#anglesey airport

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

"Also I noticed that Catherine who wasn't papped after her wedding had a rude surprise when she went for her mother's birthday in 2019."

Kate was papped loads of times after her wedding. Starting afew days afterwards when she was papped at her local Waitrose in Anglesey which everyone assumed to be an a staged papstroll with agreement of BP so media would leave her alone just as the royals used to do when they went on holidays. 

The frequency of her being papped dropped after her wedding, and then after 2014 following the success of her France papped photos court case. 2014 was the year that EU privacy laws were incorporated into UK law that made it easier to sue paps like that guy, Niraj Tanna, from Ikon pictures who'd made a fortune papping Kate starting the dating years right through to toddler George. 

Infact, it was Niraj Tanna stalking George + Nanny Maria when they were put and about in London that caused William to threaten to criminally sue him that finally stopped the family getting papped. 

Google his name and Kate, you'll see all the pictures he papped her and when they stopped. 

He was often labelled as the Middletons' dial-a-pap because of his uncanny ability to find Kate anywhere in the world unlike other paps, but the relationship got dicey after she sued him. He gave a public statement following the trial claiming that the secret of his success was that the Middletons had formed a relationship with him and called him to tell them where Kate would be.  

This first lawsuit significantly cooled whatever relationship they had, but he continued to pap Kate following her marriage right upto the second threatened lawsuit, this time by William. 

He stopped completely after that, claiming retirement as an active pap and instead concentrating on his photo agency. 

Ironically, one of the London paps hired by Meghan to be her go-to paps for a limited time came from his agency. This was the guy who papped her wearing the M H necklace and is often quoted confirming her staged papstrolls. She hasn't used him since she returned to LA. 

Ps: Niraj was the source of the Jecca/ married William. 

He used to tweet about them and hint at something between them including captioning a papped William + Jecca at a Spanish airport as William's Camilla implying that Jecca was to the WK marriage what Camilla was to the CD marriage. 

[robotslenderman]

asdf

Was really tempted to get a new case for the trip. My current case only has two wheels and they're shit. Like, one wheel skips every other second -- not one specific wheel, they take turns doing it -- so wheeling that thing over anything smoother than ice has it lurching from side to side as one wheel fucks up and then the other wheel trips. It's a real pain, especially if you're in a hurry. I'd been using it for trips out north west and I've been drooling at the four wheeled cases for years.

But like. It'd cost hundreds of bucks to buy a new case. So I ignored the siren song of The Case.

But. I do need a carryon for next year when I start making weekend trips down south to go apartment hunting. And I'd really not like to deal with those shitty wheels when I'm in London and sleep deprived.

So when Mum made a comment today that the old case was "buggered" I just went. fuck it. @nevertrustanoracle mentioned that there was a sale on at Strandbags so I went there, looking for a bright, appropriately visually offensive case. Because my sleep is a precious little fairy and there is a fair chance that, worst case scenario, by the time I get to London I will have gone 40+ hours without sleep, so I need something nice and bright and unmistakeably mine that even sleep deprived non-medicated me can immediately recognise it and yank that shit off the carousel.

Strandbags had some revolting cases but I'd seen something online that was nice and bright without being revolting so I went to RainbowBags. I didn't actually intend to buy anything from them but WHAT A COINCIDENCE they ALSO had a 30% sale on

so fuck it

bought a couple of fire engine red cases. one in medium size, the other in carryon size primarily for Melbourne, but I'll use it at London too. when I go to London it'll be late spring here and late autumn there -- I can pack a coat, cardigan, gloves and beret in the carryon and put everything else I need on the plane in my airport jacket so that when I get to London I don't have to go rooting around in my big case for something warm to put on. Because I googled it and apparently late autumn temperatures in London are worse than deep winter Sydney temperatures. and Anglesey is gonna be EVEN WORSE. I should buy a beanie next time I remember, the berets won't be enough.

so yeah I did that. Cost a fair chunk of my London budget, but still less than I was dreading -- just under $400. Which is how much it costs to breathe in London for like three minutes (affectionate, despairing).

Definitely not wearing the London winter outfit on the plane tho because my stopover is in fucking Singapore and fuck that.

[lymphomalass]

Just to share one of my watercolour sailing paintings that's on display at Deryn Cooper's wonderful five star Café on the Green near Manchester Airport.

I've been catching up on loading my coastal art of sailboats at Bae Trearddur Bay (on Ynys Môn/Anglesey) to my Redbubble store, so it's now available here too:

The myth is a 14' clinker built gaff rigged sailing boat. The Myths with their distinctive turkey red sails were first adopted for racing in Trearddur in 1922. At the club's centenary the fleet of Myths stood at over 40. They create iconic images as they compete against each other along the North Wales coast.

Thanks!

Sam aka LymphomaLass xx

[adamvisa]

48 Hours in Paris: A Guide to the Best Places to Eat, Sleep, and Explore

For those with 48 hours in the city of light, we have devised the ideal itinerary beyond the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe de la Défense. Within 48 hours, it is possible to conceal the Moulin Rouge, pistachio croissants, and patisseries.

Day 1

Petit Versailles du Marais

Travel back in time by visiting the historic Parisian boulangerie, patisserie, and tea saloon Diamond State thé (tearoom). Its ceilings are tiled and adorned with enormous chandeliers, and its delectable offerings are apparent. Try the pistachio roll, eclair, or Paris-Brest if you're craving something sweet (choux pastry crammed with candy cream).

National repository of explanation

This resource is in various French structures and institutions. The origin of storehouse contains life-size skeletons, fossils, and natural crystals and gems. The 7,000 animal specimens and interactive computer game display make it a terrific educational experience for young adventurers.

Louvre

The Louvre is a must-see in Paris. It is the most frequented historical art repository in the world. Spend many hours determining if Anglesey is genuine. Lisa observes the Venus Diamond State milo maize as she follows you.

Louvre Carousel

This underground mall's Inverted Pyramid was designed by Ieoh Ming period architect, noted for his fanlight in the architect Code. Fashionistas appreciate Lacoste, Sandro, and Printemps du Louvre.

Tuileries Garden

The UNESCO World Heritage site and Parisian public park Jardin des Tuileries is a 10-minute walk from the Carrousel du Louvre. Ample general seating overlooks the Place Diamond State la Concorde and Arc Diamond State Triomphe, making it an ideal place to rest and take a break from sightseeing. Before visiting the adjacent Musée Diamond State l'Orangerie, picnic on the adjacent grounds. Its impressionist style is breathtaking.

Learning

The royal restaurant, Lupus erythematosus rig, provides contemporary French cuisine. Relax, take in the historic ambiance, and let the seasoned chefs select the tasting menu dishes.

American government la Hague

The jazz club Caveau American state la Huchette has hosted various blues luminaries. Watch the performance or dance with a partner.

Day 2

Nemours

Parisians appreciate Le Nemours' Croque monsieurs. At the bar or terrace, order saucisson or rillettes and a glass of fine French wine.

Parisian boats Resturent 

This river trip from the Eiffel Tower informs you about the history of Paris. Cruise by Notre Dame and the Louvre while taking in expansive views of the cityscape from the outside deck.

Sonores

Balades Sonores is an explosion of French pop and rock albums, CDs, and cassettes in the manner of vinyl. It overflows into an adjacent store selling jazz, global music, and soundtracks. Hold out for an in-store acoustic concert.

Willi's Bar

The French wines and reinterpreted classics will wow. The orders of your server are always correct. On your walk into the pub, visit the hundreds of bottle art posters on the property behind the venue.

Virage Lepic

This little restaurant is entirely French. Imagine pictures of light, red-and-white striped tablecloths and a buffet of European classics. Enjoy the tartare or sliced salmon, followed by the pecan nut mousse.

Madame Rouge

Au Virage Lepic is 10 minutes from Moulin Rouge. Since 1889, this Parisian cabaret has captivated audiences with extravagantly attired entertainers and a breathtaking recreation area. Check the menu and reserve a table for the most accessible read before the event. ​

Paris is connected via the Charles General Charles de Gaulle, Orly, and Beauvais airports and European trains. Taxis, buses, and trains may transport you from the airport to the city.

[causeiwanttoandican]

The Times

Prince William’s close friends on what makes him tick — and why he’s not trapped

March 20 2021, 6:00pm

As the world devours the Harry and Meghan interview, what’s going on with the brother who was left behind? He’s embracing his destiny, William’s close friends tell the Sunday Times royal correspondent, Roya Nikkhah

Next month Prince William will celebrate his tenth wedding anniversary — the day he became a duke and embarked on the most formative decade of his life. Back then, the tentative 28-year-old newlywed was not ready to devote himself entirely to royal duties. A decade on, he is in a very different position.

The job of being the heir to the heir to the throne, of finding a balance between life and duty, is difficult at the best of times. These are not the best of times. In their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey this month the Duke and Duchess of Sussex accused the royal family and the institution around it of racism and callous disregard for a suicidal newcomer, among many other damning charges. Harry the spare also declared that William was trapped within “the system … My brother can’t leave that system, but I have.”

In the immediate aftermath of the interview William was “reeling”, a source close to the duke says. “His head is all over the place on it.” Four days after the Sussexes had their say, he hit back during an engagement with the Duchess of Cambridge at a school in east London. Asked about accusations of racism, William retorted with restrained fury: “We’re very much not a racist family.” He also confirmed that he hadn’t spoken to Harry yet, “but will do”. By the weekend it emerged they had “been in contact”.

William is thought to have been less than thrilled a few days later when that conversation made global headlines after the American presenter Gayle King, a close friend of the Sussexes, revealed live on air that it had not been an easy chat: “I did actually call them to see how they were feeling,” she told viewers. “Harry has talked to his brother and he had talked to his father too. The word I was given was that those conversations were not productive.” The intervention prompted a senior royal source to say that “none of the households will be giving a running commentary on private conversations”.

A close friend of both brothers says Harry’s “trapped” comment was “way off the mark”, insisting that William does not see it that way. “He has a path set for him and he’s completely accepting of his role. He is very much his grandmother’s grandson in that respect of duty and service.”

When the Queen turned 90 nearly five years ago William admitted “the challenge” that “occupies a lot of thinking space” is how to “modernise and develop” the royal family, and make it “relevant in the next 20 years’ time”. Twenty years now seems like a very long time. In the hours and days after the Oprah broadcast, William was at the heart of all discussions with the Queen and the Prince of Wales about how to respond to the Sussexes. He was keen that the issue of race should be acknowledged in the Queen’s statement as an area of particular concern that “will be addressed”.

William has always railed against being a “ribbon-cutter royal” and the issues he champions — mental health, battling racism in football, homelessness and his ramped-up eco-warrior role — are a window into where the future King William V will take the House of Windsor. A friend says: “He’s a small-c conservative. He values tradition and the need to go around the country, but he realises he can make a difference beyond traditional royal duties.”

Today royal popularity is, to put it mildly, in a state of flux, but William’s strategy has been working. Post-Oprah, he ranks just below the Queen at the top of a YouGov poll of royals. Not so long ago such a position looked like a long shot, when the “workshy Wills” and “reluctant royal” tags plagued him and he was clocking up fewer days of royal work than his nonagenarian grandparents. Pictures of him hitting the ski slopes and clubs of Swiss resort Verbier in March 2017, missing a Commonwealth service that even the Duke of York flew back for, didn’t help.

After the lasting PR gold dust of the Cambridges’ 2011 wedding and the births of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, it was the first public nosedive for William, who was still working as an air ambulance pilot. “That pissed him off,” a friend says. “He was leaving home at 5.30am, getting home after dark and saving lives in between, but people were still being critical of his commitment to his [other] job.” William was based at Cambridge airport with East Anglian Air Ambulance for two years, where he was on call for “some very sad, dark moments”, often working “on very traumatic jobs involving children”. He later acknowledged that “after I had my own children … the relation between the job and the personal life was what really took me over the edge, and I started feeling things that I have never felt before”. But it was a job he loved, because of “working in a team … that’s something that my other job doesn’t necessarily do. You are more out there on your own.”

A former royal aide says: “Immediately after their wedding he had a very clear idea of the pace at which he wanted to take things.” William was adamant he wouldn’t curtail his day jobs, first as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot in Anglesey and then with the air ambulance. “If you’re not careful, duty can weigh you down an awful lot at an early age,” he said, insisting he didn’t “lie awake waiting or hoping” to be king. He delayed full-time royal duties until the autumn of 2017, when, acknowledging the Cambridges’ future required more time at “monarchy HQ”, they moved from Norfolk to London and George started school.

He’d had to fight his corner for the air ambulance role. A source close to William reveals “there were lots of raised eyebrows in the Palace when he wanted to do that. While the Queen and his father backed him, some senior courtiers questioned whether it was becoming of a future king to be doing a middle-class role, hanging out with ordinary people. They thought he wouldn’t stick it out, he’d find it boring, or was doing it out of stubbornness to put off royal duties. He was pretty bloody-minded about it, and determined that other people’s expectations in the media or the system shouldn’t get in the way of his own values.” In the wake of Harry and Meghan’s interview much has been speculated about the extent to which royal life is dictated by Palace officials, but it is clear that William has managed to forge his own path. Who knows how high those senior courtiers’ eyebrows rose in 2019, when William spent three weeks shadowing the spooks of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ to learn how they combat terrorism. He insisted on being called “Will” and lunching in the canteen every day.

Those closest to the duke say his resistance to the idea of full-time royal duties stemmed not only from a desire to achieve something for himself but also from a fear of the impact on his family life. Miguel Head worked alongside the prince for ten years until 2018, as William, Kate and Harry’s communications secretary and later as William’s private secretary. “In his role everyone’s going to tell you you’re marvellous,” Head says. “The RAF and air ambulance jobs were about knowing what his abilities were, what he was good at in his own right. Without that he’d still be hankering for something that was his own.” After children came along he says William developed a “visceral determination to give them a life of consistency and privacy that were missing for large parts of his own childhood”.

Another close aide says the plan enabling the Cambridges to have a few years of “normal” married life, away from the full-time glare of the royal spotlight, paid dividends: “For years, the battles around privacy and paparazzi intrusion were all-consuming. He wanted to know, could we build them a credible plan allowing them a family life while slowly increasing the profile of official life? It took years to get there, but the success of that plan allowed him to be confident and content in his role. He’s not worried about his kids’ privacy any more and he has been able to be the kind of dad he wants to be.”

“Marriage maketh the man,” a friend says. “Catherine’s groundedness has been the critical anchor. And where his relationship with the media was once all fury and frustration, he now understands using the power of modern media, so the public feel they’re getting enough access.”

The children’s birthdays are marked with photographs — often taken by the Duchess of Cambridge — and there has been a noticeable increase in their public appearances of late. While not “officially” staged, William was happy to let George and Charlotte be photographed at their first Aston Villa match with Mum and Dad in 2019. Pandemic set pieces have shown the family clapping for the NHS on the steps of Anmer Hall, their Norfolk home, and, before Christmas, their first red-carpet appearance together for an evening at the panto with key workers and their children.

As they celebrate their anniversary on April 29, friends who joined the Cambridges on their wedding day tell me the partnership’s equal footing is key to its success. “They’ve got a solid relationship and she gives him confidence,” one says. “There is no jealousy, no friction, they are happy for each other’s successes.” In private William talks as passionately about Kate’s work as his own campaigns, and takes pride in her growing confidence on the public stage.

William has said his grandmother’s approach to being head of state is to take “more of a passive role. She’s above politics and is very much away from it.” He doesn’t plan to meddle in party politics, but he was not happy about the unenviable position the government put the Queen in with the 2019 proroguing of parliament, which was later ruled to be unlawful and forced an apology from Boris Johnson to the monarch. Constitutionally the Queen had no alternative other than to act on the advice of her government, but in William’s reign there will be “more private, robust challenging of advice”. His last three private secretaries — Christian Jones, Simon Case, now the cabinet secretary, and Head — had all worked in government departments, helping William to keep his finger on the political pulse. The new incumbent, the Whitehall heavyweight Jean-Christophe Gray, who served as David Cameron’s spokesman, continues in that vein.

The former Conservative leader Lord Hague of Richmond was last year appointed as chairman of the Royal Foundation to develop William’s work on mental health, the environment and a raft of new support programmes for key workers. “People internationally and nationally respect his credibility and knowledge on these issues,” Hague says. “He’s very persuasive. You only see that behind the scenes. He knows what he wants and he goes out to get it.”

Charlie Mayhew, chief executive of the conservation charity Tusk, has known William since he was 20. In 2005 Tusk and Centrepoint, the homelessness charity championed by Princess Diana, were the first patronages William took on. “In those early years I kept having to pinch myself to remember how young he was,” Mayhew says. “He was much more mature than his age and very aware of his destiny coming down the track. He had a sincerity, but never without wicked humour. His teasing is merciless.”

William knows some people see his passion for conservation as a posh man’s part-time hobby, but Mayhew says the duke’s “genuine and huge knowledge” undermines that view. “He’ll call and WhatsApp to flag up something that I haven’t even seen in the conservation space. He can be impatient to get things done.” Last year William launched the Earthshot prize, a £50 million Nobel-style environmental award to galvanise solutions to global problems over the next decade. He believes “conservation and the environment … shouldn’t be a luxury, it’s a necessity”, Mayhew says. “That’s the drum he wants to beat. He’s got a megaphone and wants to use it in the most constructive way. He speaks for that next generation and I think they can relate to it.”

A turning point for William was his 2015 official visit to China, one of the world’s largest consumers of ivory, where he met President Xi and condemned the illegal wildlife trade as a “vicious form of criminality”. Unlike his father, who has refused to visit the People’s Republic over its human rights record and treatment of Tibet, William’s view was that despite the UK’s fractious relationship with China, “we’ve got to engage”.

“It was very political, raising the illegal wildlife trade in China. I’m sure the diplomats were having all sort of nightmares in advance,” says Mayhew, who joined the duke in China. “But he was gathering greater confidence that he had the ability to be a mouthpiece for the issue.” Mayhew reveals that while William was visiting Japan before China, he still hadn’t secured a meeting with Xi. “But when the Chinese saw all the high-level meetings he was having in Japan, they changed their minds and Xi made time for him.” Later that year, as Xi began a UK state visit, William appeared on Chinese television condemning the ivory trade. Two years later China banned the trade.

In 2018 he spent months prepping for his most high-stakes overseas visit yet, to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories that summer. Navigating the diplomatic tightrope walk between Jerusalem and the West Bank, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Ramallah. As he travelled back to Jerusalem, he changed his speech for a reception with young Israelis and Palestinians to strengthen his solidarity with the latter: “My message tonight is that you have not been forgotten … The United Kingdom stands with you.” It was a bold move, but both sides hailed his visit a success and the officials breathed a sigh of relief. To the delight of the travelling press pack, William’s engagements on the final day were brought forward, allowing the diplomat duke and president of the Football Association to land back in the UK in time to watch England’s World Cup tie.

Ask him if he’s a peacemaker and William will laugh, saying Kate is the mediator. But according to a source close to William and Harry, his bridge-building skills were deployed in the lead-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018, when tensions in the Kensington Palace household, then still shared by the brothers, were running high: “Every time there was a drama, or a member of staff on the verge of quitting, William would personally try and sort it out.”

As the brothers clashed more over the substance and style of their work, and the family hierarchy that William is a stickler for but Harry is less keen on, a split was inevitable. When they finally divided their households in March 2019, it had been a long time coming. But he never thought that a year later his brother would up sticks for America.

The pair went for a long walk to clear the air after the “Sandringham summit” when the Megxit deal was hammered out, but did not part shores as friends. What upset William the most was Harry and Meghan’s surprise launch of their “Sussex Royal” website before the summit, which featured their blueprint wish list of a part-time, commercial royal future. Later, when the Queen decreed they could no longer use “royal” in their future ventures, their website hit back with this bold statement: “While there is not any jurisdiction by The Monarchy … over the use of the word ‘Royal’ overseas, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use ‘Sussex Royal’ … or … ‘Royal’ …” Both “the content and that it’s still online is staggering”, a senior royal source says. “That was it for William, he felt they’d blindsided the Queen in such an insulting and disrespectful way,” says a source close to him, who reveals it was still at the forefront of William’s mind at the Commonwealth Day service one year ago. It was the Sussexes’ final engagement as working royals, and the froideur between them and the rest of the family was unmistakable.

It is a year since the Sussexes left for California and William misses Harry. “Once he got over the anger of how things happened, he was left with the absence of his brother,” an aide says. “They shared everything about their lives, an office, a foundation, meetings together most days and there was a lot of fun along the way. He’ll miss it for ever.” A close friend says William “definitely feels the pressure now it’s all on him — his future looks different because of his brother’s choices, it’s not easy.” Another friend says: “It’s still raw. He’s very upset by what’s happened, though absolutely intent that he and Harry’s relationship will heal in time.”

After lobbing bombs in his Oprah interview, Harry said: “I love William to bits … We’ve been through hell together … we have a shared experience … The relationship is space at the moment, and time heals all things, hopefully.” Harry would be wise not to set his stopwatch.

The first test will come this summer, when the brothers could be reunited for a series of family engagements including the Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday and the Queen’s birthday parade in June. In July they are scheduled to unveil a statue of their mother at Kensington Palace, marking what would have been Diana’s 60th birthday, an emotionally charged occasion with the world watching.

While a chasm has opened up between the brothers, William has grown closer to the Queen and Prince Charles. He has helped them to navigate their way through Megxit, Prince Andrew’s removal from public life following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and, now, the Oprah controversy. “That has changed the way the Queen sees him and values his input,” a courtier says. William also feels his relationship with his grandmother has “massively improved” in recent years and their views are “more aligned than ever”.

Friends say there has also been a “renaissance” in William and Charles’s relationship. “As the years passed there were strains imposed by the system — money, work, competition, Diana,” one says. “Part of William’s evolution is that as he has become closer to his father, he sees their similarities. At William’s wedding there was a gag in one of the speeches that he was more like his father than he’d ever admit, which made a lot of us laugh. As their respective destinies get closer, it weighs more heavily on them and strengthens the bond. The rift with Harry has also brought them closer.”

William is said to hate “flummery”, though the role of future king comes with plenty of bowing and scraping. But in 2017, for the first time publicly, he didn’t get his way. As a new parent worried about rising teenage suicide rates, he had spent a year convening a Cyberbullying Taskforce with big cheeses from tech and social media giants including Facebook, Snapchat, Apple, Google and Twitter. He wanted them to adopt industry-wide guidelines creating safer online spaces for children. According to William the meetings at Kensington Palace got “fruity” and the tech giants didn’t come close to the change he wanted. He was furious.

Tessy Ojo, chief executive of the Diana Award youth charity, sat on the taskforce. “He was deeply disappointed,” she says. “He didn’t come into it as ‘the duke’, he gave emotional pleas as a father.” William has since publicly condemned social media giants for their “false choice of profits over values” and privately offered support to the family of Molly Russell, who took her life at 14 after viewing images of self-harm online. Ojo believes it is William’s “lived experience of the fragility of life that guides the work he does”.

It also shapes the way he and Kate are raising their family. William has said he is determined that the grandchildren Diana never knew should “know who she was and that she existed”. He “constantly” talks to his children “about Granny Diana” at bedtime, so that they know “there are two grandmothers in their lives”. Earlier this month on Mother’s Day, Kensington Palace’s social media feeds published George, Charlotte and Louis’s cards paying tribute to “Granny Diana”, revealing it is an annual ritual for the Cambridge children. After a difficult few weeks for William, a line in Charlotte’s card provided poignant insight into how he is feeling: “Papa is missing you.”

He is on course to be a more modern monarch than any before him, but William is still a creature of habit at heart. He has the same tight circle of friends from his schooldays, one of whom says that, with William, “it’s all about trust and loyalty”. He plays five-a-side football in his Villa socks when he can, goes to the Chelsea Harbour Club gym he went to as a child with his mother and has a “smart casual” public uniform of chinos, jacket, blue shirt and no tie.

“William’s not trying to be down with the kids,” a friend says. “He never wants to be painted as irrelevant or dull, though he’s allergic to being compared to celebrities. The public doesn’t always get to see his funny side, but otherwise he’s the same in private as in public. He once said, ‘I’ll be in the public eye all my life. I can’t hide who I am because I’ll be found out.’ ”

In 2019, during a visit to a youth homelessness charity supporting LGBT people, William was asked how he would feel if one of his children was gay. “Absolutely fine,” he replied. “I fully support whatever decision they make, but it does worry me from a parent’s point of view how many barriers, hateful words, persecution and discrimination might come.” Such a personal exchange was a radical departure from royal engagement small talk. But William, the first in his family to be photographed for the cover of a gay magazine, had personally put the issue on the agenda.

As president of Bafta he gave the academy a diplomatic dressing down in his speech at last year’s ceremony, expressing his “frustration” over the lack of diversity: “In 2020, and not for the first time in the last few years, we find ourselves talking again about the need to do more to ensure diversity in the sector and in the awards process — that simply cannot be right in this day and age.” The 2021 nominees announced this month suggest his words hit home.

William “thinks the public look to him to keep royal work looking modern”, a confidante says. “The Queen and Prince of Wales are providing continuity and stability. He’s carving out his own relationship with diverse communities. He sees it all as a way of doing things now that will help a smooth transition when the time comes.”

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, as a former frontline worker himself, William has led the royal charge supporting key workers. “Now, more than ever, he knows what his role in public life is, and he sees the value in it,” a close aide says. Chatting to NHS workers in January, William said: “Something that I noticed from my brief spell flying the air ambulance … is that when you see so much death and so much bereavement, it does impact how you see the world … as a … darker, blacker place.” Soon after the first lockdown was announced, the Cambridges’ Royal Foundation launched Our Frontline, a round-the-clock mental health and bereavement service for key workers.

Miguel Head says the future King William will continue to campaign on his big issues: “I can’t see him backing away from causes he’s passionate about. And while he’s not someone who loves ceremony, he knows the importance of it. When he gets the top job he won’t do away with it all. He’s mindful the monarchy represents something timeless that’s above all of us, and many people like the magic and theatre of it.”

Roya Nikkhah

Roya is royal correspondent at The Sunday Times. Over more than a decade she has covered royal events for the BBC, interviewed the Prince of Wales and Prince Harry and presented the films Prince William, Monarch in the Making and Meghan and Harry: The Baby Years.

[mytrainpal]

Travel info from London Paddington

Transportation

One of London's historic sites, Paddington Station, which was opened in 1838, is the terminus of the Great Western Railway and the first train station in London to connect to the London Underground.

Paddington Station connects London with the West, South West and South West Wales railways. You can journey to Oxford, Windsor, Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, the Isle of Anglesey, Hereford, Worcester, Bridgend, Swansea, Reading, Swindon, Newbury, Exeter, Plymouth and as far south as Penzance.

The Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect (going to Heathrow Airport) also depart from Paddington Station.

[mrmrswales]

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge this morning visited Caernarfon Search and Rescue base, Caernarfon Airport, Dinas Dinlle, Caernarfon, and were received by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Gwynedd (Mr Edmund Bailey). Their Royal Highnesses afterwards visited Halen Môn, the Anglesey Sea Salt Company Limited, Brynsiencyn, Isle of Anglesey, and were received by Mrs Victoria Gruffudd Jones (Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Gwynedd). The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge this afternoon joined representatives from 1st Menai Bridge Scouts Group, Surfers Against Sewage, the Isle of Anglesey County Council and Natural Resource Wales for beach exploration and clean-up activities at Newborough Beach, Isle of Anglesey.

Court Circular || 8 May 2019

[whatson-northwales]

Camping in north Wales

Camping in north Wales

With this recent blast of warm weather over easter, we have had a few friends up who will be camping this coming week and I thought we would prepare a blog for them to help them along their way to deciding which campsites in north Wales work for them.

If you haven’t already been camping in north Wales in these sunny conditions, its like being anywhere picturesque in Europe. With wall to wall…

[cambridge-sussex]

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge this morning visited Caernarfon Search and Rescue base, Caernarfon Airport, Dinas Dinlle, Caernarfon, and were received by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Gwynedd (Mr Edmund Bailey).

Their Royal Highnesses afterwards visited Halen Môn, the Anglesey Sea Salt Company Limited, Brynsiencyn, Isle of Anglesey, and were received by Mrs Victoria Gruffudd Jones (Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Gwynedd).

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge this afternoon joined representatives from 1st Menai Bridge Scouts Group, Surfers Against Sewage, the Isle of Anglesey County Council and Natural Resource Wales for beach exploration and clean-up activities at Newborough Beach, Isle of Anglesey.

Court Circular | 8 May, 2019

[henryofgreatbritain]

Up close and personal with Prince William: an intimate portrait of the future king

As the world devours the Harry and Meghan interview, what’s going on with the brother who was left behind? He’s embracing his destiny, William’s close friends tell the Sunday Times royal correspondent, Roya Nikkhah

Next month Prince William will celebrate his tenth wedding anniversary — the day he became a duke and embarked on the most formative decade of his life. Back then, the tentative 28-year-old newlywed was not ready to devote himself entirely to royal duties. A decade on, he is in a very different position.

The job of being the heir to the heir to the throne, of finding a balance between life and duty, is difficult at the best of times. These are not the best of times. In their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey this month the Duke and Duchess of Sussex accused the royal family and the institution around it of racism and callous disregard for a suicidal newcomer, among many other damning charges. Harry the spare also declared that William was trapped within “the system … My brother can’t leave that system, but I have.”

In the immediate aftermath of the interview William was “reeling”, a source close to the duke says. “His head is all over the place on it.” Four days after the Sussexes had their say, he hit back during an engagement with the Duchess of Cambridge at a school in east London. Asked about accusations of racism, William retorted with restrained fury: “We’re very much not a racist family.” He also confirmed that he hadn’t spoken to Harry yet, “but will do”. By the weekend it emerged they had “been in contact”.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s explosive interview with Oprah WinfreyAVALON

William is thought to have been less than thrilled a few days later when that conversation made global headlines after the American presenter Gayle King, a close friend of the Sussexes, revealed live on air that it had not been an easy chat: “I did actually call them to see how they were feeling,” she told viewers. “Harry has talked to his brother and he had talked to his father too. The word I was given was that those conversations were not productive.” The intervention prompted a senior royal source to say that “none of the households will be giving a running commentary on private conversations”.

A close friend of both brothers says Harry’s “trapped” comment was “way off the mark”, insisting that William does not see it that way. “He has a path set for him and he’s completely accepting of his role. He is very much his grandmother’s grandson in that respect of duty and service.”

When the Queen turned 90 nearly five years ago William admitted “the challenge” that “occupies a lot of thinking space” is how to “modernise and develop” the royal family, and make it “relevant in the next 20 years’ time”. Twenty years now seems like a very long time. In the hours and days after the Oprah broadcast, William was at the heart of all discussions with the Queen and the Prince of Wales about how to respond to the Sussexes. He was keen that the issue of race should be acknowledged in the Queen’s statement as an area of particular concern that “will be addressed”.

William has always railed against being a “ribbon-cutter royal” and the issues he champions — mental health, battling racism in football, homelessness and his ramped-up eco-warrior role — are a window into where the future King William V will take the House of Windsor. A friend says: “He’s a small-c conservative. He values tradition and the need to go around the country, but he realises he can make a difference beyond traditional royal duties.”

Today royal popularity is, to put it mildly, in a state of flux, but William’s strategy has been working. Post-Oprah, he ranks just below the Queen at the top of a YouGov poll of royals. Not so long ago such a position looked like a long shot, when the “workshy Wills” and “reluctant royal” tags plagued him and he was clocking up fewer days of royal work than his nonagenarian grandparents. Pictures of him hitting the ski slopes and clubs of Swiss resort Verbier in March 2017, missing a Commonwealth service that even the Duke of York flew back for, didn’t help.

Prince William on an official visit to Coventry War Memorial Park in 2014GETTY IMAGES

After the lasting PR gold dust of the Cambridges’ 2011 wedding and the births of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, it was the first public nosedive for William, who was still working as an air ambulance pilot. “That pissed him off,” a friend says. “He was leaving home at 5.30am, getting home after dark and saving lives in between, but people were still being critical of his commitment to his [other] job.” William was based at Cambridge airport with East Anglian Air Ambulance for two years, where he was on call for “some very sad, dark moments”, often working “on very traumatic jobs involving children”. He later acknowledged that “after I had my own children … the relation between the job and the personal life was what really took me over the edge, and I started feeling things that I have never felt before”. But it was a job he loved, because of “working in a team … that’s something that my other job doesn’t necessarily do. You are more out there on your own.”

A former royal aide says: “Immediately after their wedding he had a very clear idea of the pace at which he wanted to take things.” William was adamant he wouldn’t curtail his day jobs, first as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot in Anglesey and then with the air ambulance. “If you’re not careful, duty can weigh you down an awful lot at an early age,” he said, insisting he didn’t “lie awake waiting or hoping” to be king. He delayed full-time royal duties until the autumn of 2017, when, acknowledging the Cambridges’ future required more time at “monarchy HQ”, they moved from Norfolk to London and George started school.

He’d had to fight his corner for the air ambulance role. A source close to William reveals “there were lots of raised eyebrows in the Palace when he wanted to do that. While the Queen and his father backed him, some senior courtiers questioned whether it was becoming of a future king to be doing a middle-class role, hanging out with ordinary people. They thought he wouldn’t stick it out, he’d find it boring, or was doing it out of stubbornness to put off royal duties. He was pretty bloody-minded about it, and determined that other people’s expectations in the media or the system shouldn’t get in the way of his own values.” In the wake of Harry and Meghan’s interview much has been speculated about the extent to which royal life is dictated by Palace officials, but it is clear that William has managed to forge his own path. Who knows how high those senior courtiers’ eyebrows rose in 2019, when William spent three weeks shadowing the spooks of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ to learn how they combat terrorism. He insisted on being called “Will” and lunching in the canteen every day.

Those closest to the duke say his resistance to the idea of full-time royal duties stemmed not only from a desire to achieve something for himself but also from a fear of the impact on his family life. Miguel Head worked alongside the prince for ten years until 2018, as William, Kate and Harry’s communications secretary and later as William’s private secretary. “In his role everyone’s going to tell you you’re marvellous,” Head says. “The RAF and air ambulance jobs were about knowing what his abilities were, what he was good at in his own right. Without that he’d still be hankering for something that was his own.” After children came along he says William developed a “visceral determination to give them a life of consistency and privacy that were missing for large parts of his own childhood”.

Pomp and splendour at his wedding to Kate Middleton, April 2011ARTHUR EDWARDS / THE SUN

Another close aide says the plan enabling the Cambridges to have a few years of “normal” married life, away from the full-time glare of the royal spotlight, paid dividends: “For years, the battles around privacy and paparazzi intrusion were all-consuming. He wanted to know, could we build them a credible plan allowing them a family life while slowly increasing the profile of official life? It took years to get there, but the success of that plan allowed him to be confident and content in his role. He’s not worried about his kids’ privacy any more and he has been able to be the kind of dad he wants to be.”

“Marriage maketh the man,” a friend says. “Catherine’s groundedness has been the critical anchor. And where his relationship with the media was once all fury and frustration, he now understands using the power of modern media, so the public feel they’re getting enough access.”

The children’s birthdays are marked with photographs — often taken by the Duchess of Cambridge — and there has been a noticeable increase in their public appearances of late. While not “officially” staged, William was happy to let George and Charlotte be photographed at their first Aston Villa match with Mum and Dad in 2019. Pandemic set pieces have shown the family clapping for the NHS on the steps of Anmer Hall, their Norfolk home, and, before Christmas, their first red-carpet appearance together for an evening at the panto with key workers and their children.

Prince George celebrates a goal by Aston Villa at his first football match, October 2019JASON DAWSON

As they celebrate their anniversary on April 29, friends who joined the Cambridges on their wedding day tell me the partnership’s equal footing is key to its success. “They’ve got a solid relationship and she gives him confidence,” one says. “There is no jealousy, no friction, they are happy for each other’s successes.” In private William talks as passionately about Kate’s work as his own campaigns, and takes pride in her growing confidence on the public stage.

William plays with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis in their Norfolk garden during lockdown, June 2020PA / THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE

William has said his grandmother’s approach to being head of state is to take “more of a passive role. She’s above politics and is very much away from it.” He doesn’t plan to meddle in party politics, but he was not happy about the unenviable position the government put the Queen in with the 2019 proroguing of parliament, which was later ruled to be unlawful and forced an apology from Boris Johnson to the monarch. Constitutionally the Queen had no alternative other than to act on the advice of her government, but in William’s reign there will be “more private, robust challenging of advice”. His last three private secretaries — Christian Jones, Simon Case, now the cabinet secretary, and Head — had all worked in government departments, helping William to keep his finger on the political pulse. The new incumbent, the Whitehall heavyweight Jean-Christophe Gray, who served as David Cameron’s spokesman, continues in that vein.

The former Conservative leader Lord Hague of Richmond was last year appointed as chairman of the Royal Foundation to develop William’s work on mental health, the environment and a raft of new support programmes for key workers. “People internationally and nationally respect his credibility and knowledge on these issues,” Hague says. “He’s very persuasive. You only see that behind the scenes. He knows what he wants and he goes out to get it.”

Charlie Mayhew, chief executive of the conservation charity Tusk, has known William since he was 20. In 2005 Tusk and Centrepoint, the homelessness charity championed by Princess Diana, were the first patronages William took on. “In those early years I kept having to pinch myself to remember how young he was,” Mayhew says. “He was much more mature than his age and very aware of his destiny coming down the track. He had a sincerity, but never without wicked humour. His teasing is merciless.”

William knows some people see his passion for conservation as a posh man’s part-time hobby, but Mayhew says the duke’s “genuine and huge knowledge” undermines that view. “He’ll call and WhatsApp to flag up something that I haven’t even seen in the conservation space. He can be impatient to get things done.” Last year William launched the Earthshot prize, a £50 million Nobel-style environmental award to galvanise solutions to global problems over the next decade. He believes “conservation and the environment … shouldn’t be a luxury, it’s a necessity”, Mayhew says. “That’s the drum he wants to beat. He’s got a megaphone and wants to use it in the most constructive way. He speaks for that next generation and I think they can relate to it.”

William greets President Xi on his state visit, 2015PA

A turning point for William was his 2015 official visit to China, one of the world’s largest consumers of ivory, where he met President Xi and condemned the illegal wildlife trade as a “vicious form of criminality”. Unlike his father, who has refused to visit the People’s Republic over its human rights record and treatment of Tibet, William’s view was that despite the UK’s fractious relationship with China, “we’ve got to engage”.

“It was very political, raising the illegal wildlife trade in China. I’m sure the diplomats were having all sort of nightmares in advance,” says Mayhew, who joined the duke in China. “But he was gathering greater confidence that he had the ability to be a mouthpiece for the issue.” Mayhew reveals that while William was visiting Japan before China, he still hadn’t secured a meeting with Xi. “But when the Chinese saw all the high-level meetings he was having in Japan, they changed their minds and Xi made time for him.” Later that year, as Xi began a UK state visit, William appeared on Chinese television condemning the ivory trade. Two years later China banned the trade.

In 2018 he spent months prepping for his most high-stakes overseas visit yet, to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories that summer. Navigating the diplomatic tightrope walk between Jerusalem and the West Bank, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Ramallah. As he travelled back to Jerusalem, he changed his speech for a reception with young Israelis and Palestinians to strengthen his solidarity with the latter: “My message tonight is that you have not been forgotten … The United Kingdom stands with you.” It was a bold move, but both sides hailed his visit a success and the officials breathed a sigh of relief. To the delight of the travelling press pack, William’s engagements on the final day were brought forward, allowing the diplomat duke and president of the Football Association to land back in the UK in time to watch England’s World Cup tie.

William at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, 2018PA

Ask him if he’s a peacemaker and William will laugh, saying Kate is the mediator. But according to a source close to William and Harry, his bridge-building skills were deployed in the lead-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018, when tensions in the Kensington Palace household, then still shared by the brothers, were running high: “Every time there was a drama, or a member of staff on the verge of quitting, William would personally try and sort it out.”

As the brothers clashed more over the substance and style of their work, and the family hierarchy that William is a stickler for but Harry is less keen on, a split was inevitable. When they finally divided their households in March 2019, it had been a long time coming. But he never thought that a year later his brother would up sticks for America.

The pair went for a long walk to clear the air after the “Sandringham summit” when the Megxit deal was hammered out, but did not part shores as friends. What upset William the most was Harry and Meghan’s surprise launch of their “Sussex Royal” website before the summit, which featured their blueprint wish list of a part-time, commercial royal future. Later, when the Queen decreed they could no longer use “royal” in their future ventures, their website hit back with this bold statement: “While there is not any jurisdiction by The Monarchy … over the use of the word ‘Royal’ overseas, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use ‘Sussex Royal’ … or … ‘Royal’ …” Both “the content and that it’s still online is staggering”, a senior royal source says. “That was it for William, he felt they’d blindsided the Queen in such an insulting and disrespectful way,” says a source close to him, who reveals it was still at the forefront of William’s mind at the Commonwealth Day service one year ago. It was the Sussexes’ final engagement as working royals, and the froideur between them and the rest of the family was unmistakable.

An awkward Commonwealth Day service for the Cambridges and Sussexes at Westminster Abbey, March 2020GETTY IMAGES

It is a year since the Sussexes left for California and William misses Harry. “Once he got over the anger of how things happened, he was left with the absence of his brother,” an aide says. “They shared everything about their lives, an office, a foundation, meetings together most days and there was a lot of fun along the way. He’ll miss it for ever.” A close friend says William “definitely feels the pressure now it’s all on him — his future looks different because of his brother’s choices, it’s not easy.” Another friend says: “It’s still raw. He’s very upset by what’s happened, though absolutely intent that he and Harry’s relationship will heal in time.”

After lobbing bombs in his Oprah interview, Harry said: “I love William to bits … We’ve been through hell together … we have a shared experience … The relationship is space at the moment, and time heals all things, hopefully.” Harry would be wise not to set his stopwatch.

The first test will come this summer, when the brothers could be reunited for a series of family engagements including the Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday and the Queen’s birthday parade in June. In July they are scheduled to unveil a statue of their mother at Kensington Palace, marking what would have been Diana’s 60th birthday, an emotionally charged occasion with the world watching.

While a chasm has opened up between the brothers, William has grown closer to the Queen and Prince Charles. He has helped them to navigate their way through Megxit, Prince Andrew’s removal from public life following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and, now, the Oprah controversy. “That has changed the way the Queen sees him and values his input,” a courtier says. William also feels his relationship with his grandmother has “massively improved” in recent years and their views are “more aligned than ever”.

Friends say there has also been a “renaissance” in William and Charles’s relationship. “As the years passed there were strains imposed by the system — money, work, competition, Diana,” one says. “Part of William’s evolution is that as he has become closer to his father, he sees their similarities. At William’s wedding there was a gag in one of the speeches that he was more like his father than he’d ever admit, which made a lot of us laugh. As their respective destinies get closer, it weighs more heavily on them and strengthens the bond. The rift with Harry has also brought them closer.”

The British line of succession — the Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George, December 2019AP

William is said to hate “flummery”, though the role of future king comes with plenty of bowing and scraping. But in 2017, for the first time publicly, he didn’t get his way. As a new parent worried about rising teenage suicide rates, he had spent a year convening a Cyberbullying Taskforce with big cheeses from tech and social media giants including Facebook, Snapchat, Apple, Google and Twitter. He wanted them to adopt industry-wide guidelines creating safer online spaces for children. According to William the meetings at Kensington Palace got “fruity” and the tech giants didn’t come close to the change he wanted. He was furious.

Tessy Ojo, chief executive of the Diana Award youth charity, sat on the taskforce. “He was deeply disappointed,” she says. “He didn’t come into it as ‘the duke’, he gave emotional pleas as a father.” William has since publicly condemned social media giants for their “false choice of profits over values” and privately offered support to the family of Molly Russell, who took her life at 14 after viewing images of self-harm online. Ojo believes it is William’s “lived experience of the fragility of life that guides the work he does”.

It also shapes the way he and Kate are raising their family. William has said he is determined that the grandchildren Diana never knew should “know who she was and that she existed”. He “constantly” talks to his children “about Granny Diana” at bedtime, so that they know “there are two grandmothers in their lives”. Earlier this month on Mother’s Day, Kensington Palace’s social media feeds published George, Charlotte and Louis’s cards paying tribute to “Granny Diana”, revealing it is an annual ritual for the Cambridge children. After a difficult few weeks for William, a line in Charlotte’s card provided poignant insight into how he is feeling: “Papa is missing you.”

He is on course to be a more modern monarch than any before him, but William is still a creature of habit at heart. He has the same tight circle of friends from his schooldays, one of whom says that, with William, “it’s all about trust and loyalty”. He plays five-a-side football in his Villa socks when he can, goes to the Chelsea Harbour Club gym he went to as a child with his mother and has a “smart casual” public uniform of chinos, jacket, blue shirt and no tie.

“William’s not trying to be down with the kids,” a friend says. “He never wants to be painted as irrelevant or dull, though he’s allergic to being compared to celebrities. The public doesn’t always get to see his funny side, but otherwise he’s the same in private as in public. He once said, ‘I’ll be in the public eye all my life. I can’t hide who I am because I’ll be found out.’ ”

In 2019, during a visit to a youth homelessness charity supporting LGBT people, William was asked how he would feel if one of his children was gay. “Absolutely fine,” he replied. “I fully support whatever decision they make, but it does worry me from a parent’s point of view how many barriers, hateful words, persecution and discrimination might come.” Such a personal exchange was a radical departure from royal engagement small talk. But William, the first in his family to be photographed for the cover of a gay magazine, had personally put the issue on the agenda.

As president of Bafta he gave the academy a diplomatic dressing down in his speech at last year’s ceremony, expressing his “frustration” over the lack of diversity: “In 2020, and not for the first time in the last few years, we find ourselves talking again about the need to do more to ensure diversity in the sector and in the awards process — that simply cannot be right in this day and age.” The 2021 nominees announced this month suggest his words hit home.

William “thinks the public look to him to keep royal work looking modern”, a confidante says. “The Queen and Prince of Wales are providing continuity and stability. He’s carving out his own relationship with diverse communities. He sees it all as a way of doing things now that will help a smooth transition when the time comes.”

First-day nerves as Prince William joins the East Anglian Air Ambulance, 2015GETTY IMAGES

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, as a former frontline worker himself, William has led the royal charge supporting key workers. “Now, more than ever, he knows what his role in public life is, and he sees the value in it,” a close aide says. Chatting to NHS workers in January, William said: “Something that I noticed from my brief spell flying the air ambulance … is that when you see so much death and so much bereavement, it does impact how you see the world … as a … darker, blacker place.” Soon after the first lockdown was announced, the Cambridges’ Royal Foundation launched Our Frontline, a round-the-clock mental health and bereavement service for key workers.

Miguel Head says the future King William will continue to campaign on his big issues: “I can’t see him backing away from causes he’s passionate about. And while he’s not someone who loves ceremony, he knows the importance of it. When he gets the top job he won’t do away with it all. He’s mindful the monarchy represents something timeless that’s above all of us, and many people like the magic and theatre of it.”

[wrooom]

Supercars At Anglesey Airport And Trac Mon 

"Supercars from Bentley, Rolls-Royce and McLaren were displayed alongside a Netjets Phenom300 at Anglesey Airport, for a customer experience. The same 3 brands were represented at Anglesey Circuit (Trac Mon) for customers to try before they buy."

By Chris Watts

[welshbiz]

Trains in Wales are so expensive, rail staff are told to fly instead A report by the Sunday Times revealed that Network Rail employees spent £19.99 for a flight from Cardiff Airport to Anglesey Airport.

[travelonlinetips-blog]

New Post has been published on https://travelonlinetips.com/half-term-travel-squeeze-in-the-skies-as-uk-airspace-expected-to-see-record-number-of-flights-2/

Half-term travel: Squeeze in the skies as UK airspace expected to see record number of flights

Friday 24 May is forecast to be the busiest-ever day for Britain’s airspace.

NATS, the air-traffic provider, has told The Independent the present record of 8,854 movements a day – set on the corresponding day in 2018 – is likely to be broken.

Wendy Howard-Allen, head of Service Performance for NATS, said: “From Friday through the half-term is going to be very busy. We’ve done a lot of work to optimise airspace.” Many schools are breaking up for the half-term holidays in Friday, adding to the usual demand on what is traditionally the busiest day of the week.

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With so many aircraft flying south and south-east from the UK to the Mediterranean, pressure will be heaviest on the Dover and Clacton airspace sectors, over Kent and Essex respectively.

Britain’s geographical position means that many flights between Europe and North America are routed over the UK. For example, the most direct route between Frankfurt and New York tracks from the Suffolk coast to Anglesey, while the shortest journey from Paris to Los Angeles enters UK airspace over Brighton and continues to the far northwest of Northern Ireland.

(NATS)

It is possible that the 9,000-movement mark could be exceeded – if not on 24 May, then on 31 May. That is the day before the Champions’ League final in Madrid between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. The exodus of fans from Merseyside and London is expected to involve an additional 300 flight movements.

In addition, more flights are passing over the UK to avoid delays in other parts of Europe’s air-traffic control system.

“Eurocontrol is trying reduce delays in central Europe,” said Ms Howard-Allen. “We are taking some aircraft away from those very constrained areas of Europe.”

Last week, Thomas Reynaert, managing director of the lobby group Airlines for Europe, said: “The fact is, 2018 was one of the worst years for European air traffic control delays and flight cancellations in nearly a decade. 

“Heading into the peak summer travel months, this trend is deeply concerning for airlines as it has a severe, direct impact on our passengers.”

Eurocontrol, which coordinates air-traffic systems, acknowledges the problem, saying: “The overall network capacity is less than it was in 2018.” The organisation attributes the increase in delays to staff shortages, particularly in Germany, as well as congestion at airports.

Britain has the busiest airport in Europe – Heathrow – and the busiest single runway in the world, at Gatwick.

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[bertievi]

I should head to bed, I should be on tomorrow but I’m not too sure how things are going to happen over the next few days. I’m in work as per usual tomorrow, but Tuesday is the Anglesey Show.... sort of like a County Fair I suppose but HUGE! Like... The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge turned up one year when they lived here and addressed the very Welsh crowd, in Welsh and then gave us all a special message, in English because Welsh is hard to learn, Gog Welsh doesn’t even work on Google Translate either. I kind of miss not having them on the island now though. We never saw them of course, but we also never bothered them when we did spot them, those of us who knew where they were didn’t spread it around. If a tourist asked for directions to their accommodation, people used to give them directions back onto the mainland instead. I also witnessed a sea rescue by our pilot prince.

Annyway! I’m digressing because I have finally crashed from my caffeine high, that show is always a day thing and it is always enough to wear me out completely though I will aim to be on if I’m awake enough. Wednesday I have to drive my sister to the airport --- but my parents might do it so I might have Wednesday completely free (such is the level of communication and planning within my family). Thursday I am most likely to be back but quite late in the evening, I dunno about that one and Friday I am just taking to myself, I don’t care, it’s my day I’m going to sit at home in my pyjamas all day and gorge on tea and biscuits!

So to bring this odd 2am ramble to a close and indeed a summary - I might not be back until Thursday/Friday, I can’t keep away from you all though so I’ll be trying damn hard to get back before then and get through what I owe. 

August with regards to odd things like the above and the dreaded work is still a busy month and I can’t wait for September to roll around!!

Goodnight :)

[whatson-northwales]

Top 15 National Trust and stately homes in North Wales

Top 15 National Trust and stately homes in North Wales

  North Wales is a vibrant land of legends and myths known for its quaint beauty and rich history. You would find resplendent gardens, striking stately homes and ancient castles all over Wales. With plethora of options presented for exploration, you would indeed be spoilt for choice for visiting during your holidays. Here are top national trust and stately homes that you must explore in North…

[aviationwalesofficial]

Cardiff Airport to take over passenger services at Anglesey

Cardiff Airport to take over passenger services at Anglesey Airport #Travel #Wales #PSO #AvGeek

Cardiff Airport has secured an agreement to manage passenger services at Anglesey Airport (VLY/EGOV) from December 2019.

The airport is located within RAF Valley is the only commercial airport in North Wales, although it only sees two flights per day.

The agreement with the Isle of Anglesey County Councilwill see Cardiff Airport taking over passenger services operations at the airport from…