idol. Ozzy had spoken in 2011 about his funeral intentions, telling the Times: 'I want to make sure it's a celebration, not a mope-fest. I'd also like some pranks - maybe the sound of knocking inside the coffin, or a video of me asking my doctor for a second opinion on his diagnosis of 'death'. There'll be no harping on the bad times. It's worth remembering that a lot of people see nothing but misery their whole lives. So by any measure, most of us in this country especially rock stars like me - are very lucky. That's why I don't want my funeral to be sad I want it to be a time to say, "Thanks".'
And he wrote in his autobiography I Am Ozzy, published in 2010: 'Eventually death will come, like it comes to everyone. I've said to Sharon: 'Don't cremate me, whatever you do.' I want to be put in the ground, in a nice garden somewhere, with a tree planted over my head. A crabapple tree, preferably, so the kids can make wine out of me and get p***ed out of their heads. As for what they'll put on my headstone, I ain't under any illusions. If I close my eyes, I can already see it. Ozzy Osbourne, born 1948. Died, whenever. He bit the head off a bat.'
As things have transpired, huge crowds gathered along the route hours in advance of Wednesday's 1pm start to pay their respects to the Prince of Darkness whose hits included Paranoid and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. The hearse carrying the singer's coffin - adorned with purple flowers spelling out 'Ozzy' - had passed the star's childhood home in Lodge Road, Aston, shortly after midday. Flowers had been placed outside the terraced property, close to Villa Park while the owners of the house put up a picture of Osbourne in the front bay window. The Jaguar hearse and six Mercedes funeral cars, accompanied by police motorcycle riders and a police car, drove slowly along the street watched by a handful of fans and the current owner of the house. Thousands of people were pictured taking their places not only on Black Sabbath Bridge but along the city centre route along which his cortege travelled towards the Black Sabbath Bridge bench. Elsewhere in London, the Coldstream Guards payed tribute to the heavy metal legend at the changing of the guard by performing their own rendition of his hit-song Paranoid. Fans have left heartfelt messages and floral tributes around the Black Sabbath mural on Navigation Street in recent days to honour the heavy metal star who was born in the Aston area of Birmingham. Members of the public have also signed a book of condolences, opened by Birmingham Museum And Art Gallery, which is currently holding an exhibition titled Ozzy Osbourne (1948-2025): Working Class Hero. While organising the procession, Birmingham City Council collaborated with the Osbourne family, who funded all of the associated costs. Ahead of today's follow-up service, the Sun quoted a source as saying: 'Singer Yungblud, who became close with Ozzy in recent years, is going to give a reading. His Sabbath bandmates, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler, will be there, along with James Hetfield from Metallica. Elton John is also hoping to join the family at the church. Sharon and his family have been so touched by messages they received not only from Ozzy's friends, but also his fans around the world.'
Osbourne and his Black Sabbath bandmates Butler with the nickname 'Geezer', Iommi and Ward were recently given the freedom of the city of Birmingham, which recognises people's exceptional service to the city. The group, which formed in 1968, are widely credited with defining and popularising the sound of heavy metal. Osbourne, who also had a successful solo career, found a new legion of fans when he appeared in the noughties reality TV series The Osbournes, starring alongside his wife Sharon and two youngest children, Kelly and Jack. The music star, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2019, performed his last gig on July 5 in a concert that also saw performances from the likes of Anthrax, Metallica and Guns N' Roses. Ozzy took to the stage for his farewell concert at Villa Park stadium in his native Birmingham less than three weeks before his death - reuniting with his original Black Sabbath bandmates for the first time since 2005. More than 42,000 fans packed into the venue for the Back To The Beginning show, during which he told the crowd in his final speech: 'You've no idea how I feel thank you from the bottom of my heart.'
A message on screen then read: 'Thank you for everything, you guys are f***ing amazing. Birmingham Forever,' before the sky lit up with fireworks. He had told of it being his last performance due to his health, having opened up about his battle with Parkinson's in 2020. In a statement shared last Tuesday, Ozzy's family said he died 'surrounded by love', adding: 'It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.'
He is survived by his wife Sharon and his five children Jessica, Louis, Aimee, Kelly and Jack. Daily Mail revealed last Wednesday that an air ambulance was called to Osbourne's grand country home as paramedics battled to save his life for two hours. Friends told the Mail's Alison Boshoff that his heartbroken wife Sharon was considering now burying Ozzy in the gardens of the 350-acre estate in an intimate family funeral. Ozzy was born John Michael Osbourne in Birmingham in 1948, and dropped out of school at the age of 15. After serving two months in prison for burglary, he decided to pursue his love of music. By 1970, Black Sabbath originally going by the name of Earth had gained a huge following in the US and UK with the release of their first album. Ozzy quit the band in 1978 and four years later divorced his first wife Thelma Mayfair, with whom he had two children, amid his ongoing substance abuse problems. He went on to marry second wife Sharon, who helped him transform into a successful solo artist and the couple had three children together. Ozzy gained a whole new audience of fans with the family's reality TV show The Osbournes in 2001.
Marilyn Manson leads rock royalty at Ozzy Osbourne's funeral as Black Sabbath star is laid to rest in grounds of his own mansion
READ MORE: Sharon Osbourne's hidden tributes to late husband Ozzy
READ MORE: Fans share heartwarming clips of the Osbournes
By KATHERINE LAWTON and AIDAN RADNEDGE and NICK FAGGE
Published: 16:12, 31 July 2025 | Updated: 17:07, 31 July 2025
Marilyn Manson has led the stars arriving at Ozzy Osbourne's private funeral this afternoon as the heavy metal icon is laid to rest. The Black Sabbath frontman, who died aged 76 on July 22, is being buried in the grounds of his own mansion in Buckinghamshire as he had said he desired. Ozzy's widow Sharon and their children were joined by heavy rock icons at today's event at the family's home near Gerrards Cross, where he was being laid to rest near a lake ay the heart of the sprawling 250-acre estate. Guests also included Manson's wife Lindsay Usich and Ozzy's lead guitarist Zakk Wylde. And in true Ozzy fashion, stars arrived in gothic and heavy metal attire, with Rob Zombie donning skulls on a black scarf while Manson wore a long black jacket. A huge floral tribute in the grounds of the mansion spells out an affectionate tribute to the heavy metal legend, with the words, 'OZZY F***ING OSBOURNE', on the banks of the Osbourne lake. A version of a floral 'Ozzy' tribute that featured at yesterday's memorial procession was also placed atop a fountain. Today's events follow a funeral procession attended by thousands of fans through Birmingham city centre on Wednesday. Ozzy's widow Sharon, 72, was supported by their children Jack, Kelly and Aimee who laid floral tributes and made a peace sign as they gestured their gratitude to fans while accompanied by Ozzy's son Louis from his first marriage to Thelma Riley. Floral tributes to the rock star first displayed at the public memorial in Birmingham yesterday were on show for the intimate farewell. Goodwill messages have continued to pour in for Osbourne, who died aged 76 last week and had spoken in the past about his wishes for a lack of funeral fuss. Speaking in 2011 about how he imagined his future send-off, the Black Sabbath legend said: 'I honestly don't care what they play at my funeral they can put on a medley of Justin Bieber, Susan Boyle and 'We Are The Diddymen' if it makes 'em happy. But I do want to make sure it's a celebration, not a mope-fest.'
The funeral cortege yesterday was led by a live brass band, Bostin' Brass, who performed versions of Black Sabbath songs such as Iron Man, as thousands of tearful devotees lined the streets and sang along in Ozzy's memory. Today, marquees and a music stage had been erected next to pond where the private tributes were paid at his home. Guests were seated under huge awnings due to the rain showers that had fallen earlier in the day - while catering facilities, with their own generators, were provided in the garden. A huge security operation was in place from early this morning to ensure the ceremony was strictly invitation only, in accordance with widow Sharon's wishes. A team of bodyguards and private security dog handlers patrolled the perimeter of the estate and traffic marshals directed traffic through the narrow country lane leading to the Osbourne estate. However, diehard fans did leave flowers outside the gates to their rock idol. Ozzy had spoken in 2011 about his funeral intentions, telling the Times: 'I want to make sure it's a celebration, not a mope-fest. I'd also like some pranks - maybe the sound of knocking inside the coffin, or a video of me asking my doctor for a second opinion on his diagnosis of 'death'. There'll be no harping on the bad times. It's worth remembering that a lot of people see nothing but misery their whole lives. So by any measure, most of us in this country especially rock stars like me - are very lucky. That's why I don't want my funeral to be sad I want it to be a time to say, "Thanks".'
And he wrote in his autobiography I Am Ozzy, published in 2010: 'Eventually death will come, like it comes to everyone. I've said to Sharon: 'Don't cremate me, whatever you do.' I want to be put in the ground, in a nice garden somewhere, with a tree planted over my head. A crabapple tree, preferably, so the kids can make wine out of me and get p***ed out of their heads. As for what they'll put on my headstone, I ain't under any illusions. If I close my eyes, I can already see it. Ozzy Osbourne, born 1948. Died, whenever. He bit the head off a bat.'
As things have transpired, huge crowds gathered along the route hours in advance of Wednesday's 1pm start to pay their respects to the Prince of Darkness whose hits included Paranoid and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. The hearse carrying the singer's coffin - adorned with purple flowers spelling out 'Ozzy' - had passed the star's childhood home in Lodge Road, Aston, shortly after midday. Flowers had been placed outside the terraced property, close to Villa Park while the owners of the house put up a picture of Osbourne in the front bay window. The Jaguar hearse and six Mercedes funeral cars, accompanied by police motorcycle riders and a police car, drove slowly along the street watched by a handful of fans and the current owner of the house. Thousands of people were pictured taking their places not only on Black Sabbath Bridge but along the city centre route along which his cortege travelled towards the Black Sabbath Bridge bench. Elsewhere in London, the Coldstream Guards payed tribute to the heavy metal legend at the changing of the guard by performing their own rendition of his hit-song Paranoid. Fans have left heartfelt messages and floral tributes around the Black Sabbath mural on Navigation Street in recent days to honour the heavy metal star who was born in the Aston area of Birmingham. Members of the public have also signed a book of condolences, opened by Birmingham Museum And Art Gallery, which is currently holding an exhibition titled Ozzy Osbourne (1948-2025): Working Class Hero. While organising the procession, Birmingham City Council collaborated with the Osbourne family, who funded all of the associated costs. Ahead of today's follow-up service, the Sun quoted a source as saying: 'Singer Yungblud, who became close with Ozzy in recent years, is going to give a reading. His Sabbath bandmates, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler, will be there, along with James Hetfield from Metallica. Elton John is also hoping to join the family at the church. Sharon and his family have been so touched by messages they received not only from Ozzy's friends, but also his fans around the world.'
Osbourne and his Black Sabbath bandmates Butler with the nickname 'Geezer', Iommi and Ward were recently given the freedom of the city of Birmingham, which recognises people's exceptional service to the city. The group, which formed in 1968, are widely credited with defining and popularising the sound of heavy metal. Osbourne, who also had a successful solo career, found a new legion of fans when he appeared in the noughties reality TV series The Osbournes, starring alongside his wife Sharon and two youngest children, Kelly and Jack. The music star, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2019, performed his last gig on July 5 in a concert that also saw performances from the likes of Anthrax, Metallica and Guns N' Roses. Ozzy took to the stage for his farewell concert at Villa Park stadium in his native Birmingham less than three weeks before his death - reuniting with his original Black Sabbath bandmates for the first time since 2005. More than 42,000 fans packed into the venue for the Back To The Beginning show, during which he told the crowd in his final speech: 'You've no idea how I feel thank you from the bottom of my heart.'
A message on screen then read: 'Thank you for everything, you guys are f***ing amazing. Birmingham Forever,' before the sky lit up with fireworks. He had told of it being his last performance due to his health, having opened up about his battle with Parkinson's in 2020. In a statement shared last Tuesday, Ozzy's family said he died 'surrounded by love', adding: 'It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.'
He is survived by his wife Sharon and his five children Jessica, Louis, Aimee, Kelly and Jack. Daily Mail revealed last Wednesday that an air ambulance was called to Osbourne's grand country home as paramedics battled to save his life for two hours. Friends told the Mail's Alison Boshoff that his heartbroken wife Sharon was considering now burying Ozzy in the gardens of the 350-acre estate in an intimate family funeral. Ozzy was born John Michael Osbourne in Birmingham in 1948, and dropped out of school at the age of 15. After serving two months in prison for burglary, he decided to pursue his love of music. By 1970, Black Sabbath originally going by the name of Earth had gained a huge following in the US and UK with the release of their first album. Ozzy quit the band in 1978 and four years later divorced his first wife Thelma Mayfair, with whom he had two children, amid his ongoing substance abuse problems. He went on to marry second wife Sharon, who helped him transform into a successful solo artist and the couple had three children together. Ozzy gained a whole new audience of fans with the family's reality TV show The Osbournes in 2001.
16
Articles / Re: Mother, 19, is guilty of manslaughter after her six-month-old baby was .....
« Last post by PippaJane on July 31, 2025, 05:16:46 PM »It was a tragic accident but the friend should never have been driving, she shouldn't have got in the car and that way her baby would still be alive.
17
Articles / Re: The toll Charles and Diana's 'wedding of the century' took on the ailing ....
« Last post by PippaJane on July 31, 2025, 05:14:59 PM »I wish the media would let her rest in peace.
18
Articles / The toll Charles and Diana's 'wedding of the century' took on the ailing ....
« Last post by Lil angel on July 29, 2025, 06:22:56 PM »https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/royals/article-14824303/Prince-Charles-Princess-Diana-wedding-anniversary.html?offset=61&max=100&jumpTo=comment-6518611387
The toll Charles and Diana's 'wedding of the century' took on the ailing princess: 44 years on, this is the troubling truth about why Diana felt like a 'lamb to the slaughter' and her saddening bulimia fit just before
By MARTI STELLING
Published: 07:13, 29 July 2025 | Updated: 16:56, 29 July 2025
The night before the 'wedding of the century', Princess Diana spent a quiet evening with her sisters and bridal party at Clarence House. The young bride-to-be had only recently turned 20 and admitted to journalist Andrew Morton ten years later that she ‘had a very bad fit of bulimia the night before'.
Between 1991 and 1992, Diana recorded tapes for Morton, which were the main source of his best-selling authorised biography, Diana: Her True Story. In the tapes, Diana tells how her public persona was often very different to her real personality. 'I ate everything I could possibly find, which amused my sister, and nobody understood what was going on there,' said Diana.
'It was very hush-hush. I was as sick as a parrot that night. It was such an indication of what was going on.'
In another room, the Queen Mother and Lady Fermoy, Diana’s grandmother, watched Dad’s Army on TV. Diana found it hard to sleep and went downstairs, where 'Backstairs Billy', the Queen Mother’s Steward, William Tallon, gave her a glass of orange juice. Then she spotted his bicycle, leapt on it and cycled around in circles, ringing the bell and singing: ‘I’m going to marry the Prince of Wales tomorrow! And then came the morning. 'I was very, very calm, deathly calm,' said Diana.
'I felt I was a lamb to the slaughter. I knew it and couldn't do anything about it. My last night of freedom was with Jane at Clarence House.'
On July 29, 1981, 44 years ago to this day, Diana married Charles at St Paul's Cathedral in front of 3,500 guests. A record-breaking 750million people in 74 countries across the globe tuned in to watch the event on television. 'I remember being so in love with my husband that I couldn't take my eyes off him,' Diana said.
'He was going to look after me. Well, was I wrong on that assumption? I realised I had taken on an enormous role but had no idea what I was going into but no idea.'
Charles and Diana had announced their engagement five months prior to the wedding, on February 24, 1981, with an exclusive interview. The Prince told the BBC that he was 'delighted and frankly amazed' that Diana was 'prepared' to take him on. However, he upset his future wife when he was asked if they were in love. Diana replied, 'Of course,' while Charles quipped, 'Whatever in love means' a comment she was believed to find 'traumatising'.
During the discussion, Diana debuted her £47,000 engagement ring from luxury jeweller Garrard. It was a 12-carat oval blue Ceylon sapphire, surrounded by 14 diamonds, set in 18-carat white gold. Diana's dress featured a substantial skirt complete with a record-breaking 25ft-train and frothy folds of silk taffeta fit for a fairytale. To make sure it would fit down the aisle, wedding dress designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel secretly measured St Paul's Cathedral with a tape measure. During the couple’s five-month engagement, Diana's waist has shrunk from 29in to 23½in and her dress has been taken in five times. She attended around 15 fittings and required five bodices to accommodate her rapid weight loss. In addition to being sewn into the gown after losing more weight ahead of her wedding, Diana accidentally spilt perfume on her dress just hours before walking down the aisle, which she hid by holding that part of the gown. 'That dress!' BBC presenter Tom Fleming exclaimed as the soon-to-be princess smoothed the dress around her.
'What a dream she looks,' commentator Angela Rippon added while noting Diana's tiny waist.
According to journalist Penny Junor's book, The Duchess: The Untold Story, Charles sent Diana a signet ring that bore his Prince of Wales feathers, accompanied by a note that read: 'I am so proud of you and when you come up, I'll be there at the altar for you tomorrow. Just look 'em in the eye and knock them dead.'
However, Diana's personal astrologer, Penny Thornton, claimed in an ITV documentary that the royal also had a devastating confession for his bride. 'One of the most shocking things that Diana told me was that the night before the wedding, Charles told her that he didn't love her,' Thornton claimed.
'I think Charles didn't want to go into the wedding on a false premise. He wanted to square it with her and it was devastating for Diana.'
In 2020, speaking in Channel 5's documentary, Charles & Camilla: King and Queen in Waiting, former BBC royal reporter Jennie Bond said Diana confided to her about her doubts on her big day. Bond, who grew close to Princess Diana while working as a royal correspondent from 1989 to 2003, revealed the fairytale appearance of the 1981 royal wedding was very different behind closed doors. She said: 'Diana told me much later in one of our private conversations that she had felt like a lamb to the slaughter as she walked up the aisle, which is very sad, but I think she knew that things weren't quite right. When she saw Camilla in the congregation, she was immediately uneasy about it.'
Bond added that Diana found a bracelet that Prince Charles had given Camilla during their engagement, which he had engraved with her initials. 'She was enraged by it, and she wanted to know why he had gifted this to Camilla'.
Charles even wore a set of personalised cufflinks, which read C & C, for Charles and Camilla, on the couple's honeymoon. By 1986, both were having extramarital affairs. While Charles was seeing Camilla, the love of his life, Diana was having a dalliance with Army officer Captain James Hewitt. In 1992, Prime Minister John Major announced the couple were to separate, but continue living together at Kensington Palace. Two years after their separation, Charles would admit to his infidelity on national TV, on the same night that Diana wore the outfit later dubbed the 'Revenge Dress'. In August 1996, their divorce was finalised, and they continued to co-parent their sons until Diana's tragic death in a car crash in Paris one year later. It was not until 1999 that Charles and Camilla felt able to 'come out' as a couple. They did so by allowing a photo to be taken of them as they left the Ritz hotel in London, having attended a 50th birthday party. It would take a further six years before they could marry, and that ceremony was nowhere near as lavish or high-profile as Charles and Diana's nuptials. In 2005, Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles at Windsor Guildhall. Charles and Camilla who had both been divorced opted for a civil ceremony which was followed by a religious blessing. The couple's wedding ceremony was attended by their children from their previous marriages - Prince William, Prince Harry, Laura Lopes and Tom Parker Bowles. Unlike Charles' first wedding, the couple's civil ceremony was kept private. Buckingham Palace announced that there would be no music or readings featured in the order of service. After the ceremony, the royal newlyweds took the time to greet royal fans who had gathered on the streets of Windsor to celebrate their marriage.
Charles and Diana relationship timeline
November 1977: Prince Charles and Diana Spencer are introduced when Diana was just 16, and working as a nanny
July 1980: The pair was thought to start courting at this time. Charles taught Diana how to fish and Diana was spotted at the Royal Family’s Balmoral estate
February 1981: The royal engagement is officially announced
July 29, 1981: Charles and Diana tie the knot
October 1981: Princess Diana makes first official royal engagement in Wales
June 21, 1982: Prince William is born
1983: The couple tour Australia and New Zealand
September 15, 1984: Prince Harry is born
1986: Both Charles and Diana reportedly start having affairs
1989: Diana reportedly confronts Camilla Parker Bowles
July 29, 1991: The pair celebrate a muted 10 years of marriage
June 7, 1992: Diana: Her True Story, a biography written by Andrew Morton, is published
December 9, 1992: Charles and Diana announce their split
June - October 1994: Prince Charles confesses to his affair
November 20, 1995: The infamous Panorama interview is broadcast
December 19, 1995: Prince Charles files for divorce
August 31, 1997: Princess Diana dies
September 6, 1997: Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry attend Princess Diana’s funeral
The toll Charles and Diana's 'wedding of the century' took on the ailing princess: 44 years on, this is the troubling truth about why Diana felt like a 'lamb to the slaughter' and her saddening bulimia fit just before
By MARTI STELLING
Published: 07:13, 29 July 2025 | Updated: 16:56, 29 July 2025
The night before the 'wedding of the century', Princess Diana spent a quiet evening with her sisters and bridal party at Clarence House. The young bride-to-be had only recently turned 20 and admitted to journalist Andrew Morton ten years later that she ‘had a very bad fit of bulimia the night before'.
Between 1991 and 1992, Diana recorded tapes for Morton, which were the main source of his best-selling authorised biography, Diana: Her True Story. In the tapes, Diana tells how her public persona was often very different to her real personality. 'I ate everything I could possibly find, which amused my sister, and nobody understood what was going on there,' said Diana.
'It was very hush-hush. I was as sick as a parrot that night. It was such an indication of what was going on.'
In another room, the Queen Mother and Lady Fermoy, Diana’s grandmother, watched Dad’s Army on TV. Diana found it hard to sleep and went downstairs, where 'Backstairs Billy', the Queen Mother’s Steward, William Tallon, gave her a glass of orange juice. Then she spotted his bicycle, leapt on it and cycled around in circles, ringing the bell and singing: ‘I’m going to marry the Prince of Wales tomorrow! And then came the morning. 'I was very, very calm, deathly calm,' said Diana.
'I felt I was a lamb to the slaughter. I knew it and couldn't do anything about it. My last night of freedom was with Jane at Clarence House.'
On July 29, 1981, 44 years ago to this day, Diana married Charles at St Paul's Cathedral in front of 3,500 guests. A record-breaking 750million people in 74 countries across the globe tuned in to watch the event on television. 'I remember being so in love with my husband that I couldn't take my eyes off him,' Diana said.
'He was going to look after me. Well, was I wrong on that assumption? I realised I had taken on an enormous role but had no idea what I was going into but no idea.'
Charles and Diana had announced their engagement five months prior to the wedding, on February 24, 1981, with an exclusive interview. The Prince told the BBC that he was 'delighted and frankly amazed' that Diana was 'prepared' to take him on. However, he upset his future wife when he was asked if they were in love. Diana replied, 'Of course,' while Charles quipped, 'Whatever in love means' a comment she was believed to find 'traumatising'.
During the discussion, Diana debuted her £47,000 engagement ring from luxury jeweller Garrard. It was a 12-carat oval blue Ceylon sapphire, surrounded by 14 diamonds, set in 18-carat white gold. Diana's dress featured a substantial skirt complete with a record-breaking 25ft-train and frothy folds of silk taffeta fit for a fairytale. To make sure it would fit down the aisle, wedding dress designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel secretly measured St Paul's Cathedral with a tape measure. During the couple’s five-month engagement, Diana's waist has shrunk from 29in to 23½in and her dress has been taken in five times. She attended around 15 fittings and required five bodices to accommodate her rapid weight loss. In addition to being sewn into the gown after losing more weight ahead of her wedding, Diana accidentally spilt perfume on her dress just hours before walking down the aisle, which she hid by holding that part of the gown. 'That dress!' BBC presenter Tom Fleming exclaimed as the soon-to-be princess smoothed the dress around her.
'What a dream she looks,' commentator Angela Rippon added while noting Diana's tiny waist.
According to journalist Penny Junor's book, The Duchess: The Untold Story, Charles sent Diana a signet ring that bore his Prince of Wales feathers, accompanied by a note that read: 'I am so proud of you and when you come up, I'll be there at the altar for you tomorrow. Just look 'em in the eye and knock them dead.'
However, Diana's personal astrologer, Penny Thornton, claimed in an ITV documentary that the royal also had a devastating confession for his bride. 'One of the most shocking things that Diana told me was that the night before the wedding, Charles told her that he didn't love her,' Thornton claimed.
'I think Charles didn't want to go into the wedding on a false premise. He wanted to square it with her and it was devastating for Diana.'
In 2020, speaking in Channel 5's documentary, Charles & Camilla: King and Queen in Waiting, former BBC royal reporter Jennie Bond said Diana confided to her about her doubts on her big day. Bond, who grew close to Princess Diana while working as a royal correspondent from 1989 to 2003, revealed the fairytale appearance of the 1981 royal wedding was very different behind closed doors. She said: 'Diana told me much later in one of our private conversations that she had felt like a lamb to the slaughter as she walked up the aisle, which is very sad, but I think she knew that things weren't quite right. When she saw Camilla in the congregation, she was immediately uneasy about it.'
Bond added that Diana found a bracelet that Prince Charles had given Camilla during their engagement, which he had engraved with her initials. 'She was enraged by it, and she wanted to know why he had gifted this to Camilla'.
Charles even wore a set of personalised cufflinks, which read C & C, for Charles and Camilla, on the couple's honeymoon. By 1986, both were having extramarital affairs. While Charles was seeing Camilla, the love of his life, Diana was having a dalliance with Army officer Captain James Hewitt. In 1992, Prime Minister John Major announced the couple were to separate, but continue living together at Kensington Palace. Two years after their separation, Charles would admit to his infidelity on national TV, on the same night that Diana wore the outfit later dubbed the 'Revenge Dress'. In August 1996, their divorce was finalised, and they continued to co-parent their sons until Diana's tragic death in a car crash in Paris one year later. It was not until 1999 that Charles and Camilla felt able to 'come out' as a couple. They did so by allowing a photo to be taken of them as they left the Ritz hotel in London, having attended a 50th birthday party. It would take a further six years before they could marry, and that ceremony was nowhere near as lavish or high-profile as Charles and Diana's nuptials. In 2005, Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles at Windsor Guildhall. Charles and Camilla who had both been divorced opted for a civil ceremony which was followed by a religious blessing. The couple's wedding ceremony was attended by their children from their previous marriages - Prince William, Prince Harry, Laura Lopes and Tom Parker Bowles. Unlike Charles' first wedding, the couple's civil ceremony was kept private. Buckingham Palace announced that there would be no music or readings featured in the order of service. After the ceremony, the royal newlyweds took the time to greet royal fans who had gathered on the streets of Windsor to celebrate their marriage.
Charles and Diana relationship timeline
November 1977: Prince Charles and Diana Spencer are introduced when Diana was just 16, and working as a nanny
July 1980: The pair was thought to start courting at this time. Charles taught Diana how to fish and Diana was spotted at the Royal Family’s Balmoral estate
February 1981: The royal engagement is officially announced
July 29, 1981: Charles and Diana tie the knot
October 1981: Princess Diana makes first official royal engagement in Wales
June 21, 1982: Prince William is born
1983: The couple tour Australia and New Zealand
September 15, 1984: Prince Harry is born
1986: Both Charles and Diana reportedly start having affairs
1989: Diana reportedly confronts Camilla Parker Bowles
July 29, 1991: The pair celebrate a muted 10 years of marriage
June 7, 1992: Diana: Her True Story, a biography written by Andrew Morton, is published
December 9, 1992: Charles and Diana announce their split
June - October 1994: Prince Charles confesses to his affair
November 20, 1995: The infamous Panorama interview is broadcast
December 19, 1995: Prince Charles files for divorce
August 31, 1997: Princess Diana dies
September 6, 1997: Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry attend Princess Diana’s funeral
19
Articles / Mother, 19, is guilty of manslaughter after her six-month-old baby was .....
« Last post by Lil angel on July 25, 2025, 07:47:22 PM »https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14940745/Mother-guilty-manslaughter-baby-car-crash-not-strapped.html
Mother, 19, is guilty of manslaughter after her six-month-old baby was thrown from car in crash after not being strapped into seat properly
By RUTH STAINER
Published: 15:56, 25 July 2025 | Updated: 16:04, 25 July 2025
A mother has been found guilty of manslaughter after her six-month-old baby was thrown from a car having not been strapped into his seat properly. Morgan Kiely, then 19, had been drinking wine and 'relaxing' at Clacton beach in Essex with a friend, Stevie Steel, alongside her young son Harry Kiely on July 13, 2022. However as they drove away, the car rolled and ended up on its roof sending Harry flying from his seat through an open window. The baby boy tragically died later that night from 'unsurvivable' injuries sustained from the crash, including a skull fracture. Prosecutor Mr Alex Stein previously told Chelmsford Crown Court that the youngster had not been 'properly' strapped into the car seat during the drive from the beach to his grandmother's house. Harry was sitting in a child seat in the back of the car behind his mother while Steel drove. Now, Kiely, aged 22, has been convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence and given a two-year suspended jail sentence. Kiely and Steel were previously said to had planned to drop Harry at Kiely's mum's house before heading to Wetherspoons. Speaking to the court, a key witness said it was 'highly likely' that the straps of Harry's seat had not been secured. Mr Stein added: 'That car seat had not been properly strapped in and more significantly he [Harry] had not been strapped into the seat itself properly.'
He explained that Steel was distracted and hit a parked car, the car ended up on its roof and Harry was 'thrown or fell' out the car window. The court was told that Ms Steel, of Crayford, Kent, previously admitted causing death by dangerous driving by due care while over the prescribed limit. Kiely had been the passenger in a Ford Focus belonging to Steel when the crash occurred. Steel was said to have become distracted while driving, causing the car to hit a parked car on Cherry Tree Avenue. The vehicle, which had been travelling within the 30mph speed limit, rolled and ended up on its roof. Describing the devastation of the crash, Mr Stein said said the two women had been 'left hanging upside down, held in by their seatbelts'.
'He landed on the tarmac and as a young infant he had no way of protecting himself,' he added.
'He suffered a devastating skull fracture. It's a very, very sad case.'
An Isofix Maxi-Cosi car seat and base had initially been installed in Kiely's grandmother's car. The car seat without the base was placed in Steel's car when she picked up Kiely and Harry at around 3pm on July 13, the court heard. Kiely and Steel had bought three bottles of Prosecco at Aldi while on their way to the beach in Clacton with young Harry. Aged 19 at the time, Kiely bought two bottles of wine and Steel bought one. The pair were described as being 'just a bit tipsy and happy'.
They spent several hours on the beach and were briefly joined by Steel's ex-boyfriend Mitchell Bassett. He offered them a lift to the pub having heard their plans to continue drinking but they declined and chose to drive themselves. Addressing Kiely, Judge Robert Jay said: 'Alarm bells should have been ringing in your head at that point. You knew how much Stevie had drunk. You could and should have taken up Mitchell's offer. A mother should not agree to travel with a drunk driver.'
Judge Jay described the fatal crash as 'not an accident that was likely waiting to happen'.
He added that 'maybe 99 times out of 100 the car would not have rolled over at this sort of speed and Harry would have survived'.
After hearing the collision, neighbours rushed to the scene, including a retired paediatric nurse who spoke to the 999 call handler and provided some of the immediate care towards Harry. Kiely was said to have been heard saying 'my baby, my baby, is my baby okay'.
Emergency services rushed to the scene where they treated Harry for more than an hour. He was later rushed to hospital before being sadly declared dead just after 9pm. During the trial, the jury reviewed a 999 call from the scene, an officer's bodycam footage, an expert witness who explained how the child car seat worked, and evidence from Mr Bassett. Jurors deliberated for an estimated five hours over the course of two days before a guilty verdict of manslaughter was eventually reached. Addressing Kiely, Judge Jay said: 'Harry's safety was your responsibility. It should have been your primary concern that day.'
He added that her negligent conduct that day was a lapse in her otherwise good care of Harry. 'I think that it is obvious to everyone in this courtroom that you were a very good mother to Harry in all respects, and that this was a singleton failure,' the judge said.
Meanwhile, the court also heard that since the crash, Kiely had given up her job as a carer and now has a four-month-old baby. Benjamin Summers, defending, read out statements to the court which described Kiely as a 'devoted and loving mother' to Harry, who was 'deeply caring'.
She was said to have taken Harry on trips to Liverpool and Scotland in his short life to visit relatives, and had recently returned to work prior to his tragic death. An expert witness earlier in the trial spoke about the child car seat and how it is designed to work, explaining that it was highly unlikely but not impossible that the straps of the seat had been secured in the car. Mr Summers said that while Kiely's behaviour had been a 'dreadful, dreadful, dreadful error', he did not believe it made her 'grossly negligent at the time.'
He added: 'We say it is not as simple as saying the failure to secure a child in a car seat, full stop, is enough.'
Mother, 19, is guilty of manslaughter after her six-month-old baby was thrown from car in crash after not being strapped into seat properly
By RUTH STAINER
Published: 15:56, 25 July 2025 | Updated: 16:04, 25 July 2025
A mother has been found guilty of manslaughter after her six-month-old baby was thrown from a car having not been strapped into his seat properly. Morgan Kiely, then 19, had been drinking wine and 'relaxing' at Clacton beach in Essex with a friend, Stevie Steel, alongside her young son Harry Kiely on July 13, 2022. However as they drove away, the car rolled and ended up on its roof sending Harry flying from his seat through an open window. The baby boy tragically died later that night from 'unsurvivable' injuries sustained from the crash, including a skull fracture. Prosecutor Mr Alex Stein previously told Chelmsford Crown Court that the youngster had not been 'properly' strapped into the car seat during the drive from the beach to his grandmother's house. Harry was sitting in a child seat in the back of the car behind his mother while Steel drove. Now, Kiely, aged 22, has been convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence and given a two-year suspended jail sentence. Kiely and Steel were previously said to had planned to drop Harry at Kiely's mum's house before heading to Wetherspoons. Speaking to the court, a key witness said it was 'highly likely' that the straps of Harry's seat had not been secured. Mr Stein added: 'That car seat had not been properly strapped in and more significantly he [Harry] had not been strapped into the seat itself properly.'
He explained that Steel was distracted and hit a parked car, the car ended up on its roof and Harry was 'thrown or fell' out the car window. The court was told that Ms Steel, of Crayford, Kent, previously admitted causing death by dangerous driving by due care while over the prescribed limit. Kiely had been the passenger in a Ford Focus belonging to Steel when the crash occurred. Steel was said to have become distracted while driving, causing the car to hit a parked car on Cherry Tree Avenue. The vehicle, which had been travelling within the 30mph speed limit, rolled and ended up on its roof. Describing the devastation of the crash, Mr Stein said said the two women had been 'left hanging upside down, held in by their seatbelts'.
'He landed on the tarmac and as a young infant he had no way of protecting himself,' he added.
'He suffered a devastating skull fracture. It's a very, very sad case.'
An Isofix Maxi-Cosi car seat and base had initially been installed in Kiely's grandmother's car. The car seat without the base was placed in Steel's car when she picked up Kiely and Harry at around 3pm on July 13, the court heard. Kiely and Steel had bought three bottles of Prosecco at Aldi while on their way to the beach in Clacton with young Harry. Aged 19 at the time, Kiely bought two bottles of wine and Steel bought one. The pair were described as being 'just a bit tipsy and happy'.
They spent several hours on the beach and were briefly joined by Steel's ex-boyfriend Mitchell Bassett. He offered them a lift to the pub having heard their plans to continue drinking but they declined and chose to drive themselves. Addressing Kiely, Judge Robert Jay said: 'Alarm bells should have been ringing in your head at that point. You knew how much Stevie had drunk. You could and should have taken up Mitchell's offer. A mother should not agree to travel with a drunk driver.'
Judge Jay described the fatal crash as 'not an accident that was likely waiting to happen'.
He added that 'maybe 99 times out of 100 the car would not have rolled over at this sort of speed and Harry would have survived'.
After hearing the collision, neighbours rushed to the scene, including a retired paediatric nurse who spoke to the 999 call handler and provided some of the immediate care towards Harry. Kiely was said to have been heard saying 'my baby, my baby, is my baby okay'.
Emergency services rushed to the scene where they treated Harry for more than an hour. He was later rushed to hospital before being sadly declared dead just after 9pm. During the trial, the jury reviewed a 999 call from the scene, an officer's bodycam footage, an expert witness who explained how the child car seat worked, and evidence from Mr Bassett. Jurors deliberated for an estimated five hours over the course of two days before a guilty verdict of manslaughter was eventually reached. Addressing Kiely, Judge Jay said: 'Harry's safety was your responsibility. It should have been your primary concern that day.'
He added that her negligent conduct that day was a lapse in her otherwise good care of Harry. 'I think that it is obvious to everyone in this courtroom that you were a very good mother to Harry in all respects, and that this was a singleton failure,' the judge said.
Meanwhile, the court also heard that since the crash, Kiely had given up her job as a carer and now has a four-month-old baby. Benjamin Summers, defending, read out statements to the court which described Kiely as a 'devoted and loving mother' to Harry, who was 'deeply caring'.
She was said to have taken Harry on trips to Liverpool and Scotland in his short life to visit relatives, and had recently returned to work prior to his tragic death. An expert witness earlier in the trial spoke about the child car seat and how it is designed to work, explaining that it was highly unlikely but not impossible that the straps of the seat had been secured in the car. Mr Summers said that while Kiely's behaviour had been a 'dreadful, dreadful, dreadful error', he did not believe it made her 'grossly negligent at the time.'
He added: 'We say it is not as simple as saying the failure to secure a child in a car seat, full stop, is enough.'
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Articles / Re: Schoolgirl is banned from diversity day for wearing a Union Jack dress
« Last post by heartbroken on July 19, 2025, 07:03:57 PM »This is so very wrong as children should be allowed to be proud of being British and the union jack flag is part of it. It's just another thing wrong with this country.