It's been a year of scandal and missteps for Britain's royals. Now the 93-year-old Queen is needed more than ever - CNN

Taken together, the headlines paint a picture of a monarchy in crisis. So, how will this hallowed institution bounce back again in 2020? The answer is simple: As it always has done, with Elizabeth II firmly at its helm.

The first shock of the year came in January when the Duke of Edinburgh was involved in a car crash near Sandringham, the family's estate in Norfolk, eastern England. Prince Philip was unhurt when his Land Rover flipped onto its side, though a woman in the other car was injured.

But when the elderly duke -- who is rarely seen these days following his retirement in 2017 -- was spotted back behind the wheel the following day, there was a media furor. The situation was compounded when it emerged that the victim had not been immediately contacted by the duke in the days after the crash and was swiftly followed by an announcement that the then-97-year-old would give up his driving license.

"The Queen has been without her 'strength and stay' as [the duke] is based at Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate, even though they reportedly speak every day by telephone," explained royal commentator Richard Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick added that the absence of the long-time patriarch -- who previously assumed the roles of "modernizer" and "pragmatist" -- had been keenly felt this year.

In his absence, Prince Charles and his son William -- also known by their official titles of the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge -- began accompanying the Queen to engagements. It's all part of the inevitable transition but abdication is dismissed out of hand by aides who point to the monarch's repeated commitments to "life-long service." Even the idea of a regency -- where she retains the Crown but hands over all official responsibilities to Charles -- seems to be off the agenda.

Philip wasn't the only senior royal to have run-ins with the media this year. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also took time out in November and December, after months of clashes with the press.

A CNN investigation in March revealed the palace had beefed up their social media operation amid a rise in racist online abuse targeting Meghan. They have been devoting more resources to deleting comments targeting the duchess, blocking abusive accounts and filtering out use of the n-word and gun and knife emojis.

In June, a far-right teenager who reportedly branded Prince Harry a "race traitor" and suggested he should be shot after his marriage to Meghan, was jailed for more than four years.

Meanwhile, the couple's battle with the newspapers escalated. When the palace revealed millions of pounds of public money had been used to renovate Frogmore Cottage, the Sussex family home near Windsor Castle, the British papers complained they weren't getting fair access to the family, particularly after baby Archie's christening was closed to the media.

The couple was also accused of hypocrisy for using private jets to fly off on holiday, while also campaigning on environmental issues.

The Sussexes went on the offensive over what Harry described as a tabloid campaign against Meghan that he said mirrored the treatment meted out to his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. The duchess sued the Mail on Sunday, alleging that it had illegally published a private letter to her father. The duke launched his own legal proceedings against the Daily Mirror and the Sun, over alleged phone-hacking. All publications deny the couple's claims and have vowed to fight them vigorously.

In a documentary for British channel and CNN affiliate ITV news that followed the couple on their southern African tour, the Sussexes revealed that they had found life over the past year or so difficult.

"I never thought that this would be easy, but I thought that it would be fair," the duchess said of her treatment by the media. "I've really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a stiff upper lip," she said. "I tried, but I think what that does internally is probably really damaging."

Asked how she was feeling, Meghan responded, "Thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I'm okay, but it's a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes."

That comment was seen by some columnists as a slight against other family members. And was compounded by Prince Harry's acknowledgment of tensions with his older brother Prince William saying they are on "different paths."

After the program aired, a source at Kensington Palace told the BBC that the Duke of Cambridge was "worried" about his brother. That was followed up by a source close to the Sussexes telling CNN the couple are "single-handedly modernising the monarchy" despite officials around them being "afraid" to harness their power.

The flood of leaks and counter-leaks fueled the tabloid narrative of a rift in the family.

After the Sussexes vanished from public life in November, media attention shifted to Prince Andrew, the Queen's second son who agreed to an extended interview with the BBC in an effort to clear up speculation about his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

It had the opposite effect.

Epstein had allegedly trafficked Virginia Giuffre -- previously known as Virginia Roberts -- when she was 17 years old, forcing her to have sex with his friends, including the Duke of York.

In the interview, the duke denied having any sexual contact with Giuffre, insisting he had "no recollection of ever meeting this lady."

But Prince Andrew also said he didn't regret his relationship with Epstein, who died by apparent suicide in August, and failed to express any sympathy for the disgraced banker's victims.

The fallout from widely-criticized interview dominated the tabloids, with reporters digging out inconsistencies in the duke's story. It descended in to farce as pictures of Prince Andrew sweating were pulled out to undermine his claim that he didn't sweat at the time of the alleged offenses due to a medical condition.

Days later, Andrew was left with no choice but to release a follow-up statement, in which he said: "I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein. His suicide has left many unanswered questions, particularly for his victims, and I deeply sympathise with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure." To halt the backlash, the duke added he was stepping back from public duties.

CNN understands that decision followed a meeting with the Queen after she sought the opinions of Prince Charles and others. Multiple sources have made it clear to CNN that the Queen led on the issue of how to handle Andrew, not Prince Charles as some local outlets reported. The sources also disputed a recent narrative that has emerged in some UK tabloids that the 93-year-old sovereign is stepping aside for Charles as fictional.

CNN also understands that Andrew's departure from public life may not be permanent -- though any timeline on his return will likely be defined by the American judicial system and whether Andrew is called in for questioning.

While announcing he was stepping back from his royal role, Andrew also said he was "willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required." So far, no formal requests have been made by US authorities and no criminal charges have been brought against the Duke of York.

Amid all her domestic woes, the Queen was also tested professionally when Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked her to shut down Parliament for five weeks at the height of the Brexit debacle. She rubber-stamped the request in line with her duty to stay out of politics and to act only on the advice of ministers.

But when the Supreme Court found the prorogation was illegal, it raised the uncomfortable question of whether the Queen had broken the law. The ruling led to accusations Johnson's government deliberately misled the monarch as part of its strategy to secure Brexit -- but regardless, any political maneuver involving the Queen is the ultimate faux pas.

Johnson was forced to personally apologize for embarrassing the monarch, according to the Sunday Times. The paper's royal sources revealed that "there was huge disquiet in the Queen's household about Johnson's decision to prorogue parliament."

While Johnson's strategy was questionable, others displayed the customary deference and respect to the British sovereign in 2019. We certainly saw it from US President Trump during his state visit earlier in June.

Throughout the visit, the American commander in chief appeared enthralled and engaged alongside the head of the Commonwealth and Defender of the Faith.

Speaking to Fox News right after the trip to London, Trump called the Queen an "incredible lady."

He added: "I feel I know her so well and she certainly knows me very well right now, but we have a very good relationship also with the United Kingdom."

In 1992, the Queen endured what she called her "Annus Horribilis," a year that saw three of her children endure marital strife and Windsor Castle almost burned down. Characteristically, she bounced back and steered the royal family back into the nation's hearts.

Now, almost three decades on, the monarch has seen yet another ghastly 12 months in which her ability to unify is more essential than ever.

In her annual Christmas address, the Queen was already moving the message onto one of reconciliation. She admitted that 2019 had been a demanding year and that the path was not always smooth and "but small steps can make a world of difference."

The message from everyone around her is that she has no intention of compromising that role -- and that can only be coming from the top.

CNN's Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed to this report.

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2019-12-26 08:24:00Z
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Why I spend my weekends ringing birds - BBC News

There is nothing quite like holding wild birds. Their beauty, colours and behaviour never fail to astonish: The blue tit, so common in the UK, turns out to be the most aggressive, pecky little bird imaginable; the goldcrest - the weight of a 20p coin (or a nickel for transatlantic readers) - so tiny; the sparrowhawk, quite a rarity to trap, with its murderous look and talons.

The chance of getting this close to wildlife was one of the factors that attracted me to the surprising and challenging world of bird ringing.

Long before dawn this winter morning, small groups of people all around Britain will wake up to spend several hours in the cold, in marshes, on beaches and sea cliffs. Their goal? To trap birds of as many species as possible in high nets, to measure them, age them, place a lightweight ring with a unique serial number on their right leg and release them, as part of a huge citizen science project which has lasted more than a century now.

Joining this project as a trainee, which I did a little more than a year ago, was a startling and rather humbling experience. It remains so. I've been a birder (not a twitcher, please) for many years, and thought I knew a fair bit about birds, at least in the British context. I could identify many dozens of different species by sight and by their song, even if there are always plenty of people in the bird hides who know more than me.

Actually I knew very little. The migration of birds to and from northern Europe from Africa, yes. The details of that migration, when, how they prepare for these extraordinary journeys, their numbers, how high they fly, no.

What was also a surprise to me was that hundreds of thousands of birds actually migrate to Britain in the winter - not just the geese that descend on Norfolk and other wetlands in such large numbers from even colder places such as Scandinavia, Iceland and Russia, but more everyday birds like robins and blackbirds.

We regard them as British birds, but actually their numbers swell considerably in the winter as their continental cousins come in from elsewhere in northern Europe. The reason why robins sing so much in the winter is because they're defending their territory from "outsiders".

The ringing scheme is intended to establish how these and other migration patterns are working, which birds are on the decline and on the rise. Retrapped birds provide important clues to the health of bird populations.

The serial number on their rings is matched to the last time the bird was caught, yielding information about how their weight, wing size, fat and muscle depth has changed.

More than a million birds caught every year

The age and sex of the bird in many cases can be gauged by their plumage (debates on tell-tale but minute graduations in colour take up a fair part of our mornings). So the data gathered by 3,000 volunteer ringers, from more than a million birds trapped in the UK and Ireland every year, plays a key role in conservation efforts.

For example, as a result of research done using ringing data, agri-environmental schemes were developed to provide winter seed for farmland birds, which are believed to have contributed to the partial population recovery of reed buntings, a bird that we often trap at our site in Surrey.

Another recent study at Grafham Water north-east of London gave valuable information about nightingales' movements which helped plan management of the habitat at that Site of Special Scientific Interest.

When I say it's an early start, I don't exaggerate. In winter our ringing group arrives at the bird reserve two hours before sunrise, to put up the 10ft (3m) high mist nets. Some reserves have fixed nets that can be unfurled very easily. Ours are erected afresh each time (head torches indispensable here) because we move them depending on the season - no point putting a lot of nets up in the reed beds when the reed warblers are away until late April in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Outside the breeding season we play sound recordings of the birds that we're particularly keen to trap - if there's a sighting of bramblings, then that goes on the player. And it makes a difference. The numbers of redwings we trapped went up considerably when we started playing a tape made in Latvia, one of the countries they migrate from during the winter.

It would be wrong, however, to explain the motivation of bird ringing as purely a dispassionate collection of data. As my trainer David Ross explains, it's also a matter of curiosity. He says one of the main motivations is watching the migration unfold, from his vantage point at the bird reserve, 25 miles south-west of London.

"Migration fascinates me, especially during the summer when we're ringing reed warblers from Africa. They come back and get caught in almost exactly the same spot they've been trapped in previous years, which is about half the size of a tennis court. I find it incredible they can go to tropical Africa in winter, and find their way back here in the springtime."

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981, it is illegal to capture a wild bird, to use a net to do so, or to disturb a bird on its nest. But for conservation purposes, certain agencies are allowed to issue permits to do so, and it is under the British Trust for Ornithology's scheme that I am granted a trainee licence and can do so.

The training is rigorous, under the close supervision of an experienced ringer, and lasts around two years. Mistakes are easy to make - how many birds have I released too early through not holding them firmly enough; or mis-identified, or got their age and sex wrong, or cack-handedly put the ring on wrong. Bird extraction from the mist nets is a skill I have found very hard to learn.

The group that I train with varies in size week by week, from three up to as many as seven. My fellow trainees are mostly ecologists or already have a professional link with conservation. We operate under the gimlet eye of trainer David Ross, a former London cab driver with an almost preternatural ability to see how a badly tangled bird can be extracted from the net.

Personal and professional motivation

My fellow trainees' enthusiasm and knowledge of the countryside is inspiring.

Paul Perrins, who works as an ecologist with a development company, has a dual motive for the early mornings. A ringing licence will be a boost for his professional skillset, like his qualification in the trapping and handling of dormice for wildlife surveys. But it's also about conservation:

"While work does offer it to an extent, it's more indirect. But to be able to come out here and know that I'm contributing to a long-term, growing dataset is very rewarding."

Kathryn Dunnett, who works in conservation, agrees that a ringing licence will be helpful in her career, but says there's a more personal reason, the "excitement and thrill when you go to the nets and see what we might have trapped".

But she admits to some reservations: "Is it for me or for the birds? When you catch 100 blue tits, I ask myself, do we really need this data - what are we really learning?"

The answer to that, according to the BTO, is that the vast data sets collected on common birds such as the blue tit can be used to understand what's happening to scarcer species.

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The youngest of the trainees is Alex Bayley, who hopes to have a career in wildlife and conservation. "There is a great privilege in being able to view at such close range and hold wild birds," says the 17-year-old.

"Also, at times like these when global warming and human interference on the natural world is so great, ringing provides data and evidence to support conservation initiatives that have the potential to hugely benefit birds under threat."

Photographs: Emma Lynch/BBC

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2019-12-25 12:02:20Z
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Three members of same family 'drown' at Costa del Sol resort - BBC News

Three members of the same family are reported to have drowned at a holiday resort on the Costa del Sol in Spain.

They were found unresponsive in a swimming pool on Christmas Eve at Club La Costa World, near Fuengirola, a statement from the owners said.

It has been reported that a nine-year-old British girl got into difficulties in the water and her brother and father attempted to rescue her.

The Foreign Office said it was assisting a British woman in Spain.

It is understood the father and daughter were both British while the brother was American.

Hotel firm CLC World Resorts said first response teams and emergency services attended and administered first aid.

"Management at Club La Costa World resort would like to offer its heartfelt condolences to the family affected by the loss of three family members on 24th December 2019," the company said.

"The management are assisting the authorities fully with their investigation into the deaths.

"We would like to thank our first response team and the emergency services for their quick and appropriate responses, and our staff for the continuing support of the family at this difficult time."

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson said: "We are offering assistance to a British woman following an incident in Spain."

---

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2019-12-25 07:05:38Z
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Three members of same family 'drown' at Costa del Sol resort - BBC News

Three members of the same family are reported to have drowned at a holiday resort on the Costa del Sol in Spain.

They were found unresponsive in a swimming pool on Christmas Eve at Club La Costa World, near Fuengirola, a statement from the owners said.

It has been reported that a nine-year-old British girl got into difficulties in the water and her brother and father attempted to rescue her.

The Foreign Office said it was assisting a British woman in Spain.

It is understood the father and daughter were both British while the brother was American.

Hotel firm CLC World Resorts said first response teams and emergency services attended and administered first aid.

"Management at Club La Costa World resort would like to offer its heartfelt condolences to the family affected by the loss of three family members on 24th December 2019," the company said.

"The management are assisting the authorities fully with their investigation into the deaths.

"We would like to thank our first response team and the emergency services for their quick and appropriate responses, and our staff for the continuing support of the family at this difficult time."

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson said: "We are offering assistance to a British woman following an incident in Spain."

---

Are you in the area? Have you been affected by what's happened? You can get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

• WhatsApp: +44 7756 165803
• Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay
• Send pictures/video to yourpics@bbc.co.uk
• Upload your pictures / video here
• Text an SMS or MMS to 61124 or +44 7624 800 100
• Please read our terms of use and privacy policy

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2019-12-25 06:41:06Z
52780517770816

Stormzy said he believed '100%' that the UK is racist. After misquoting him, a broadcaster has now apologized - CNN

Anger grew online after headlines by ITV News -- and other organizations -- suggested that the musician had said the UK was 100% racist, instead of his assertion that there was racism in the country.

In an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica last week, Stormzy was asked if the UK was still racist today, to which he replied "definitely, 100%"

When pressed by journalist Antonello Guerrera, the star elaborated further, saying that racism in the UK was more "hidden" than in Italy, but that it had worsened under Prime Minister Boris Johnson's premiership.

The Sun's headline about the interview read "Stormzy launches Twitter tirade after reports he said Britain was '100% racist,'" LBC ran with "Stormzy says he believes Britain is "100 per cent" a racist country," while the Daily Mail said "Stormzy claims the UK is 'definitely racist'" in its headline.

On Sunday the artist retweeted ITV's story, headlined "Rapper Stormzy says UK is '100 per cent' racist," responding "ITV you lot can suck my d**k for this."

He took to Twitter, accusing some media outlets of "intentionally spinning my words for some click bait."

ITV News responded to the criticism, apologizing to the musician for "any misunderstanding."

"On Saturday we reported on an interview by an Italian newspaper with the British rapper Stormzy in which the subject of racism in the UK was discussed," the broadcaster posted. The outlet noted that Stormzy's response was reproduced in full on its website.

"Despite this, it was felt the headline at the top of this story on our website and Twitter post did not reflect these comments fully and was therefore amended ... We would like to apologise to Stormzy for any misunderstanding," the outlet said.

The Evening Standard also confirmed that the newspaper had amended its headline following Stormzy's comments.

"The headline in this story initially said: "Stormzy says UK is 'definitely 100% racist' and worse since Boris Johnson became PM," the Standard wrote in a correction to the story.

"After Stormzy said that his comments had been misinterpreted, we have amended the headline," it added.

Italian reporter Guerrera posted a full transcript of the interview to Twitter on Saturday, which he said was the "original and only reliable source."

CNN has contacted ITV, the Sun, LBC and the Daily Mail for further comment.

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2019-12-24 10:21:00Z
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Romanian court upholds acquittal of UK trafficking suspects - BBC News

A Romanian court has upheld the acquittals of 25 men accused of running a major child-trafficking operation.

The men were arrested in 2010 as part of a large joint operation with British police - where children were rescued in London raids.

The men were accused of running a scheme where children were sent across the continent to beg and steal.

Human rights groups have criticised Monday's ruling, which puts an end to the almost-decade long legal saga.

The men were previously acquitted by a lower court in February and the appeal court, based in Targu Mures, said prosecutors had failed to present evidence.

They were originally arrested in 2010, along with another man who has since died, in raids with the help of UK police.

• 'I was trafficked from Romania'
• Roma children 'fund gangster luxury'

They had faced charges for trafficking and criminal exploitation of more than 160 unnamed children, being members of an organised criminal network and money laundering.

The case centred around the village of Tandarei in south-eastern Romania. The victims and suspects were members of the Romanian Roma community.

Bernie Gravett, who led the British investigation, told the BBC that he had personally seen "truckloads" of evidence being sent to Romanian officials in 2010.

"I know the evidence is there, I've seen it with my own eyes..." he said.

"We convicted 120 people in the UK of child trafficking, child neglect, child exploitation, money laundering, benefit fraud and a range of other crimes. Yet Romania have not convicted a single individual."

According to Europol, their Joint Investigation Team worked with London's Metropolitan police as well as the Romanian National Police force from 2008.

The 2010 operation involved 300 Romanian and British police officers and about 30 raids, AFP reports.

After one raid in Ilford, east London, 28 children aged between three and 17 years old were placed in protective custody.

Police at the time said proceeds from the criminal enterprise were being sent back to fund luxury lifestyles in Tandarei.

Silvia Tabusca, coordinator of the Human Security Programme at the European Centre for Legal Education and Research, was quoted as saying the case represented a "huge failure" of the Romanian justice system.

"We are talking on the one hand about an extremely vulnerable group of people that need to be protected, a very large group of Roma children. On the other hand, this is cross-border organised crime that puts in jeopardy the entire security of Europe," she said.

The initial acquittal, issued nine years after the men's initial arrest, caused a number of NGOs to ask international bodies to "remind Romania of its responsibilities" regarding trafficking.

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2019-12-24 09:42:48Z
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Bristol Grammar School student dies on New York trip - BBC News

A 17-year-old girl has died while on a school trip to New York.

The sixth form student at Bristol Grammar School was found "unresponsive and unconscious" at the Holiday Inn Express hotel on 19 December, New York police said.

She was taken to Mount Sinai hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances, but they understood the teenager may have been ill during the trip.

School 'devastated'

They are awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination.

In a statement, the school's headmaster Jaideep Barot said everyone at the school was devastated and support was being provided for those affected.

"We have opened a book of condolence and we will consider further remembrance with the family's support in the New Year," he added.

The students had been on a trip to New York and Washington DC.

The fee-paying school, which was founded in 1532, has more than 1,300 students aged 4-18 enrolled.

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2019-12-24 07:52:41Z
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