Prince Harry declined to answer questions about his uncle Earl Spencer’s incendiary new book during his first public appearance since returning to the UK with Meghan, although he acknowledged that the past few weeks had been “eventful”.

The Duke of Sussex appeared relaxed and smiling as he attended the first Invictus Spirit Awards at Greenwich’s historic Old Royal Naval College last night, amid a bitter public dispute involving King Charles and Diana’s brother.

However, his expression turned serious when a reporter called out on the red carpet: “Harry, Harry, how are you feeling about your uncle’s book?”

Harry, who attended without Meghan, appeared to hear the question but kept his gaze fixed ahead. He placed an arm around the shoulders of two veterans and did not respond.

Earl Spencer’s book, which is being serialised exclusively by the Daily Mail, has emerged as Harry and Meghan’s UK return unfolds. Sources close to the Duke say he was aware of the memoir but insist that he has not read it.

The Sussexes’ return has already brought a number of difficulties, including their decision to remove their children from school after two days because of security concerns connected to traffic.

Speaking in his first interview since returning, Harry said with a grin: “It’s great. It’s wonderful to be back on British soil and really nice to see so many old faces and friends. It’s been eventful, but we’re getting stuck into the work.

“The kids are in school. We’re happy. And, as I said, it’s great to be back on British soil and, yeah, looking forward to Birmingham next year.”

In his explosive memoir, Earl Spencer claims that Charles sounded “elated – like a lottery winner” after Diana’s death.

He further alleges that Charles said Princess Diana would soon be forgotten, and claims Diana had told him that her royal husband was in love with his valet.

Royal aides have acidly suggested that grief had clouded Earl Spencer’s ‘reason, judgement and memory’ in response to the book, while friends insisted Charles would never have spoken that way and consumed by grief when she died.

Dressed in black tie and wearing his military medals, the Duke of Sussex posed for photographs and then for selfies outside the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich on the banks of the Thames where the ceremony is being held. 

At the awards ceremony this evening, the prince will celebrate the courage and commitment of people in the Invictus community. 

Five prizes will be handed out – including the Resilience, Champion, Community and Movement awards – with a total of 14 individuals and organisations nominated.

Harry was seen posing with former England rugby union player James Haskell, who supported the launch of the Invictus Games, before going into the ceremony. 

A host of famous faces including comedian James Corden, who opened the evening, chart topping singer Jess Glynn, who gave a headline performance and actor Ross Kemp were also in attendance.

Giving a speech at the awards, Harry spoke directly to veterans around the world. 

‘I want to say this as one soldier to another: your service matters. What you gave in uniform matters,’ he said.

Earl Spencer’s book has sent shockwaves through the Royal Family. His incendiary claim that – days after Diana’s death in a car crash – Prince Charles said: ‘Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough’, triggered a war of words yesterday.

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The earl’s description of Charles’s alleged outburst prompted an extraordinary statement from the Palace, with royal aides questioning the veracity of his account and suggesting that grief can ‘cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory’.

The book’s first astonishing extract made headline around the world and is splitting society with rival camps backing either side.

In the first extract, published online yesterday and in today’s Daily Mail, the earl claims:

• The late Queen dramatically offered to restore Princess Diana’s royal title on the day of her funeral;
• Diana told her father she could not go through with the marriage to Prince Charles a month before the wedding – but he told her it was ‘impossible to pull out’;
• The day before the wedding Charles told Diana that while he was happy to marry her, he was not in love with her;
• Diana was so unhappy that she considered suicide and drove herself ‘more than once’ to Beachy Head cliffs in East Sussex;
• Charles sounded ‘giddily elated – like a lottery winner’ shortly after Diana’s death.

Announcing the book last month, Earl Spencer said that, ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death next year, he wanted to write down his own thoughts and memories ‘rather than having the discomfort of again reading the opinions of others’.

Diana lost her HRH title after her divorce in August 1996 and was instead styled Diana, Princess of Wales.

Describing the Queen’s offer, made just hours after he delivered his defiant eulogy at Diana’s funeral, Earl Spencer writes: ‘When we had gone some miles, Robert beckoned me to follow him into a quiet corner of the carriage. 

‘I have just received a call from Her Majesty …and she would like to offer Diana her HRH title back.’ Mr Fellowes died in 2024.

The earl later wondered whether he was right to reject the offer, and that ‘maybe Diana would have seen some point in having HRH carved on her tombstone’. 

But he said he ‘had no doubt that the consolation prize was hollow, however well-meaning the Queen’s gesture’, adding: ‘The title should never have been removed during her life, in which case it would not have been necessary to offer it to her in death.’

The memoir provides, for the first time, Earl Spencer’s insight into his sister’s deeply unhappy 15-year marriage and the then Prince of Wales’s love for her rival Camilla.

He recalls that on the day of Diana’s magnificent wedding in July 1981, he visited her at Clarence House where he found her ‘sitting quietly in front of a mirror’.

‘Only much later would I discover that, as she confided to a close friend, her husband-to-be had told her the previous day that she needed to know that he was very happy to marry her, but he was not actually in love with her,’ he writes.

Royal watchers were stunned by the Palace’s highly unusual response to Earl Spencer’s book.

In the statement, released on Wednesday night, it said: ‘While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.’

One royal aide later described the earl’s account to the BBC as a ‘demonstrably untrue claim’ about a deeply compassionate man.

Julian Payne, the King’s former communications secretary, yesterday said the King had told staff never to criticise Diana for years after her death.

Mr Payne, who worked for the then Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall for five years from 2016, including during the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death in 2017, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘He was absolutely emphatic that we were to respect her memory and not undermine it in any way.’

The Palace declined to comment on the earl’s further claims last night.

A mother who fatally stabbed her two young sons as they slept had carried out disturbing Google searches involving killing, body parts, suicide, divorce and “mommy murderers”, court documents show.

The woman, who cannot be named, made increasingly grim online searches in the weeks before the deaths of her sons, aged nine and 11.

Her troubling internet history was outlined in a statement of facts presented to the NSW Supreme Court during proceedings over the children’s deaths.

On Thursday, Justice Richard Cavanagh found the woman was not criminally responsible, ruling that her mental illness had left her incapable of reasoning.

Court documents indicate that her decline began in August 2024, after she learned that the father of her children was expecting a baby with his new partner.

On August 9 — one month before her sons were killed — the 42-year-old, who was severely anxious and depressed, began searching online for information about “bodies”.

The next day, she searched for “suicide parents and kids”. A day later, she looked up a news report headlined “10-year-old with throat slashed identified”.

The article concerned Sophie Wang, the Gold Coast schoolgirl allegedly murdered by her 46-year-old mother at their Carrara home.

On the night of August 15, 2024, her searches included “Perth murder-suicide” and the “Hart family murders”.

The latter occurred in 2018 when a married couple drove their SUV off a California cliff, killing themselves and their six adopted children. 

During the period of her searches, the NSW mother was still in touch with her former husband as they co-parented their sons, texting him about a rugby league game the father was attending with his kids.

But by the end of August, her Google searches had taken a more ominous turn and included ‘deadly knife injuries’, ‘jugular veins’ and ‘the danger of knife slashing’.

She had also bought a Wolstead knife set from a homewares store as a Father’s Day gift from her sons to their dad, who accepted the present on September 1, but left the knives at the home where the boys lived with their mother.

By the morning of the next day, the woman’s searches had turned to the ‘warning signs’ of suicide. 

She attended an appointment with a psychologist the same day, who noted the woman’s feelings included ‘I hit rock bottom’ and ‘the world is not fair’.

She made numerous searches on September 4, about ‘knife wounds’, ‘what does it feel like to get stabbed’, ‘how do mums kill their children’, as well as questions about the brachial and radial arteries of the arm.

Three days later, she attended a family function with her sons. Her search history on that day included ‘Can you buy cyanide’.

That night she took herself to a hospital seeking help for anxiety and was given temazepam tablets to help her sleep.

Her ex-partner noticed she was ‘very anxious’ the next day and stayed over at the house with his sons after they had dinner.

On September 9, the woman’s Google searches began at 7am and were specifically about death or suicide by knife injuries, including ‘how long will it take me to die by cutting my neck?’

After dropping her children at school, she searched if it was possible to overdose on the drug Restivit, a doxylamine antihistamine used to treat insomnia.

Around 3.50pm, after picking his sons up from school, their father bought them shoes and met up with her, then bought a packet of 20 Restivit at her request.

The woman Googled ‘when does the coroner get involved’ and ‘does suicide go to the coroner’ before buying four mini-bottles of Prosecco shortly afterwards.

The boys took part in athletics training until 6.30pm, after which they went out to dinner with their parents and the father noticed his ex-wife was ‘pretty anxious’.

She took the kids home just before 8pm, and they dressed in pyjamas and went to their respective bedrooms.

 Between 8.20pm and 10.45pm, the woman’s internet history showed she searched ‘Most Infamous Alleged Mommy Murderers in History’, ‘Bleeding to Death: Am I at Risk and How Can I Stop It’ and ‘How To Respond When Your Child Says “I hate you”.’

She texted her ex, saying: ‘Night mate xx, love you.’ 

The last search on her phone, at 10.45pm, was about Melbourne mother Katie Perinovic, who killed her three young children and then herself in 2021.

Later that evening, the woman took the Wolstead knives and killed her younger son and his older brother, with both bodies found together in the older boy’s room.

Audio from a CCTV recording of a nearby residence would reveal ‘a noise consistent with a young person screaming’. The drug doxylamine was found in both boys’ blood. 

Between 6.47am and 9.03am on September 10, the woman made further Google searches about the arteries in the arm, leg and wrist.

She took one of the knives and self-harmed before or during her taking a bath, according to detectives.

When the boys failed to call their father on the way to school as normal that morning, and he could not reach their mother, he became concerned. 

His sons’ school told him the children were absent, and at 12.33pm, he arrived at the woman’s house and found her semi-conscious in the bathtub. 

She told him, ‘I killed them’ and he found the bodies of his boys on the floor of the older boy’s bedroom, lying close to one another.

The mother had left several notes, written in the expectation that she would not have survived, addressed to her ex and her parents.

In the letters she said that she felt ‘like a boiling frog’ and ‘I am ready for some peace’, adding: ‘I can’t leave my boys alone in such a bad world without my support.’

She wrote about her happiness being a parent of ‘two such amazing boys’, signing off to their dad: ‘We will always love you. 

‘I hope you can forgive me as I forgive you and find peace to live in the next chapter of your life.’

The woman was taken to hospital under police guard with self-inflicted injuries before she was charged with two counts of domestic violence murder. She pleaded not guilty.  

The NSW Director of Public Prosecutions subsequently agreed to enter a special verdict of not guilty by reason of mental impairment, as the woman was suffering from major depression at the time of the murders.

At a hearing on Thursday, Justice Richard Cavanagh ruled the woman did kill her two children but she was not criminally responsible.

This was supported by the three psychiatric experts who provided reports or gave oral evidence to the court saying the woman’s major depressive illness meant she did not know that her actions were wrong.

‘Having regard to the updated reports of the psychiatric experts … I’m satisfied that at the time of killing her two children, the accused did not know that the act of stabbing them was wrong,’ Justice Cavanagh told the court.

‘She could not reason … as to whether those acts, as perceived by reasonable people, were wrong.’

The woman will be detained at a location determined by the Mental Health Review Tribunal and not released into the community until it is satisfied she would not pose a danger to herself or others.

‘The tribunal will review and supervise the accused, as well as ensure that she is provided with appropriate care and treatment,’ Justice Cavanagh said.

If you or someone you know needs support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. In an emergency, call Triple Zero on 000 

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At least six people have been killed and several others injured in a shooting at a school in the Philippines.

Local reports said a gunman opened fire at Banga National High School in South Cotabato on Friday afternoon before taking his own life.

The attack comes after two other deadly gun-related incidents at Philippine schools since June, an alarming development in a country where school shootings have historically been uncommon.

Banga mayor Albert Palencia said at least 17 people were wounded, including four in critical condition. All of the victims were students between the ages of 14 and 17, he said.

“The suspect supposedly sat beside his friends and told them to go home ‘because after lunch, I will be executing my plan,’” Palencia told Reuters. “His friends laughed because the shooter was a known joker.”

“After lunch, he started shooting students. He hit 10 students before killing himself,” Palencia added.

While local media initially reported conflicting figures, the Department of Social Welfare and Development confirmed the death toll. The agency said it had sent social workers to assist victims and provide psychological support.

In a statement, the Department of Education said it was “deeply concerned by the reported shooting incident.”

‘Our immediate priority is the safety and well-being of our learners, teachers and school personnel,’ the statement said, adding it was coordinating with authorities to verify the incident and provide necessary support.

‘We urge everyone to remain calm and refrain from sharing unverified information as authorities continue their investigation,’ the department added. 

Footage on social media showed injured students being carried out of classrooms, while police footage showed the school’s floors covered in blood as officers evacuated the building. 

A separate video showed terrified children reuniting with their families.

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Officials have not given details on the identity of the shooter, but one image published by local media purports to show the gunman lying dead on the ground. 

Lessons have been suspended while police remain at the scene as they investigate the shooting.  

It is the country’s third deadly school incident since June. 

Philippines has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region.

Last month, a student live-streamed himself shooting and killing another student in a classroom in Zamboanga in the country’s south before taking ‌his own life.

In June, at least three students were killed and about 20 others injured in an attack at a public high school in Tacloban, where two classmates opened fire on campus.

The Philippines has relatively strict gun ownership regulations, including background checks and psychological evaluation requirements, although illegal firearms remain in circulation.

The Friday shooting also follows a high-profile incident in Thailand in August, where a student went on a shooting rampage at a school on the outskirts of the capital Bangkok.

South Cotabato governor Reynaldo Tamayo urged parents to ensure guns were kept out of reach of minors.

‘We need to be responsible in storing firearms. Gun owners, in particular, must make sure that minors do not have access to them,’ Tamayo told Reuters by phone.

‘We cannot expect a handful of security personnel to monitor thousands of students. We need to work together because otherwise this will be very difficult for us to address.’

This is a breaking news story, more to follow.  

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said Thursday that he supports Russia after appearing in a video promoting President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party before the country’s parliamentary elections.

“I’m Russian. I support my country.”

Ovechkin made the remarks during Capitals media day when asked about his role in the video, which also included Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Hockey Hall of Famer Viacheslav Fetisov.

The star forward said he intends to move back to Russia with his family when his NHL playing career is over, while describing Washington, D.C., as his second home. Ovechkin said:

I’m Russian. As soon as I’m done playing hockey, I’m probably going to stay there. I’m going to live there; my kids are going to live there, family. I’m for peace and love. I hope everything’s going to be okay. My home is Russia; D.C. is my second home. I have lots of friends; I grew up here as a person, and I love D.C.; I’d say it’s my second home. I hope everything’s going to be okay, and peace and love for everybody.

The Capitals said Ovechkin was approached about taking part in the video while he was in Russia during the offseason.

“Alex Ovechkin is a Russian citizen who lives in Moscow with his family during the offseason and will live there following his retirement,” team spokesperson Sergey Kocharov said Tuesday in a statement sent to The Associated Press. “As the longest-tenured athlete in Washington, D.C., and a pillar of the community, his focus and ours is on the season ahead and the continued impact he makes on the ice and in our city.”

Ovechkin has voiced support for Putin previously. His Instagram profile photo depicts him with the Russian president, and he created the “Putin Team” movement ahead of Russia’s 2018 presidential election. At that time, he said, “I just support my country.”

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Following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Ovechkin called for the war to end.

“Please, no more war,” he said, adding that “we have to live in peace and a great world.”

When asked then about Putin, Ovechkin said, “He’s my president, but I’m not in politics. I’m an athlete.”

Ovechkin turned 41 on Thursday and is preparing for his 22nd NHL season. He signed a one-year contract with Washington in July but has not said whether he will continue playing beyond the 2026-27 season.

Ovechkin’s comments drew criticism online, with users questioning his claim that he supports peace.

Australians have seized on plans to stage Brisbane 2032 Olympic events on a river known for its crocodile population, turning the venue decision into a flood of online jokes.

Rockhampton’s Fitzroy River has been cleared to host rowing and canoe sprint competitions at the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games after receiving approval through an independent technical assessment.

But the proposed Olympic waterway is also believed to be home to roughly 500 saltwater crocodiles, a detail that quickly sparked ridicule — including from three-time Olympic rowing gold medallist Drew Ginn.

‘Personally, I’m not fearful of the Australian animals, but I’ve never had a crocodile near me,’ he said.

‘I’m sure I’d row faster. I’m sure all the athletes would row faster. That’s on the list of concerns. I don’t think it’s the highest priority in concerns, but it was certainly cited very early on.’

Social media users were equally quick to join the debate, with one person suggesting the crocodile-filled Fitzroy River could lead to ‘many records being broken’ at the Brisbane Olympics.

Another commenter wondered whether Olympic officials may need to add an entirely new classification to the sporting rulebook.

‘In athletics, we have “wind assisted” run times. Are we about to have “crocodile assisted” swim/row times?’

Others focused on the entertainment potential.

‘I think the added crocodile element would improve the sport enormously from a spectator perspective,’ one commenter said.

Another reached for Australia’s most talked-about performance at the Paris Olympics, writing: ‘They had to top Raygun somehow.’

Others took a darker approach to joking about rowers sharing the river with crocs. 

‘Some lucky competitors may get to compete in both the Olympics and the Paralympics,’ one wrote.

‘All rowing events should involve 500 crocodiles being released,’ another added. 

Rockhampton Mayor Tony Williams told Daily Mail rowing had been held on the river for over 100 years without a single crocodile attack. 

‘Rowing has been held on the river for over a century and never had any attacks,’ he said.

‘People blow it up a bit more than what it needs to be

‘There’s risk associated with everything you do, whether you swim in the ocean and there’s sharks or whether you jump in the car and drive around the streets.

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‘You manage that and people are familiar with being croc-wise. Those areas are monitored by Queensland Parks and Wildlife.

‘So I don’t see that as a massive negative.’

‘There’s actually a regatta on [right now], the State School Field championships this weekend. So the kids are on the water now.’

Behind the jokes, debate continues over whether the Fitzroy is the right place to stage Olympic rowing. 

The independent assessment examined course performance under different conditions, including weather patterns, water levels and flood risk. It did not assess crocodiles.

The river already hosts rowing competitions and training camps, with contingency plans in place at events when crocodiles are spotted.

World Rowing and Paddle Worldwide endorsed the course after reviewing the technical work.

‘Based on the extensive analysis undertaken, we now know that the Fitzroy River is capable of providing fair competition conditions during the period of the Games, consistent with the requirements of Olympic and Paralympic Rowing,’ World Rowing president Jean-Christophe Rolland said.

For Ginn, the possibility of uneven racing conditions and the distance from Brisbane remain major concerns.

‘Even just the idea of being at a venue where you could have your race decided by half a second and it could show it’s different in lanes by two or three seconds,’ he said.

‘And, while I’m thinking Rockhampton is a great town, I just don’t think it’s right for the Olympic Games to spread the venues out in such a way that jeopardises the experience for the athletes and spectators.’

Ginn was among 542 rowers who signed an open letter asking the Queensland government to locate the rowing venue in southeast Queensland.

British, New Zealand and German rowing federations also reportedly raised concerns about fairness, safety and sustainability at a recent World Rowing congress.

Critics have questioned whether flooding and silt would require repeated dredging and repairs.

But deputy premier Jarrod Bleijie said the analysis showed there would be ‘no widening, no dredging needed’, with sufficient space for eight lanes and start and finish areas along a 2.7km section.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli celebrated the approval in parliament on Thursday.

‘The Fitzroy has passed with flying colours,’ he said. 

‘It’s official, signed, sealed and delivered.’

Detailed planning, design and construction will now proceed.