PRINCESS Diana's private secretary has resigned, but Patrick Jephson (39) dismissed speculation that he quit because of difficulties after the princess failed to inform him of her controversial Panorama TV interview late last year.
Mr Jephson (39) who worked for the Princess of Wales for eight years, said his departure was "perfectly amicable". He informed her of his decision earlier yesterday in a private meeting at Kensington Palace, although he had earlier warned he intended to step down sometime this year.
Mr Jephson's resignation comes soon after her press secretary, Geofrey Crawford, quit in the wake of the Panorama interview. Mr Crawford has stayed on as Queen Elizabeth's deputy press secretary.
Canadian singer songwriter Joni Mitchell and French composer conductor Pierre Boulez have been awarded the Swedish Polar Music Prize for their contributions to music. Mitchell (52) is the first woman to receive the prize. She was honoured for her worldwide reputation as a multifaceted artist combining personal expression, exacting lyrics and technical perfection.
Boulez (70) was honoured for "his deep musicality, clear intelligence and unusual foresight" which have given him "the possibility to work in a broader field than most."
Salman Rushdie yesterday urged Germany to take a harder line against Iran to force the Islamic fundamentalist government in Tehran to officially lift his death sentence for blasphemy. "I have known for a long time that Germany holds the key to settling this problem," Rushdie told Der Spiegel magazine in an interview.
Australia's Prime Minister Paul Keating, once accused of boasting that he tweaked Queen Elizabeth's bra strap and renowned for his verbal venom, said yesterday he was not a vindictive man, disliked rudeness and did not make personal attacks on opponents.
"I might occasionally give them a corporate slur, but one that doesn't matter, like knuckleheads', or something like that," the man the British media dubbed "the Lizard of Oz" said in a radio interview.
Salvage operations to refloat Jacques Yves Cousteau's research ship Calypso are to begin today.
The 20 metre Calypso sank earlier this month in Singapore after a collision with a barge.