Steve Lillywhite awarded honorary University of Surrey degree
Lillywhite compared the honour to becoming a CBE for services to music in the 2012 New Year Honours list.He told BBC Radio Surrey: "That was a really amazing thing, to go to the palace and get that, but this had pomp and circumstance to another level because I had to wear the gown and I got the certificate."The producer toured the university's facilities and spoke with "fantastic" current students during his visit."When you see young people and the enthusiasm they have for doing good, you realise that yes, we'll muck through it," he added.
He said his advice for the students was to "follow your heart, and don't take what your teachers say as being gospel"."You enter cult status by doing that. Always question the teachers and take from them what you think is good for you," he said.He said he had spent his life "with a little bit of imposter syndrome", but its "always been part of my thing to always try your hardest and never be complacent".
'Outstanding individuals'
The university also honoured scientists Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Prof Peter Høj, along with businessmen Alan Parker, John Mullen and Lim Hua Min.University of Surrey vice-chancellor Prof Max Lu said: "We are proud to recognise these outstanding individuals whose work has made a lasting impact across science, education, the arts, business and beyond."Their achievements speak to the values we hold dear at Surrey - excellence, creativity, and the drive to make a difference in the world."
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Daily Record
2 hours ago
- Daily Record
'I worked for Prince Harry, William and Kate- we must accept harsh truth of feud'
A Scottish butler who worked closely with the royals for seven years has opened up about the rift between them. Grant Harold, an Airdrie-born royal butler who served King Charles and the royals for years has opened up about the family's estrangement, explaining that we have to accept the brutal truth of the situation. The Scot was one of King Charles' trusted butlers for seven years, which were spent mainly at Highgrove, and he is one of the few people in the world who knows what goes on behind the palace doors. He told The Mirror of Kate Middleton: 'That girl was a Queen in waiting in every aspect. She is the perfect Queen material and you can so obviously see that. Everything about her - the way she carried herself, the way she spoke, the way she interacted with people, her kindness, her beauty - she was, if I can say, the modern day Princess Diana.' In his new book The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life of Royal Service, Grant reveals all about his time serving the royals. He worked with the royals between 2004 and 2011 - mainly as a butler for King Charles, but he occasionally seconded to work for Queen Elizabeth. He first met Kate during the early years of her romance with Prince William. Comparing her humour to that of Princess Di, he continues: 'Diana used to do things at Sandringham to make the staff laugh by poking her head out the window and pulling faces, and Kate was doing the same kind of thing. She is everything you can imagine, she is a beautiful and intelligent woman.' Grant had wanted to work for the royal family ever since a childhood dream, in which he was dancing with Queen Elizabeth, and spent most of his time with them in Highgrove, the stunning Gloucestershire palace that King Charles shared with William and Harry. Contrasting his reception from Kate and William, who he says "took a while" to trust him, he recalls how Prince Harry greeted him for the first time with a water balloon fight. Recalling how tight knit the princes were back then, he says: 'William and Harry were so close, as brothers go. With many siblings, you can be close as children and then maybe drift a bit as you grow up in your late teens and early 20s, but William and Harry were the opposite. 'I don't know if it's because of their mother's death, but they were inseparable. They were hanging out together, going to pubs together, just having fun together. 'If I had been told all those years ago that they were going to fall out, I would've bet £100 that it would never happen. Even when the rumours [of their estrangement] first started, I was saying publicly to the press that they would never fall out, that's how sure I was. 'And when all the conflict really started, I was asking myself 'Why has this all gone so badly wrong?' I couldn't wrap my head around it. Now they're not even speaking to each other, and they used to speak all the time. It's really sad.' Grant also believes that any reconciliation between the princes may happen away from the spotlight. He says: 'I think families fall out and families can heal, but it's never the same. So yes I can see a reconciliation, I can see Harry coming back, but not in the Firm as it used to be. 'I don't see Harry and Meghan ever on the Palace balcony for Trooping the Colour for example, but I can see the family patching things up behind closed doors and working towards the King seeing his grandchildren [Archie and Lilibet]. "I think that's what they're trying to work towards. I think they could be thinking 'Let's just be a family behind closed doors and move on from this rift from our point of view, not from the public's point of view'.' Despite hoping for a reunion between the Sussexes and the wider Windsor family, Grant went on to say that 'things are such a mess right now', and admitted: 'I think we have to accept that there is a real possibility that we may never see them as a united family in public.' But he reveals King Charles to be an exceptionally compassionate man and believes he may be the orchestrator of any reconciliation in the future, saying: 'The thing that surprised me was how genuine and nice he was.' He recalls how he would be in the middle of serving dinner; 'I would hear 'Oh and how are you today?' and I'd ignored him (King Charles) because I thought he was talking to the guests. 'Then he'd say my name and ask me again, and then he'd start saying 'How's your mum? How's your papa? How's your brother? How's your home?' 'If I was having something done, he'd always know and remember what was going on. He'd say 'Did that thing get done in your house?' His kindness and compassion would catch me off guard every single time.' Certain that Harry will have kept up some kind of communication with his father, in light of his illness, Grant continues: 'Charles is a very compassionate man. So, even if William - as the big brother - is angry at what Harry has done and maybe has more reservations about meeting up with Harry, I think the King, at this point in his life, will be thinking 'Let's look at the bigger picture. Life's too short, and family is all you've got'.' He also believes Harry will want to heal the rift with the king. He says: 'I think Harry does want to reunite with his father, because at the end of the day, Harry is aware that his father has not been a very well man, because they were very close and that doesn't always change.' Clearly a big fan of the King, Grant recalls a touching moment when he introduced him to the late Queen at a banquet at Kew palace. Laughing, he says: 'I'll never forget, I was so focused on the job, and so overwhelmed and excited to be on her service and I was thinking, 'Don't do anything wrong, Grant. Don't put down the wrong plate, don't drop the sauce, don't overfill the glass,' all these things. 'I remember going over to offer the Queen the vegetables and suddenly Charles looks around at the Queen and over to me and says 'Oh Mummy this is Grant, my newest butler'. And I'm thinking 'Oh god not now, not over the vegetables!'' In light of the news that William and Kate, along with their three children George, Charlotte and Louis, are set to relocate to Forest Lodge on the Windsor estate, from their current home Adelaide Cottage, Grant shares his thoughts on the fate of Buckingham Palace. 'When it comes to William, he is used to smaller houses like Highgrove, because he didn't grow up in the huge palaces or castles,' says Grant. 'So I think there'll be a transition where Windsor becomes the hub of the monarchy. 'As Forest Lodge is on the Windsor estate, that whole area will become the royal HQ. And then Buckingham Palace could just be open year round as a tourist hotspot, while also operating as the royal office, because it is such a landmark of the royal institution. 'So, I think Windsor will become the embodiment of the Firm as William and Kate move into their forever home. Living in Forest Lodge will be a lot cheaper than living in Buckingham Palace. "Also, William has long championed homelessness causes, and it's a bit hard to support the homeless when you're living in your massive castle, so I think he's aware of that." Grant Harrold's book T he Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life of Royal Service is available from August 28th. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
Scotsman
3 hours ago
- Scotsman
AC/DC, Edinburgh review: 'euphoric'
Raging against the dying of the light doesn't get much more exciting or vital than this Murrayfield performance from AC/DC, writes David Pollock Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... AC/DC, Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh ★★★★★ Many thousands of people, it seems, still have a never-ending appetite for a man who's now hit his 70th year giving it some spirited duckwalking action across the stage in a saltire-blue velvet schoolboy uniform. For Glasgow-born guitarist Angus Young, the last remaining founder member of AC/DC, this just about counted as a homecoming gig. For everyone else amid the sea of light-up red devil horns in Murrayfield, it was potentially the last chance to experience the live AC/DC juggernaut in action in Scotland. AC/DC at Murrayfield | Tim Craig Mind you, Brian Johnson - Bon Scott's near ever-present vocal replacement of the last 45 years and a man seven years Young's senior - is still hammering away with a vigour that would put men with 20 years on him to shame. In black denim and slate grey flat cap he prowled the stage, his signature shriek for the most part a picture of good vocal strength and training. "F***in' hell," he permitted himself after one audible splutter early in the set - although he'd just torn through a ferocious, stomping Back in Black, after which thrill any artist would deserve some slack. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad AC/DC at Murrayfield | Tim Craig Now onto its second leg since last year, the Power Up (or PWR/UP) tour is happening in belated celebration of 2020's 17th studio album of the same name, which was composed by Angus with his brother Malcolm when he was still alive. It's a greatest hits set by any other name - but still, when the muscular descending riff of Demon Fire appeared, with bassist Cliff Williams adding vocals textures to Johnson's lead, or Shot in the Dark lit up, these Power Up songs sounded like they could have been recorded on Johnson's first day in the studio with the band. AC/DC at Murrayfield | Tim Craig Everything else was surely all the crowd hoped it would be. The stage design was predictably huge, with seven screens providing near-surround detail on every one of Young and Johnson's movements, and forgivably corny. As the band entered, a roaring red muscle car raced through generic, just about adequately animated streets apparently intended to double for Edinburgh (or so the signs told us). At a mention of fire, digital flames licked around the images of the band. During the predictably mighty Thunderstruck - the one song whose pace appeared to defeat Young as it went on - bolts of lighting flashed across them. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad All the way through, Young and Johnson's chemistry was combustible. Like the rebellious kid smoking behind the bike shed, Young's jacket was off by the early arrival of Have a Drink On Me's swaggering groove, its lyric demanding "don't you worry 'bout tomorrow," a perfect mantra for this band. After a euphoric communal roar through Highway to Hell, the tie went with it for Sin City, scratched across his fretboard just as he and Johnson seemed to hit their second wind. The sun was down by now, the volume of Young's guitar and Phil Rudd's drums apparently blasted even higher, and Johnson's voice was undefeated by a thunderous Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, a coruscating High Voltage, the euphoric You Shook Me All Night Long, and on into Whole Lotta Rosie, a defiantly, almost antagonistically endless Let There Be Rock and a burst of Loch Lomond to open the encore. Raging against the dying of the light doesn't get much more exciting or vital than this.
Metro
5 hours ago
- Metro
Lil Nas X taken to hospital by police after roaming LA streets partially nude
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