King Charles’ Rigid Diet Excludes Lunch Meal

Britain's Prince Charles visits the Sheppey Matters charity in Sheerness, Kent, Britain, Feb. 2, 2022. (Reuters Photo)
Britain's Prince Charles visits the Sheppey Matters charity in Sheerness, Kent, Britain, Feb. 2, 2022. (Reuters Photo)
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King Charles’ Rigid Diet Excludes Lunch Meal

Britain's Prince Charles visits the Sheppey Matters charity in Sheerness, Kent, Britain, Feb. 2, 2022. (Reuters Photo)
Britain's Prince Charles visits the Sheppey Matters charity in Sheerness, Kent, Britain, Feb. 2, 2022. (Reuters Photo)

In the decades spent waiting to ascend to the throne, King Charles has always ensured he maintained a strict diet and rigid daily exercise routine, according to The Independent.

The 75-year-old monarch was diagnosed with a form of cancer on Monday, after a checkup last month found an unrelated, enlarged prostate that proved to be benign.

Despite Buckingham Palace’s statement that he remains in high spirits, the diagnosis will be a painful shock to the health-conscious King.

While he will now step away temporarily from public-facing duties, he has lived an impressively healthy life up to now.

In a list of 70 facts released by Clarence House in 2018 to mark the then-Prince Charles’ 70th birthday, it was revealed that he restricts himself to only two meals a day.

Fact number 20 listed: “The Prince does not eat lunch.”

Gordon Rayner, former royal correspondent at The Telegraph, once said that the King believes lunch is a “luxury” that interferes with his busy schedule.

His former press secretary Julian Payne also said: “The King doesn’t eat lunch; so, an early lesson I learnt when out on the road with him was to have a big breakfast or bring a few snack bars with you to keep you going. The working day is pretty relentless. Beginning with the radio news headlines and a breakfast of seasonal fruit salad and seeds with tea.”

Homemade bread with nutrient-rich flours are also said to be preferred by the King, as well as eggs and side salads with each meal.

To be more specific, coddled eggs that have been cooked for just two to three minutes are said to be his favorite, and he is known to enjoy mashing them.

Wild mushrooms and plums foraged from his gardens at Highgrove are also among his favorite items to eat, as well as salmon and cheese and biscuits.

Charles also abstains from meat and fish on two days of the week, while he avoids dairy products additionally on one of those days, according to an interview with the BBC in 2021.

The month that Charles was crowned, Buckingham Palace posted a listing for a live-in vegan chef to prepare meals for the monarch.

He has previously stated the main purpose of his intermittent veganism is for its benefit to the environment, and that he stays away from meat that has been sourced from factory farms.

The king is also passionate about organic produce, as former royal chefs Darren McGrady and Carolyn Robb revealed in May 2023.

McGrady said Charles focused on organic produce “before it was even invented”, with Robb echoing that the monarch’s farm was one of the first to be organically certified in all of the UK.

Alongside his strict diet, the monarch is also believed to stick to a rigid exercise routine.

The Telegraph reported in 2020 that Charles completes the Royal Canadian Air Force’s five basic exercises, referred to as the 5XB plan, twice a day.

The regimen was designed for pilots who need to be able to exercise without a gym.

The 11-minute workout involves two minutes of stretches, one minute of sit-ups, one minute of back and leg raises, one minute of push-ups and six minutes of running on the spot, while doing 10 eagle jumps every 75 steps.

In his memoir, Prince Harry revealed that the King regularly performed half-naked headstands to manage his chronic pain from old polo injuries.

Queen Camilla also revealed that the King is an avid walker. She described her husband in 2020, when he was in his early 70s, as “probably the fittest man of his age I know”.



Spanish King Acknowledges ‘Much Abuse’ During Conquest

Spain's King Felipe walks through the main square toward the Government Palace during an official visit aimed at strengthening diplomatic ties between Bolivia and Spain, in La Paz, Bolivia, March 12, 2026. (Reuters)
Spain's King Felipe walks through the main square toward the Government Palace during an official visit aimed at strengthening diplomatic ties between Bolivia and Spain, in La Paz, Bolivia, March 12, 2026. (Reuters)
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Spanish King Acknowledges ‘Much Abuse’ During Conquest

Spain's King Felipe walks through the main square toward the Government Palace during an official visit aimed at strengthening diplomatic ties between Bolivia and Spain, in La Paz, Bolivia, March 12, 2026. (Reuters)
Spain's King Felipe walks through the main square toward the Government Palace during an official visit aimed at strengthening diplomatic ties between Bolivia and Spain, in La Paz, Bolivia, March 12, 2026. (Reuters)

King Felipe VI on Monday acknowledged "much abuse" during Spain's conquest of the Americas, the latest attempt by a top Spanish official to address Mexico's longstanding historical grievances.

Laws imposed by the Spanish crown in the 16th century to govern its colonies had a "desire to protect" Indigenous peoples, the king said during a visit to an exhibition of Indigenous Mexican art in Madrid.

But "reality later made it impossible to fully enforce, and there was much abuse," he added, according to a video posted by the royal palace on X.

"There are things that later, when we study them and learn about them, you say: 'Well, by today's standards and values, they obviously cannot make us feel proud,'" the king said.

"But we have to understand them in their proper context, not with excessive moral presentism, but with objective and rigorous analysis" in order "to draw lessons," he added.

Relations between Mexico and Spain have been strained since 2019 when Mexico's then president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador demanded an apology from Spain's monarchy for abuses committed during Spain's 1519-1521 Conquest of Mexico and the ensuing three centuries of colonial rule.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Lopez Obrador's political ally and successor, revived the call and excluded the king from her inauguration in October 2024 partly because Spain had not responded to the apology demand.

Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares last year acknowledged the "pain and injustice" inflicted on Indigenous peoples during the Spanish conquest as he inaugurated the exhibition which the king visited on Monday.

Sheinbaum welcomed the comments, saying they were the "first step" by the Spanish government in recognizing the abuses committed.

Shortly after, Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said improving Spain's ties with Mexico is a priority for his government, adding there was "light and shadow" in the two country's shared history.

Mesoamerica, a region that comprised parts of Mexico and Central America, had an estimated population of 15 million to 30 million people when conquistador Hernan Cortes arrived with an army of several hundred men, bringing horses, swords, guns -- and smallpox -- in 1519.

After a century of battles, massacres, and plagues, only an estimated one million to two million Indigenous inhabitants remained.


Snow, Wind Hit Eastern US and Midwest, Blocking Roads and Grounding More than 2,000 Flights

Ogo Akpati and his son Brycson Akpati, 3, braved the strong winds and had fun sliding down a hill in Central Park Sunday, March 15,2026 in Brooklyn Park, MN. (Jerry Holt/Minnesota Star Tribune via AP)
Ogo Akpati and his son Brycson Akpati, 3, braved the strong winds and had fun sliding down a hill in Central Park Sunday, March 15,2026 in Brooklyn Park, MN. (Jerry Holt/Minnesota Star Tribune via AP)
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Snow, Wind Hit Eastern US and Midwest, Blocking Roads and Grounding More than 2,000 Flights

Ogo Akpati and his son Brycson Akpati, 3, braved the strong winds and had fun sliding down a hill in Central Park Sunday, March 15,2026 in Brooklyn Park, MN. (Jerry Holt/Minnesota Star Tribune via AP)
Ogo Akpati and his son Brycson Akpati, 3, braved the strong winds and had fun sliding down a hill in Central Park Sunday, March 15,2026 in Brooklyn Park, MN. (Jerry Holt/Minnesota Star Tribune via AP)

Chaotic weather coast to coast in the US — from unusual heat in California to damaging winds around Washington, D.C. — put over 100 million people in the path of extreme conditions on Monday.

Storms across the nation's eastern half forced airlines to cancel more than 2,000 flights nationwide Monday, and many schools closed early in the mid-Atlantic states where high winds and tornadoes were in the forecast.

Blizzards buried parts of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota while torrential rains flooded homes and washed out roads in Hawaii.

In Washington, the House of Representatives postponed votes because of difficulty traveling with inclement weather, The AP news reported.

Airport delays and cancellations could pile up Monday in some of the nation’s largest airports — including those in Washington, New York and Chicago.

“This is what happens in March and April,” said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “It’s a clash in the air masses. Winter, not wanting to let go from the North, and then obviously the sun’s getting a little stronger, it’s warming up in the South.”

Forecasters warn about line of storms, tornadoes The storm system that dropped snow by the foot in the Midwest is barreling toward the East Coast with dangerously high winds and potential for “producing strong and long track tornadoes,” the weather service warned Monday.

“Today, it’s the wind that’s really the threat,” said Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini.

A stretch from parts of South Carolina to Maryland appeared most likely to experience the greatest damaging winds Monday afternoon, the weather service said. That could include Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; and the nation’s capital.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein urged residents to enable emergency alerts on their phones ahead of expected wind gusts topping 70 mph (112 kph).

Beyond the threat to lives and property, “whether it’s wind gusts from a squall line, blizzard or snow, or just wind because of the storm, you’re looking at several major airports being impacted,“ said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys.

Big snows in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan Blizzard conditions persisted Monday in parts of Wisconsin and Michigan, where the storm brought as much as 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow by morning. It was still snowing in the region. Additional snowfall of a foot (30 centimeters) to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of snow was expected in upper Michigan, along with gusty winds, on Monday, the National Weather Service said. Schools were closed in a number of communities Monday in both states, including Milwaukee and Marquette, Michigan.

Lower snow accumulations in places such as Chicago and Milwaukee were expected to create trouble for commuters on Monday, Roys said.

Jim Allen, 45, who lives on the Upper Peninsula, said his family stocked up on necessities. “We’re basically prepared to just kind of hunker down for a few days if we need to,” he said.

The thousands of flights canceled nationwide early Monday included more than 350 at Chicago O’Hare International and another 200 at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International, according to FlightAware, which tracks flight disruptions. More than 2,500 more flights were delayed nationwide early Monday. Those disruptions came a day after more than 3,200 cancellations on Sunday.

Landslides, rescues, collapsed home on Maui Unrelenting rains triggered landslides and flooded homes and farmland in Hawaii over the weekend.

Some areas of Maui received more than 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said in a social media post.

Resident and real estate broker Jesse Wald, who recorded video of a coastal road’s collapse, said parts of the road were flooded by mud and sediment.

“In the 20 years I’ve been here I’ve never seen this much rain,” he said.

Storm will bring cold into the East Coast Forecasters said the East Coast storms were expected leave sharply colder weather in its wake.

By Tuesday morning, wind chills below freezing were expected to reach the Gulf Coast and the Florida Panhandle with warnings in effect across the Southeast and in part of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas, forecasters warned.

To the north, rain was expected to change over to snow behind the cold front with heavy snow possible in the central Appalachians of West Virginia.


Oldest Known Whale Recording Could Unlock Mysteries of the Ocean

Carcasses of pilot whales found on Macquarie Heads beach on the west coast of Tasmania in 2022 (AFP)
Carcasses of pilot whales found on Macquarie Heads beach on the west coast of Tasmania in 2022 (AFP)
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Oldest Known Whale Recording Could Unlock Mysteries of the Ocean

Carcasses of pilot whales found on Macquarie Heads beach on the west coast of Tasmania in 2022 (AFP)
Carcasses of pilot whales found on Macquarie Heads beach on the west coast of Tasmania in 2022 (AFP)

A haunting whale song discovered on decades-old audio equipment could open up a new understanding of how the huge animals communicate, according to researchers who say it’s the oldest such recording known.

The song is that of a humpback whale, a marine giant beloved by whale watchers for its docile nature and spectacular leaps from the water, and was recorded by scientists in March 1949 in Bermuda, said researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Just as significant is the sound of the surrounding ocean itself, said Peter Tyack, a marine bioacoustician and emeritus research scholar at Woods Hole. The ocean of the late 1940s was much quieter than the ocean of today, providing a different backdrop than scientists are used to hearing for whale song, he said, The AP news reported.

The recovered recordings “not only allow us to follow whale sounds, but they also tell us what the ocean soundscape was like in the late 1940s,” Tyack said. “That’s very difficult to reconstruct otherwise.”

A preserved recording from the 1940s can also help scientists better understand how new human-made sounds, such as increased shipping noise, affect the way whales communicate, Tyack said. Research published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states that whales can vary their calling behavior depending on noises in their environment.

The recording predates scientist Roger Payne's discovery of whale song by nearly 20 years. Woods Hole scientists on a research vessel at the time were testing sonar systems and performing acoustic experiments along with the US Office of Naval Research when they captured the sound, said Ashley Jester, director of research data and library services at Woods Hole.

The scientists didn't know what they were hearing, but they decided to record and save the sounds anyway, Jester said.

“And they were curious. And so they kept this recorder running, and they even made time to make recordings where they weren't making any noise from their ships on purpose just to hear as much as they could,” said Jester. “And they kept these recordings.”

Woods Hole scientists discovered the song while digitizing old audio recordings last year. The recording was on a well-preserved disc created by a Gray Audograph, a kind of dictation machine used in the 1940s. Jester located the disc.

While the early underwater recording equipment used to capture the sound would be considered crude by today's standards, it was cutting-edge at the time, Jester said. And the fact that the sound is recorded on a plastic disc is significant because most recordings of the time were on tape, which has long since deteriorated, she said.

Whales' sound-making ability is critical to their survival and key to how they socialize and communicate. The sounds come in the form of clicks, whistles and calls, according to NOAA scientists who study them.

The sounds also allow the whales to find food, navigate, locate each other and understand their surroundings in the vast ocean, scientists say. Several species make repetitive sounds that resemble songs. Humpback whales, which can weigh more than 55,000 pounds (24,947 kilograms), are the ocean's most renowned singers, capable of complex vocalizations that can sound ethereal or even mournful.

The discovery of long-lost whale song from a quieter ocean could be a jumping-off point to better understanding the sounds the animals make today, said Hansen Johnson, a research scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium.

“And, you know, it's just beautiful to listen to and has really inspired a lot of people to be curious about the ocean, and care about ocean life in general,” said Johnson, who was not involved in the research. “It's pretty special.”