Princess slashes singer’s face
BRITAIN: Had it been written as a scene in the Channel 4 satire The Windsors, it would have been hailed as a piece of comedy genius.
Princess Beatrice, however, proved that some members of the Royal family are beyond parody after she cut singer Ed Sheeran’s face with a ceremonial sword while pretending to knight fellow pop star James Blunt at a dinner party.
The bizarre story, and Sheeran’s injury, came to light after he posed for pictures with fans the day after the party, showing that he was only a couple of inches away from having his eye poked out. He had to have stitches in his cheek after the blade slashed a two-inch vertical gash underneath his right eye.
The princess’s ill-judged behaviour is unlikely to help her father, the Duke of York, in his attempts to persuade the Prince of Wales that his daughters should be given more prominent public roles.
The incident caused such embarrassment that Buckingham Palace refused to comment or engage in any discussions about it yesterday. Princess Beatrice’s privately employed personal spokesman also washed his hands of it, referring calls to the Palace.
Sources close to Sheeran and Blunt, however, helpfully laid out the sequence of events to The Sun on Sunday.
The princess had thrown a dinner party at Royal Lodge, the York family’s residence near Windsor Castle, where Sheeran, 25, and Blunt, 42, were among 20 guests.
Blunt, a former Army officer, joked that he would like to become Sir James Blunt, and the Princess enthusiastically obliged by fetching a ceremonial sword and proceeding to ‘‘dub’’ him as he knelt.
As she said ‘‘Arise Sir James’’, she reportedly swung the blade over her shoulder, unaware that Sheeran was standing behind her (or, presumably, that even ceremonial swords have an extremely sharp point).
Sheeran, who was at the party
‘‘How stupid can you get? I hate to say it, but it’s a case of like mother like daughter.’’ Dickie Arbiter, the Queen’s former press secretary
with his girfriend Cherry Seaborn, received such a deep gash that he had to go straight to a local hospital accident and emergency unit to have it treated.
The 28-year-old Princess was said to be ‘‘inconsolable’’, though Sheeran felt well enough to return to the party after having the wound stitched.
Dickie Arbiter, the Queen’s former press secretary, said: ‘‘How stupid can you get? I hate to say it, but it’s a case of like mother like daughter. ‘‘It beggars belief that she would do this. Only a couple of weeks ago she was out partying at a private members’ club while the rest of the Royal family were at the Festival of Remembrance, and she wasn’t even wearing a poppy. It makes you wonder how they think.
‘‘And then their father complains that they are not on the road for the Royal family. The whole thing is cringeworthy.’’ - Telegraph Group