Telegraph Blogs

Many alternative and herbal medicines disappeared from the shelves today. New EU rules have proscribed some remedies outright and subjected others to a prohibitively expensive testing regime. The BBC, in its tagline, unquestioningly described the Directive as “protecting consumers”. In fact, the ban has nothing to do with public health, and everything to do with… Read more

Over the past week, while much of America was distracted by the preposterous issue of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and, yes, a Royal Wedding in London, there have been ominous developments in Afghanistan. Almost unnoticed and barely reported, seven United States Air Force officers, a master sergeant and a contractor were killed in Kabul when an… Read more

For a brilliant snapshot of the metropolitan elite’s fear and loathing of the masses, look no further than this piece on the royal wedding by uber-cynic and professional sourpuss Will Self. Where most of us saw thousands of people having a nice time yesterday – picnicking, partying, getting plastered – Self saw merely “public hysteria” and… Read more

The best thing about the Royal Wedding was seeing the Union Jack flying everywhere. Driving around London, it’s quite something to see the windows of homes from Balham to Belgravia decked out with the red, white and blue. One townhouse I just passed had tastefully arranged little flags in a window box full of blue hydrangeas. It seems… Read more

If further evidence were needed of the decline of American network television – aka the “mainstream media” or MSM - look no further than ABC The View’s dumbed down and crass coverage of the royal wedding. The Emmy-award winning show is watched by a large audience on weekday mornings, and its hosts on Friday included Oscar-winning actress… Read more

On July 29 1981 I was living in a small German town, where I was teaching at the local secondary school. I had no lessons that day, and was walking around town, when I ran into a colleague who was similarly fortunately situated. He expressed astonishment that I was not sitting in front of the… Read more

According to a recent CBS News/ New York Times poll, Queen Elizabeth II has a 61 percent favourable rating among Americans, with a mere 7 per cent holding an unfavourable view of the British monarch (a further 25 per cent are undecided). That compares with an average job approval rating this week of 45.5 percent… Read more

“We really enjoy it and on a day like this, it makes it all worthwhile.” Thus Paddy Harverson, interviewed by Emily Maitlis a short while ago, describing his work as the head of communications for the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and more pertinently Princes William and Harry. Mr Harverson, who is… Read more

I have just been down to the Mall to see the aftermath of the wedding, and was politely turned away by the police while they cleaned the streets. How many dictators dream of a million people thronging the streets to praise them of their own free will? The idea of then turning them away would seem… Read more

The Will’n’Kate-baiting that has become the favoured sport of the smart set over the past few weeks has had at least had one positive outcome: it has confirmed that much of today’s pseudo-republicanism is driven more by power-envy than by anything resembling a democratic instinct. Some so-called republicans hate the Queen because she has the… Read more

No sooner had I finished writing about the solemn pageantry of Anglican ceremonial than this crops up on the ITV website: a Westminster Abbey verger…

April 29, 2011. A day that was good for Prince William and Kate Middleton, for the monarchy, for tradition and ceremony and for Britain’s constitution. So… was it a good day for the Yes to AV campaign? I think not. The scene pictured above – which shows the royal couple’s carriage passing the Palace of Westminster… Read more

Apart from the first look at the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress, today’s ultimate moment was, of course, the kiss. The couple kissed twice, smiling with happiness and, I imagine, with nervous embarrassment at the weirdness of kissing in front of thousands of cheering fans. Their body language was telling. Both leaned into each other… Read more

In a glorious abbey setting, today’s royal wedding spoke of spirituality rather than celebrity. As Bishop Richard Chartres said so eloquently in his sermon, the young couple had taken the “solemn” decision to marry in the eyes of God – not just the world’s media. At a time when Christianity seems to shrink from public space, here is proof that… Read more

There is no point even attempting the world-weary cynicism of the Westminster village. Today is proving to be a triumph for the Royal family, for the affectionate, warm-hearted masses that have turned central London into a patriotic pageant, and for those watching and taking part further afield, from London to far St Helena (loved the… Read more

I’ve had enough of Kate and William recently to be immune to royal wedding fever, so I wasn’t expecting to shed too many tears this morning as they did their long-awaited business before God and several billion of the idle curious. But hey, you have to enter into the spirit of these things; and there… Read more

It’s taboo to try and score political points on public occasions such as these. Or, rather, the way in which Cameron and Miliband will attempt to score points is by out-classing one another – they’ll each try to appear more statesmanlike and above the fray than the other. But here’s a line the Prime Minister… Read more

Peter Hain, a member of the shadow cabinet, has just posted this message on twitter: “Loads of TV coverage of Cam/Clegg at wedding but none of Ed. BBC airbrushing Lab like the Palace?” Well, Hain has just managed to airbrush Labour back into the picture – as a whingeing, mean-spirited party guest. Hain is shadow secretary… Read more

It pains me to say it, but when it comes to religious pageantry, Catholics cannot hold a candle to the Church of England. The Anglican choral tradition is the finest in the world; its anthems perfectly capture the sentimental grandeur of great state occasions. Listen to the way the fanfare from Parry’s I Was Glad… Read more

Kate Middleton stepped out of the car at Westminster Abbey looking nothing less than spectacular. Every self-respecting fashion commentator had their money on Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen as the designer, and they were not wrong. Also, the bride very sensibly chose a dress that won’t age in photographs, as Diana’s unfortunately did. Her look echoes… Read more

Arriba! Whatever it was Miriam Clegg was wearing – and it wasn’t entirely clear – it made her the highlight of the political guests at Westminster Abbey. It was part Spanish flamenco, part Roxie Hart in Chicago. A bright orange hat teamed with bright orange lipstick, a dress swathed in black netting, long black leather… Read more

He’s only made two actual mistakes: calling Prince Edward’s wife, the Duchess, not the Countess, of Wessex; and referring to Princess Margaret’s daughter as Lady Sarah Chatham, instead of Chatto. But those are forgivable slips of the tongue. The real problem is that he clearly knows no more about the monarchy than most of the viewers.… Read more