The Duke of Edinburgh will be remembered almost as much for his wit as his service
Looking over the many, many tributes paid to the Duke of Edinburgh since his death last Friday, there were certain sentiments we always knew might crop up again and again. He was a man of duty and service, everyone understandably repeated; he was fiercely loyal to his wife and Queen, they rightly chorused; he had a quiet dignity and warm heart.
But they also almost all mentioned how the Duke was a relentless, fabled joker. In his comments in parliament yesterday, Boris Johnson, who must surely hope somebody says this about himself one day, admitted Prince Philip “occasionally drove a coach and horses through the finer points of diplomatic protocol [but] they overwhelmingly understood that he was trying to break the ice, to get things moving, to get people laughing and to forget their nerves.”
How to cook Easter lamb – four ways
Long and slow cooking yields meltingly soft meat, while quicker cuts can take bright, fresh flavours. Take your pick.
Choose bright flavours or a long, slow braise
Credit: Haarala Hamilton
As we build up to Easter Sunday, many of us will be looking to spring lamb for their celebratory meal – me included. There are so many different ways to treat lamb – serve it blushing pink with delicate spring flavours like lavender and soft herbs, or give it a more robust treatment in a rich, slow-braised dish.
Personally, I like going for larger, working cuts of lamb like shoulder and leg, which benefit from a low, slow-cooking to render all that fat down to produce a meltingly soft dish.
The inside story of how Lego became the target of an international heist
Far from being child s play, the humble bricks can go for big money, traded as investments. Now criminal gangs are looking to cash in
Toy stores now offer easy pickings for crime gangs, with lower risks and high rewards
It could be the scenario of a new
Lego Movie or an episode of
The Pink Panther.
A gang of Polish thieves check into a Paris hotel. In the dead of night, they carry out a series of raids on local toy stores, stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of Lego before driving back to Poland to sell their haul online.
Magnolia Ian s Red flowering in springtime at RHS Gardens Wisley, Surrey, England, UK
Credit: Graham Prentice
Our bedroom window in Sissinghurst looks east, so during the unbelievable sequence of perfect spring mornings that we have enjoyed day after day and week after week this year, we have looked out first thing to a sun rising behind the trees of the garden.
Several magnolias – all of them miraculously undamaged by either frost or rain – have glowed in that first sun as if full of lighted candles, the branches peering over the garden walls in what is undoubtedly the most beautiful spring that I have ever known.