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British Expat Newsletter: April 2011

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Hello, and welcome to those of you who have just signed up.

In this issue

This month

We’ve got new content from four different continents this month!

First of all our old friend and long-standing Forum admin Graeme said goodbye to British Columbia for a short while and paid a visit to a far warmer destination – Fiji. He very kindly shared his thoughts and impressions with us, and we’ve published them on the website.

Then Franjo Wright sent us an account of a very different kind – a night spent camping in Lagos, supervising schoolkids working for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme. Funny!

Plus we have a new Pic of the (ahem) Week: a beautiful – albeit dark and brooding – view of Tingwall Loch on the coast of Shetland’s Mainland. Amazing to think that Anne Macdonald is a relative newcomer to photography.

And finally there’s an article from Matthew Green in Kuala Lumpur, reminding us that inheritance taxes and capital gains taxes can make dying an expensive business – if you don’t plan ahead.

Editorial: Royal Wedding hype

You just can’t get away from it, can you? Whilst looking for this month’s Bizarre Searches I was surprised to see that we’re on page two of Google for the phrase “royal wedding hype”. Funny, I didn’t think we’d been paying that much attention to it. However, if the cap fits… and since everyone else has jumped on the bandwagon, we thought we might as well do it too.

A lot of the coverage has been predictable enough: dresses, ceremony, security, invitations (both who’s invited and, more controversially, who’s not – neither of the previous two Prime Ministers made the list, to the annoyance of some Labour Party members). And of course celebrations up and down the country – and those who’ve decided to line the route from Buck House to Westminster Abbey – have figured too.

Probably the most annoying feature of the coverage has been the way in which the media have made themselves the story. BBC World News ran a great long piece – several times over – about the arrangements that have been made for the world’s TV, radio and press correspondents. Is that really newsworthy?

Throughout all the frenzied build up to the event our favourite coverage has been Private Eye‘s “WeddingBalls” series, which pokes fun at vendors using any excuse to promote their wares. Some of it is quite amusing. “Celebrate the Royal Wedding by having your drains cleaned! Contact XYZ today for a quote.”

There have been other gaffes too, and not by Price Philip this time. A company in China manufactured souvenir mugs but got William and Harry mixed up. The mugs depict a picture of Harry alongside one of Kate. But, was it really a mistake or just an elaborate spoof? According to the Daily Telegraph, the Chinese firm Guandong Enterprises is apparently registered in the UK.

There’s been some gloomy speculation about whether the marriage will last, inspired by the fate of the marriages in the previous generation of the Royal Family. But some marriages never get going at all, as Jerzy and Kathyrn Sluckin discovered. According to the Book of Heroic Failures, they were married at Kensington & Chelsea Register Office in November 1975. About an hour later at the reception, Kathyrn suddenly announced to the stunned guests, “It won’t work!” and fled the scene. She later reportedly told friends: “I had a few doubts before the wedding, but didn’t want to say anything.”

Have you been avidly following the coverage of the Wedding of the Millennium, or doing your best to escape from it? What have you been doing to celebrate/avoid the occasion?

We’d love to hear from you, so please post on our forum discussion.

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Write for British Expat

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British Expat Amazon Shopping

Amazon don’t just do books, you know. We’ve teamed up with them to bring you the ultimate in online shopping – from a micro SD card to a garden shed! A great way to do your shopping online, especially if the shops aren’t up to much in your part of the world.
BE Amazon Shop: UK & EU | BE Amazon Shop: non-EU

Bizarre searches

Some strange search terms which have led people to visit British Expat recently:

  • royal wedding hype
  • priority domain availability notice
  • cottonera posh
  • charlie dimmock rude
  • magic kiosk
  • criminal record
  • free sex
  • train driver
  • malta hate it
  • i need a new hairdo

So there’s a round-up of all that’s been going on. Come on over and see for yourself! Don’t forget…
Visit the BE website and join in with our lively community!

Till next time…

Happy surfing!

Kay & Dave
Editor & Deputy Editor
British Expat – the definitive home for British expats

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