Latest news with #EdwardVIII
Time of India
3 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
What is the NHL's Prince of Wales Trophy and why the Florida Panthers refuse to touch it
The Prince of Wales Trophy is more than just hardware—it's a symbol of Eastern Conference supremacy in the NHL. For the Florida Panthers, it's also a superstition. Despite winning it three years straight, they won't touch it, keeping their eyes on the Stanley Cup. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Prince of Wales Trophy — A trophy rich in history, now part of Florida's legacy For the third straight year, the Florida Panthers are Eastern Conference champions—an incredible run that now sees them eyeing a second consecutive Stanley Cup. Their 5-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 sealed the series, but the Panthers made headlines not just for the win, but for what they didn't do afterward: touch the Prince of Wales Trophy. This has become Florida's postseason ritual—an unshakable superstition born from hard-learned lessons. Back in 2023, the Panthers reached the Finals and touched the trophy. Result? A bitter loss to Vegas. In 2024, they kept their hands off and went on to defeat the Oilers to capture their first-ever Stanley Cup. Now in 2025, the trophy was once again left untouched on the ice as players skated by it, eyes locked on the bigger prize. The Prince of Wales Trophy has a legacy of its own. First awarded in 1925 by the Prince of Wales (who later became King Edward VIII), it was once handed to everything from playoff champions to regular-season division winners. But since 1993, it has belonged exclusively to the Eastern Conference champions. And for the past three seasons, it's practically lived in South Florida. Florida's dominance has been anything but a fluke. They knocked out Tampa Bay 4-1, edged out Toronto in a tight 4-3 series, and overwhelmed Carolina 4-1. Led by head coach Paul Maurice and powered by stars like Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Carter Verhaeghe, and Sergei Bobrovsky, this team is dialed in. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Maurice summed it up perfectly after Game 5: 'That was all the elements that make our sport great.' Meanwhile, Tkachuk, the team's emotional engine, kept it simple: 'It's all business. We've got a bigger goal in mind.' Also Read: For the Panthers, the Prince of Wales Trophy isn't the celebration—it's just the checkpoint. With the Oilers and Stars still duking it out in the West, Florida is staying rested, ready, and deadly focused. This isn't about superstition alone. It's about belief, discipline, and knowing exactly what it takes to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup once again.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Ipswich County Hall fails to sell at auction for a second time
A Grade II listed building that once served as a prison, court and council headquarters has failed to sell at auction for a second time. Ipswich County Hall on St Helen's Street was previously up for auction through Savills on 13 May with a reserve price of £895,000, but no successful bids were up again during an auction that started on Wednesday morning, the bidding did not meet the reserve of £750,000, although a bid of £745,000 was Hall was where the divorce of Wallis Simpson was granted in 1936 before her marriage to the then King Edward VIII. The Tudor-style building came with planning permission to convert the site into 40 new year, Ipswich Borough Council members voted to approve these Hall dates back to 1837 and originally served as a prison and law court before becoming a council building from later it became the home of Suffolk County Council after its formation in 2004, the council moved its 1,300 staff to new headquarters and the site has remained vacant ever since. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Joan Collins, 91, goes from acting royalty to the British sovereignty in Wallis Simpson role for new biopic about the Duchess of Windsor
She made her name as the scheming Alexis Carrington in Dynasty. Now, at the age of 91, Dame Joan Collins is taking on a very different dynasty - the British royal family. The actress has been pictured for the first time as Wallis Simpson in a new biopic of the American divorcee who became the Duchess of Windsor after marrying King Edward VIII, following his abdication, in a new film based on her final years. In the images for the movie titled The Bitter End, Dame Joan's hair is perfectly coiffed into Simpson's classic style, while flanked by Conclave actress Isabella Rossellini who plays the Duchess's formidable French lawyer, Suzanne Blum. The photographs were taken in the grounds of Villa Windsor, the Parisian townhouse where Simpson and her royal husband hosted the likes of Diana Mitford. Dame Joan, who will be celebrating her 92nd birthday later this month, said: 'In production for The Bitter End, I'm delighted to post the official first look photograph of Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, and her scheming lawyer, Maitre Suzanne Blum in the garden of her villa in Paris. 'Under Mike Newell's legendary direction, this is a truly exciting production.' The film will chart 'the shocking untold story' of Sompson's twilight years when she finds herself ensnared in a menacing grip of her lawyer Blum's obsession and coercive control. Blum worked on some notorious high society cases, most notably representing Rita Hayworth during her divorce proceedings from Prince Aly Khan. By 1977 she was the only representative for the widowed Simpson, whose ill health left her practically confined to her Paris bedroom. Biographer Hugo Vickers has described how the 'sinister' Blum took advantage of the royal's memory lapses and physical weakness and 'sacked' Simpson's other lawyers, meaning Blum had 'near full control of the Duchess'. The Duchess of Windsor died in April 1986, with dementia, leaving her unable to speak. While Blum died eight years later in 1994. On Thursday it was announced Game of Thrones actor Charles Dance and Harry Potter star Miranda Richardson will join the cast of the much anticipated movie. Dance's casting has prompted speculation that he could reprise his role as Lord Mountbatten, who he portrayed in The Crown. The former governor-general of India became close to Simpson following the abdication and escorted the Duchess to her husband's funeral in 1972. As an American divorcee who seduced a British royal, Mrs Simpson has been dubbed the original Meghan Markle. Simpson was at the center of the most scandalous love affair of the 20th century when she entered into a relationship and marriage with Prince Edward VIII, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne. His obsession with Wallis subjected her to a brutal character assassination. She was called a temptress and sorceress who had cast a spell on the fairy-tale Prince to become Queen. In 1936, King Charles's great-uncle Edward VIII's choice to abdicate the throne to marry her. The move clashed with his responsibilities as head of the Church of England - sparking a constitutional crisis which left the nation stunned and beginning a rift within the family that never healed. The couple went into exile in France at Villa Windsor, a 14-room Parisian townhouse, where they received guests including British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley and his wife Diana. The Duke had hoped his exile would be brief but he was never allowed to move back to Britain, with his brother the new King George VI threatening to cut off his allowance if he tried to return without an invitation. Edward's health deteriorated in the 1960s and towards the end of 1971, the Duke – a heavy smoker – was diagnosed with throat cancer. Netflix's The Crown depicted how, in May 1972 – ten days before his death – Edward was visited by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. She spoke to him alone before appearing with just the Duchess for a photograph. Edward died on May 28, less than a month before his 78th birthday. It was only after death that the tension in the family seemed to dissipate and Edward's body was returned to Britain, where it lay in state at Windsor Castle's St George's Chapel before his funeral. Wallis died in 1986 aged 89 after years of frailty and suffering from dementia which led to her living as a recluse. The Royal Family allowed her to rest next to her late husband on Windsor's grounds.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE What SHOCKING event led Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini to send letters of 'congratulation' to King Edward VIII? New Mail podcast launches delving into the dark history of Royal assassination attempts
On the latest episode of The Mail's 'Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things' podcast, historian Kate Williams and Royal biographer Robert Hardman delve into the storied and shocking history of Royal assassination attempts. From Queen Anne's narrow escape from the hands of a kidnapper to Queen Elizabeth II's unfazed response to an attack on her birthday parade, the pair of experts look across modern history and pullout the reactions of various Royals to staring death in the face. Despite only reigning a mere eleven months before his infamous abdication, Edward VIII was the survivor of a lesser-known 1936 assassination attempt that would see the monarch receive personal messages of congratulations from dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. The King played little part in his survival and if it was not for the quick thinking of a lone female bystander, the history of the Royal House of Windsor would have taken a very different turn. The Failed 1936 Assassination of Edward VIII By the summer of 1936, Edward VIII had only reigned for seven months. Surrounded by his entourage, the King was perched on top of a horse, riding through London 's Hyde Park. The monarch had visited the park on his typical Royal duties, reviewing an army regimental ceremony. Crowds lined the streets to catch a glimpse of their relatively new King. Amongst the throng, was George McMahon: a fraudster and gunrunner who had ties to fascist Italy. He held a folded newspaper, which between the pages concealed a revolver meant to be used on the King. McMahon's surprise attack would be thwarted, however, but through an unlikely source. As Royal historian Kate Williams describes: 'The King goes past and there's this sightseer, a rather astonishing lady called Alice Lawerence, standing next to McMahon. 'She thinks this man with his rolled-up newspaper is acting a bit strangely. McMahon starts getting agitated as the King approaches them. 'Realising that he's going to do something, Alice grabs his arm and shouts out. A policeman then turns around and punches McMahon in the arm, which sends his weapon flying. 'Another member of the public then punches McMahon in the face and the Police are able to cart the man away – but it's all thanks to this incredible woman, who was so fast with her reactions.' Surviving his first assassination attempt as King, Edward VIII was summarily showered with praise in the press. Leaders of nations from across the world also reached out, some more welcome than others. 'He got a telegram from Germany's dictator Adolf Hitler', historian Williams told the podcast. 'Who wrote – 'I have just read about the abominable attempt on the life of your majesty and offer the heartiest congratulations on your deliverance from this danger.' 'Mussolini also wrote, telling his charged affairs in London to present his heartfelt felicitations at the king's escape from danger.' McMahon later stood trial for unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition with the intention to endanger life. The would-be assassins' motives remain a mystery. Scotland Yard described him as a disgruntled Irish journalist who wanted to hurt the King to disgrace then Home Secretary Sir John Simon. However, it has been reported that McMahon took cash from fascist Italy in exchange for information on British armaments. McMahon himself claimed in court he had been put up to the assassination by an unnamed foreign power. This claim was refuted by the judge as an attempt to muddy the waters of his own culpability in the crime.
The Citizen
14-05-2025
- The Citizen
Got to hand it to the king
'The Prince of Wales slept here' Two things people know about King Edward VIII of Britain – assuming they know anything – is he had to abdicate his throne to marry an American divorcee and that he was subsequently suspected of having pro-German sympathies during World War II. Few, though, are aware that he toured South Africa as the Prince of Wales in 1925, in an attempt to heal emotional wounds generated by the second Anglo-Boer war a generation earlier, as well as the Boer Rebellion of 1914-15. Or that he was an avid golfer. I discovered both when my lady Rose-Mariè and I checked into the lovely Royal St Andrews Hotel in Port Alfred a few weeks ago. ALSO READ: A holiday to remember The prince who played through pain Taking a stroll through the place – it was built in 1924 by a former sergeant- major in Scotland's Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders – we came across a photograph of the prince. He was dressed in the uniform of a colonel of the Grenadier Guards. Next to it was a framed recollection 'The Prince of Wales slept here' that bears quoting in part: 'His visit was scheduled as a restful interlude during a hectic British Empire tour – so hectic that when he arrived in Port Alfred his right hand was bandaged after so much cordial hand-shaking. 'This, however, didn't affect his golf. He played nine holes before the start of Saturday's ceremonial programme and a full course of 18 holes twice over the same afternoon! 'He then spent all day Sunday on the golf course, with some final rounds on Monday morning 'driving straight and powerfully. There lay the strength of his play… his putting was regarded as less expert.'' NOW READ: Port Edward: A bridge too far
