As she walked through the gates of Eton last week, elegant and poised in a forest green Emilia Wickstead dress, the Princess of Wales gave off an intriguing air, more significant than just a proud mother escorting her eldest child to school for his first day.

On first impressions it was just an ordinary family moment – Kate chatting, laughing and exuding her easygoing charm as she placed a maternal hand on George’s back, ushering him into the institution that educated his father, Uncle Prince Harry and also his great Uncle Charles, the Earl Spencer, but look closer and you’ll see the snapshot is loaded with royal symbolism.

For Prince George this image marked the start of his education at one of Britain’s most prestigious schools and for the Prince of Wales a poignant return to the place that helped prepare him for his role as future king. But there was another story brimming from the photographs: the Princess of Wales is firmly back, more so than ever before.

Indeed, Kate appears to be entering the autumn with an airiness that belies a deep well of confidence. It seems she is becoming increasingly comfortable with the incredible scrutiny that comes from being the most prominent female member of the so-called ‘Firm’.

Recently the princess has re-cemented her star power with a couple of surprise appearances that have delighted members of the public. Last week she appeared at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, where she received cancer treatment, employing her warm bedside manner with the patients and chatting in earnest with the medical staff.

She also left a woman in tears when she and Prince William were the unexpected guests of honour in Liverpool as they unveiled the suicide prevention toolkit to mark World Suicide Prevention Day. She wore earrings from a brand called Issy Star, created by Sophie McGown in honour of her cousin Issy who died by suicide in 2023. Ms McGown told Hello! Magazine: ‘It was completely overwhelming and special.’

And there is little time still to relax, for within a few days her and William will be stepping on to the most glamorous of world stages – the red carpet. The couple are due to attend the world premiere of Tom Cruise’s much anticipated new film Digger in London’s Leicester Square on September 22.

The event marks a reunion with the world’s biggest movie star after the couple walked the red carpet with Cruise at the Top Gun Maverick premiere in 2022.

The Princess of Wales was having fun when she visited Bute Shinty Club in Rothesay during a tour of the Scottish Island this week

The Princess of Wales visits Ettrick Bay during a royal visit to the Isle of Bute

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Four years ago Kate was ravishing in a black-and-white, off-the-shoulder gown by Roland Mouret, and Cruise was visibly dazzled by the princess. Her presence at next week’s premiere promises to be one of the most glittering royal appearances of the season.

For Kate, this is the calibre of occasion in which she excels. Because if there’s one thing the princess understands, it’s the power of a red-carpet moment – the pièce de résistance being the gold Jenny Packham gown she wore to the James Bond: No Time to Die premiere in 2021. Kate has become the expert in effortlessly making the transformation from dressed-down royal in country tweeds to global celebrity in a tiara.

Fashion expert Caroline Baxter says: ‘WKate steps on to a red carpet, all eyes follow because she knows what works for her and rarely gets it wrong. 

‘Alexander McQueen is her go-to for major royal moments, often turning to Gucci as well, while Jenny Packham brings the sparkle when the occasion calls for something even more glamorous.

‘She has emerged from the summer looking quite spectacular: golden, radiant and noticeably more youthful. Her skin has that enviable honeyed, sun-kissed quality that seems to radiate from within. 

‘Kate has always known how to command a room. But as she prepares to take centre stage once again, this may just be her most dazzling chapter yet – as she knows the world is watching.’

After an intense period where her health has been the main talking point, there is likely to be considerable interest in what she wears when she steps out in Leicester Square next week and the timing could hardly be more intriguing.

For no sooner are Kate and William immersing themselves back into the epicentre of royal life, there is another story competing for oxygen.

Harry and Meghan have returned to the UK with their children, and Meghan has already shared some content of their new life on social media – country walks, crackling fires and family time spent with their children, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five.

It’s been four years since Kate’s last royal film premiere where she walked the carpet in a Roland Mouret dress and completely dazzled Hollywood legend, Tom Cruise

The unforgettable moment when the actor took Catherine’s hand to help her up the stairs 

But Kate is not competing with the Duchess of Sussex, for she is too busy preparing for her role as future queen. But before that, a new season ushers in an array of royal engagements where the princess will be centre of attention.

Earlier this week, the Prince and Princess travelled to Isle of Bute for their first official appearance on the island. While in Scotland the couple – who while there go by their Scottish titles, the Duke and Duchess of Rothsay – also paid a visit to their namesake town.

Then in November the Princess will reportedly accompany her husband Prince William to Mumbai in India for the Earthshot prize ceremony, which would be their first joint appearance overseas in four years.

Quietly Kate has become the most high-profile member of the firm through these carefully curated appearances. Instead of dramatic announcements or clumsy, loud attempts to dominate the news cycle, the princess executes simple but impactful engagements.

At Eton she is the adoring mother. On the red carpet the glamorous royal. And somewhere between the two sits the woman the world has watched transcend from shy girlfriend to queen-in-waiting.

Quietly Kate, pictured at the Royal Marsden on September 11, has become the most high-profile member of the firm through these carefully curated appearances 

Amid endless debates around George’s education and the public fascination with the Sussexes, Kate has become adept at shutting out the noise and focusing on the work at hand.

Perhaps this is a real glow-up, which is not defined by her shiny, highlighted hair, immaculate make up and beautiful wardrobe. But rather the radiance of a woman who is walking boldly into her future.

With their eldest beginning his Eton years and Charlotte and Louis back to primary school as well, the Waleses are back in the spotlight. William seems ever more visible as the king’s heir and appearing alongside Cruise will only cement this. Where King Charles is the official patron of The Film And TV Charity, the prince has served as the president of Bafta since 2010.

And the Princess of Wales is emerging from a challenging chapter with her trademark grace and, judging by her unruffled air at Eton and her beaming smile in Bute, she seems ready for the next one.

If her appearance alongside Cruise next week is anything like her last red-carpet outing where he touchingly took her hand, the glamour promises to be high voltage.

We’ve probably all given up alcohol at some point, eager to give our bodies some respite following a period of boozing. Dry January is the big one, squirrelling ourselves away during those long winter nights, swearing off all fun in the name of ‘New Year, New Me’.

In winter, the key to success is social isolation and a Faustian pact with the devil that if we cocoon ourselves away from all temptations and any need to look beautiful, enveloping ourselves in hoodies and sweatpants, we get to emerge from a hoolie-free hibernation like glossy butterflies, with not just a recovered liver but a sleek new look and transformed energy levels.

But imagine deciding, as I have, that what I need is to give my system a short, sharp shock, going teetotal for seven days to see if it makes me look better in advance of a big-number birthday party of a friend, and to do it at this busy time of the year, that post-summer, back-to-the-coalface season, when I am going out every night and still need to look good throughout. The twin-horned dilemma is how to not drink and still have fun, and what to drink instead?

My favoured tipple is rosé or prosecco, with champagne if offered. Throw in long, lazy lunches at weekends and I can easily tot up a weekly total of 56 units – four times the recommended intake for women.

In cutting down to none, a GP friend assures me that I will almost instantly see the results of abstinence – not just invisibly, in my liver, but for all to witness: in the reduction of puffiness in the bags above and below my eyes, in the smoothing out of my skin, the reduction of fine lines and redness and in the increasing brightness of my eyes.

Call me cynical, but I don’t believe that this is possible so, just to set the bar of the challenge even higher, I vow to take a selfie at 7am every day that week, make-up-free and in the full harshness of morning light, for a fierce and forensic comparison, day by day, of said skin and eyes.

Putting myself under the microscope of morning light like this is even braver for me than it would be for most others – because my 57-year-old face is quite the sight at 7am; still creased and puffy from sleep, eyes bloodshot from the carousing and lateness of the night before. So much so that it is a joke among my family and friends, that my smartphone’s Face ID doesn’t work for me until 8.30am at the earliest. I am so troll-like first thing that even my own phone doesn’t recognise me and let me in.

So how likely is it that stopping drinking could show on that face in such a short time?

Really quite likely, I am told by Dr David Neilson, the aforementioned GP friend. ‘Put simply, the face and eyes act like an early warning system for the body,’ he says. ‘A puffy face – facial oedema – and rheumy eyes are both immediate signs of excessive drinking.

‘It’s one of alcohol’s odd contradictions: while it dehydrates you overall, it has an inflammatory effect that can also make parts of your body retain fluid  and around the eyes, both in the bags underneath and in the eye socket above, that soft tissue is a swift indicator of how hydrated you are. At the same time, the vasodilatory effect of alcohol can be seen both in the bloodshot eyes – as the blood vessels on the surface of the eye expand visibly – and in the swelling of the mucosal lining of the nose, which is why drinkers snore.

‘The good news is that what goes quickly up, comes quickly down. Even a couple of days off the booze improves sleep and lowers the vasodilatory effects of alcohol: so, less swelling all round. Equally quick is the effect of decent hydration: drinking more water literally dilutes the effects of the alcohol it is replacing, leading to less inflammation and less disruption of the tear layers which keep your eye lubricated.

‘Which should translate, for you, into reduced eyelid swelling, less under-eye puffiness, diminished facial bloating and redness, even brighter, whiter eyes because you’ll be rubbing them less.

‘I never want to sound preachy but I think you’ll be impressed.’

Day One

At the start of my alcohol-free challenge, my skin was bloated and reddened after a lengthy drinking session the previous day, says Susannah

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I’m going to need every millimetre of the promised improvement because, on Day One, I nearly crack the camera lens on my phone. I went to bed late, from a friend’s all-day (and into the night) lunch party, and I look like I’ve done a few rounds with Tyson Fury, then been chased away from the boxing ring by a swarm of angry bees.

I am reddened of skin, bloated of face, and every one of the 12 glasses of champagne I had over the 12 hours of the party is tallied up in the lines on my face, like marks scored on the wall of a prison cell by a lifer. My eyes look like hard-boiled eggs wearing puffa jackets – and the bags underneath them could be the full set of luggage given away on the Generation Game.

‘Hmmm,’ says my husband tactfully. ‘It’s not great.’

By 6pm, mindful of those words, I’m wearing makeup and dressed to the nines for a party organised by my choir. To forestall any social anxiety, of being seen as the boring non-drinking one at an event that is famously well-oiled, I have brought my own bottle of Nozeco Rosé alcohol-free prosecco (£3.50, available in most supermarkets). It looks like the real deal and, while it doesn’t quite taste like prosecco, it’s less sweet than the soft canned drinks that I have always hated.

Day Two

On Day Two I’m not noticing much change in my appearance… but then I’m too busy popping headache pills 

I would gasp with horror at the sight of me on Day Two, but I’m too busy popping headache pills.

This seems unfair – it’s not as if I can be hungover but I know that this is the price of withdrawal: the blood vessels in my brain are hurtling back to their usual diameter and my circulation is readjusting, with a headache being the body’s way of helping me through.

Water is the best medicine so I glug away, feeling better by 10am, just in time to set off for a lunch party being thrown by a magazine I write for. Normally I’d keenly avail myself of the free booze but today I hear myself asking weakly what they have in the way of soft drinks. Diet Coke and elderflower soda is the response. After an hour or so, I’m holding back the burps and feeling both bored and bilious as, around me, my pals start ordering cocktails…

Giving up drinking always feels harder when you don’t like fizzy pop, get bored of the herby gaseousness of all the Botivo and Seedlip alternatives and can find nothing that tastes better than wine to have with food.

These days, luckily, it’s a more forgiving world than when I was having children and unable to drink during pregnancy. Now, you can find very tolerable alcohol-free wines: rosé or rosé prosecco (like the Noughty range online or at Majestic) often being the best, if you drink it a little colder than you do normal rosé.

Zero white wine is usually only drinkable if chilled to Antarctic temperatures and they’ve got a way to go with red wine, though the Torres Natureo Red is better than most. For beer drinkers, tasty Guinness Zero and the Brewdog range of Hazy AF, Punk AF and Wingman AF are all good alternatives.

Day Three

On Day Three my eyes remain puffy, with bloodshot eyes… I can’t get away from The Face

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I’m no longer surprised by how bad I look in the 7am selfie. I’ve had a dreadful night. Maybe it’s the sugar in the Nozeco, but I wake at 2am and 4am with the racing heart, thudding head and dry mouth of a sugar come-down. The non-hangover only seems to be getting worse.

Taking these selfies means I can’t get away from The Face: remaining puffy, with bloodshot eyes, and, though I think the gin nose is less red, it’s still not an edifying spectacle.

As I sit in a hot Tube carriage that night, coming home from a sober trip to the theatre, I realise the unpalatable truth that, after a few, all zero-alcohol alternatives pall for me (in a way that wine just doesn’t), especially with food – and then I am stuck with water.

Day Four

On Day Four my jawline seems more defined and my nose and cheeks are less red

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Progress! Halfway through the week, my jawline already seems more defined, my eyelids less puffy, while my nose and cheeks are even less red.

Tonight is our Book Club and, while I’m touched by the support I get for my short sharp sobriety drive from my girlfriends, there’s nothing so dull as peri-, post- or just plain-in-it menopausal women comparing symptoms and convincing themselves that drinking wine is the root of all their evils. ‘Oh, red wine is the worst,’ they say, ‘it wakes me in the night, bed sweats, heart racing, acid reflux, the works but, really, I’ve just decided to give wine a miss altogether – my menopause specialist tells me that’s the sensible approach and I’m such a lightweight these days that I get a hangover after two glasses anyway.’

My innate stubbornness about not following the herd makes me want to point out that I’m a really good drinker, that I don’t get drunk, that I never had a hangover before this week, that I don’t have any more hot flushes when I drink so, since I don’t feel any ill-effects from drinking, why give up on it?

Except that wouldn’t be quite true. Even after just three days I have noticed that my sleep has improved in quality – I’m back to dreaming and there’s not so much floating in and out of awareness, or needing to slake a thirst in the night.

I have also noted that my consumption of Rennies – usually one a night at least – has simply stopped as that heartburn before I go to sleep has disappeared.

Day Five

On Day Five I am flagging, even though I cannot deny that I look better

Despite the end being nearly in sight, I am flagging.

I stare at myself ever more critically each morning and cannot deny that I look better. But the problem with pegging the effects of sobriety so completely to how I look, is that this then becomes another example of medicalising vanity: that what’s happening on the outside has become more important than on the inside.

To the selfie-examining eye, the outer signs are good; but inside, I’m bored.

And, yes, I do feel perkier in the morning but that could be because I’m getting to bed earlier than if I were drinking, despite being out every night. Each party starts well: banter bats back banter on an equal playing field but the drinkers are forging ahead on a different track, fuelled by alcohol, and I begin to lag behind.

Tonight, I’m at a party of friends from my CrossFit days; like many gym-going types, they tend to carouse infrequently, so when they do, they go for it. It would be reductive to say that drunk people are tedious – maybe I’m the dull one – but the difference soon becomes boring so I duck out early and head to bed.

Day Six

On Day Six, my skin feels smoother and softer and my eyes less red-rimmed and hooded

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Today, I’ve flip-flopped back in favour of being booze-free. The evidence is right there in front of me: I’m even smiling in the selfie.

After one short week, my skin is smoother and softer, the blotches evened out, my eyes far less red-rimmed and hooded, undeniably clearer and whiter.

I’m moving more lightly too – the fluid that has left my face looking almost chiselled has also drained from my ankle and knee joints, which is, er, sobering. All told, I look at least five years younger.

It’s Saturday night and it’s the big one: we are celebrating my husband’s best friend’s 60th with a diverse range of friends.

Some drink, some don’t; for the first time, I can’t tell who is doing what. Everyone seems to be paying me compliments about how well I look, so I’m happy any which way. We swing onto the dance floor. I can’t quite believe I am dancing without the crutch of alcohol.

Day Seven

After my booze-free week I notice that I have smoother skin and clearer eyes

Mission complete. I couldn’t be happier, both with the success of the project – my clear-eyed smiling face beams back at me in the mirror – and with its conclusion: it’s over and tonight, I can have a glass of wine to celebrate.

I can see a sustainable way ahead: a quick reset ahead of a big event or holiday will make me both healthier and more beautiful. In between, I can either drink in the way I always have or do maintenance periods where I cut down, but for visible improvements, total sobriety, even for this short a period, is the answer.

Sir Tom Jones has thanked fans for their support as filming for the new series of his show The Voice continues without him.  

The ITV show has been marred in controversy, after it emerged that Tom would not be returning as a coach.

The broadcaster is currently airing Sir Tom’s last series whilst filming began ten days ago for the 2027 season, this time with new judges Cheryl, 43, and Aitch, 25, taking over the red chairs.

Sir Tom, 86, has remained quiet on social media since he hit out at ITV in a furious statement two weeks ago, confirming that he had ‘did not want to leave The Voice’.

As the latest episode of The Voice aired on Saturday, Sir Tom returned to Instagram to share a clip of himself singing his hit It’s Not Unusual on the show whilst cheered on by his fellow judges will.i.am, Kelly Rowland, Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones. 

As Sir Tom finished the rendition, Kelly walked over to give him a hug as will.i.am also left his seat to embrace his friend.  

‘It’s Not Unusual…So many heartfelt messages, comments and even petitions of support,’ Sir Tom captioned the emotional clip. ‘It doesn’t go unnoticed and it’s been really lovely to receive these! Thank you!’

Change.org announced in the comments that ‘the petition to reinstate Sir Tom Jones on The Voice now has over 57,000 signatures and thousands of messages of support’.

The singer’s fans and celeb pals flooded the post with support as Kelly ‘liked’ the post alongside Spice Girl Mel C.

The Voice did not fare well in the Saturday night ratings as it’s been revealed that the show lost half a million viewers on last week, with just 1.6 million tuning in.

The latest episode of the show moved to an earlier timeslot to avoid a clash with Strictly Come Dancing’s launch show on the BBC.  

Sir Tom has insisted it wasn’t his decision to leave and said ITV ‘fired’ him ‘because of a financial difficulty with insurance’.

In a statement confirming the lineup, ITV bosses thanked Tom for his work on the show, saying: ‘ITV would like to thank the irreplaceable Sir Tom Jones for all his years on The Voice UK, and the countless incredible and unforgettable moments he gave the show.

‘He has brought joy to audiences, and to every singer who performed for him and with him.’

As the latest episode of The Voice aired on Saturday, Sir Tom returned to Instagram to share a clip of himself singing his hit It’s Not Unusual on the show whilst cheered on by the judges

‘It’s Not Unusual…So many heartfelt messages, comments and even petitions of support,’ sir Tom captioned the emotional clip

Fellow coach will.i.am, who will remain on the show alongside Kelly Rowland, has vented his fury over Tom’s being dropped from the show, with sources claiming he’s made his feelings known backstage.

Sources have revealed that despite Cheryl and Aitch being welcomed as new additions to the lineup, any excitement on set has been replaced by awkwardness over the row.

A source said that while they normally kick filming off with welcome drinks in a swanky five-star hotel, this year things are different.

‘It’s seriously awkward as will.i.am is furious with how producers have handled things and is making his feelings known behind the scenes.’

They told The Sun: ‘It’s pretty uncomfortable for Cheryl, who is close with Will and has looked up to Kelly all her career.

‘This is her big TV comeback and right now ITV are letting her be the fall guy for taking Sir Tom’s seat. None of this is her fault, it’s been handled atrociously by the bosses.’

The Daily Mail has contacted will.i.am and ITV representatives for comment.

Taking to Instagram on September 8, just three days before the new lineup was unveiled, Sir Tom wrote in his statement: ‘To be clear, I did not want to leave The Voice as I love the show and really appreciate the audience. ITV made this decision – obviously a while ago, and I was told just recently.

‘The reason given is because of a financial difficulty with insurance. They now say in the press they wanted to “refresh” the show, and with a new coaching line-up there wouldn’t be a chair for me.’

He added that ITV had offered him ‘a much-reduced role where I would make an appearance but without being actually involved from the start, and I’m not thrilled about that.

‘So the only thing I know right now, is that there’s never a good time to fire an 86-year-old who’s still pretty good at his job.’

When contacted by the Daily Mail, an ITV spokesman said: ‘We have loved working with Sir Tom Jones over the past nine years on The Voice UK.

‘While he will no longer be a full-time coach on series 15, we continue to talk to Sir Tom and his team about his involvement in the next series.’

A quintessential English village earmarked to host 1,250 asylum seekers at a nearby military base is sending a delegation to Piddington this week for a council of war to discuss holding their own independence referendum.

Barnham in Suffolk is considering copying the defiant Oxfordshire village’s high-profile in/out vote amid fury at the scheme, which would more than double the local population.

Last week’s vote in Piddington over Home Office plans for MoD Bicester saw 90 per cent of locals opt to secede from the UK.

Now the residents of Barnham are eyeing up a similar stunt that, while symbolic and not legally binding, will focus public scrutiny of the controversial scheme which is designed to reduce the number of migrants in hotels.

Parish council chairman John Bauer, 66, told the Daily Mail he was among a group of villagers heading to Piddington on Tuesday, having already been in contact with his counterpart in there.

The government’s lack of interest in locals’ concerns meant the ‘oxygen of publicity’ could provide a vital part of the defence of the community’s way of life, he explained.

‘They don’t care about the people of Barnham. They don’t care that it will increase by two-and-a-half times the population of a village, with single men mostly of fighting age not contained within the site,’ Mr Bauer said. 

Residents have been told the nearby military base, RAF Barnham, has been earmarked to take at least 1,250 asylum seekers

The 580 villagers fear their community could be swamped by the migrants from the nearby base

‘Barnham is a small village with about 580 people. There’s a number of children of varying ages. People are worried about that and the womenfolk as well.

‘Piddington have been incredibly successful in raising their profile. They’ve gained national attention and that of ministers and the Prime Minister. It’s gained international attention.’

He added: ‘I can’t say honestly I’ve spoken with anyone – and I’ve spoken to a lot of people – who’s said “I’m happy for them to come here”.

‘To send a message to the government, I wouldn’t be surprised if 90 per cent voted [to secede from the UK].’

The village has a hall, church and primary school but no other amenities such as a shop or pub where migrants – who will be able to come and go from the base as they please – will be able to kill time.

Protests have taken place outside RAF Barnham since the controversial plans for the base, as well as the one in Bicester and a third site in Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire, were announced in June.

Tensions increased after details of a private meeting between Home Office officials and councillors in Norfolk, which borders RAF Barnham, were leaked in which the government department admitted ‘a lot more’ migrants could be housed at the facilities than had been admitted.

Violent disorder also broke out over several nights two miles away from Barnham in Thetford, Norfolk, last month, after it emerged the Home Office was looking to quadruple the number of asylum seekers placed in private accommodation. 

Piddington, in Oxfordshire, held a referendum on Tuesday last week over concerns about plans to house migrants in MoD Bicester

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Around 90 per cent of those who voted in the referendum chose to secede from the UK – although the poll has no legal standing

An aerial view of part of the base at MoD Bicester

Barnham residents turned out en masse at the village hall on Wednesday last week – the day after Piddington held its referendum – to discuss their resistance movement.

Until now, it has focused on an ‘evidential’ approach involving planning issues such as environmental concerns.

The base was once used to store nuclear and chemical weapons and there are concerns the land could be contaminated.

The site is also a nesting ground for stone curlews, a species of bird so endangered that any development within 1,500m is forbidden.

But there is an increasing feeling that time is running out and a more emphatic, headline-grabbing approach may be needed, as the Home Office is expected to announce its decision this autumn – with asylum seekers moving in before Christmas.

Mother-of-two Collette Skelly, 58, who has lived in the village for 15 years and was at the meeting, said: ‘It’s a good way of raising publicity.

‘At the moment, there is nothing on the news about Barnham. So Piddington had to do it as a publicity stunt to raise attention.’

A man in his 60s added: ‘It’s on the news, they’re questioning the prime minister about Piddington today, so it’s working, isn’t it. I’d absolutely support it.’

Adrian Whittle, the leader of Reform UK at West Suffolk Council, declared he would support the village’s right to hold a referendum.

‘It raises the profile that people haven’t just given up, they want their country back, they want their lives back.’

Some locals were less certain, however, fearing it would act as a distraction from the formal planning approach.

James Hollins said: ‘The referendum is rubbish, it can’t go anywhere, it’s got no legal standing.

‘We can demonstrate but they’re not going to listen.’

Announcing the referendum result on Wednesday last week, Piddington Parish Council chairman Mr McNally said: ‘We have given a message to the world.’

Vice-chair Susannah Parden added: ‘We are Piddington, the village that roars.’

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the vote should be a ‘wake-up call’ for the government.

Barnham was last year unveiled as the site where evidence of the earliest known human-made fire had been uncovered.

Researchers found baked earth together with the earliest known Stone Age ‘lighter’ – a flint that was hit against pyrite, a rock also known as fool’s gold, to create a spark – that dated back 400,000 years.

The village also appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086, which recorded that it housed 35 families – a large village by the standards of the time.

The incident took place at Parkhead stadium in Glasgow on Sunday, September 20.

A man has been arrested and charged after an alleged attack on medical staff and police at the Old Firm.

The incident took place at Parkhead in Glasgow during the fixture between Rangers and Celtic on Sunday, September 20. Cops confirmed the man, aged 39, will appear in court on Monday, September 21.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “One arrest made. 39-year-old man arrested for assault of medical staff and police assault.

“Due to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Monday, 21 September, 2026.”

In other Old Firm drama, a bus caught fire near Celtic Park moments after the game finished. Firefighters raced to the inferno on Clyde Gateway outside the Emirates Arena in the east end of the city at 2.25pm.

Emergency services scrambled to the incident after receiving reports of a blaze on a single passenger coach. There were no reports of any injuries.

Dramatic footage shared on social media shows the bus engulfed in flames as football fans stood by. Fire could be seen ravaging the roof of the vehicle while fire crews worked to extinguish the blaze.

Thick and dark plumes of smoke could be seen shooting into the sky as shocked revellers watched on.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We received a call at 2:25pm to a single decker passenger coach well alight on Clyde Gateway outside the Emirates Arena in the east end of Glasgow today, September 20. Fire crews remain in attendance. There are no reports of any casualties.”

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Earl Spencer has today claimed his incendiary allegations about the King following the death of Princess Diana will ‘not be a surprise’ to Prince William and Prince Harry.

The earl suggested that he had informed the brothers in the past of Charles’s remark during a row about her funeral that that their mother would soon be forgotten.

William and Harry are understood not to have been aware of the contents of Earl Spencer’s forthcoming memoir about his sister, which include the King’s reported comments. 

But in an interview with the BBC‘s Laura Kuenssberg, he said: ‘I don’t like to talk about what I’ve been speaking about to William and Harry, but this will not be a surprise to them. I will tell you that these words will not be a surprise to them.’

The Royal Family is reeling from a string of explosive claims in the memoir – entitled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister – after extracts were exclusively published by the Mail last week.

Earl Spencer’s incendiary claim that – days after Diana’s 1997 death – the then Prince Charles told him: ‘Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough’ provoked a highly unusual response from the Palace.

The Prince of Wales’s alleged comment was made during a blistering row with the earl over whether Princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, should walk in their mother’s funeral procession.

But in a statement, a Palace spokesman last week questioned the veracity of Earl Spencer’s explosive account and said that fraternal grief can ‘cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory’.

Earl Spencer has claimed he had an explosive row with Charles after suggesting that he was uncomfortable with Harry and William, then both children, walking behind their mother’s coffin in the funeral procession, which led to Charles attacking his family’s sense of duty.

He told the BBC today that evidence of his argument with Charles – and his reaction to his alleged comments – was actually contained within his famous eulogy at Diana’s funeral. 

In an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Earl Spencer said: ‘I don’t like to talk about what I’ve been speaking about to William and Harry, but this will not be a surprise to them.’

As well as his notorious remarks that Diana’s ‘blood family’ would ensure her sons were protected, his eulogy also included the line: ‘Above all, we give thanks for the life of a woman I’m so proud to be able to call my sister: the unique, the complex, the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana, whose beauty, both internal and external, will never be extinguished from our minds.’

Earl Spencer said today of his explosive row with the future king on the eve of the funeral: ‘You can see evidence of that conversation in the final eulogy. 

‘I really stress Diana’s sense of duty – duty comes across very clearly in the eulogy, and then it culminates in something which I think really underlines the truth of my assertion here.

‘If you get to the final bit of my eulogy, it is that her fantastic qualities “will never be extinguished from our minds”. 

‘It was a direct rebuttal of “we’ll forget her soon enough”.’

The early also had to deny that he was making a threat against the King when he suggested that he had more unflattering material which he chose not to use in his book.

He said: ‘I have a duty as an eyewitness to history. I’m aware of mortality and I wanted to just put things down once and for all that were true. 

‘This is not a threat, it’s a fact, I know lots of things about the King which I chose not to include in the book because they were not relevant.’ 

Challenged that his remarks did, in fact, sound a bit like a threat, he continued: ‘No, it’s not at all a threat. It’s just the reality. I want to give the context of what I said and what I didn’t say, I’m not threatening. 

‘I’m not a salacious writer on any level, but if I was a salacious writer and wanted to write that sort of thing, I have plenty of other things I could have said, and really have no interest in doing so.’

Earl Spencer later claimed he had no intention of making any further claims about the Royal Family, saying: ‘That’s it. That’s me done.’

Earl Spencer has accused King Charles of ‘gaslighting’ him over the suggestion his memoir is ‘clouded by grief’ 

He has claimed that in the days after Diana’s death, the then Prince Charles told him ‘we’ll forget her soon enough’ 

Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed in Saint-Tropez, France, on August 22, 1997 – just days before they died 

Describing his account of the first of two phone conversations with Charles following Diana’s death in a Paris car crash in 1997, he told the BBC: ‘I felt there was a sort of giddy tone.’

‘I’d had a lot of calls that day from people who cared, who were stunned… and I just felt there was a lightness in his tone about Diana’s death that really jarred with me.’

He claimed he then received a second call from Charles after expressing concerns to a member of the Buckingham Palace household about William and Harry walking behind their mother’s coffin.

‘He said “I gather you don’t think William and Harry should walk behind Diana’s coffin” and I said “of course not, sir, she wouldn’t want it”. 

‘Then he said, “I walked behind Lord Mountbatten’s coffin”, and I said “yes, but you were 30, and he wasn’t your mother”. 

‘He went ballistic and started really going for my family as a whole about their sense of duty not being adequate enough and ranted for a while, I have no idea how long, but it was a significant period and I just listened. 

‘Then he stopped, and I thought, oh, now, now he’s going to pull himself together and say something more appropriate, and then he said, “We’ll forget her soon enough”.’

Asked what went through his mind, he said:  ‘Well, I’m not sure I can say exactly what went through my mind, but I really was so stunned, and I just, after a stunned silence, I said, “I cannot believe you just said that”, and I hung up on him.’

Responding to the Palace’s statement pushing back on the story, Earl Spencer said: ‘I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said.

‘I’ve only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage in my life.

‘I was hyper-alert to what he was saying, and those are precisely the words he said. And I promise that to you now. Genuinely, that is what he said.

‘I don’t hear him saying he didn’t say that.’

The earl said he told ‘close friends and family’ about the ‘monstrous’ comment.

Pressed on whether he was effectively accusing the King of lying, Earl Spencer replied: ‘I can hardly be responsible for what Buckingham Palace says. 

‘All I can tell you is what was said and what I heard and what shocked me.

‘What else would have made me hang up on the king that day? It was something as outrageous as that slur against Diana.’

Earl Spencer also expressed hope that William and Harry, his nephews, could one day reconcile – which is what their mother would have wanted.

‘There’s a lot of reasons on both sides why (their estrangement) has got to this stage, and as an uncle, I hope one day it’s resolved,’ he said.

‘But I certainly don’t know what’s been done in the finer detail and so I would feel intrusive if I got more involved than to say, of course, a mother would want her two sons to be happy together and love each other.’

The earl went on to blame the BBC and its former Panorama reporter Martin Bashir for obliterating Diana’s trust in others and leaving her ‘vulnerable’ on the night she died. 

An inquiry established that Bashir had mocked up fake bank statements, suggesting individuals were being paid to keep Diana under surveillance, and showed them to Earl Spencer to secure a bombshell interview with her in 1995.

‘The consequences of Diana being told “you cannot trust anyone” meant that she was alone that night, really, and I think that she was so convinced that she got rid of her driver, a totally innocent man. 

‘He wouldn’t have been in Paris, but police bodyguards, private protection officers, they were got rid of too. 

‘People said “oh, she was paranoid” – she wasn’t paranoid. She was convinced that she couldn’t trust people because the evidence was there, and I think that left her vulnerable that night.’

He described his sister’s death as ‘very, very preventable’ and suggested that Harry should be granted proper protection now he is back in the UK. 

Lillia, aged 13, was found safe and well on Saturday, September 19, after an extensive search involving police, her family and members of the public.

Officers located her during a dedicated proactive patrol in the city centre, Greater Manchester Police said.

The teenager had been missing since Friday, September 11, with officers tracking her movements and following reported sightings across Greater Manchester.

Chief Superintendent Helen Critchley, Bolton District Commander, said: “I want to thank the public, not just in Greater Manchester but throughout the whole of the country for their submissions of information through our online public portal, via the phone lines and everyone who shared our appeals online.”

Superintendent Helen Critchley delivered a previous statement in the company of Lillia’s mum (Image: NQ)

Police said Lillia was last seen at Manchester Piccadilly bus station on Monday, September 14, at 10.36am before she was found on Saturday.

Her movements had been traced through a number of sightings, including reports of her using the bus network.

She was first seen after her disappearance on Saturday, September 12, when she boarded the 247 bus at the Trafford Centre.

Police then said she was seen entering McDonald’s on Market Street in Piccadilly Gardens at about 8.20pm on Sunday, September 13.

She was later seen boarding the number 36 bus from Salford at about 10am on Monday, September 14.

Officers then received the final confirmed sighting of her walking through Manchester Piccadilly bus station at 10.36am that morning.

Ch Supt Critchley said: “Without your support, we would not have been able to track Lillia down and bring her home safely.”

Officers and staff had worked alongside partners throughout the investigation, including reviewing hours of CCTV footage and distributing hundreds of missing person leaflets.

(Image: Bolton Police)

Police also issued several social media appeals and worked with media organisations to circulate Lillia’s picture and details.

Ch Supt Critchley added: “I would also like to extend my thanks to the officers who located her while out on proactive patrols, as well as the many officers and staff behind the scenes working to further the investigation.

“We have engaged with every police officer in the force who have been on duty since she has been missing and circulated her image to them, in the hope that one of them would be able to recognise her.”

Police said officers noticed someone who looked like Lillia while on patrol before speaking to her and establishing her identity.

She was seen in Manchester (Image: GMP)

Her mum and the rest of her family have been updated following her discovery.

Ch Supt Critchley said: “Thankfully, officers noticed someone that looked like her and engaged and ascertained it was Lillia.

“The role of the media cannot be understated as well, the sharing of appeals, pictures and the press conference we held with Lillia’s mum hitting TV screens has been a massive help, I cannot thank them enough.”

She also paid tribute to Lillia’s mum following the eight day search.

Ch Supt Critchley added: “Finally, I would like to finish by paying tribute to Lillia’s mum who has worked with us throughout this investigation, she has shown incredible strength in what has been eight days of torture for her and her family.

(Image: Bolton Police)

“We have kept her updated throughout and it gives me immense pleasure that we can reunite her with her little girl.”

Police said they were asking for privacy and respect to be given to Lillia and her family following what had been a difficult period.

Ch Supt Critchley added: “In what will be a truly emotional time, I would request that Lillia, her mum and her family are given the privacy and respect they deserve following an incident such as this.”

The Red Devils drew with Everton before losing the Manchester derby to Manchester City in their most recent league outings, and they suffered a premature Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Brighton in midweek with a disappointing collapse at Old Trafford. They will be hoping to rectify their situation here, against Alvaro Arbeloa’s Cottagers, who themselves have not won a league game under their new boss.

Semenyo admitted that Enzo Maresca was not happy with his players after a chaotic 5-3 victory against Sunderland. Enzo Fernandez opened the scoring with a clever free kick, but Brian Brobbey equalised moments later. Rayan Cherki then put City ahead but, again, Brobbey was quick to equalise. Semenyo scored his first of the afternoon on the stroke of half time and added a second after the interval to put City in control. However, Brobbey completed his hat trick to once more put the Blues under the cosh.

Eventually, City managed to put Sunderland to bed as Erling Haaland added the fifth, and ensured they are three points clear at the top of the Premier League, heading into the international break. Collecting his man of the match award at full time, Semenyo shed some light on how Maresca responded to the chaotic victory.

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