Britain braces for the other ‘royal wedding’

Azeri banker’s wife targeted

L0NDON, Oct 10, (Agencies): Five months on from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s fairytale nuptials, the time has come for “the other” royal wedding – the one no one seems to want to pay for or watch.

When Queen Elizabeth II’s granddaughter Princess Eugenie walks down the aisle Friday in Windsor Castle to marry Jack Brooksbank, a “commoner” with blue-blood friends, the critics will be out.

For Britain is still gaga over Meghan, the glamorous US actress who married the queen’s grandson in a Windsor wedding watched by the masses in Britain and around the world in May.

Some even reminisce about the sunny afternoon in 2011 when Prince William, second in line to the throne, married Kate, whose grace stirred memories of the late Princess Diana.

Princess Eugenie of York, along with her 30-year-old sister Beatrice, are by contrast unhappily famous for wearing peculiar hats, with the flamboyant numbers they picked for Prince William’s wedding making a particularly lasting impression.

The 28-year-old princess Eugenie, is the ninth in the long line of succession. One public petition protesting the wedding’s cost – the security bill is estimated at £2 million ($2.6 million, 2.3 million euros) – dismissed her as a “minor royal”.

The BBC, which takes its royal weddings seriously, reportedly caused a Buckingham Palace ruckus by refusing to broadcast this one live, fearing a ratings flop.

The live feed was picked up by the smaller, commercial ITV – but only, according to The Times, after being badgered into it by Eugenie’s father, Prince Andrew.

Adding to the ignominy, a pub hotel directly opposite the castle that sold out long in advance for Prince Harry and Meghan was actually discounting rooms for Friday night.

Meanwhile, Prince George and Princess Charlotte will be among the pageboys and bridesmaids at the wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank.

Five-year-old George and 3-year-old Charlotte, the elder children of Prince William and his wife Kate, will join children including 7-year-old Savannah Phillips, 6-year-old Isla Phillips and 4-year-old Mia Tindall – all great-grandchildren of Queen Elizabeth II – and Theodora Williams, 6-year-old daughter of pop star Robbie Williams and his wife Ayda Williams.

Buckingham Palace said Wednesday that Eugenie has asked elder sister Princess Beatrice to be her maid of honor. The best man will be Thomas Brooksbank, the groom’s brother.

Princess Eugenie

‘Anti -graft’ targets Azeri banker’s wife:

The first target of new British powers to combat the proceeds of suspected corruption is the wife of a jailed Azeri banker who spent more than 16 million pounds ($21 million) at department store Harrods, London’s High Court has revealed.

An anonymity order was lifted after Zamira Hajiyeva, the wife of the former chairman of Azerbaijan’s largest bank, last week lost an appeal against an attempt by authorities to seize two properties worth about 22 million pounds using an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO).

The onus is now on the owner to show that any asset worth more than 50,000 pounds was obtained by legitimate means, rather than for police to have to prove it was obtained illegally.

Hajiyeva’s husband Jahangir Hajiyev, who was chairman of state-owned International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) from 2001 to 2015, was convicted by an Azeri court in 2016 of fraud and embezzlement and sentenced to 15 years in jail.

The Azeri finance ministry said about $3 billion could have been misappropriated by Hajiyev, who denied the charges.

Prep for no-deal Brexit – EU officials:

Top EU officials were warned Wednesday to make plans to cope with the fallout from a “no-deal” Brexit as their chief negotiator said talks with Britain must make more progress before next week’s crunch summit.

EU Brexit pointman Michel Barnier and Martin Selmayr, the powerful head of the EU Commission’s bureaucracy, briefed commissioners on progress just a week before the Oct 18 meeting that has been dubbed a “moment of truth.”

According to spokesman Margaritis Schinas, Barnier “recalled that decisive progress must be made in time for the October European Council next week and negotiations at technical level will continue this week.”

Selmayr meanwhile “provided a brief update on the state of play of the Commission preparedness work and recalled the importance for all stakeholders to prepare for all outcomes and at all levels.”

Argentina protests British exercises:

Argentina has made a formal protest with the British embassy in Buenos Aires to reject Britain’s military exercises in the Falkland Islands, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

The two countries fought a war in 1982 in the South Atlantic islands ruled by Britain, and known in the Spanish-speaking world as the Malvinas.

Buenos Aires has “taken notice” that these exercises will take place from Oct 15-29 and will include missile launches, the ministry said in a statement.

“Argentina rejects the holding of these exercises in Argentine territory illegally occupied by the United Kingdom,” it said.

More Brits seek French passports:

The number of British citizens seeking French nationality has increased eightfold since 2015, the year before the country voted to leave the European Union, official figures showed on Wednesday.

France’s interior ministry said that 386 Britons had asked for citizenship in 2015.

In 2017, the number of applications leapt to 3,173 and a further 1,370 applied in the first six months of 2018.

Britain’s membership of the EU currently means its citizens are guaranteed the same rights to work and live as locals.

But Britons voted to leave the bloc in a referendum in June 2016.

“The Brexit context has generated a significant increase in the number of applications by Britons for French nationality,” the ministry said.