Newspaper headlines: Royal book fallout and MacGowan tributes
- Published
A number of Friday's papers pay tribute to Shane MacGowan, who has died age 65
A number of papers have named two senior royals who are alleged by a new book to have speculated about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's unborn child's skin colour.
The Daily Mirror says there is fury at Buckingham Palace about Omid Scobie's Endgame. The paper quotes a Palace source as saying: "The entire Royal Family is united in outrage over this whole episode."
The Guardian says an inquiry is under way into why the names were printed. The publisher in the Netherlands has now withdrawn that edition.
The Daily Mail claims Omid Scobie's defence - that he never produced a version of his book that included names - is unravelling. The paper says the Dutch translator has told it that the names of the royals were in the manuscript she was given to work on.
On Thursday night, Mr Scobie told the BBC he did not know how the Dutch translation came to include the names.
The Daily Telegraph says the royal family is considering legal action. The paper quotes sources close to the Palace as saying "there is no basis to the claims" made about the royals. The paper goes on to say that the row threatens to overshadow the King's appearance at the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai.
The Daily Express does not print the names of the two being linked to conversations about Prince Harry and Meghan's son. In a front page comment piece, the paper says it would be "a rank injustice" to name them "especially as they have no effective way of defending themselves".
"Keep calm and carry on," is how the Metro says the family is dealing with the latest speculation. The paper says the royals have shrugged off damaging new twists in what it calls the "racism storm" and have "calmly carried on with their jobs".
Elsewhere, the i leads on an interview with the shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, who says that a "shift" in relations with the European Union would be "the number one priority" for a Labour government, external.
Mr Lammy says he wants a new defence security pact with Europe and to hold formal meetings with the bloc every four months. But he says he cannot contemplate a political consensus to rejoin the EU in the current political cycle and insists his focus would be to work in the national interests of both Leave and Remain voters.
The deaths of Alistair Darling, Henry Kissinger and Shane MacGowan are all marked in the papers.
The Financial Times hails the "steady hand" of the former Labour chancellor, saying that he "helped steer Britain through the financial crisis", external.
The Daily Telegraph calls Henry Kissinger "a wily and controversial adviser, external to US leaders".
For the Times he was a "divisive giant", external. His "tireless negotiations" turned him into a celebrity, but he also "collected many enemies along the way", the paper says.
"And the bells are ringing out for... Shane," reads the headline on the front of the Sun, as it pays tribute to the Pogues frontman, external. He put the "Fairytale into Christmas," says the paper.
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