Prince William says the UK should look for new trade deals

Prince William has told business leaders that the United Kingdom should look ahead to the future and ramp up efforts to strengthen its trading relations around the world.

Speaking at Lancaster House to launch the 2018 International Business Festival in Liverpool, the Duke of Cambridge announced his patronage of the event – which will bring together businesses from all over the world – before moving to stress the need to explore new trading opportunities.

“As we look to the future, we all recognise just how important it will be that we work to build connections with trading partners all around the world – strengthening links with old friends and creating new opportunities.

“The UK’s prosperity relies on its wealth of innovative and ambitious small and medium-sized businesses. Whenever I have had the chance to meet the people who run such enterprises, I have been struck by their ingenuity, drive and commitment. They demonstrate the best qualities of our national character.”

William also called on British firms to invest in developing a skilful generation through training and mentoring and help them find new opportunities to thrive.

“We know that one of the major challenges for business is access to a skilled workforce. The International Business Festival has a vital role in encouraging businesses to become further involved in the training and mentoring of young people in enterprise.”

Welcoming the statement, Max Steinberg, Chairman of the International Business Festival, said that the royal efforts would be “a huge boost to our presence in key international markets, helping us to attract even more delegations to Liverpool next June.”

The Prince’s comments are likely to be interpreted as a reference to trade deals that the UK look to clinch with Commonwealth and other countries after Brexit. His trips to Poland and German in June were referred to in the press as ‘charm offensive’ that the UK government is using as ‘soft power’ to explore post-Brexit opportunities.

In Germany, the Prince said the two nations wanted to establish a friendship that would last a lifetime.

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Duchess of Cambridge is Feeling Better, Says Prince William

Prince William revealed that his wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge has been feeling better since her third pregnancy was announced in early September.

Prince William was attending a reception and award ceremony for the Metropolitan and City Police Orphans Fund, of which he recently became Patron, and spoke to an elderly woman about Catherine’s condition.

“She’s been feeling better, thank you,” the Prince told the woman, Iris Orrell.

The Duchess of Cambridge has been suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum for the third time, a severe form of morning sickness. She previously suffered from the condition during the early stages of her pregnancies with Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

Prince William further questioned Orrell, who told him she’d also suffered severe morning sickness during her three pregnancies, about the toll.

“Did it get worse with each one?”

Some pundits wondered whether he was asking because the Duchess’s case was also more severe this time.

Prince William also revealed that Catherine had tried eating ginger biscuits to soothe her stomach but “there’s not much ginger can do to stop that. We’ve done all that.”

Prince William has spoken about Catherine’s pregnancy on several engagements this month, and a couple of weeks ago, a young boy named Archie Weatherall gave him an avocado during a visit to a swimming pool in Wallesey, Merseyside, as a gift for the Duchess to help soothe morning sickness.

Weatherall gave Prince William the avocado because his mother was also suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum and hoped it would work on Catherine as well.

“I’ve never been given an avocado before,” Prince William told the boy as he accepted the gift – wrapped in a green ribbon, too.

At the Metropolitan and City Police Orphans Fund reception, Prince William also met a young girl sporting a cat ear headband and quipped that Princess Charlotte would love it.

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Duchess of Cambridge Sends Message of Support for SportsAid Week

The Duchess of Cambridge has sent a message of support as SportsAid Week begins.

SportsAid is a charity that helps young athletes pursue their goals to become Olympians, Paralympians, and world champions via financial support. Founded in 1976, the charity helps young people at the “very start of their journey towards becoming the next generation of sporting heroes.

“The most talented young athletes throughout the United Kingdom show great levels of commitment and dedication as they aim to bring sporting success to our country in future years. The early part of this journey is a challenging one. Many of the athletes are still in education and reliant on their family for all the support a young sportsperson needs to allow them to train and compete,” reads the beginning of the Duchess’s message.

“SportsAid supports over 1,000 athletes every year from more than 60 different sports, and as Patron, I am very proud of the impact SportsAid has on these young people, helping to relieve the different pressures they each may face, while also giving them the self-belief and motivation to continue to pursue their ambitions.

“This year’s SportsAid Week will be an exciting few days and a great opportunity for everyone to show their support for our next generation of athletes.”

SportsAid Week is a new initiative for the charity, started last year to mark its 40th anniversary. All told, the charity raised £40,000 for its youth athletes. In the 2016-17 year, SportsAid helped 1,106 athletes between the ages of 12 and 18. Combined, 150 SportsAid alumni won medals at the Rio Olympics and Paralympics last summer.

Famous SportsAid alumni include Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Mo Farah, and Dame Katherine Grainger.

SportsAid Week kicked off 25 September and wraps up 1 October.

The Duchess of Cambridge has been Patron of SportsAid since 2013.

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Prince William remains tight-lipped after he is asked about a potential Harry & Meghan marriage

The Duke of Cambridge was forced to react to the news of his brother’s relationship with Meghan Markle after the topic came up in conversation during a visit to Milton Keynes.

During a visit to William Cowley Parchment Makers, the company’s general manager told the Duke: “If Prince Harry marries Meghan then his certificate will be in our vellum.”

Prince William avoided commenting but opted for an awkward laugh before moving the conversation along.

Speaking afterwards, Paul Wright who spoke to the Duke said the Prince laughed, but it was a “nice laugh.”

The Queen must give formal consent for a royal marriage, and this consent is made in a calf-skin document called the “instrument of consent”.

The document is made in Milton Keynes by William Cowley Parchment Makers.

Paul Wright said: “Any member of the royal family needs the permission of the Queen. It’s called the instrument of consent.

“There were instances where members of the royal family were marrying prostitutes – you can’t have that.

“We’re very lucky because we’re the only ones in the world so it could never be anyone else.

“It’s also certain acts of Parliament but not all acts of Parliament.

“If you do it on paper if you’re really, really lucky you get about 350 years – with this we’re talking 5,000 years plus.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made their first official appearance together in public at the Invictus Games on Monday.

Attending a wheelchair tennis match, Harry and Meghan arrived hand-in-hand at the venue and watched the sporting action from the stands.

The fifth-in-line to the throne and his actress girlfriend spoke to some of the athletes and those who were also spectating the tennis.

After the event came to an end, Meghan shook the hands of children who were spectating in nearby seats.

This appearance is significant as it marks the first time Prince Harry has taken his girlfriend of 18 months to an official event.

It will further spur rumours that the pair will soon become engaged.

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MP for Kensington brands the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as "ridiculous"

The newly elected and first ever Labour Member of Parliament for Kensington has given some serious criticism towards the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Emma Dent Coad made history when she became the first Labour MP to be elected in Kensington, the UK’s richest constituency. With a slim majority of just 20 votes, she won the Kensington seat after the general elections in June. It is no secret that the Labour MP is a convinced republican.

On Monday she attended a pro-republican event entitled “Reigning in the Monarchy” in London. There she spoke of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the most famous residents of Kensington. In a conversation with delegates, she said about the monarchy: “The system is ridiculous,” adding “We should not be funding them.”

After some comments on the monarchy in general, Ms Dent Coad also targeted the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who live in Kensington Palace. The MP thought it was absolutely “disgusting” that the Duchess of Cambridge bought jumpers at the cost of £150 each, saying: “That’s a food bill for a family of four.”

She called this “absolutely outrageous,” before commenting that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are ridiculous.

After criticising the monarchy and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, she also attacked the BBC.

Ms Dent Coad said that the BBC “is a piece of the whole propaganda machine” which produces “sickeningly gratuitous coverage of anything royal”. Instead of being neutral, she added that the BBC is “very heavily directed by right-wing politics and the monarchy”.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge recently moved permanently to their apartment at Kensington Palace in the heart of the borough. Their Royal Highnesses are said to be taking on more official engagements in the future, and therefore the permanent move to Kensington was said to be necessary.

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The Duke of Cambridge reveals that Prince George is "fed up" with school

Despite only being two weeks into his educational journey, it appears Prince George is already fed up of school having found it heavy going.

During a visit to Milton Keynes, the Duke of Cambridge told a fellow parent: “I just dropped George off and he didn’t want to go.”

Prince William, who drops George off to school every day, hinted that like many parents, getting the four-year-old into school in the morning is no easy task.

The Duke was speaking to 31-year-old Louise Smith who chatted to the Prince after he came over to meet her two young children.

She said: “It was really exciting meeting William. He told me he’d just dropped Prince George off at school and he didn’t want to go. Sounds a bit like mine really.”

The Duke of Cambridge spent Tuesday in Milton Keynes to celebrate the town’s 50th anniversary.

Prince George attends the £18,000 per year Thomas’s School Battersea and was dropped off by his father on his first day earlier this month.

The young Prince is known as George Cambridge to his classmates. Thomas’s Battersea’s motto is “be kind” and requires that students “not just to tolerate but to celebrate difference, including faith, beliefs and culture.”

In addition to traditional subjects, George will be taught French, ballet, drama, art, and physical education at the fee-paying independent school.

George’s mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, has said in the past that she does not think her son “has any idea what’s going to hit him” as he begins school.

Maud Windsor, the daughter of Lord and Lady Frederick Windsor, also attends Thomas’s Battersea. She is the granddaughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

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