...unlike her outspoken husband Prince Philip, the Queen is always careful to keep her real opinions about the politicians she meets firmly under her hat. But on the eve of the G20 summit, the grating tones of one boisterous Italian gentleman proved too much for even her practised royal ears to bear. After posing for the traditional "family" photograph at Buckingham Palace with the G20 leaders, Her Majesty was caught on film raising her arms in exasperation and openly berating Italy's Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, for unduly raising his voice....The author of the footage, which was uploaded to the Italian YouTube site within hours, remains unknown. Visitors to Buckingham Palace are forbidden from recording anything using mobile phones or video cameras. Yesterday, the incident made the front page of almost every Italian newspaper, with most using the opportunity to criticise Mr Berlusconi, 72, for bringing shame on his country. One cartoon showed a visibly distressed Queen putting her fingers in her ears as he shouted out, under a caption which read: "The Voice of Italy".
...unlike her outspoken husband Prince Philip, the Queen is always careful to keep her real opinions about the politicians she meets firmly under her hat.
But on the eve of the G20 summit, the grating tones of one boisterous Italian gentleman proved too much for even her practised royal ears to bear. After posing for the traditional "family" photograph at Buckingham Palace with the G20 leaders, Her Majesty was caught on film raising her arms in exasperation and openly berating Italy's Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, for unduly raising his voice.
...The author of the footage, which was uploaded to the Italian YouTube site within hours, remains unknown. Visitors to Buckingham Palace are forbidden from recording anything using mobile phones or video cameras.
Yesterday, the incident made the front page of almost every Italian newspaper, with most using the opportunity to criticise Mr Berlusconi, 72, for bringing shame on his country. One cartoon showed a visibly distressed Queen putting her fingers in her ears as he shouted out, under a caption which read: "The Voice of Italy".
I still think if he'd had his way there'd have been a load of alleged al-qaeda operatives smeared with pitch and set alight to provide illumination for republican rallies keep to the Fen Causeway
