yours_issue_142

Grans

matter

By Alison James mong all the accolades, acknowledgements and acclamations of admiration the Queen is receiving in this, her Diamond Jubilee year, there are a small number of them that touch her heart like no others. They come, not from world leaders nor dignitaries, but from those to whom she is, first and foremost, ‘Granny’.

Prince Harry was right on the money when he spoke of his grandmother during his recent trip to the Jamaica. “She’s a fantastic woman,” he said. “She’s Queen as everyone knows but, to me, she’s just Granny.”

‘Just Granny’ has eight grandchildren in total: Peter (34) and Zara (31), the children of Princess Anne; William (29), and Harry (27), the children of Prince Charles; Beatrice (23), and Eugenie, (22), the daughters of Prince Andrew; and Louise (eight) and James (five), the children of Prince Edward. Plus, there are two great grandchildren – Peter’s daughters, Savannah (15 months) and Isla Elizabeth (two months). As mother to her own four children, it has sometimes been said that Her Majesty was, at times, distant and preoccupied with her duties as Queen when they were growing up – particularly when Charles and Anne were small. But she is a doting grandmother. This was

A

NOT AN ORDINARY GRANNY She may be Her Majesty The Queen, but to eight people Elizabeth II is also a much-loved grandmother

Special bond: ‘Lilibet’ with her beloved Grandpa England and Queen Mary in1933

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Happy Jubilee from Yours

Above, the Queen with Zara and Peter at Windsor in1984 and left, sharing a joke with a grown-up Zara

apparent when Peter, her first grandchild, was born in 1977.

According to author Nicholas Davies in his biography, Elizabeth Behind Palace Doors, the Queen couldn’t get enough of her new little grandson. “Elizabeth would walk slowly along the corridors of Buckingham Palace, holding three-year-old Peter’s hand and pointing out to him the names of the men and women in the huge portraits that hung there. She would spend 20 or 30 minutes explaining the relationship of the

various people, as though giving him a history lesson.

Peter, who obviously had no idea what his grandmother was talking about, was happy to toddle along holding her hand.”

Even Princess Anne, Peter’s mother, seemed to be surprised by their relationship.

“The first time I saw them together, I couldn’t believe my eyes,” she’s quoted as saying in Davies’ book. “There was my mother with my child and behaving as if she was really enjoying herself.”

Three decades on, and it’s

‘She’s a fantastic woman.

As everyone knows she’s Queen, but to me she’s just Granny’ Prince Harry clear the Queen enjoys just as close and loving a relationship with all her grandchildren. She and Prince Philip recently had a night out at the theatre with Peter and his wife, Autumn, she talks horses with Zara and requested an iPad when she’d had a go on Harry’s.

The Queen has never spoken publicly about her feelings for her grandchildren, but actions speak louder than words ever could.

Take, for example, her instinctive feelings of protectiveness towards her grandsons, William and Harry, when their mother was killed in August 1997. They were the reason she initially insisted on staying at Balmoral rather than returning to London. She felt that William and Harry needed peace and quiet at this traumatic time of their lives. When she broadcast to the nation on the eve of Diana’s funeral, she referred to herself as

‘A grandmother who’s speaking from the heart.’ On a happier note, pictures speak louder than words, too. There are so many delightful images of the Queen with her grandchildren in which their mutual affection is clear to see.

And, as with many grandparents, The Bank of Granny has come in handy, too.

She gave William the nugget of Welsh gold which Kate’s wedding ring was fashioned from and paid for Zara’s £40,000 wedding reception last July.

God Save the Queen and thank goodness for Granny!

Happy Jubilee from Yours

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PICS: GETTY IMAGES; REX FEATURES

Our dear Granny: from childhood to the present day, the Queen has been a rock in the lives of Princes William and Harry

Look what we m a Here are the enchanting winners of our ‘Make a Card for the Queen’ competition arlier this year we asked you to get the children in your life to get crafty to help celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. And you obliged! The last couple of months have been a joy, looking at the wonderfully imaginative entries that arrived with every post.

Thank you to grandchildren, schoolchildren and Brownie packs everywhere! Here are the winning entries in every category – and a few extra ones that we just had to let you see.

We will be sending all the entries to Buckingham Palace so the Queen will be able to admire the artwork and enjoy reading the messages from some of her youngest, but most enthusiastic subjects.

E

✤ Ella McCartney, aged 8. Sent in by: Maureen Tunstall, Lymm, Cheshire

8 TO11YEARS ▼

Winner

Runners up

▼

Regan Dolly Stokes, aged 8 Sent in by: Sheila Dorman, Trowbridge, Wilts

Emily Jenkins, aged 11 Sent in by: Hilda Lay, Wimborne, Dorset Ella McCartney, aged 8 Sent in by: Maureen Tunstall, Lymm, Cheshire (far right)

Highly commended ✤ A special mention to Cobden Primary School, Loughborough, whose six and seven-year-olds sent in a lovely batch of cards and took the opportunity to ask the Queen a few questions too, such as ‘How many windows does your Palace have?’

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Happy Jubilee from Yours

✤ Emily Jenkins, aged 11. Sent in by: Hilda Lay Wimbourne, Dorset

ade you, Ma’am!

7 AND UNDER ▼

Winner

Runners up

▼

Clara Salt, aged 3 Sent in by: Geoff Wheeler, Flyford Flavell, Worcs

Jude Beecroft, aged 4 Sent in by Anne Beecroft, Cottesmore, Rutland George Baldwin, aged 6 Sent in by Rita Cardone, Heston, Middx (far right) , aged lda Lay, rset

12 TO15 YEARS ▼

Winner

Runners up

▼

Lydia Baldwin, aged 13 Sent in by: Hilary Smith, Lightwater, Surrey

Amy Birch, aged 12 Sent in by Mrs A Williams, Sandown, Isle of Wight Kylie Lofkin, aged 12 Sent in by: Mrs Gough, Stoke-on-Trent (far right)

All winners receive fabulous, age-appropriate crafting prizes from Hobbycraft.

For information and store locations, visit www.hobbycraft.co.uk

Happy Jubilee from Yours

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Special occasion OUTFITS

…for every shape and budget Let’s celebrate in style this summer with perfect pieces for every occasion By Jo Winch

FLATTERING BIAS CUT

STYLIST: JO WINCH; PHOTOS: RUTH JENKINSON; HAIR & MAKEUP: ANNA THOMPSON

MATCHING GOLD JACKET

✤ Poppy print dress, £39.50, 12-24, David Emanuel at Bon Marche

✤ Navy floppy hat, Jasper Conran at Debenhams, £60 40

Happy Jubilee from Yours

✤ Bias cut dress, £179, 10-24, Jacques Vert

✤ Hat £99, Jacques Vert

✤ Colour block dress, £54, 8-20, M&Co (jacket available)

✤ Pink hat, £38, Accessorize

Disguise a big tummy Heide wears: Dress, £60, 8-24, Littlewoods; fascinator, £12, Accessorize; shoes, £27, 3-7, Bhs; bag, model’s own.

Style notes

MADE FOR PETITE FRAMES

Flatters all figures Sue wears: dress and jacket, £99, 10-28, Berkertex at Isme; fascinator, Accessorize, £30; shoes, £45, 4-9 eee fit, Viva la Diva at Simply Be; bag, Accessorize, £25; necklace, £4, George at Asda ✤ Orange floral dress, £59, 8-20, M&Co

✤ Floral dress £99, 6-18, Precis

BARGAIN BUY ✤ Tunic style dress, £22, s-xl, Tu at Sainsburys

✤ Long sleeve dress, £49.50, 8-22, Marks & Spencer

Turn over for more ideas on dressing to impress Happy Jubilee from Yours

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Good to know

| IT’S A FACT |

Best buy

Don’t have tickets for the London 2012 Olympics? There will be lots of free entertainment across the UK, with big screens and local community events, as well as live coverage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Find out more at www.london2012.

WIN Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream!

Tuck into one of Ben & Jerry’s brand new Fairtrade flavours – Karamel Sutra, Berry White & Dough-ble Whammy, from Tesco. Ten readers will get a £4.99 voucher for a 500ml tub. For a chance of winning, send a postcard* marked Yours/Ben & Jerry’s, to the Yours address by June 12.

com/live-sites

Watching the

pennies

| DID YOU KNOW?| Coffee costs us a staggering £15,600 in our life time. Some 69 per cent of Brits get a take-away coffee up to five days a week, spending from £1 to £5 a time. Instead, save money with a cafetière for home and a flask for away! Source: Douwe Egberts 62

Happy Jubilee from Yours

Cash in the attic Paragon produced its first commemorative wares in 1911 for the Coronation of George V. The company is best known for its very high-quality loving cups.

Typically richly decorated in gilt and vibrant colours, they have enormous appeal to collectors. As they were produced in limited editions, they can be hard to find and are priced accordingly. Different sizes were produced for some events, and larger pieces are rarer and more desirable. These mugs should appreciate over time, providing the market remains popular. This 1953 Queen Elizabeth II Coronation commemorative bone china loving cup is valued at £300 to

00 £3 400

£400. The Diamond Jubilee is more likely to make other jubilee and royal memorabilia more desirable, so it may be a good time to sell.

Source: millersonline.com

Consumers will be told once a year by their energy company if they could be on a cheaper tariff, so saving them up to £100 a year and making it easier for people to shop around for cheaper deals.

You will only be told your current provider’s cheapest deal, though – so shop around using Yours Switching Service on 0800 008 7777 or www.energyhelpline. com/yours Source: guardian.co.uk

Best buy

Ask Michael...

Don’t automatically buy a new item – weigh up how many times you will use it and rent instead.

New website rentMyItems.com offers many items for hire, from wallpaper steamers and camping equipment to wedding outfits and handbags – so you can save money and recycle. Register for free at www.rentmyitems.com

The Yours money expert Michael Wilson answers your questions

| IT’S A FACT | Insurer LV= (0800 681 6272) has scrapped its upper age limit on car insurance, so motorists can drive if they are fit and able.

It used to refuse cover to drivers over the age of 86 unless they

GREENWATCH Unlike other cleaners, Dettol’s new Power and Pure leaves no harsh chemical residues.

It’s available in wipes (36s/72s) or spray (750ml), with prices from £2.03. We have 20 sets to give away. To have a chance of winning, send a postcard* marked Yours/Dettol to the address on p3 by June 12.

were existing policyholders.

Many insurers have upper limits, but Saga (0800 068 8718) and RIAS (0800 561 0712) don’t.

I am 85 years old and in 1983 I took out a loan for £4,000 through the Midland Bank. I can’t have understood the loan properly because, 29 years later, I still owe £1,889.34. Can this be right? And, when I die, will my children have to repay the loan?

Q

Michael says: When we spoke on the phone you mentioned you had paid the ‘minimum amount’ each month for 29 years and that you have never missed a payment. That’s some record. Your reference to a minimum amount made me feel this is more like a credit card debt, rather than an ordinary bank loan. The latter would normally be for a specific number of years.

On the face of it, this doesn’t seem right at all. You did mention you had called into the bank branch some time ago, but they said there is nothing they can do to help.

With your permission, I’m getting in touch with the bank (now HSBC) to find out exactly where you stand with this loan and whether it really is necessary for you to continue with the monthly repayments. I hope to report further in a future column.

Concerning your children, you did mention that your estate will have no value to speak of.

Therefore, if there is nothing for your children to inherit, there will be no obligation on them to repay the loan.

So, at least, that is one less thing to worry about.

Source: moneywise.co.uk *If you do not wish to be contacted in the future by Yours magazine, write No Further Contact clearly on the postcard.

››

Now visit www.yours.co.uk for more great money-saving tips

››

Next issue: A ploughman’s lunch on the go for just £2.50!

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PICS: FLASK: ETHOS; ISTOCKPHOTO; GETTY IMAGES. WORDS: SARAH JAGGER.

Yours cash saver

Patriotic pillow Why not have a go at making this Union Flag cushion in honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee?

Allow: 1 Hour Skill Level: Beginner

You will need:

✤ 50cm (20in) blue gingham fabric ✤ 25cm (10in) red patterned fabric ✤ 120cm (48in) red satin ribbon ✤ 25cm (10in) white felt ✤ 240cm (95in) length white ric-rac braiding ✤ Heat ‘n’ Bond No-Sew ✤ White thread ✤ Iron 1 Cut two 40cm (15in) square panels from the gingham and set one aside.

2 Cut the following, and iron Heat ‘n’ Bond strips to the reverse of each: • 2 x 56cm (22in) red ribbon • 4 x 56cm (22in) ric-rac • 2 x 40cm (16in) lengths of red fabric 6cm (2½in) wide (or rip for a frayed-edge look) • 2 x 40cm (16in) lengths of white felt 8cm (3in) wide

3 Bond the above to the cushion by ironing on in the following order: Both ribbons, diagonally, all ric-rac, diagonally, both pieces white felt in a cross, both red pieces in a cross.

4 Place two panels back to back, pin and sew a seam around three sides 1cm (½in) in from the edge.

››

Now visit www.yours.co.uk for lots more ideas to help you get crafty!

››

Insert pad and slip stitch seam closed.

Hints and tips Alternatively, you could make an envelope-type back to the panel, which overlaps and enables pad to be removed from cover for washing.

Project and photography courtesy of Hobbycraft www.hobbycraft.co.uk

Next issue: Knit a sweet cardigan for your princess

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1952-2012

Yours Magazine celebrates 60 glorious years

Queen The

in her own words...

... and yours

Queen The

Leading by example: Princess Elizabeth drove an ambulance as part of her wartime duties in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (1945)

in her own words...

NOVEMBER 20,1947 Happy and glorious: Elizabeth married The Duke of Edinburgh in Westminster Abbey

1940s

War and marriage ❝

NOVEMBER14,1948 The birth of Prince Charles came a year later…

Princess Elizabeth dedicated her life to the service of the Commonwealth

❝

1947

If we all go forward together with an unwavering faith, a high courage, and a quiet heart, we shall be able to make of this ancient Commonwealth, which we all love so dearly, an even grander thing – more free, more prosperous, more happy and a more powerful influence for good in the world – than it has been in the greatest days of our forefathers. To accomplish that we must give nothing less than the whole of ourselves. There is a motto which has been borne by many of my ancestors – a noble motto, ‘I serve’.

WH EN I ME T TH E QU EEN ...

Happy Jubilee from YOURS

In 1947, Princess Elizabeth visited Tavistock in Devon where I lived.

Mum and I set off early and found a space behind the rope. I couldn’t believe my eyes when she passed so close to me and my friend Ruth and I could have touched her. But I was disappointed, as I had expected her to be wearing a beautiful dress and tiara! Later, I noticed this photo among a display of her visit – and I’m the girl in the dark coat with the ribbon in her hair.

Barbara Pine, Yelverton, Devon

In 1948, the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, visited Caernarvon. My Girl Guide troop travelled by coach from Llandudno and on arrival assembled in a large hall. The Guide in charge said to me: “You will carry the flag” to which I replied, “I don’t want to!” (I was about 12.) In a very loud voice, she said: “A Guide obeys orders!”

So I then left my friends to stand at the side of the road and lowered the flag as the Princess passed by.

The long wait was worth it to see such a beautiful Princess.

Margaret Parkes, Llandudno

AUGUST15,1950 A second child, Anne, was welcomed into the family

1953 A happy occasion, but tinged with sadness

1950s

young Queen ❝ – a new Elizabethan era ❝ 1953

Her Coronation Day speech reflected on the day, broadcast on the evening of June 2, 1953

The ceremonies you have seen today are ancient… but their spirit and meaning shine through the ages never, perhaps, more brightly than now. I have in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine… I have in my parents and grandparents an example which I can follow with certainty and with confidence.

I remember the children from my street dressing up and taking part in local What the Queen celebrations. We had a means Coronation maypole and She should be applauded for setting wore costumes made an example of impeccable behaviour, from crêpe paper. Our and shouldn’t even consider abdicating crowns were edged until she has beaten Queen Victoria’s with cotton wool ‘fur’. record of 64 years on the throne!

I am third from the right and the ‘Queen’ and her Mr J Rutherford, escort were my cousins.

Sevenoaks, Kent Mrs Josie Rawson, Selston, Notts

to me

❝

Part of Elizabeth’s Declaration of Accession speech, made in February 1952

❝

1952

By the sudden death of my dear father, I am called to assume the duties and responsibility of Sovereignty… My father was our revered and beloved head as he was of the wider family of his subjects. The grief which his loss brings is shared among us all… I pray that God will help me to discharge worthily this heavy task that has been laid upon me so early in life.

This photo was taken on Coronation Day when I was eight. Mum had made part of my dress from crêpe paper, but when we played musical chairs, it ripped, leaving me in floods of tears!

Chris Davies, Wadebridge, Cornwall Happy Jubilee from YOURS

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PICS: OPENING PAGE CAMERA PRESS; THIS PAGE GETTY IMAGES; ALAMY; CAMERA PRESS; REX FEATURES

The

with the

grandchildren Help your young ones bake for the Jubilee celebrations and make a gift for Fathers’ Day Jubilee Cookies You will need: (makes 10-12 cookies) • 250g (9oz) butter, room temperature • 100g (4oz) caster sugar • 1 egg • ½ tsp almond extract • 300g (10¾ oz) plain flour To decorate: Ready-roll Regal icing – 250g (9oz) each of red, white and blue

Take these cookies to your local street party

STREET How to make…

PARTY 1 Preheat your oven to FARE 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

Line a flat sheet with baking parchment.

2 Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the egg then add the almond extract. Add the flour and mix well.

3 Cover and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

4 Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to 0.5cm (¼in) thickness. Using a knife, cut into rectangles about 9x6cm (3½x2½in) in size.

5 Place the biscuits on a baking tray with a pallet knife, taking care to keep them in shape. Bake for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To decorate: 1 Roll out the white icing and cut out rectangular shapes to fit the cookies.

Paint the back with a little water then place the icing on top of the cookies.

2 Cut the remaining shapes out of the red and blue icing (using the picture as a guide) and assemble in the same way.

PICS: ALAMY

Project courtesy of Hobbycraft, www.hobbycraft.co.uk

Rainy day ideas...

✤ Children’s trivia set Keep lively youngsters entertained on a rainy day with a trivia challenge.

Age range sevenplus. From £9.97 Tesco, www. tesco.com

✤ Money box Encourage saving for a rain day in a Union Jack money box!

From Poundland

Fathers’ Day photo card You will need: It’s June17 – • Lightweight craft card don’t let them forget!

• Scissors • Craft knife • Photos • Clear tape • Paper clips 1 Write an outline of the word DAD directly on to the coloured card and cut out (use the image as a guide).

2 Using a craft knife, cut out the middle parts of each letter. Trim the photos to fit the openings, make them slightly larger than the holes; tape them behind the cut-outs.

3 To make the frame stand up, bend open two paper clips and tape the small sides to the backs of the letters at the bottom.

Project courtesy of Martha Stewart’s Crafts for all Occasions RRP £19.99

£9.99

£1

✤ Chomp by Carl Hiaasen A hilarious tale that will keep children aged ten and over amused when the great British summer makes it too wet to play outside.

Published by Orion

Happy Jubilee from Yours

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