LONDON // The royal love story has been chronicled in speech bubbles and sketches.
A comic book telling the story of Prince William and Kate Middleton's romance is due to be published in April, joining a host of other books and memorabilia flooding the market ahead of the April 29 royal wedding.
"There's always been a tradition in this country of comics for girls in which the girl dreams of meeting someone famous and falling in love," said Mike Collins, the artist who did the illustrations for "Kate and William: A Very Public Love Story."
"In this case, this is what's happened and it's for real," he said.
The graphic novel will be published in two editions: The first follows the prince's life from the rugby pitches of his exclusive boarding school to his adventures in the Royal Air Force, while the other traces Middleton's half of the story with cheeky fictional diary entries that imagine her as a love-struck student who later comes to terms with the ups and downs of being a future king's girlfriend.
The two halves will come together in a collected bound edition that's presented as a flip book and includes a fictional account of the wedding day (and a kiss, too.)
The couple make a good looking comic book superhero and heroine, Collins said.
"She's got this flowing hair that's really lovely to draw, and he's got a very distinguished face," he said.
Rich Johnston, who wrote the script, said he didn't think William and his fiancee would mind having their love story chronicled in speech bubbles and cartoons.
"It's better than seeing themselves on a plate," he joked, referring to the many commemorative china items on sale.
A U.S. publishing house has also announced a rival to the comic, also to be published in April.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
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Based: Amman, Jordan
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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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What is tokenisation?
Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.
Duterte Harry: Fire and Fury in the Philippines
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Company%20profile
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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