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Prince Charles Delivers Queen’s Speech for the First Time

Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (L), the Imperial State Crown (C), Britain's Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (R) and Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (rear C) proccess through the Royal Gallery during the State Opening of Parliament at the Houses of Parliament, in London, on May 10, 2022. (AFP)
Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (L), the Imperial State Crown (C), Britain's Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (R) and Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (rear C) proccess through the Royal Gallery during the State Opening of Parliament at the Houses of Parliament, in London, on May 10, 2022. (AFP)
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Prince Charles Delivers Queen’s Speech for the First Time

Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (L), the Imperial State Crown (C), Britain's Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (R) and Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (rear C) proccess through the Royal Gallery during the State Opening of Parliament at the Houses of Parliament, in London, on May 10, 2022. (AFP)
Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (L), the Imperial State Crown (C), Britain's Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (R) and Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (rear C) proccess through the Royal Gallery during the State Opening of Parliament at the Houses of Parliament, in London, on May 10, 2022. (AFP)

Britain's heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and Prince William took center stage at the opening of parliament on Tuesday, replacing the 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth who missed the grand set-piece event for the first time in almost six decades.

With the queen forced to withdraw on Monday due to a recurrence of mobility issues, 73-year-old Charles arrived at the Palace of Westminster to read out the government's legislative agenda.

Charles, who had attended the opening of parliament alongside his mother in recent years, started reading out each bill by saying: "Her majesty's government will...".

The State Opening of Parliament is an event of huge pomp and pageantry which traditionally sees the queen traveling to the assembly in a State Coach, escorted by mounted soldiers in ceremonial uniform, while the Imperial State Crown and other regalia travel ahead in a carriage of their own.

The monarch dons the Robe of State before leading a procession to the House of Lords upper chamber where she sits on a throne and formally opens a new session of parliament, reading a speech written by the government outlining its legislative plans.

The queen has missed the occasion only twice during her 70-year reign - in 1959, and 1963, when she was pregnant with sons Andrew and Edward.

The queen, who has missed a number of public engagements since she was hospitalized for a night last October for an unspecified illness, had to issue a 'Letters Patent' to authorise Charles and William to carry out her role at the constitutional event.

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French Scientists Find New Blood Type in Guadeloupe Woman

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)
A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)
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French Scientists Find New Blood Type in Guadeloupe Woman

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)
A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type, dubbed "Gwada negative," France's blood supply agency has announced.

The announcement was made 15 years after researchers received a blood sample from a patient who was undergoing routine tests ahead of surgery, the French Blood Establishment (EFS) said on Friday.

"The EFS has just discovered the 48th blood group system in the world!" the agency said in a statement on social network LinkedIn.

"This discovery was officially recognized in early June in Milan by the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT)."

The scientific association had until now recognized 47 blood group systems.

Thierry Peyrard, a medical biologist at the EFS involved in the discovery, told AFP that a "very unusual" antibody was first found in the patient in 2011.

However, resources at the time did not allow for further research, he added.

Scientists were finally able to unravel the mystery in 2019 thanks to "high-throughput DNA sequencing", which highlighted a genetic mutation, Peyrard said.

The patient, who was 54 at the time and lived in Paris, was undergoing routine tests before surgery when the unknown antibody was detected, Peyrard said.

This woman "is undoubtedly the only known case in the world," said the expert.

"She is the only person in the world who is compatible with herself," he said.

Peyrard said the woman inherited the blood type from her father and mother, who each had the mutated gene.

The name "Gwada negative", which refers to the patient's origins and "sounds good in all languages", has been popular with the experts, said Peyrard.

The ABO blood group system was first discovered in the early 1900s. Thanks to DNA sequencing, the discovery of new blood groups has accelerated in recent years.

Peyrard and colleagues are now hoping to find other people with the same blood group.

"Discovering new blood groups means offering patients with rare blood types a better level of care," the EFS said.