The traditional Changing the Guard ceremony has been performed at Buckingham Palace for the first time since coronavirus restrictions were introduced in 2020.
The military spectacle is popular with tourists and is one of the most famous traditions at Queen Elizabeth II's London residence.
It was suspended about 18 months ago to prevent large crowds from forming during lockdown.
The ceremony returned on Monday when the new guard, the 1st Battalion the Coldstream Guards marched from nearby Wellington Barracks to the palace to take over the duty from the old guard, Nijmegen Company Grenadier Guards.
The guards were dressed in the famous scarlet tunics and bearskin hats.
Garrison Sgt Maj Major Andrew Stokes of the Coldstream Guards, who was in charge of the ceremony’s return, said the event had been "a long time coming".
“Bearing in mind it’s been 18 months since we last did a ceremonial Changing the Guard [at Buckingham Palace], there’s been an awful lot of hard work and preparation getting people up to standard," he said.
Some of those taking part in the parade were carrying out the duty for the first time.
The tunes played by the Band of the Coldstream Guards honoured Britain’s Olympic achievements.
The songs included Spandau Ballet’s Gold, the Olympic theme song and Whitney Houston’s One Moment In Time.
The medleys were chosen in “tribute to the success of our Olympians, which we’re incredibly proud of”, Sgt Maj Stokes said.
“The guardsmen enjoy it because lots of members of the public and tourists come and watch – sometimes up to 20,000 in the middle of summer," he said.
“The musicians enjoy it because they get to practise their skill in front of a willing audience, and it instils an awful lot of pride knowing that all these people have come to watch these very young guardsmen and musicians.”
The queen did not see the proceedings because she is on her annual break to Balmoral, Scotland, but dozens of tourists gathered to watch.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
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Sector: EdTech
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FIXTURES
New Zealand v France, second Test
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Getting there:
Flying to Guyana requires first reaching New York with either Emirates or Etihad, then connecting with JetBlue or Caribbean Air at JFK airport. Prices start from around Dh7,000.
Getting around:
Wildlife Worldwide offers a range of Guyana itineraries, such as its small group tour, the 15-day ‘Ultimate Guyana Nature Experience’ which features Georgetown, the Iwokrama Rainforest (one of the world’s four remaining pristine tropical rainforests left in the world), the Amerindian village of Surama and the Rupununi Savannah, known for its giant anteaters and river otters; wildlifeworldwide.com
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Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.
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3.15pm: Conditions (PA) Dh60,000 2,000m.
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- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
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Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
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Sector: FinTech
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