A demo with everything. Well done TUC.
500,000 people who walked 30 deep and took 4 hours to pass through Parliament Square. 24 news outlets broadcast ten hours of interviews with the sensible moderate young and old demonstrators. The pictures were strong and appealing. The speeches were restrained and persuasive.
The violent scenes will be a distraction. All the memorable pictures will be paint smeared police and figures silhouetted against street fires. But the broadcast media faithfully reported and repeated the powerful messages, 'There is an alternative', 'The cuts are too deep', 'Tax dodgers should be pursued', 'The bankers started it all'. The coverage continued until late evening.
Time will tell how clearly the messages were understood. There was gratuitous violence in the Poll Tax Demonstration. Disgust at the violence was soon forgotten. Disgust at the poll tax stuck and led to the downfall of Thatcher. Today will leave most LibDem voters feeling very uncomfortable. Labour will be comforted with proof of widespread rejection of the Tory-led Government's cuts while keeping the party distant from the extreme elements.
Congratulations TUC.
Royal flush
One newspaper tomorrow will carry a story of royals and their links with charities. They have a story of alleged buying access. I have given them a quote.
I am also trying another tack to raise the issue of Prince Andrew's role as Trade Envoy. Last time it was halted by stultifying Commons' rules. With luck I believe I have found a way around the restrictions. More news next week.
The Mail on Sunday reports Prince Charles is at the centre of a damaging ‘cash-for-access’ row after a controversial Spanish tiling firm paid for a string of events at Royal palaces. Aides have admitted that Porcelanosa – which holds a Royal Warrant for supplying the Prince – met a ‘significant proportion’ of the costs of a lavish dinner last month at Buckingham Palace, attended by stars such as Rowan Atkinson and Jeremy Irons. Now, an investigation by The Mail on Sunday has established that:
- The controversial boss of Porcelanosa, Manuel Colonques, and his wife Delfina have been invited to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton – the only Spaniards on the guest list other than the country’s royal family and the Spanish ambassador to Britain.
- The Spanish ceramics giant paid most of the costs of four other parties hosted by Charles at Royal residences, with guests including Elle Macpherson, Nicole Kidman, Orlando Bloom and Clive Owen.
- Porcelanosa has given tens of thousands of pounds worth of fittings to a Scottish stately home owned by the Prince’s charity.
Perfect host: Charles meets the face of Porcelanosa, Isabel Preysler, and her daughters Tamara, left, and Ana, centre, at the Palace
In Britain, all the events held at Royal residences are described as fundraisers for the Prince’s charities.
But in Spain, they have been ruthlessly exploited for commercial gain. Society magazine Hola!, leading business newspaper Expansion and Porcelanosa’s own website have presented the galas as events the Prince has hosted in honour of the luxury tile company.
Last night, Labour MP Paul Flynn said: ‘It appears that this Spanish firm is buying access to Buckingham Palace and Prince Charles in order to boost its commercial operations. The Prince needs to be more careful about blurring the lines between his good causes and big business. It would be far simpler if these people took out their cheque books and donated to charity rather than engage in activities of this kind.’
The latest Royal event funded by Porcelanosa was a gala dinner Prince Charles hosted at Buckingham Palace last month. In return for covering the costs, the company invited 40 of the 250 guests.
The Prince of Wales’s website described the event as a ‘gala for The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts’ and made no reference to Porcelanosa. Hola! magazine, however, repeatedly described the dinner as a Porcelanosa event in a 36-page feature.
The magazine named Porcelanosa ten times, describing it as ‘a close collaborator with the Prince’s charities’ and prominently featured former model Isabel Preysler – the ex-wife of singer Julio Iglesias and mother of Enrique – who is the ‘face’ of Porcelanosa.
Its front-page headline read: ‘Exclusive images of Prince Charles’s dinner with the Duchess of Alba and Isabel Preysler in Buckingham Palace’ with the heading ‘Spectacular meeting organised by Porcelanosa’. The duchess, 85, is a descendant of King James II and daughter of a former Spanish ambassador to the UK.
'It appears that this Spanish firm is buying access to Buckingham Palace and Prince Charles in order to boost its commercial operations'
Porcelanosa’s website carried an article headlined: ‘Buckingham Palace dresses up in its finery to honour Porcelanosa.’ It read: ‘HRH The Prince of Wales recently hosted a gala dinner in honour of Porcelanosa, in recognition of the firm’s collaboration in several of the good causes he chairs.
'The event, held in Buckingham Palace, the official residence of Queen Elizabeth II and the finest symbol of the British monarchy, was attended by more than 250 guests. During his speech, the Prince thanked Porcelanosa for its contribution to good causes . . . with which the firm works closely.’
Guests were entertained by the London Philharmonic Orchestra before dinner in the Blue Room, which boasts the Table of the Grand Commanders, made of Sevres porcelain and once owned by Napoleon. The menu was poached salmon and halibut in a sauce vierge, followed by roasted partridge in a rosemary sauce and a pudding of caramelised poached apple tart.
One photograph showed Charles shaking hands with a smug but deferential-looking Snr Colonques, described as the organiser of the gala. Another showed the Duchess of Cornwall speaking with bullfighter Cayetano Rivera Ordonez.
A night on the tiles: The Prince of Wales chats to actress Nicole Kidman and another woman at a Gala dinner organised by Porcelanosa in Clarence House in 2008 It is not just Hola! which gushed about Porcelanosa’s links with Prince Charles. Business newspaper Expansion said of the gala: ‘For some years Charles has handed over his Palace so the firm from Castellon can organise its London party there, in exchange for a succulent cheque which the tiling company gives to the environmental charity which the heir to the English throne runs. Manuel Colonques picks up the full expense of the party.
‘Prince Charles likes this event more and more, and year after year he looks very comfortable posing at the side of the permanently young Isabel Preysler.’
The Prince’s connections with Porcelanosa were first highlighted by The Mail on Sunday in 2007. We revealed that the company boasts of its links with Royalty in its marketing campaign, and had been rewarded with a coveted Royal Warrant after carrying out extensive work at Charles’s Royal residences and donating hundreds of thousands of pounds to his favourite charities.
Soon after our article appeared in December 2007, Porcelanosa officials attended a dinner party at Clarence House hosted by Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.
Hola! featured it prominently on the front page, with a picture headlined: ‘Isabel Preysler and her daughters, invited by Prince Charles and Camilla to Clarence House. They filled Porcelanosa’s magic night in London with glamour.’ As well as her role with Porcelanosa, socialite Ms Preysler is a former journalist with Hola!
After another Porcelanosa-organised dinner at Clarence House in December 2008, the Hola! headline next to a picture of star guest Nicole Kidman read: ‘The Prince of Wales celebrates in his London home the most spectacular dinner of the year, organised by Porcelanosa.’ The magazine’s website added: ‘The Heir to the British Throne celebrates for another year – there have now been five – an intimate dinner in thanks to Porcelanosa for the support it has shown his charitable foundations.’
In September 2009, Porcelanosa invited supermodel Elle Macpherson to an event celebrating Ms Preysler’s 25 years as the ‘face’ of the company. The venue was 18th Century Dumfries House in Ayrshire, which Prince Charles saved for the nation two years earlier in a £45million deal – even though his charitable trust had to borrow £20million to complete the purchase after a campaign to raise funds fell short.
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