Letters, Diaries of Queen Elizabeth II to be Sorted

Britain's Queen Elizabeth attends a ceremony marking her
birthday at Windsor Castle in Windsor, Britain, June 13, 2020.(Reuters Photo)
Britain's Queen Elizabeth attends a ceremony marking her birthday at Windsor Castle in Windsor, Britain, June 13, 2020.(Reuters Photo)
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Letters, Diaries of Queen Elizabeth II to be Sorted

Britain's Queen Elizabeth attends a ceremony marking her
birthday at Windsor Castle in Windsor, Britain, June 13, 2020.(Reuters Photo)
Britain's Queen Elizabeth attends a ceremony marking her birthday at Windsor Castle in Windsor, Britain, June 13, 2020.(Reuters Photo)

A team of assistants who were close to the late Queen Elizabeth II have been assigned to sort her private diaries and letters, according to The Independent.

The team entrusted with the sensitive task of sorting through the late Queen’s private diaries and letters includes former footman Paul Whybrew, nicknamed “Tall Paul” within the royal household for his 6ft 4in stature.

Whybrew has been trusted by the King to carry out the job, The Mail reported, with the newspaper dubbing him the “keeper of the Queen’s secrets”.

It is understood to be too early to decide which documents might eventually be publicly released in the years to come from the Royal Archives.

The Queen kept a handwritten diary, which could offer an unprecedented look at the late monarch’s thoughts and views on political and family life during her long reign.

Her ancestor Queen Victoria charted her thoughts every day in her journals, and the 141 volumes of private diaries have been digitized and released online.

Whybrew, who worked for the Queen for many years, was reported to be so close to the monarch that he would sometimes sit with her watching television.

He featured in the spoof James Bond sequence shown at the London 2012 Olympics, greeting 007-star Daniel Craig at Buckingham Palace and introducing him to the Queen, before accompanying them along a corridor.

In 1982, he apprehended the intruder Michael Fagan who had broken into the Queen’s bedroom at the Palace, with the footman congenially distracting him by offering him a drink and serving him a whisky.

Whybrew is working two days a week on the project, using gloves to protect the papers from the Queen’s desk as he sifts through letters and correspondence.



'Critically Endangered' African Penguins Just Want Peace and Food

African penguins are now listed as critically endangered - AFP
African penguins are now listed as critically endangered - AFP
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'Critically Endangered' African Penguins Just Want Peace and Food

African penguins are now listed as critically endangered - AFP
African penguins are now listed as critically endangered - AFP

Mashudu Mashau says it takes about two minutes to catch a penguin, a task he does weekly to investigate sightings of injured or sickly seabirds.

"We don't rush... we go down, sometimes we crawl, so that we don't look threatening, and when we're close, we aim for the head, hold it and secure the penguin," the 41-year-old ranger told AFP.

Sometimes, when penguins waddle up from South Africa's coastline onto nearby streets and hide under cars, it is more of a struggle.

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"We had one today. They're not easy to catch because they go from one side to the other side (of the car), but we got it," said Mashau, who has dedicated the past eight years to working to protect the species.

Once caught and placed with care into a cardboard box, the small feathered animals are sent to a specialist hospital for treatment.

But conservationists and veterinarians are worried their efforts aren't sufficient to stop the decline of the African Penguin, listed as critically endangered last month by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

"No matter how much we do, if there isn't a healthy environment for them, our work is in vain," said veterinarian David Roberts, who works at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) hospital.

Fewer than 10,000 breeding pairs are left globally, mainly in South Africa, down from 42,500 in 1991, and they could become extinct in the wild by 2035, the BirdLife NGO says.

- 'Starving' penguins -

The dwindling numbers are due to a combination of factors including a lack of food, climate change, disturbances, predators, disease, oil spills and more.

But the biggest threat is nutrition, says Allison Kock, a marine biologist with the South African National Parks.

"So many of the penguins are starving and are not getting enough food to breed successfully," she told AFP. When penguins do not eat enough, preferably sardines or anchovies, they tend to abandon breeding.

Authorities have imposed a commercial fishing ban around six penguin colonies for 10 years starting in January.

But SANCCOB and BirdLife say the no-fishing zones are not large enough to have a significant impact, and have sued the environment minister over the issue.

"Ideally we would want more fish in the ocean but we cannot control that. What we can ask for, is to limit direct competition for the remaining fish between the industrial fisheries and the penguins," SANCCOB research manager Katta Ludynia told AFP.

The South African Pelagic Fishing Industry Association says the impact of the fishing industry on penguin food sources is just a small fraction.

"There are clearly other factors that have significant negative impact on the population of the African Penguin," chairperson Mike Copeland said.

The environment ministry has proposed a discussion group "to resolve the complex issues", a spokesperson said. While a court hearing is scheduled for March 2025, the minister -- only in the post since July -- has called for an out-of-court settlement.

Apart from the no-fishing zones, many other initiatives are underway to save the African Penguin, including artificial nests and new colonies.

- Tourist traffic -

Being labelled "critically endangered" can be a double-edged sword.

While conservationists are hoping to get attention and funding, it also makes penguins even more attractive to tourists who sometimes disturb them.

"Penguins are very susceptible... and the level of disturbance, people with selfie sticks, it's becoming more and more of a challenge," Arne Purves, coastal conservation and compliance officer for Cape Town, told AFP.

"Especially as the penguins are now even more high-profile."

Tourism is a vital sector for South Africa and each year thousands of people visit the penguin colonies, bringing in millions of dollars in profit.

For those on the frontlines to save the flightless black and white birds, like Mashau, the spotlight has been a long time coming.

"In the last five years, it was the rhinos... we hope we'll get the same respect now and the same assistance," he said.

It is also about protecting the environment. "This is a species that is an indicator of a healthy ecosystem that humans are also part of... and the healthier the penguins, the more humans also benefit," he said.