The May Wedding Warriors Meeting is upon us. My how time flies!
Further Details:
Dude! Sweet! See you there, Party People!
Month: April 2011
Posh in Purple? The Queen in a Yellow Hat? Would you put money on it?
Apparently all sectors of the British economy are being boosted by Royal wedding fever: even the bookies are raking it in. Will Prince William be forced to wait at the altar due to excessive train fluffing? Will Carole Middleton (mother of the bride) chew gum? Will Prince Harry be too drunk to finish his speech? Weigh the likelihood and shell out accordingly.
All bets are on for royal wedding wagers
By Julien Girault (AFP) – 2 days ago
LONDON — British bookmakers are having a field day taking bets on every aspect of the royal wedding, from the first dance to the Queen’s hat — and Prince Philip nodding off during the ceremony.
Betting shops, an institution on every British high street, regularly offer “specials” on politics and reality television programmes alongside the usual sporting staples of football and horse racing.
And major chains wasted no time offering a vast range of odds on the wedding once Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement in November.
“If it’s not exciting enough for viewers at home, we’re giving them the chance of an additional thrill on the big day,” Ladbrokes betting chain spokesman Alex Donohue told AFP.
“We’re definitely reaching new customers. Lots of women are coming this time to bet on the colour of the Queen’s hat and who is going to be there. There are many men as well who usually don’t bet.”
Betting on the Queen’s hat is a regular Ascot races punt. Yellow is the 5-4 favourite for the wedding. Elsewhere in the headwear stakes, punters reckon Middleton will wear a traditional tiara.
But it’s not just the royals being bet on.
Purple is the 4-1 favourite colour for pop star guest Victoria Beckham’s dress.
ok…really? Yep, I just re-read the excerpt and we really are betting on what an ex-Spice Girl is wearing. Someone on high had better save us all, not just the Queen!
to place your bets (in the UK that is) http://betting.ladbrokes.com/en/royal-wedding-bets
Tulip Tragedy at the Royal Wedding! Off With Their Heads!
Woe is the fate of these poor tulips, casualties of Royal Wedding Fever. This article from London’s Daily Mail makes me sad, and kind of irritated – read on to see how a gift of replacement flowers was rebuffed. I think the gardening company involved should tell the Royal Gardeners to sod off.
Off with their heads! 28,000 wilting tulips to be cut down and not replaced
Blooming awful: The unusually hot weather has caused the tulips to start shedding petals early
Thousands of red tulips planted in the gardens in front of Buckingham Palace and expected to bloom in time for the Royal Wedding will be cut down after wilting in the hot weather.
The 28,000 flowers were planted last October but have blossomed too early.
Now staff from Royal Parks – the organisation that maintains all of the capital’s most famous parks – plan to chop the heads off the drooping tulips before the wedding, and say they cannot afford to replace them because of recent Government cuts.
The sight of the decapitated flowers in the Queen Victoria Memorial Gardens could be a major embarrassment as the eyes of the world will be on the Palace on Friday.
Yet when two of Britain’s largest flower suppliers offered to donate 20,000 red geraniums to replace the tulips, they were turned down.
Royal Parks said geraniums were too small to be a like-for-like replacement for the tulips and would be dwarfed by the 29,000 other flowers already there.
Delamore, one of the biggest bedding-plant retailers in Britain, and Thompson & Morgan, which says it is the UK’s largest plant and seed company, made the offer.
They said they would split the £4,000 cost of the geraniums because they both hold Royal Charters and felt obliged to help Royal Parks out of its predicament.
Wayne Eadie, owner and director of Delamore, said: ‘It’s a great shame because we really wanted to help. It’s also a shame that cutbacks at Royal Parks mean it can’t do something about this situation itself.
‘We were hoping to inject red into the beds and therefore have the colour of the cross on the English flag greeting the Royal couple as they return from Westminster Abbey.’
The tulips were planted last October along with wallflowers in red and yellow, and blue forget-me-nots.
Unseasonably hot weather caused the tulips to bloom three weeks early, with the result that yesterday most of the petals’ colour was fading from deep crimson to dark purple. Some of the tulips had shed their petals entirely.
Gardeners’ World: The Queen Victoria Memorial Gardens outside Buckingham Palace will be seen by millions on TVThe Royal Horticultural Society’s adviser, Guy Barter, said: ‘The problem with tulips is that they are a one-shot deal.
‘Once they come out, that is that. In this weather their bloom will last only a couple of days and it could take only a week for all of their petals to be shed.
‘Royal Parks has obviously given it its best shot, but even the best-laid plans can be thwarted by hot weather.’
Royal Parks, which is overseen by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, says its budget has been cut by 36 per cent this year.
A Royal Parks spokesman said: ‘The tulip blooms will indeed soon be over due to the unseasonably warm weather we are experiencing at present, and these will be removed before the end of the week. However, the tulips form only part of the bedding display.
‘Vibrant colour is provided by the 29,000 wallflowers and 4,000 forget-me-nots, all of which are expected to be in full bloom on the day.
‘The kind offer of geraniums is incredibly generous. However, the colour and cover provided by the existing display would surpass any new planting conducted at this time of the season.’
Buckingham Palace declined to comment.