The police marksman who shot Chris Kaba may no longer face misconduct proceedings after the Government changed regulations around officers’ use of force.

Martyn Blake shot 24-year-old Mr Kaba in the head after he drove towards officers in an attempt to smash through a roadblock in Streatham, south London, in September 2022.   

The officer was cleared of murder by a jury at the Old Bailey, with fellow police marksmen enraged that he had faced charges.

Sergeant Blake was still due to face misconduct proceedings, but the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) paused the process while it waited for Government regulation changes to be published.

Today it said it believes the misconduct proceedings should not go ahead, and will consult with the Kaba family who will have the chance to argue there are exceptional circumstances which mean they should.

Dozens of other non-fatal use of force cases in England and Wales may also be affected if police forces take the same approach as the IOPC. 

Andrew Johnson, IOPC director of strategy and policy, said: ‘We carefully considered the law change and its stated intent to address the perceived unfairness and lack of proportionality of the civil law test.

‘We believe this position provides consistency across impacted cases and is fair to officers who are facing potential dismissal for misconduct, which if it occurred now, would not amount to misconduct under the new law.

‘We expect the number of relevant cases that are affected by this law change to be relatively small.’ 

After Sergeant Blake’s acquittal, then-home secretary Yvette Cooper vowed to raise the legal test used by prosecutors to determine whether to bring charges against police officers over use of force into line with the standard used for members of the public.

The test used by the IOPC over whether to bring misconduct proceedings would also be raised to the level used in criminal law, she said.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner, Matt Jukes, said acquittal after a criminal trial should have brought the case to ‘a clear and definitive conclusion’.

He said: ‘We recognise the impact on NX121, his family and the wider firearms community, who have endured almost four years of uncertainty while these processes have unfolded, as well as the family of Chris Kaba, who continue to live with the loss of a loved one.

‘We have consistently said since the criminal trial that there is no basis for further action against this officer and that remains our position.

‘I know this change will also provide reassurance to firearms officers across London and the wider country, who carry immense responsibility on behalf of the public and need confidence that decisions made in good faith, in fast-moving and dangerous situations, will be judged fairly.

‘At the same time, this case has exposed that the current system is too slow. A split-second decision, taken in circumstances which presented an immediate threat, has been followed by years of investigations and legal proceedings.

Footage of the moment armed officers ran towards Mr Kaba’s car as he tried to escape from a roadblock 

‘That has had a profound impact on everyone involved and demonstrates the need that both policing and the IOPC recognise for a swifter system that maintains both public confidence and rigorous accountability.

‘That is why I welcome the recent changes to the law, introducing a presumption of anonymity for firearms officers during court proceedings until conviction and restoring the criminal test for the use of force in misconduct cases.’

On the night Mr Kaba died, police had followed and penned in the Audi that he was driving because it had been linked to three previous firearms incidents in five months.

They were not aware of his identity at the time, but Mr Kaba was a member of one of London’s most violent street gangs and was accused of being involved in two shootings in the six days before he died.

Following the previous decision to pause the proceedings, Mr Kaba’s family said they were ‘devastated’. 

‘Martyn Blake fatally shot Chris when he was unarmed and without knowing who he was,’ they added at the time. 

The satirical candidate is the Reform leader’s highest-profile opponent

Nigel Farage is gearing up to fight for his Clacton seat in a by-election after he announced his resignation as an MP on Tuesday afternoon. While the main parties have said they will not be fielding candidates, Count Binface has announced his intention to take him on.

The Reform UK leader officially resigned as MP for Clacton-on-Sea on Tuesday (July 7), confirming that he will stand in the resulting by-election in an attempt to win his seat back. The 62-year-old has come under intense pressure in recent weeks over claims of unregistered cash donations and support.

In a video statement posted online, Mr Farage said: “I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all.”

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The Reform UK leader is being investigated by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner over whether he should have registered a £5 million gift from cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne, which he said was needed to fund the security he required as a result of multiple threats against him. He has also faced questions over reports that long-term ally George Cottrell had provided undeclared funding in the year before he was elected.

Mr Farage insisted his £5m gift from Mr Harborne was given to him on an “unconditional basis” and has criticised the Sunday Times investigation into his finances, saying: “Standards are now being used as a political tool.”

The former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England dubbed the upcoming contest at the polls a “people versus the establishment” fight.

In the wake of Mr Farage’s announcement, several political parties declared they would not be standing candidates against him. Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain have all said they will not stand candidates in the poll.

The one candidate who appears to fancy the fight is Count Binface.

Who is Count Binface?

Count Binface – real name Jonathan David Harvey – is a self-described ‘intergalactic space warrior’ who has become a familiar face of British democracy in recent years.

Known for bringing a comic element to the ballot box, he describes himself as the leader of the Recyclons from the planet Sigma IX, and claims to be over 5,900 years old. His name and appearance – typically seen wearing a black and grey uniform with a long silver cape and a helmet shaped somewhat like a dustbin – were taken from a character in Todd Durham’s 1984 film Hyperspace, a low-budget parody of science fiction films such as Star Wars.

The waste-themed figure’s first brush with political parody came in 2017 when he ran as ‘Lord Buckethead’ against then-prime minister Theresa May in Maidenhead. Following the 2017 election, American filmmaker Durham contacted Harvey and asserted his ownership of the character.

In response, Harvey introduced a new character, Count Binface, and stood in the 2019 UK general election.

Whenever an election is declared, it has become commonplace to see the metallic-costumed candidate standing beside suit-and-tie politicians from the main parties.

Most recently, Binface was one of 14 candidates in the Makerfield by-election, standing against Andy Burnham. He stood on a manifesto that included forcing cyclists who break the highway code to ride unicycles, bringing back Ceefax, and renaming HS2 to FFS1.

Binface’s aim is to lampoon UK politics and poke fun at Westminster’s traditions. His campaigns, while comedic, often include pointed commentary on policy, political culture, and the limitations of the two-party system. In Makerfield, he campaigned on a pledge that elected mayors should be ineligible for Parliament until they have served their term in office.

Some of his other most notable policies include reducing the price of 99 Flake ice creams to 99p, introducing conscription for former prime ministers, and renaming London Bridge to “Phoebe Waller-Bridge” and Hammersmith Bridge to “Wayne Bridge“.

Declaring his intention to run against Farage in the Clacton by-election, Count Binface said: “I will be a unity candidate and pledge to build at least one affordable house. Nigel Farage says he wants the people versus the establishment. So be it. Leave him to me.”

After his announcement, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “My job is to celebrate and defend the wonders of British democracy.

“And look at this, eh? The fact that you are interviewing me on the Today programme, because all the other parties aren’t standing, says more about them than it does about me.

“Are they running scared from old Binny, or do they think that Nigel’s running a cunning stunt? And I pronounced that carefully at 8.55 in the morning.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves accepted Mr Farage’s request to be appointed steward and bailiff of the Manor of Northstead, the formal mechanism for him to resign, on Wednesday afternoon.

She said: “It is a farce and a desperate distraction, and the people of Clacton deserve better. But if he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won’t stop him.”

The head of the NHS has threatened any unauthorised staff member who views patient medical records with dismissal after he described the action as a “disgraceful breach of patient trust and against the law”.

Sir Jim Mackey’s strong remarks follow a series of investigations into healthcare workers accessing sensitive information without legitimate cause.

Last month, Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) launched an inquiry after approximately 40 staff members reportedly accessed the medical records of a three-year-old boy injured in a crocodile pit.

The trust has referred itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and is assessing whether each individual had a valid reason for viewing the child’s data.

Separately, CUH recently dismissed five employees for similar inappropriate access to patient records.

In the same period, a former healthcare worker received a caution from the ICO for attempting to obtain and sell the medical records belonging to the Princess of Wales.

In May, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) said “11 members of staff have been dismissed and a further 14 have had actions taken against them” for inappropriately accessing medical records of the Nottingham stabbing victims.

Students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, plus grandfather Ian Coates, were stabbed to death by Valdo Calocane in 2023.

Sir Jim said on Wednesday that looking at records for personal reasons or out of curiosity would not be tolerated by the NHS.

The health service has launched a new campaign to remind staff what constitutes unlawful access, the potential impacts on patients and how staff could end up losing their jobs.

Employers can report breaches to the ICO and the police, who can launch criminal prosecutions, as well as to professional regulators.

The guidance from the NHS also tells employers to ensure appropriate technical controls are in place to protect people’s information without stopping staff from doing their jobs.

These can include “role-based” controls so only those involved in a patient’s care can access records and multi-factor authentication.

Sir Jim said: “Patients must be able to trust that their personal information is kept confidential by the NHS – any instance of staff looking at records without a valid reason is wholly unacceptable, a disgraceful breach of patients’ trust and against the law.

“While the majority of NHS staff handle patient information responsibly and professionally every day, it’s been incredibly worrying that a small number have chosen to undermine the trust that patients place in them and caused such additional distress for families who deserved so much better from us.

“Anyone considering accessing records for personal reasons or out of curiosity should be in no doubt they could be putting their career at risk and may face disciplinary action, dismissal, referral to the regulator or even time in prison.

“We will not tolerate a culture of curiosity when it comes to patient confidentiality – there is no place in the NHS for those who misuse patient information and together we will take firm action to prevent and monitor unlawful access, and to act decisively when that occurs.”

Two 13-year-old girls have been seriously wounded and a 16-year-old suspect arrested after an attack at a secondary school in the southern German state of Bavaria on Wednesday, according to police and local media.

‘The arrested individual is a 16-year-old juvenile,’ police confirmed in a post on X, later adding that there ‘are no indications of additional individuals involved in the offence’. They later added that this was a ’16-year-old boy’.

While the full extent of casualties is still being clarified, the two girls were confirmed as ‘seriously’ wounded, after police initially said ‘several’ people were injured.

The perpetrator appeared to have deliberately targeted the Welfen grammar school in the town of Schongau in a suspected ‘rampage’, a police spokeswoman told AFP.

She was unable to confirm press reports according to which the assailant used a knife in the attack.

More than 15 patrol cars were dispatched to the Welfen-Gymnasium in Schongau, southwest of Munich.

A police spokesperson previously told Bavarian broadcaster BR there were indications of a possible shooting spree, as officers urged the public to avoid the area.

The alarm was raised around 12.50pm local time, during school hours.

More than 15 patrol cars were dispatched to the Welfen-Gymnasium in Schongau, southwest of Munich, according to police

The alleged perpetrator apparently attempted to flee the scene but was apprehended a short time later

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Investigators are currently determining whether the suspect is a current or former student of the school. Police said they are ‘currently assuming that the perpetrator acted alone’.

A police spokesperson told German outlet BILD: ‘We cannot rule out the possibility of a school shooting.’

The incident is believed to have taken place partly outside and partly in the immediate vicinity of the high school.

The alleged perpetrator apparently attempted to flee the scene but was apprehended a short time later. 

A police helicopter was deployed during the search for the suspect.

Schongau is a small town on the banks of the Lech River in western Upper Bavaria, just north of the Alps, with a population of more than 12,000 people.

Police advised the public to continue to stay away from the scene.

‘A major police operation is underway,’ they had warned in an earlier post. ‘We are on site with numerous forces.’

A support centre for relatives and parents of students has been set up at the fire station on Bahnhofstrasse. 

Security sources initially reported four injuries, but the total amount of victims has not yet been confirmed. 

Police said ‘several people’ were injured without giving an exact figure. 

Welfen-Gymnasium is part of a school complex. A secondary school and a middle school are also located nearby but were not affected. 

Last month, a 45-year-old man in an apparent child custody dispute was the suspected shooter at a shelter for mothers and children in northern Germany.

The shooting on June 29 left six people dead.

Several people were wounded and a suspect was arrested in an apparent violent attack at a secondary school in the southern German state of Bavaria on Wednesday, police said

Heavily armed police officers guard at the Welfen High School, Schongau, Germany

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The man ​had an appointment at the shelter in Stade, close to the port ​city of Hamburg, in the morning before opening fire midday.

All ⁠the victims – four women and two men – were employees of the facility. The ​man’s three-month-old daughter and the mother are safe.

Mass shootings are rare in Germany, ​especially when compared to the United States.

 In 2023, a gunman in Hamburg shot ​dead six people before killing himself at a Jehovah’s Witness worship hall. 

In 2016, an 18-year-old ‌German-Iranian ⁠man who was obsessed with mass killings killed at least nine people in Munich. 

While serious violence at schools is unusual in Germany, it is not unknown.

Last year, a 17-year-old seriously wounded a 45-year-old teacher at a vocational college in the western city of Essen and was shot by police before his arrest.

In 2002, a 19-year-old gunman killed 16 people, including 12 teachers and two pupils, at a school in the eastern city of Erfurt.

Have we finally found the one thing we can’t forgive Taylor Swift for? 

For a wedding that allegedly cost more than $20million, the strangest thing about the ongoing reaction to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s big day is how quickly the backlash moved on from the money. 

Yes, there has been the usual justified muttering about billionaire excess, private jets, celebrity guest lists, and whether anyone really needs to hire out Madison Square Garden to say ‘I do’.

But the criticism that appears to have cut through most forcefully is not that Taylor is too rich, too powerful, or too overexposed; it’s that she’s tacky.

That, somehow, seems to be the one allegation capable of denting the otherwise bulletproof public image.

And for me, that accusation is potent because it’s undeniably true. 

The latest detail to escape the tightly controlled nuptials is that one guest won a Chanel handbag in a wedding raffle.

Yes, a raffle. Like the things at summer fairs, where you can win a slab of local beef to keep in your freezer or a Wetherspoons gift card. 

The guest shared a picture of a pale pink ticket bearing Taylor and Travis’s monogram, with the bag sitting in the background. According to Chanel’s official website, the bag retails for $6,700 (£5000). 

It should scream classic and extravagant. The bag might, but the raffle has raised eyebrows. It is the epitome of the contradiction Taylor has stumbled into with this wedding.

Every new detail somehow manages to sound both eye-wateringly expensive and strangely…trashy.

It’s reminiscent of the weddings I remember from growing up in America, where the buffet was barbecue, the furniture was plastic folding chairs, and the budget was closer to $20 than $20 million. 

A bespoke Dior couture gown, Christian Louboutin shoes, and Cartier jewelry would look out of place at a wedding in the local community gym, just as much as a raffle and a buffet were incongruous with Taylor’s. 

It is the sort of clash that sends the internet into a full anthropological spiral, because we have become extremely good at judging wealth not just by how much of it someone has, but by whether they are performing it correctly.

There’s plenty of truth in the phrase ‘money can’t buy you taste’, and Taylor and Travis have proved that $20million can’t stop you being tacky. 

Because tacky things are very often expensive.

Taylor has always built her brand on a very specific kind of relatability. She is not an aloof, old-money fashion sphinx. 

She bakes, she hosts slumber parties, she likes cats, friendship bracelets, ranch dressing, handwritten notes, dark blonde hair with a girlish fringe, and aggressively earnest party themes.

Even as she has become unimaginably rich, she has continued to sell the fantasy that beneath the stadium tours and the billionaire status, she is still essentially the girl next door who felt awkward in high school.

For years, that has been Taylor Swift’s magic trick.

 She has somehow managed to be the biggest pop star on the planet while still feeling like the underdog – a fantasy that was front and centre of the couple’s vows.

According to a People source, Taylor spoke about how Travis was the popular high school athlete who ‘would go sit with the less-popular kids who were being bullied,’ adding that she wished she’d known someone like him when she was at school.

Even now, as a billionaire marrying one of the most famous athletes in America, Taylor’s instinct is still to cast herself as an outsider. 

It’s the story she’s always told best: not the prom queen, but the awkward outsider hoping someone will choose her.

For years, audiences happily accepted that contradiction because the emotional truth still rang true. You didn’t have to believe Taylor Swift was literally a high school loser for it to resonate. 

That’s always been her genius: making extraordinary success feel emotionally relatable.

But this wedding feels like the first time that balancing act has started to wobble. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile the image of the lonely girl eating lunch by herself with a woman hosting what is arguably the most lavish celebrity event of the decade. 

The financial outlay isn’t classless in itself—Taylor has been spectacularly wealthy for years—but for the first time, people seem less interested in questioning her authenticity than her taste. 

That’s an important distinction because authenticity is about whether people believe you. Taste is about whether they want to be you.

It’s a criticism that’s been quietly bubbling away for a while, from the mockery of cringe-inducing lyrics on her recent album like ‘You know how to ball, I know Aristotle,’ to a quiet disbelief from some fans that Travis Kelce — and all his dopey charm and history of problematic, misspelled Tweets — is truly the prince in shining armour she’s been pining for in all her music.

Now, we have the wedding buffet, the Chanel raffle, and every other supposedly ‘tacky’ detail. Together, they suggest the internet has stopped asking whether Taylor is still relatable and started asking whether her version of luxury is actually one people aspire to.

The issue is that society has grown much less forgiving of aesthetic missteps than moral ones. For celebrities, that’s often the beginning of the end of the fantasy.

We can argue endlessly about whether it is ethical for billionaires to exist, whether private jets are defensible, whether celebrity weddings should cost more than hospitals. 

Bad taste, however, is immediate. Everyone understands the humiliation of being judged as cringe. Everyone knows that ‘tacky’ is not just a criticism of an object, but of the person who chose it.

That is why this particular backlash rings so true to me.

It is not accusing Taylor of being evil, which her fans can easily dismiss as a bad-faith pile-on. It is accusing her of being embarrassing. Worse, it is accusing her of misunderstanding the very fantasy she has sold.

Taylor has spent two decades convincing us she was just like us. The wedding is the first time people have started asking whether they actually want to be her.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

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For several decades, Iran has devoted substantial financial, institutional and political resources to military expansion. It has invested heavily in supporting its regional partners, as well as in pursuing geopolitical influence across the Middle East.

Previously, the Islamic Republic has shown few signs of swivelling its resources toward fixing its ever expanding environmental problems.

And those problems are considerable. Around 11% of deaths and 52% of the burden of diseases across the country are attributable to environmental risk factors, according to the World Health Organization.

Excessive groundwater extraction has caused buildings and roads to crack and sometimes collapse. Iran’s capital Tehran is often ranked as having the worst levels of air pollution in the world. In 2025 local media reported 350 deaths caused by poor air quality within a ten-day period. Hospitals at the time reported rising numbers of cases of respiratory and cardiac complications across Iran.

Lake Urmia – once the Middle East’s largest saltwater lake – has dried out, leaving salt-laden dust plumes were capable of travelling hundreds of kilometres and even crossing national borders in less than 12 hours.

The peace agreement that is being hammered out between the US and Iran’s leaders could hand Tehran a significant financial asset. It may unfreeze Iranian assets in foreign banks that they were previously unable to access due to US sanctions. This will give the government access to billions of dollars. Iran is also now exporting millions of barrels of crude oil that had been held in storage during the conflict.

The question then is where will all this money be spent.

Many analysts suggest a massive reconstruction project is needed to rebuild damaged factories, roads, and other essential infrastructure. While it thought highly unlikely that Tehran will see environmental investment as its top priority, the approach could provide major economic benefits.

Iran is now using its groundwater far faster than it can be naturally replenished. As a result, major lakes and wetlands are drying up. Water shortages are undermining agriculture, and forcing some rural communities to leave their farms. Studies indicate that approximately 56,000 km2 (3.5%) of the country’s area is subject to land subsidence, caused by excessive groundwater extraction.

Air pollution imposes significant public health and productivity costs. This contributes to thousands of premature deaths each year, and reduces labour productivity through illness and absenteeism. Dust and salinity storms continue to hit many parts of the country. They damage crops and soils, increase respiratory disease, disrupt daily life, and make already vulnerable regions harder to inhabit.

À lire aussi :
Iran’s record drought and cheap fuel have sparked an air pollution crisis – but the real causes run much deeper

Rich rewards

When a state destroys its basic natural resources, it is not merely experiencing an ecological downturn. Natural systems (water, soil, ecosystems) are the foundations of any country. Without them, a nation has severely undermined its long-term economic output: farms disappear, road and rail systems crack and break, and people struggle to live.

A peace dividend from the US deal could therefore present Tehran with a rare moment of strategic re-evaluation and a chance to fix its long-term environmental problems. A different approach could generate long-term value, economic stability and, potentially, improved public health outcomes.

A serious national investment, and reconstruction, programme needs to focus on repairing leaking urban water networks, restoring wetlands and forests that regulate water and reduce dust storms. It could also upgrade ageing water and energy infrastructure, and redesigning cities to better withstand drought, extreme heat, and air pollution. It would also create jobs and mobilise high-skilled labour across engineering, science, manufacturing and technology sectors. This would begin reversing decades of damage to the natural systems on which Iran’s economy depends.

What needs work?

Restoring depleted aquifers, rehabilitating degraded land and modernising water and energy systems would increase the economy’s capacity to produce goods and services while reducing the long-term costs associated with environmental degradation.

Iran should see environmental restoration as its most important long-term growth strategy. A national investment programme could be centred on modern irrigation networks, wastewater recycling and reuse. These alongside renewable energy, and ecosystem recovery, would be a massive economic engine.

More efficient water use would strengthen food security. Investments in infrastructure would continue generating economic returns long after the initial capital has been spent.

Legal caps on groundwater abstraction, and economic diversification away from water-intensive crops are essential. Improved irrigation and wastewater reuse plus adjusting water pricing to reflect scarcity would also help.

This approach could not only be a valuable peace dividend for the Iranian people, but also a massive economic boost. Those financial benefits may have some appeal to a government which has ignored many of these environmental problems for so long.

It was a royal affair at Wimbledon this afternoon -as the Queen enjoyed a day out with her little sister Annabel Elliot alongside beaming newlyweds Peter and Harriet Phillips. 

Camilla, 78, showed off her bright summer wardrobe in a cerulean Anna Valentine dress – the same one she wore to the Ascot races last month – as she took in the action at SW19 on day 10 of the championship.

It’s a tradition for the siblings, who go to the sporting event nearly each year, sitting front and centre of the Royal Box.

Annabel, 77, channelled tennis whites in an ivory frock, standing by her sister as she was greeted by The All England Lawn Tennis Club Chair Deborah Jevans.

The King’s wife was all smiles as she greeted former British number one Heather Watson, as well as Ball Boy Zebedee, 15, and Ball Girl Aniya, 15.

She also spoke to Morag Ranford, who has spent 50 years working at Wimbledon in the press operations team, and Peter Dobson – who is this year retiring after 25 years of working as Safety Officer at the Championships.

Elsewhere, the Queen also met with Richard Gammage, CEO of City Harvest – a charity tackling food waste at this year’s sports event.

Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips, 48, meanwhile, was dapper in a light grey blazer and navy trousers, while his wife Harriet, 45, stunned in a £1,330 checked lime and blue ensemble from Emilia Wickstead.

It’s been a busy social calendar for the couple – who tied the knot in June – as they also joined the King and Queen for Ascot last month.

Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips, 48, meanwhile, was dapper in a light grey blazer and navy trousers, while his wife Harriet, 45, stunned in a £1,330 checked lime and blue ensemble from Emilia Wickstead

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The newlyweds were all smiles as they enjoyed the tennis together

Camilla looked to be in high spirits as she took in the action 

The royal carried a fan to deal with the heatwave this summer

She was joined by her sister, right, for day ten of Wimbeldon 

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The pair held an ‘intimate’ ceremony in the Cotswolds, in front of the King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family. 

Harriet looked resplendent in a white Emilia Wickstead gown and the Pragnell family tiara – and the pair were the picture of wedded bliss as they sealed their marriage with a kiss outside All Saints Church.

Harriet’s wedding train was held by her three bridesmaids, her daughter Georgina, 14, and Peter’s children, Isla, 14, and Savannah, 15, with former wife Autumn Kelly, who all looked elegant in floral garlands and matching white dresses from the same designer.

And last week, Tatler crowned them ‘the new royal couple to watch’.

It comes as yesterday, Camilla was out and about in East Sussex, as she visited Ashdown Forest near Hartfield to commemorate 100 years since the publication of the first Winnie the Pooh book in 1926.

Ashdown Forest was the inspiration for the original Hundred Acre Wood and former home of author, A. A. Milne.

The royal, who is Patron of the Royal Literary Fund, spoke with wellwishers and local school children for the event, as she was joined by Gyles Brandreth, who gave a reading.

Later, she was praised as a ‘real character’ and a ‘lovely lady’ after dropping in at a pub in Plumpton, nearby the area.

The 78-year-old visited The Half Moon Pub – which serves British classics and also doubles as a campsite – in the village where she grew up.

The King’s wife was all smiles as she greeted former British number one Heather Watson, as well as Ball Boy Zebedee, 15, and Ball Girl Aniya, 15 (pictured)

Camilla greeted other guests as she attended today

Camilla, pictured next to Deborah, was at the event with her sister

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It’s been a busy social calendar for the couple – who tied the knot in June – as they also joined the King and Queen for Ascot last month

Last week, Tatler crowned them ‘the new royal couple to watch’

Camilla was raised at Plumpton’s The Laines, the seven-bedroom property she once described as ‘perfect in every way’.

‘Lovely to have Queen Camilla for lunch today,’ the Facebook post for the pub read, before a later comment added, ‘A real character and lovely to welcome her. Such a lovely lady!’

King Charles’s wife, dressed in a bottle green floral dress, was pictured smiling alongside two staff members.

Social media users took to the comments section to share their thoughts, with one writing: ‘Terrific! Home again!’

A second said: ‘I saw the helicopter in the front field of the college as I drove past; I wondered who it was. Congratulations, very cool.’

‘Got stopped by a police motorbike just before the pub and I thought in my head it must be the Queen,’ said another.

And today, Camilla was all smiles as she joined her sister – who she is known to share a close bond with – for Wimbledon.

In December 2024, the Queen’s sister was full of praise for her sibling and described her as the King’s ‘rock’ for a  BBC One royal documentary following Charles’s first year as monarch, Charles III: The Coronation Year.

Annabel, who acted as one of her sister’s two Ladies in Attendance on the day of the Coronation, added: ‘She is his rock, and I can’t actually emphasise that enough.

‘She’s somebody who is completely loyal and she isn’t somebody who has huge highs and lows.’

But she stressed that it wasn’t a one-sided relationship, explaining: ‘He brings to her everything. I’m not talking about all of this [she said, referring to Buckingham Palace], but… he has such a knowledge and interest in so many different things, which she wouldn’t really have been open to if she hadn’t met him.

‘They are yin and yang, really. They really are polar opposites. But I think it works brilliantly.’

LONDON (AP) — The last woman to be executed in Britain, for gunning down her abusive lover outside a London pub more than 70 years ago, will be conditionally pardoned, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said Wednesday.

Ruth Ellis, a 28-year-old single mother and nightclub hostess, was hanged on July 13, 1955, for the murder of race-car driver David Blakely. She shot him outside the Magdala pub in the Hampstead neighborhood on April 10, 1955.

“While the pardon does not claim she was innocent of killing David Blakely, it replaces the death penalty with a sentence of life imprisonment to recognize a profound injustice in this exceptional case,” Lammy said.

The killing and trial caused a sensation, and Ellis became a cause celebre. When she went to the gallows, 1,000 people held a silent vigil outside Holloway Prison in north London.

Her case is believed to have changed British law. At trial, she was not allowed to argue that she acted because of the emotional impact of abuse. Two years after the hanging, Parliament passed a law allowing a diminished responsibility defense.

The pardon was sought by her grandchildren, who have long fought to reduce her conviction because the repeated sexual, emotional and physical abuse Ellis endured was not considered during the trial or afterward, when she could have been granted a reprieve from the death penalty.

“Justice has finally been done,” Laura Enston, a granddaughter, said in a statement. “This pardon does not undo what happened 71 years ago. It does not restore the lives that were broken — the children left behind, the years lost. But it says, formally and finally, that Ruth should not have been executed; that the justice system failed her. That acknowledgment matters profoundly to our family.”

Lawyers representing the family applied for the pardon last year by presenting evidence that Ellis likely suffered from what became known as “battered woman syndrome.”

Ellis and witnesses, including her friends and doctors, said Blakely threatened to kill her and she was covered in bruises from assaults in public and being pushed down stairs, the Mishcon de Reya law firm said. They said she was once struck so hard in the abdomen that it caused a miscarriage.

Bartlett will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court later this month

A father who violently shook his four‑week‑old son to death has been found guilty of murder.

Bristol Crown Court heard how medical experts concluded the baby suffered catastrophic head injuries while alone in Tony Bartlett’s care. The 39-year-old, from Axminster in Devon, caused the injuries to baby Atticus during an incident at the family home in Chard.

Bartlett and Atticus’ mother had returned home from a night out on July 16, 2022, to what the court was told was a “fit and healthy” baby, while the mother fed him alone downstairs. However, Atticus’ mother returned from upstairs to find her son looking “lifeless’ and taking his last unassisted breaths. Neighbours and paramedics tried their best to save Atticus, but after being rushed to hospital, he tragically died a week later.

The month-old boy was initially rushed to a hospital in Somerset before being transferred to the Bristol Royal Infirmary. He was recorded as having suffered severe internal injuries to his brain, spinal cord and ribs.

The injuries were in keeping with recent severe head trauma and were “at the most severe end of the spectrum’, the court was told.

“This is a devastating case in which a very young baby has lost his life as the direct result of a violent and cruel act. The loss of Atticus has had a profound effect on all those who loved him,” said Senior Investigating Officer, Det Supt Lorett Spierenburg, after the trial found Bartlett guilty.

“Tony Bartlett was alone with Atticus when he suffered these catastrophic injuries and the medical evidence gathered during the investigation proves he was solely responsible for causing them, despite his claims of innocence.

“Our thoughts are very much with Atticus’ family who’ve had to endure a lengthy and complex police investigation, followed by a trial. They’ve shown great dignity and courage throughout.

“Investigations like this are extremely harrowing and I’d like to thank all those who provided evidence and supported our investigation to establish the facts behind Atticus’ tragic death.”

Following a four-week trial at Bristol Crown Court, a jury on Wednesday (July 8) found him guilty of murder. He is due to be sentenced later this month. Bartlett will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Friday July 24.

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