Morocco yoga courses: Stretching out on a yogic break in soothing Berber country

Dust clouds sway like ghosts dancing to an inaudible tune across miles of Moroccan dessert. I’m only 15 minutes south of Marrakech, but the soil’s already darkened to a deep, blood-clot red that clashes violently with the cobalt sky above. Spindly Argan trees feature goats that have clambered into the branches and nibble on the fruit (yes, really), a snapshot of surreal comedy against nature’s stark, beautiful reality. It’s my first up-close and personal foray into Morocco’s rural centre, despite having fallen head over heels for mad old Marrakech eight years beforehand. Rustic retreat: Lalla Abouch offers yoga courses set in the beautiful Moroccan countryside There’s something intoxicating about the swirling, jasmine-soaked souks, the thrill of losing yourself in the medina only to wind up on a rooftop drinking pomegranate martinis hours later. I’ve returned several times since to enjoy the city’s myriad hidden bars, supper clubs and late night lounges. But this time I want a different kind of escapism, one that’s less hedonism, more health. 'We’ve the perfect place', Rosena, the Irish founder of Moroccan concierge experts Boutique Souk, assures me before arranging a car to drive me the three-hour journey south into Morocco’s Berber country. Thirty miles south of the colonial port city of Essaouira, our jeep turns inland, swerves sharply at a junction and turns up an invisible, potholed dirt road through fields of carefully irrigated vegetable patches and chicken coops. A donkey brays ‘hello’ as I clamber out, the only contender to shatter the silent calm of our weekend lodgings. Named Lalla Abouch after ‘Lady Argan‘ and Morocco’s famous Argan tree, the guesthouse embodies what many ‘boutique’ lodgings strive for yet often fail to achieve. Chic and rustic, it proffers the perfect balance between comfort and style – the home from home I’ll never replicate no matter how many Elle Decoration subscriptions I sign up for. Taking the plunge: The refreshing pool is lined with plants and a traditional stone wall Beaming Lucreiza, the Italian who runs this hideaway, gives me a tour of the farm’s intimate selection of cosy rooms, all located around a bougainvillea-splashed courtyard, before ushering me onto the farm’s charming alfresco terrace for fresh mint and ginger tea. Terracotta pots trickle fresh water into a plunge pool overlooking acres of lovingly tended vegetable patches, whilst wild tortoises sunbathe lazily in the afternoon rays as kitchen hands gingerly navigate them whilst plucking robust courgettes for the evening meal. Food is a big draw at Lalla Abouch - so don’t go thinking this is yoga with all the normal detox-wheatgrass-deprivation tags. Lunch, though simple, is lip-smackingly good: home-plucked bitter leaves; creamy local goats cheese; cumin-crusted courgettes, caramelised carrots; a fuchsia pink beetroot dip; wholegrain couscous studded with ruby pomegranate seeds. Each bite radiates with energy and (forgive the hippy hyperbole) is offered up with love. Lucreiza beams as I eat. 'We like to give an alkaline, vegetarian diet during the retreats', she explains. 'It’s a good for body cleaning and rejuvenation.' I come away from the meal feeling more satiated than many of my finest dining experiences back in the UK. Unusual sights: Goats love to climb the Argan trees, while Lalla Abouch has plenty of quiet corners for relaxing Besides intensive, twice daily yoga and meditation sessions lasting two hours a go, Lalla Abouch offers a real (and rare) opportunity to totally unplug from daily life. As Lucreiza concedes, 'the natural elements are deep and strong', so the entire operation of the farm and its retreats has been designed to really embrace the local surrounds – and the produce found within it. Better still, my experience isn’t marred by the constant checking of Blackberry’s or broadband; connectivity here is slim to none. Sure, it’s a little disconcerting at first, but after several hours our entire party agrees we’re happy for the forced technology amnesty. With no one to tweet or CC, I instead sink into an indulgent afternoon of reading in the farm’s huge hammock, slung beneath the boughs of the Argan tree. I doze, stirring only when the attention seeking donkey’s comical eey-awww or Lucreiza’s quiet, smiling kitchen hands water the fragrant herb garden. I’ve done no yoga yet, but I can already see why Moroccan specialists Boutique Souk thought they’d 'struck gold' when stumbling upon the farm.

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Secret lives of the movie legends

 

In an era before Twitter, paparazzi, gossip websites and the voracious appetite for the scandal and sex lives of the rich and shameless, Hollywood was swinging with the kind of wild sexual liberation that can still seem shocking today. Post-war Hollywood was churning out the family-friendly, conservative-values movies that chimed with the politics and repressed sexuality of the '40s and '50s. But the unacknowledged irony was that these motion pictures were being made by actors, writers, directors and studio chiefs who were engaged in lifestyles that could not have been more different from those they created on screen. Two decades before the sexual revolution of the 1960s, Los Angeles was already a sexual playground for movie stars and the international jet set, who were protected by a powerful studio system that could keep their more outrageous behaviour out of the public eye. Stars such as Noel Coward, Cole Porter, Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant -- and non-industry figures like the former King Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson -- had a sexually licentious lifestyle within the closed Hollywood community. And where you have rich, sexually voracious movie stars and powerful men, you will also need pimps, procurers and a steady stream of young men and women. Scotty Bowers, a handsome, bi-sexual, former Marine paratrooper, became a part of this underworld when he relocated to Hollywood following service in the Second World War. The ex-Marine became the go-to guy for those who wanted sexual adventure, building up a network of "friends" who traded in sex with the greatest stars of the era. Now, Bowers has revealed all, in Full Service -- My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars, an autobiography that claims to tell the true story behind the rumours and scandal that have filtered down from the closeted era of sex and the stars. Written with the collaboration of Emmy-winning writer Lionel Friedberg, Full Service is published as Bowers prepares to celebrate his 89th birthday. In Scotty's own words, he became a Hollywood insider, or at least a fixer of sexual liaisons, almost by accident when he moved to Los Angeles immediately after the war and began working in a gas station. A chance encounter with the actor Walter Pidgeon, who stopped by to have his tank filled, led to an afternoon of sex with the then-happily married Pidgeon and a male friend. Handsome, friendly and totally relaxed when it came to sex (Bowers attributes this to his wartime experiences and his Illinois farm-boy background), the ex-Marine quickly gained a reputation for knowing a lot of young men and women who were prepared to "trick" for as little as $20. However, throughout his memoir, Bowers is at pains to point out that he was neither a pimp nor a prostitute. "When it came to my own sexual liaisons, I was always more than happy to pocket the tip that anyone offered me for a night of sex," he says. "But I never charged for my matchmaking services when hooking-up other people. I would set up the trick and then the two of them went off together and money changed hands between them. "It was only fair. My operation -- if you want to call it that -- was not a prostitution ring. I was only providing a service to those who wanted it and, as recorded history has shown, throughout the ages there has always been a need for high-quality sex". To hear Bowers tell it, the '40s and '50s in Los Angeles were golden decades of sexual experimentation, where stars and their willing acolytes enjoyed never-ending pool parties under the Californian sun. Sex was an obsession and a currency for stars young and old. Mae West, even as she was in her late-60s, kept a string of young bodybuilders on call 24 hours a day. Bowers got to know Rock Hudson, whose homosexuality was an open secret in Hollywood, in the mid-'50s and also knew his wife, Phyllis Gates, a lesbian who had been persuaded to marry Rock to quell the gossip magazine whispers about his sexuality. "This phony marriage must have been hell on them both. Rock had a voracious, almost uncontrollable sexual appetite. In later years he cruised the streets every night, picking up vagabonds, strangers and young men all over town," says Bowers. The Los Angeles police vice squad was a constant threat, with LA Confidential-style shakedowns, blackmail rings and the vicious persecution of gay men in particular (or at least those who couldn't afford high-powered lawyers and the protection of the studio bosses). Pay-offs to the right cops, the activities of studio fixers and the complicity of the media ensured that very little scandal leaked out. Bowers' memoirs read like a roll-call of just about every major star in the studio system of the time and he cheerfully dishes the dirt. He claims Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy were never really involved in a great love affair, painting Hepburn as a sexually voracious lesbian who needed Tracy as a cover for her lifestyle. The list of stars who get the Bowers treatment includes Edith Piaf, Vivien Leigh, Cary Grant, Rita Hayworth, Joan Crawford, Bob Hope and William Holden (to name but a very, very few). Non-industry figures like Edward and Wallis Simpson, FBI boss J Edgar Hoover and Beatles manager Brian Epstein, flit in and out of the picture, indulging in a wild array of pan-sexual activities. Bowers had been friendly with the movie star Tyrone Powers since their days together in the Marine Corps and once they met up again in Los Angeles, they "enjoyed quite a few sexual shenanigans together". "Women swooned over him and he bedded quite a few of them, but he much preferred men," says Bowers. "Some of his sexual tastes were rather odd and offbeat, but none of the guys seemed to mind." The sexual exploits of the golden- era stars still fascinate, and readers may never look at classic movies like The Wizard of Oz or Bringing Up Baby in the same way again. It can't all have been glamorous pool parties in the Hollywood Hills and smiling, handsome film stars driving around in Cadillacs and Bentleys. But to hear Bowers tell it, after surviving the Depression and then World War Two, the young Americans who flocked to California in the '40s and '50s had little concern for the kind of sexual puritanism apparently making a comeback in the US.

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Piranha Women who trap well-off men are pure myth

 

The dangers of daily life for modern men are manifold, it seems. Alongside transfats in foods and oestrogen in drinking water, they must also beware 'Piranha Women'. Or so says divorce lawyer Diane Benussi. In her daily life overseeing the unraveling of families' personal lives, she claims to have observed a new breed of avaricious woman. This lady, according to Ms Benussi, is manipulative and devious to the core -- a romantic mercenary in a mini-skirt. Increasingly, Ms Benussi observed to a tabloid newspaper, beautiful young women, disinclined to make an honest living, are targeting vulnerable wealthy men in a bid to win a share of their assets. Their weapon of choice is their fertility. They lure unsuspecting gentlemen into unprotected sex and then fall pregnant, using the resulting progeny as a siphon on the unsuspecting man's bank account. Poor love. As anyone knows, well-off men in middle age represent one of society's most vulnerable minorities. Not only that, but they are, apparently, completely incapable of taking care of something as simple as contraception. I don't know about you, but personally, in my three decades on earth, I've never met a Piranha Woman. This pantomime trope of a scheming madam who uses sex purely as strategy exists for me only in fairytale. There are women, sure, who find an affluent man who can prove his worth as a provider and an alpha male attractive. But I don't know a single female who has used her womb as a honey trap in order to save herself the bother of buying lottery tickets. I have, on the other hand, met plenty of men who are convinced that they must protect themselves against female strategy and acquisitiveness. One, whom I dated briefly in college, told me outright one evening that he knew as a successful, ambitious guy (at this point he was still a student) he had to beware the advances of ladies with alluring eyes and sinister agendas. His mother, he informed me gravely, had warned him that he was exactly the kind of man that women would try and become pregnant by. Thus, he must be extra careful with contraception. Needless to say, that comment was turn off enough to have me on the next bus home to my own bed. Contrary to what he and his mother thought, I was rather less convinced than they were of the value of his precious sperm. It's possible, of course, that there are a few Piranha Women out there. But I'd guess that they are an extremely rare species. There's a cultural precedent for this belief, of course. (Not to mention a great history of paranoia on the part of many men about the dark arts of female sexuality). That precedent is called a WAG. In an era when we have become more than familiar with women winning fame, wealth, and cultural influence on the strength of their association with rich men, it's not a far stretch to create the myth of the Piranha. We know well that the WAG seeks out partnerships with wealthy footballers, within which a transactional trade-off of beauty for lifestyle and luxury is transparently part of the deal. The notional Piranha simply takes this a step further, by, we are told, using her sex appeal to cut out the romance and go straight for the cash, by way of a baby. This, says Ms Benussi, has become an accepted way for a woman to make a living. One could argue that, as a divorce lawyer, she's likely to know. But I don't believe it. There's a huge leap between falling in love with a fit, rich, attractive young footballer and seducing a wealthy singleton with middle-aged spread to get straight to his bank balance. Sure, there are plenty of women who consider affluence to be an attractive attribute in a man. It bespeaks success, competence and a certain capacity for influence and agency in the world -- all sexy qualities, let's be honest. But outside of a pure sex-for-money transaction -- from which, for most women unlucky enough to have to resort to it, pregnancy as a result is usually the least desirable outcome -- I have never met a woman myself who would put it above sexual desire and a genuine emotional bond. The invention of the storybook villain Piranha Woman seems suspiciously like dredging up bitter old cliches in order to further divide the genders around issues of separation and divorce. Relationships are rarely so simple. And perpetuating these kind of tropes and stereotypes serves no one except the divorce lawyers.

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Nuns’ sexy photos cause stir in Spain

PHOTOS of women posing sexily as nuns have caused outrage among religious groups in Spain. Obscenity, an exhibition of 50 provocative images, includes Spanish actress Rossy de Palma  in a black and white habit and see-through corset with a rosary between her teeth. Other images include Alaska, a well known singer in Spain, dressed as a sexy saint in black with a communion wafer on her tongue. The controversial show, at the Fresh Gallery in Madrid, has led to calls from Catholic groups including the Eucharistic Ministry for demonstrations ‘against blasphemy’. The organisation said the protest would be held ‘in defence of our Christian roots and the Catholic faith’. The Francisco Franco Foundation, a group created to preserve the memory of the former dictator, called the exhibition ‘a virulent and morbid attack on the Catholic religion’. Meanwhile conservative campaign group, Make Yourself Heard, wrote on its website that ‘blasphemous provocation threatens again’. However the exhibition’s creator, controversial Canadian artist Bruce LaBruce, defended the show. “The lives of the saints are full of ecstatic acts of sublimated sexuality,” he said. “Obscenity presents a series of portraits that illustrate this most holy convergence of the sacred and the profane.”

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'Kinky' nuns and tattooed Christs spark controversy for Spanish gallery

 

Catholics and conservatives have denounced as blasphemous two recent exhibitions in Madrid featuring kinky nuns in lingerie and tattooed and near-naked Christs, demonstrating outside one gallery. Catholic group AES called a demonstration for Friday evening outside the Fresh Gallery in Madrid against its latest exhibition: "Obscenity", a collection of photographs by Canadian artist Bruce LaBruce. The 50 pictures on display include a portrait of Spanish actress Rossy de Palma in a black and white habit and see-through corset with a rosary between her teeth. One shows a well-known singer, Alaska, dressed as a sexy saint with a communion wafer on her tongue, while in another she hugs a tattooed Christ to her breast in a kinky tribute to Michaelangelo's Pieta sculpture. Around 50 protesters demonstrated outside the Fresh gallery Friday evening bearing placards reading "For a unified and Catholic Spain" and "God Exists". LaBruce himself was unrepentant. "How can fascists attempt to assert any sort of moral authority over anything?" he said. LaBruce, 48, whose work has often sparked protests and censorship, wrote on the gallery's website that "the lives of the saints are full of ecstatic acts of sublimated sexuality."

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Spanish duke to be questioned by judge in embarrassing first for Madrid's royal family

 

Spain's royal family has long enjoyed a level of privacy and respect that the Windsors could only dream of. But, in an uncomfortable first for the Madrid monarchy, one of their number will face questioning from a judge this week in a scandal which has rocked the royal family and raised questions over the future of the monarchy. Inaki Urdangarin, the son-in-law of King Juan Carlos, is preparing for a court appearance in which he will defend himself in a widening embezzlement scandal. Hearings into the case began last weekend at a court in Palma on the Balearic island of Majorca and will culminate on Saturday with the long anticipated appearance of the Duke of Palma, who received the title when he married Cristina, the King's youngest daughter, in 1997. The Duke, 44, a former professional handball player who won Olympic medals for Spain in the sport, was formally made a suspect in the wide-ranging fraud case that alleges the embezzlement of millions of euros of government funds through a non-profit organization he co-directed between 2004 and 2006. Investigators claim to have discovered a "black hole" in the accounts of the Noos Institute, which organised sporting and tourism events for the regional governments of the Balearic Islands and Valencia.

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Morocco bans Spain’s El Pais newspaper over royal cartoon

 

Morocco has banned the distribution of Thursday’s edition of Spain’s influential El Pais, as a cartoon published by the newspaper allegedly tarnished King Mohammed VI’s name, an official said. “The decision to ban (the paper) was made on the basis of article 29 of the press code” that protects the monarch, the senior communication ministry official told AFP on Saturday. “The caricature contains a deliberate intention to smear the (king’s) image to harm the king personally,” he added. The cartoon, which was picked up by a Moroccan website, accompanied an article by Spanish journalist Ignacio Cembrero, who knows Morocco well. Contacted by AFP, Cembrero said the Moroccan reaction surprised him as the small cartoon was “friendly and rather likeable”. It seemed to be the first time that a foreign publication was banned for the stated reasons since the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) came to power in Morocco in January, he added. So far Morocco has only banned weeklies that carried images of the Prophet Mohammed, or of God, which is forbidden under Muslim tradition. Earlier this month French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur fell into that category after printing an image of God. And last month the magazine was banned when a cover story on the Arab world included the supposed face of the Prophet Mohammed. Morocco also banned French weekly l’Express in January for publishing a 95-page dossier on Islam including a face meant to represent Mohammed’s.

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Whitney Houston Dead at 48

 

Whitney Houston was found dead today in a Beverly Hills hotel room, the Los Angeles Times is reporting. Paramedics arriving at the Beverly Hilton found the singer's body.   While the cause of death is still unknown, Houston's publicist Kristen Foster has confirmed the sad news.  Houston had been scheduled to attend the annual pre-Grammy party of music mogul Clive Davis, the producer who discovered her, tonight and had attended rehearsals for the event earlier this week. CNN reports the party is still going on.  The singer, was known for her string of hits in the Eighties and Nineties, including "The Greatest Love of All," "I Will Always Love You," "How Will I Know" and "I'm Every Woman." She also had an acting career, appearing in The Bodyguard and Waiting to Exhale. In recent years, Houston was more known for her tumultous personal life and addiction issues. She was married to R&B singer Bobby Brown from 1992 to 2007, and had the couple had one daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, born in 1993. The couple appeared in the reality TV series Being Bobby Brown in 2005. |

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Demi Moore seeking spiritual solace

 

Troubled actress Demi Moore, who was recently hospitalized after reportedly suffered from a drug-induced meltdown, is seeking spiritual help from friend and guru Deepak Chopra. The 49-year-old had decided to end her 6-year marriage to husband Ashton Kutcher in November last year due to his infidelity. A source told People that she is seeking advice from Chopra, who has authored more than 64 books about spirituality and healing, the New York Daily News reported.

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British-born actress Naomi Watts is to portray Princess Diana in a new film believed to explore her relationship with the heart surgeon Hasnat Khan.

 

The pair had a discreet romantic affair that began in 1995 and ended a few months before her death in August 1997.

Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, Caught in Flight is described as "a compelling portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales during the last two years of her life".

Watts, 43, said it was "such an honour to be able to play this iconic role".

"Princess Diana was loved across the world, and I look forward to rising to the challenge of playing her on screen," she continued.

Hirschbiegel, who previously dramatised Hitler's final days in 2004 film Downfall, described Watts as "a truly exceptional actress who embodies the warmth, humanity and empathy of such a global icon".

Earlier reports had linked US actress Jessica Chastain to her part in the film, to be based on a screenplay by British playwright Stephen Jeffreys.

Watts, whose films include the remakes of King Kong, The Ring and Funny Games, received an Oscar nomination for her work in 21 Grams and was recently seen alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in J Edgar.

Produced by Ecosse Films, whose previous features include John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy, the movie will begin shooting in the UK later this year.

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yoga in Marbella

• • 
    Joanne O'Connor
  • The Observer, Sunday 22 January 2012
  • Article history

Shanti-Som, Marbella's new health resort. Photograph: Huib Nederhof

Take me there: yoga in Marbella

Marbella may not seem an obvious destination to go in search of enlightenment and the ancient healing therapies of the Far East, but a new health resort is bringing a flavour of Bali to Spain – without the jetlag. Just a 40-minute drive from the Costa del Sol, Shanti-Som takes its inspiration from Asian destination spas with Buddha statues, tropical gardens, Asian-Med fusion cuisine, eastern therapies and a programme of detox, meditation and yoga. Destination Yoga (            0845 458 0723      ,destinationyoga.co.uk) will be running a retreat here in March. A seven-night yoga retreat from £945, excluding flights, departs 18 March.

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Princess Diana is rumoured to be just one of the many young ladies the king, now 74, pursued in a romantic career

On the face of things, it looks like a happy family snap. 

King Juan Carlos of Spain sits with the small Prince William, while a radiant Princess Diana, a protective arm round toddler Prince Harry, leans in to share a pleasantry with the good-looking monarch.

But look again. At the other end of the couch, Prince Charles seems scarcely part of the same holiday party in 1986. He is staring glumly straight ahead like the proverbial gooseberry.

Princess Diana is rumoured to be just one of the many young ladies the king, now 74, pursued in a romantic career in which — like his namesake, the seducer Don Juan — he is said to have bedded more than 1,500 women.

Distant: Prince Charles stares into the distance in this 1986 photograph showing him, Diana and the young Princes William and Harry with Queen Sofia and King Carlos of Spain

The explosive claim is made in a new book by Barcelona-based author Pilar Eyre, who has already written six volumes about the Spanish royal family.

 

 

Imperious and suave, Juan Carlos looks every inch the old-style monarch . . . with the autocratic manners to go with it. He loves hunting bears, skiing and boating — and bedding the opposite sex.

Apparently, it is an open secret in his circles that he is such a keen womaniser that the only woman he does not spend much time with is his wife, Greek-born Queen Sofia.  According to Eyre, the two have not shared a bed for 35 years.

In fact, the book says, following an operation on a benign lung tumour at a Barcelona hospital in 2010, the woman who spent most of the time consoling him during his convalescence was a 25-year-old German interpreter called Corinne.

Another shot of the princess during the 1986 holiday. She allegedly told her bodyguard that the king fancied her

But can it really be true that our very own Princess Diana was one of Juan Carlos’s most significant conquests? And that it was the relationship between her and the then 48-year-old king, in the prime of his romantic life, that finally put paid to any chance of reviving his marriage?

It is certainly the case that the Princess, together with Prince Charles and their young children, holidayed in Majorca with the Spanish royal family several times during the Eighties.

Charles never felt at ease on the sunshine island and much preferred visiting the Duke of Wellington’s estate near Granada on the mainland where the shooting was good.

But Diana, who loved lounging about on yachts in stylish bathing suits, was right at home on the shores of the Mediterranean where she could show off her figure. And the king, who appreciated displays of female beauty, seems to have acted on an impulse to get closer to her.

After her first trip to Majorca in 1986, Eyre alleges Diana told her bodyguard Ken Wharfe that Juan Carlos fancied her. Apparently, the king made all sorts of excuses to get tactile with her and used to love bending down with her and inviting her to stroke his old German shepherd dog, Archie.

Another royal biographer, Lady Colin Campbell, has long insisted that the Princess and the king embarked on an affair while on a cruise with their spouses in August 1986, and that they took up with each other again the following summer.

‘Diana did it to make Charles jealous, but it didn’t work,’ says Lady Colin. ‘Charles couldn’t have cared less.’

According to Eyre, rumours of the affair intensified later over the curious case of some photos of Diana in a state of undress. These were touted around the world’s publications, only to be taken off the market when someone in Spain paid $45,000 (£29,000) for them. That someone is rumoured to have been Juan Carlos, who wanted to protect the Princess’s reputation.

But why rake all this up now? Diana is long since dead, while Juan Carlos, though he retains an eye for a pretty woman, has made it quite plain that he would never divorce his wife, with whom he has three children and eight grandchildren.

Eyre says she has revealed it for Queen Sofia’s sake. ‘In a macho country like Spain, the king’s womanising image makes him very popular,’ she says. ‘Even the women don’t reproach him. On the contrary, they love him because he has such a seductive manner with them. But they don’t feel the same about poor Queen Sofia.

Loveable rogue: Barcelona-based author Pilar Eyre claims that in macho Spain, the King's womanising makes him very popular

‘She is seen as a cold, aloof foreigner. I wanted to show what she has had to put up with.’

Eyre says she tried hard to find out whether the Queen might also have had lovers in her time, but could come up with nothing. Though as a young woman she had caught the eye of the  Duke of Kent — first cousin to our Queen — the Duke then fell in love with the Englishwoman he married, Kathleen Worsley.

Sofia dutifully entered into an arranged marriage in 1962, having met the highly eligible Juan Carlos on a cruise specially convened to introduce Europe’s young royals to each other.

By 1968, they had produced two daughters and Crown Prince Felipe. But though Sofia had fallen deeply in love with her husband, Eyre says Juan Carlos was still playing the field.

And by 1975, when he finally came to the Spanish throne after the death of the dictator General Franco, the new Queen was nursing a great sadness. For by then the royal couple were more or less estranged as a result of the king’s persistent womanising.

According to the book, one of Sofia’s greatest humiliations happened a couple of months after Juan Carlos became king. All of a sudden he sent for a new barber and underwent such a transformation Sofia was convinced he was sprucing himself up for a lover.

Notorious womaniser: The king is rumoured not to have shared a bed with his wife for 35 years

A few days later he packed his suitcase and said he was going hunting near Toledo. ‘It’s an all-male outing; you’d be bored,’ he told his wife. Unwisely, she decided to surprise him by arriving at the estate in the middle of the night with their children, the eldest of whom was 12.

She burst through the door, brushed past the servants and, taking the stairs two at a time, discovered her husband in flagrante with an unknown woman. But even being caught by his entire family did not encourage the king to mend his ways.

Eyre says that throughout her reign, Sofia has consequently been forced to content herself with a life of duty in Madrid, leavened by shopping trips with her daughters and occasional visits to England to visit her brother Constantine, the ex-King of Greece, who has lived in London since he was booted off the throne in 1973.

Lately she has taken solace in religion. She goes to Roman Catholic Mass every Sunday in the palace and attends Madrid’s Greek Orthodox church as well. Her devotions seem to annoy Juan Carlos even more.

The king raised his voice to his mother-in-law, Queen Federica of Greece, when he heard her telling her daughter how the Virgin Mary had appeared before her in a vision in a church near Madrid.

‘There was an intense light and peace!’ said Federica, at which point the king shouted: ‘Shut up, you! Don’t fill her head with this nonsense, she will believe it all.’

The tragedy is that despite his behaviour, the Queen appears to be as captivated by her husband as she was when they married 40 years ago.

At a recent family funeral she was seen holding tight to him and sobbing on his shoulder as if they were still the closest of companions.

Whether the book will rehabilitate Sofia in the eyes of the Spaniards or merely add to the prestige of Juan Carlos remains to be seen.

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Beckham meets Ross

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder."And the kids are seven years old and he sent the kid off. And I was like, ‘Come on, he’s seven-years-old, referee, you can’t send him off.’ And he looked at me and was like, ‘Yes, I can.’ And I was like, ‘Ok, well, you can’t, he’s seven years old.’

"And he came over and gave me a red card. He told me to get out of the park. For real. The gate was only 20 yards away and I waited and went back in when my son’s game was on.”

Lads' night: Beckham meets Ross

Beckham, who has re-signed for LA Galaxy for next season, is desperate to be picked for the Olympics football tournament later this summer.

He said: “It being in the East End of London, and me being from the East End, and being British, of course, it’d be an amazing moment if I was selected. I had a call to say I’d been selected at that point…selected for the selection process. If I’m fit and healthy, then, hopefully I’ll be selected.

“I still feel great. I still feel fit, I still feel healthy. And while I still feel like I do, I want to continue to play, you know, I don’t want to finish playing yet, I love playing the game. If I didn’t enjoy it as much as did when I was 21 now, then I’d know it was time to stop.

“If I’m not there playing, I’ll be there as an ambassador or as a fan, so, of course I’ll be here. I mean, it’s the East End of London.

“Of course there are going to be benefits, of course it’s also costing a fortune, but there will be benefits and you won’t see those straight away, you’ll see them in years to come."

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I've taken it upon myself to explore some of London's finest barbers.

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Thank God 'designer stubble' has meant that I can put off shaving for as long as I possibly can. I know I'm not alone in this – skin irritation, time and impatience are all factors which make shaving a dreaded ritual for the modern man. There does exist, however, if not an antidote, then at least an alternative – the traditional wet shave. In fact, going to your barbers for the hot towel treatment and a bit of 'me' time is becoming ever more popular, and with our capital being a city famous for grooming traditions I've taken it upon myself to explore some of London's finest barbers.

My first port of call is the renowned Pall Mall Barbers, a charming place tucked just off of Trafalgar Square. The shop has been cutting hair and trimming gents' beards since the reign of Queen Victoria, offering, as they put it, “traditional service in a modern manner”.

Adrian, my barber for the morning, sits me down and talks me through each stage of the process, from the skin cleansing to the oils which are gently rubbed in to the bristles to soften them up; already it's taken longer than I'd normally give myself for the entire shave. After I'm smothered with hot towels and treated with more of Pall Mall's in-house products, manager Daniel explains to me the advantages of having someone else do the hard work: “Shaving at home is a necessary chore and is normally done when trying to rush out the door,” he says. “But when you go to your barbers you get a much closer and irritation-free shave, and you’re relaxed and refreshed by the experience.”

People often cite the price of a wet shave as being prohibitive, and it's undeniably true that in a time of austerity these kind of luxuries are the first things to go. Daniel argues however that while once upon a time people might treat their loved ones to an impromptu trip to Paris, a traditional shave is a gift which won't break the bank – a very masculine sort of pampering which won't get sniggering comments in the pub the way a mudpack facial and manicure would.

 

A week later and my skin has noticeably benefited from some respite from my graceless hand. My next stop is Murdock. Having opened their first shop in 2006, Murdock are a fresh new face in the barbering world, who position themselves as “a primary destination for the new gent-about-town.” Despite the youth of the business and its employees, there is still something warmly traditional about the Murdock experience. I'm greeted with a pleasant, musky smell from the moment I step in off the cobbled Covent Garden street. The oak furniture is stacked with books, skincare products, bowties and travel accessories, which are all for sale. Nothing is forced upon me by pushy staff or loud music; it's all very welcoming.

My barber is Daniel Sturgeon, a smartly dressed Brummie who, at 29, is the eldest member of staff. I'm interested to know how a parvenu like Murdock has found life in an industry steeped in tradition. “People don't always want to go to the same place as their Dad or Granddad,” he tells me. “It's nice to have something of your own, to say, 'this is my barbers'”. Here lies the demographic which Murdock have expertly tapped into – the young, smart, “new gent-about-town”, who teeters on the cutting edge of style with one eye firmly on heritage. There's nothing fake about their brand, they're unapologetically current and effortlessly stylish, providing expert grooming for “our generation”, as he puts it.

David talks me through my shave with enlightened detail, from the wonderfully soft badger hair shaving brush (nothing else will do, apparently) to the almond oil used to prepare the skin for the blade. I learn that shaving foam is used to lock moisture into the hairs, before finally the familiar steel of the blade touches my face and I lie back and think of England.

My third and final trip is by way of appointment to Geo F Trumper, one of London's oldest barbers and a byword for luxury grooming. Nestled in the heart of St James's, Trumper's is a cornerstone in an area renowned for classic British style, overseen by the critical eye of Beau Brummel whose statue could be nowhere more appropriate in London.

Downstairs is a picturesque arrangement of glass cabinets housing cut-throat razors, walking sticks, shaving brushes – inspiration for a lifetime's worth of Father's Day gifts. Shaving here is done in a smart upstairs room, complete with heavy wooden fittings decorated with 19th century cartoons. All the films or walking tours in the book couldn't recreate the essence of old London more effectively than is done here. I'm left in the capable hands of Phillip, who informs me of his upbringing at his uncle's barber shop in North London and is full of anecdotes and shaving tips. He explains the importance of learning the contours of your face and the direction in which your stubble grows, “each is as individual as a fingerprint,” he tells me.

The most common mistake most men make, he says, is to forcibly shave against the grain in order to achieve a smoother result, which in fact irritates the skin and causes ingrowing hairs. It's a misconception encouraged by razor companies in order to sell more products, which I was completely taken in by until I spoke to those in the trade.

After the full treatment and a perfect shave from an obviously highly skilled craftsman, I'm sprayed with the famous GFT house cologne, as mentioned in Ian Fleming's Casino Royale. It sums up the entire wet shaving experience really, and a great deal of the attraction – why settle for the Lynx effect when you can smell like James Bond? 

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In the high-class homes of Notting Hill, London, the mansions of Connecticut and luxury towers of Hong Kong, investment bankers are eagerly waiting for their bonus cheques.

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.It's like Christmas all over again - for a lucky handful at least.

In the high-class homes of Notting Hill, London, the mansions of Connecticut and luxury towers of Hong Kong, investment bankers are eagerly waiting for their bonus cheques.

The latest round of bumper payouts could not come at a more incendiary time. The credit crisis that began almost five years ago is showing little sign of abating, unemployment is rising and pay for most workers is flatlining. Unsurprisingly, public anger about bonuses is growing.

Politicians have piled into the debate in a week that saw Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester hand back his bonus and his widely vilified predecessor, Fred Goodwin, stripped of his knighthood.

They were headline-grabbing gestures, but have done little to upset the status quo. Banks say bonus pools have shrunk and payouts are being capped, but outside the glitzy world of investment banking, those used to drawing just an annual salary are baffled by a system of hefty incentives on top of already high pay.

To put the disparities into context, the average wage bill for one top banker would pay for almost 70 nurses.

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Demand for the best houses in London does not seem to be affected by the economic crisis, as there has been a three-month on month increas

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.Demand for the best houses in London does not seem to be affected by the economic crisis, as there has been a three-month on month increase with growth of 2.7 per cent, the highest level since July last year. According to the Prime Central London index published by the residential agent Knight Frank, demand for top homes in the capital rose by 0.9 per cent overall in January.

The annual growth in prime house prices has also reached 11.9 per cent, which has increased values by 42 per cent since their post-Lehman Brothers low in March 2009. Areas that have particularly benefited from this increase over the course of 2011 were Chelsea (16.6%), Hyde Park (14%), Kensington (13.9%) and St. John’s Wood (13.35), according to the index.

Liam Bailey, the head of residential research for Knight Frank, showed a positive prediction for this year, looking at the last figures. “As 2012 begins, our view is that the prime central London market will see slower but still positive price growth”, he said in the report.

Figures were positive in terms of new buyers’ applicant volumes, which grew by 10 per cent in last year, compared with the volumes of new homes for sale, which rose by 6 per cent. In this sense, the ratio between the number of buyers registering to purchase homes in Central London and the available offers had risen to hit 4.1 in the past three months. Knight Frank considers that the £5 million plus range, where applications were higher by 65 per cent year-on-year, was the moment with a higher imbalance between offer and demand.

Mr. Bailey pointed out that “the Eurozone crisis, which appeared to reach something of a crescendo in the pre-Christmas period, had little impact on the prime London property market. Ironically, economic and even political turmoil have provided the impetus for growth, with a sharp growth in investors looking for a safe-haven location for at least part of their wealth portfolio”.

In addition, there has been an increase of interest in property purchases from abroad. In a survey carried out by the residential agent between several estate agents, “there was a consensus that buyers from Russia and the former CIS states would become even more important to the London marketplace. Demand from Chinese nationals, which was negligible until 2010 was expected to continue its recent rapid growth, followed by Indian and Middle Eastern demand”, Mr. Bailey added.

According to the report, European buyers have also put their eyes on the central London property market, who describe the importance, value and privacy in an urban environment as the main factors taken in account when they buy a house. In terms of market, “one of the UK’s real attractions for international investors and residents has always been its reputation [London property market] for stability in legal, political and tax affairs”, Mr. Bailey commented. 

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The developer of the One Hyde Park luxury-home complex in London’s Knightsbridge district is seeking to sell a store on the ground floor for at least 21 million pounds ($33 million).

Project Grande (Guernsey) Ltd. is offering the space rented by the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, the developer said in an e-mail yesterday. It’s the bank’s first branch in the U.K., according to Project Grande.

“You can’t buy a shop on Bond Street or Oxford Street at the moment because they’re not available,” Paul Cockburn, a Savills Plc director who’s handling the sale, said by telephone. “London retail is very inaccessible and Knightsbridge is no exception.”

One Hyde Park was developed by a venture between Christian Candy’s CPC Group and Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jaber al Thani’s closely held Waterknights. Candy conceived the 86-apartment complex with his brother, Nick.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank has a 14-year lease on the site and is one of three stores in the building, Project Grande said. The bank leases the property for 800,000 pounds a year, giving its landlord an initial yield of 3.6 percent at a 21 million-pound purchase price, according to the developer.

Russian Buyer

Grigory Guselnikov, a Russian entrepreneur, bought a store rented by Rolex at One Hyde Park for more than 13 million pounds in August, Savills said. Two months later, the space housing a McLaren sports-car dealership sold for more than 11 million pounds, two people with knowledge of the deal said at the time.

More than 1.5 billion pounds of sales have been completed at One Hyde Park, Project Grande said in the e-mail.

A five-bedroom apartment with almost 9,000 square feet (840 square meters) of space at One Hyde Park sold for 60 million pounds last week, the developer said. The building, which overlooks Hyde Park and is attached to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, is 300 meters (980 feet) from Harrods department store.

Luxury-home prices in central London gained for the 15th consecutive month in January as overseas investors turned to the city’s real estate amid political, economic and financial turmoil at home, according to Knight Frank LLP report yesterday.:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

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Man stabbed to death in Marbella in the early hours

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.33 year old Ecuadorian man has been stabbed to death in Marbella following an argument with two individuals who then made their escape.

Police sources said the body of the victim was found on the N-340 at 1.20am today, near the cambio de sentido at Cabopino, after a call to the police from a hotel worker reporting that a man had been injured and was bleeding badly.

National and local police and health workers rushed to the scene but could do nothing to save the victim’s life. The police say the victim and the two other men were arguing in an establishment, and then continued their discussion in the street. 

The police continue to investigate and are still to identify the other two men involved.

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Sierranía de Ronda was affected by fire over the weekend.

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.500 hectares in five municipalities of the Sierranía de Ronda was affected by fire over the weekend. It started on Saturday in Pujerra, Málaga, and was not brought under control until Sunday.

The Junta de Andalucía has said that cork oaks, pines and shrub were all affected and the UME, Military Emergency Unit was called into assist INFOCA. 

The strong winds in the area, upto 40kms/hour on Saturday, complicated the control of the fire, and the fire-fighters continued their work on Saturday night despite temperatures of -4ºC.

More than 240 people took part in fighting the fire, using four helicopters and five amphibious planes. There were no injuries and nobody had to be moved from their homes.

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THE lawyer of a trumpeter claims the body of a Spanish nobleman exhumed for DNA testing which ruled out his client being a heir to his wealthy dynasty may not have belonged to him at all.

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.
Marbella trumpeter Jose Collado, 62, claims to be the son of Jose Antonio Larios Franco the fourth Marquis de Larios, whose father founded the famous Larios gin brand in the 20s.

There are now suspicions, according to the lawyer, that the remains of the fourth Marques who died in 1954, aged 53, may have been transferred for a chapel in Malaga in 1999 from their location on a property in Albacete, meaning that the DNA tests, which ruled out Collado being a descendant of Larios, are worhtless.

Collado’s lawyer explained that a man who worked on property in Albacete since 1974 was witness to the remains being moved.

He also said that a crime may have been committed if the nobleman’s heir were aware that the analysed remains did not belong to the Marquis, something which they deny, and insist that they were never moved.

Collado’s mother, Emilia, told him that in the 40s, when she worked as a cook for the Larios family, she had an illicit relationship with the marquis, who had no other children.

She was in love with the marquis, but had to flee to Jaen because of his wife’s jealousy. Emilia left her son at a Malaga orphanage nine months after his birth on July 31, 1948.

She died in 2002, having signed her confession before a notary in Jaen at the request of her son.

The trumpeter says that although he might be entitled to a share in the family gin company and the vast Dehesa de los Llanos estate, he is not after money or titles, but the truth about who his father is.

He says if he did inherit anything he would use it to provide care for orphans and abandoned children.

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