Back in 1993, Buckingham Palace threw open its gates to allow visitors for the first time in its 314-year history. Needing to fund renovations at Windsor Castle after a devastating fire ripped through the royal residence in 1992 and causing more than £36 million (approximately $61 million) worth of damage, Queen Elizabeth II gave her permission to allow visitors into the palace, with tickets selling out three years in advance as soon as they went on sale.
The palace opens for 10 weeks each summer while the queen removes to Balmoral in Scotland, but the palace gardens have always remained closed to the public. The space was only used by the royal family, along with their guests, most notably during the three annual garden parties hosted each summer during which the queen recognises those who have made contributions to the military, community, arts, education and more.
This year, as Covid restrictions ease in the UK, the Royal Collection Trust, a charity that runs and maintains the royal palaces and grounds, is opening up the gardens at Buckingham Palace for the first time.
Along with the residence of the British royal family, here are five royal gardens open for visitors this year.
Buckingham Palace, England
The history: The 15.8-hectare garden is the largest private garden in London. While the palace was built in 1703, the gardens date back further, to 1608, when James I established a plantation of mulberries to rear silkworms on the site.
Originally built for the Duke of Buckingham, the palace and gardens came into royal ownership in 1761 when George III purchased it as a private residence. During his reign, the garden was home to an elephant and one of the first zebras in England.
George IV later appointed William Townsend Aiton of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to remodel the grounds after the taste for natural landscaping replaced the previous fashion for formal gardens.
Visitors will be able to picnic by the wisteria-clad summer house, see the Waterloo Vase made for George IV, and visit the Palace tennis court where King George VI and Fred Perry played in the 1930s.
Nature: The garden features more than 325 wild plant species, over 1,000 trees, a 156-metre herbaceous border, wild flower meadow and rose garden. It is also home to more than 30 species of bird, including the common sandpiper, sedge warbler and lesser whitethroat.
Visitors will also see plane trees planted by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and the lake with an island in the middle upon which the Buckingham Palace bees reside.
Book tickets: The garden is open from July 9, 2021 to September 19, 2021. Tickets cost £16.50 ($23) for adults, £9 ($13) for children aged 5-16, children under 5 can enter free of charge. Discounts are available for students, over-60s and people of determination. Visit www.rct.uk
Palace of Versailles, France
The history: French landscape artist Andre Le Notre was commissioned to create and renovate the palace gardens by the Sun King, Louis XIV, in 1661. The job would take 40 years and involve the moving of large amounts of soil to first level the grounds.
The famous Orangery was constructed, while the fountains and Grand Canal were dug from the surrounding meadow and marshland in a project that required thousands of men, with entire military regiments drafted to help.
Trees were brought from different regions of France, while the likes of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the superintendent of buildings to the king, Charles Le Brun, first painter to the king and Jules Hardouin-Mansart, first architect to the king collaborated on the design.
The garden needs to be replanted every 100 years and after Louis XVI, Napoleon III oversaw the next replanting.
Nature: Within its 7,88 hectares – an area larger than both Manhattan and Paris – the grand avenues and groves are lined with Corsican pines, beech, poplar, chestnut and hawthorn trees.
The famous Orangery is home to almost 1,500 orange and lemon trees, palms and other species, and walking around the gardens, you'll encounter 700 topiaries in 67 different shapes. Each year at Versailles, over 50,000 flowers are planted, including tuberoses, jasmine and pinks.
Book tickets: When the grounds re-open, a passport ticket for both the palace and gardens costs €20 ($24). The Estate of Trianon ticket costs €12 ($15) and grants access to the Estate of Trianon and the gardens. Access to the park of Versailles is free of charge and currently open from 7am to 7pm. Visit www.en.chateauversailles.fr
Imperial Palace East Gardens, Japan
The history: Both the palace and gardens are built on the site of the ruins of Edo Castle, which dates back to 1457. The castle changed hands several times over the years and one of its most famous tales includes the 1701 sword fight between Asano Takumi-no-kami and Kira Kozuke-no-suke, which triggered the famous events involving the 47 ronin.
The grounds are home to the Emperor's secret garden (Kokyo Higashi Gyoen) which covers an area of 210,000 square metres where the castle's two innermost defensive walls once stood, and the Ninomaru section is home to the last remaining Edo-period garden in Japan.
Nature: The East Gardens are home to many seasonal flowers, meaning it is in bloom the whole year round. Plum and cherry trees abound and the Musashino copse glows a beautiful gold and scarlet in autumn. The Ninomaru Grove is a woodland area considered one of the prettiest parts of the garden.
Book tickets: Entrance to the gardens is free of charge. Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) offers two-hour guided walking tours free of charge. Visit www.jnto.go.jp
Royal Palace at Caserta, Italy
The history: Built by King Charles III of Bourbon in the mid-18th century in a bid to rival the royal palaces at Versailles and Madrid, the grounds encompass the palace as well as the park and gardens which are home to hunting lodges, a vast woodland and a silk factory.
Considered one of the great European gardens, the English Garden – a botanical garden – created within the grounds is the oldest example of the genre on the continent. Stretching for 120 hectares, the gardens were designed by Italian architect Carlo Vanvitelli and the German-born botanist, John Graefer.
Water features include the Fountain of Diana and Actaeon, the Fountain of Venus and Adonis (1770–80) and the Fountain of the Dolphins (1773–80). The palace itself, with its 1,200 rooms over five floors, is the largest royal palace in the world in terms of volume.
Nature: Owing to its botanical gardens and the study of botany carried out at the estate, hundreds of rare plants from around the world were brought to Caserta and can still be found there today. This includes the first camellia ever to be brought to Europe from Japan.
Book tickets: Entrance to the palace and park costs €14 ($17). Entrance to the palace only costs €10 ($12), and to enter the park only is €9 ($11). Visit www.reggiadicasertaunofficial.it
Drottningholm Palace, Sweden
The history: Still home to the Swedish royal family, the palace was built in the late 16th century and is found on the island of Lovon. The name means "Queen's Islet" and Drottningholm was constructed in 1580 by John III of Sweden for his queen, Catherine Jagiellon.
While the palace was abandoned in the early 1800s, the public flocked to the gardens for picnics and days out, and dignitaries were still received on the grounds, including Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.
The gardens are home to the Chinese Pavilion, built between 1763–1770, as well as the Baroque Garden and English Garden. The former was created at the end of the 17th century.
Flanked by tree avenues, the many statues scattered throughout were taken by the Swedish army as spoils of war from the Wallenstein Palace in Prague, with the two marble lions at the main gate coming originally from the Ujazdow Castle in Warsaw.
The 18th-century English Garden was created by Gustav III and consists of two ponds with canals and bridges. Sweeping lawns, and clusters of trees can be admired from the many walkways, designed to make the most of the views.
Nature: Lime trees dominate the Baroque Garden, planted in symmetry to emulate the French style, while chestnut trees were chosen to flank the Unesco Heritage Site of the Chinese Pavilion.
Book tickets: The palace remains closed to visitors, but the park is open. A guided tour costs 30 Swedish krona ($3.5) and takes around 45 minutes. Entrance is free of charge for children under 18. Visit www.kungligaslotten.se
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Read more:
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince launches new master plan to turn Al Ula into 'living museum'
12 of the most amazing restaurants in the world: from ancient caves to underwater dining
Out of this world: Oman's Rock Garden – in pictures
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Bugatti Chiron Super Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,600hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.4seconds
0-200kph in 5.8 seconds
0-300kph in 12.1 seconds
Top speed: 440kph
Price: Dh13,200,000
Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,500hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.3 seconds
0-200kph in 5.5 seconds
0-300kph in 11.8 seconds
Top speed: 350kph
Price: Dh13,600,000
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Kandahar%20
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Details
Through Her Lens: The stories behind the photography of Eva Sereny
Forewords by Jacqueline Bisset and Charlotte Rampling, ACC Art Books
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More on Quran memorisation:
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
The biog
Favourite book: You Are the Placebo – Making your mind matter, by Dr Joe Dispenza
Hobby: Running and watching Welsh rugby
Travel destination: Cyprus in the summer
Life goals: To be an aspirational and passionate University educator, enjoy life, be healthy and be the best dad possible.
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
