Yesterday Remco Evenepoel won the first individual time trial in the 2024 Tour de France, beating the current race leader, Tadej Pogacar, in the 23.5km “race of truth”. He had a little hiccough about half way through when he seemed to hesitate and look down at his bike. Late he said he thought he had a puncture. He had heard a noise which sounded just like a tire blowing out, but all was well and he went on his speedy way.
He’s already won the Vuelta a España in 2022, the first Belgian to win a Grand Tour in 44 years. This is his first Tour de France and he’s won a stage and stands second in the general classification behind Tadej Pogacar. How impressive would it be for him to win the Tour de France on his first go?
I was scanning the list of appointees to cabinet positions in Keir Starmer’s new government. As expected, he’s not appointed Diane Abbott to anything but I was pleased to see that she won her seat by a big majority, after all the fuss about whether they would even let her stand!!
I came across I-can’t-remember-who appointed to the post of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. What, I asked myself, is the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster responsible for? What does he do? Well, it seems that he is the highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. Officially the role includes as part of its duties the administration of the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster. However in reality there’s a deputy who does all that so his position is a sort of sinecure and the prime minister can give him whatever responsibilities he needs looking after.
The Duchy of Lancaster, by the way is enormous, a private estate owned by His Majesty The King, as Duke of Lancaster. The rural estates consist of 44,748 acres of land in England and Wales and comprise commercial, agricultural and residential properties, the majority of which are in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire and Lincolnshire. Additionally the Duchy has a significant commercial property portfolio largely in the Savoy precinct off the Strand in London, a portfolio of financial investments and a small urban residential portfolio. Probably a nice little earner for His Majesty!
Surely that should all have been nationalised back in Oliver Cromwell’s time. Or maybe it was and then was claimed by when the monarchy was restored!
Meanwhile, it seems that the king has upset the pigeon racing community after dropping the monarchy’s official support amid opposition from animal rights activists. Ooops!
King Charles has ended royal patronage for pigeon racing, a sport his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, grandfather George VI, great-grandfather George V, and great-great-grandfather Edward VII all took part in enthusiastically.
Goodness me! Who knew these royal personages were all pigeon fanciers?
Apparently Charles has given up a lot of patronages as well as the pigeon racing one because he is too busy. How did his mother manage? Of course, we have to remember that she was a woman and as such would be very good at multi-tasking!
Thinking about women, here is a link to an article about a feminist we don’t hear about often, if at all. Back in 1869 the Contagious Diseases Acts gave the police the power to carry out compulsory genital examinations of women they believed to be prostitutes – but not their male customers. If the women refused to be checked, they were sentenced to jail with hard labour. If found to have a venereal disease, they were forcibly detained in a “lock hospital”. Josephine Butler campaigned to have the acts repealed.
Hurrah for strong and strong-minded women!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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