It wasn’t all bad

The Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations this weekend will include an attempt to break the record for the world’s longest lunch. Around 3,000 residents of Berkshire will sit down with the Earl and Countess of Wessex on 488 tables positioned along the 2.6-mile Long Walk at Windsor Castle. Thousands of events are being held across the country, ranging from a community “picnic on the pitch” at Wembley Stadium, to a jubilee flotilla from Hull’s marina to the Humber Bridge.

A 37-year-old German surfer has shattered the record for the biggest wave ever ridden. Sebastian Steudtner tackled the monster in Nazaré, Portugal, in October 2020. Now, Guinness World Records and World Surf League have confirmed that it was 86 feet (26.2 metres); six feet higher than the previous record.They estimated its size using Steudtner’s leg as a ruler, and studying various photos to rule out distortions. But the surfer said he was always convinced it was a record-breaker. “You don’t feel the size, you feel the power,” he said. “I felt the most power of any wave I’ve surfed at Nazaré.”

The French boy who was thrown from the tenth floor of Tate Modern in London has been able to celebrate his birthday with other children for the first time since the attack, in August 2019. The boy, who was six at the time, fell 100ft and suffered life-changing injuries. But in an update this week, his parents said he was “defying doctors’ predictions”. On their GoFundMe page, set up to pay for his care, they said he was “standing more and more upright”; had one of his splints removed; and had been able to go to the park.