‘Trooping the color’ in London for queen’s official birthday
LONDON » Queen Elizabeth II and senior royals have marked her official birthday in the annual Trooping the Color celebration.
The 91-year-old monarch was greeted Saturday by hundreds of well-wishers on a sunny day in the heart of ceremonial London. She rode with her husband Prince Philip in an open carriage in the procession along Horse Guards Parade.
Prince William and Prince Charles were on horseback. William’s wife Kate and Charles’ wife Camilla were in a carriage with Prince Harry.
The queen traditionally celebrates her official birthday in June when the weather can be balmy rather than in April, the month of her actual birth.
Michael Phelps’ latest challenge: ‘Shark Week’
“Shark Week” has a new star attraction: Michael Phelps.
Discovery Channel’s list of “Shark Week” programming next month includes a July 23 show titled “Phelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs. Great White.” Discovery Channel billed it as “an event so monumental that no one has ever attempted it before” and added that “the world’s most decorated athlete takes on the ocean’s most efficient predator: Phelps V Shark — the race is on!”
Whether that means the winner of 23 Olympic gold medals is actually racing a shark remains uncertain. The release announcing this event didn’t offer many details or specifics aside from saying that Phelps “has one competition left to win.”
Yoko Ono, a coproducer on ‘Imagine,’ gets writing credit
NEW YORK » Yoko Ono, who was previously credited as a co-producer on John Lennon’s “Imagine,” will earn a co-writing credit on the 1971 song.
David Israelite, the president and CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association, said Wednesday at an event that Ono would earn the co-writing recognition on the song 48 years after its release.
“Imagine” received the Centennial Song Award at the annual event by the organization. Israelite told Variety that the process of officially getting Ono the credit is underway.
Rolling Stone magazine ranked “Imagine” at No. 3 on its list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” in 2004.
Prosecutor: Greedy newlywed tried to hire hit man
WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. » A prosecutor depicted Dalia Dippolito as a manipulative liar who used sex to bend men to her will during closing arguments of her trial on charges that she tried to hire a hit man to kill her newlywed husband.
Prosecutor Laura Laurie told the Palm Beach County, Florida, jury on Friday the former escort wanted Michael Dippolito killed so she could get their home and his money. The case gained fame when TV’s “Cops” showed video of her trying to hire a hit man.
Defense attorney Brian Claypool is expected to argue later Friday that detectives set up his 34-yearold client because they wanted to become famous on “Cops.”
This is Dippolito’s third trial. A 2011 conviction was thrown out on appeal. A 2016 trial ended with a hung jury.
Prince Harry says he locked away his emotions when mom died
TORONTO » Britain’s Prince Harry says he avoided dealing with his emotions after the death of his mother, Princess Diana.
The 32-year-old prince said in an interview aired on Canada’s CTV television network Friday that he lost “my mom when I was 12 so emotions were locked away very, very early on.”
Harry paid tribute to his mother, saying she was passionate about caring for everybody. Now he’s following her example as he promotes the Invictus Games for wounded veterans scheduled for Toronto this September.