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UK Papers Herald Future 'Queen Camilla'

Camilla, the wife of Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth II. Credit: AFP Photos
Camilla, the wife of Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth II. Credit: AFP Photos
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UK Papers Herald Future 'Queen Camilla'

Camilla, the wife of Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth II. Credit: AFP Photos
Camilla, the wife of Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth II. Credit: AFP Photos

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has announced that she wants daughter-in-law Camilla to hold the role of queen consort once her son Charles ascends to the throne, in a major statement timed to mark her unprecedented seventieth jubilee.

The move cemented a remarkable journey to public acceptance for Camilla, after being vilified for her role in the break-up of Charles' marriage to Princess Diana -- and shows that the Queen is planning for the future after her death.

Predictably the news dominated Sunday's front pages, with the Daily Mail -- Britain's highest-circulation newspaper -- declaring "Camilla WILL become Queen".

The move was a long time coming for the Mail, which splashed on its Sunday front page that the queen's statement "ends years of speculation" over the future role of the Duchess of Cambridge as well as quashing rumors that she might abdicate, AFP said.

The decision, the tabloid declared, represented "the clearest sign yet not just of the Queen's unswerving support for her daughter-in-law but proof of her enduring affection for the woman who has secured her eldest son's happiness".

The Mail's main conservative tabloid rival, The Sunday Express, also led with the story, describing it as the Queen's "Platinum Jubilee Gift to Charles" and offering readers a free eight-page souvenir special to mark Elizabeth II's 70 years as monarch.

The broadsheet Sunday Times, too, emphasized the significance of the decision, reporting that the Queen "anoints Queen Camilla" in a move that ended "years of controversy and confusion".

"It was the first time the Queen has given her view publicly on an issue that has divided opinion since Charles and Camilla wed in 2005," it said.

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Cuba Left Reeling after Hurricane Ravages Island

A man rides a bicycle along a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on November 7, 2024. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP)
A man rides a bicycle along a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on November 7, 2024. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP)
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Cuba Left Reeling after Hurricane Ravages Island

A man rides a bicycle along a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on November 7, 2024. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP)
A man rides a bicycle along a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on November 7, 2024. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP)

Cuba was left reeling Thursday after a fierce Category 3 hurricane ripped across the island, knocking out the country’s power grid, downing trees and damaging infrastructure. No fatalities were immediately reported.
Hurricane Rafael crossed a western portion of Cuba on Wednesday evening about 75 kilometers west of Havana.
Some 50,000 people took shelter in Havana, with thousands more doing the same in regions south and just west of the capital since they lived in flood zones or in flimsy homes. The main road from Havana to the southern coastal city of Batabanó was strewn with dozens of utility poles and wires.
Lázaro Guerra, electricity director for the Ministry of Energy and Mines, said power had been partially restored in the island’s western region and that generation units were powering back up. But he warned that restoring power would be slow-going as crews took safety precautions.
As Rafael plowed across Cuba on Wednesday evening it slowed to a Category 2 hurricane as it chugged into the Gulf of Mexico before heading toward Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Late Thursday morning, the hurricane was located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) west-northwest of Havana. It had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (345 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph).
Earlier in the week, Rafael brushed past Jamaica and battered the Cayman Islands, downing trees and power lines and unleashing heavy flooding in some areas.
Authorities in Jamaica are searching for a couple last seen inside a car that was swept away by floodwaters, police told Radio Jamaica News.
Thousands of customers in Jamaica and Little Cayman remained without power as crews worked to restore electricity after the storm.
Rafael was expected to keep weakening as it spins over open waters and heads toward northern Mexico, although the hurricane center warned there was “above average uncertainty” in the storm's future track.
Meanwhile, many Cubans were left picking up the pieces from Wednesday night, after a rocky few weeks in the Caribbean nation. In October, the island was hit by a one-two punch. First, it was hit by island-wide blackouts stretching on for days, a product of the island’s energy crisis. Shortly after, it was slapped by powerful hurricane that struck the eastern part of the island and killed at least six people.
The disasters have stoked discontent already simmering in Cuba amid an ongoing economic crisis, which has pushed many to migrate from Cuba.
Classes and public transport were suspended on parts of the island and authorities canceled flights in and out of Havana and Varadero. Thousands of people in the west of the island had been evacuated as a preventative measure.
Rafael is the 17th named storm of the season.