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Sabyasachi collection at London’s iconic Lancaster House

The statement Bengal tiger necklace is crafted in 18k gold with a 109.95 carats Zambian emerald with brilliant cut diamonds, and multicoloured and organic gemstones. The back is intricately crafted and studded with EF VVS VS diamonds…reports Asian Lite News

“For over two decades now, I’ve strived to celebrate the best of Indian crafts across the world. It’s an honour to launch my latest high jewellery collection at London’s iconic Lancaster House. I am very grateful to Ruth Ganesh and the Elephant Family, and to my wonderful hosts Elizabeth Ashcombe, Marina Windsor, Annabel Eliott, Shalni Arora and Ayesha Shand for making this happen. The Elephant Family and I are committed to similar but different missions. While I aim to preserve endangered heritage crafts, they conserve endangered animals and habitats. It’s my privilege and honour to be a part of their cause,” says Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

Exceptionally curated gemstones come together with tropical flora and fauna. Modern heirlooms forged in gold to create one-of-a-kind pieces. Made in homage to endangered animals, using fine endangered crafts.

Sabyasachi announced the launch of a new jewellery collection, The Animal Ball Edition from Sabyasachi High Jewellery, with an exhibition on the 27th of June, the eve of the Animal Ball by the Elephant Family, at London’s Lancaster House. The collection is an homage to the endangered, that carries forward the brand’s commitment to heritage, legacy craftsmanship and quality.

The Animal Ball edition from Sabyasachi High Jewellery is made using centuries-old Indian jewellery-making crafts that include Meena, hand-enamelling on gold; Pohai, hand stringing and weaving precious stones and pearls using salma, silk thread; Jadau, the painstaking art of hand moulding and setting precious stones into gold. Flora and fauna insignia have been sculpted by the Sabyasachi Art Foundation and moulded in gold with hand-engraved details. The back of these statement pieces are crafted with brand motifs in intricate flat filigree work studded with diamonds, a signature of Bengal’s jewellery craftsmanship. Featuring coloured gemstones that include Zambian emeralds, Brazilian amethysts, Madagascan tourmalines with EF VVS VS diamonds—this collection is a coming together of ancient wisdom with precision, skill and the perspective of design.

The statement Bengal tiger necklace is crafted in 18k gold with a 109.95 carats Zambian emerald with brilliant cut diamonds, and multicoloured and organic gemstones. The back is intricately crafted and studded with EF VVS VS diamonds.

The statement necklace is crafted in 18k gold with a 35.40 carat tourmaline and 68.70 carats of amethysts with multicoloured gemstones and brilliant cut diamonds. The back is intricately crafted and studded with EF VVS VS diamonds.

The statement necklace is crafted in 18k gold with over 87 carats of emeralds and a 38.4 carat rubellite tourmaline with multicoloured and organic gemstones, and diamonds. The back is intricately crafted and studded with EF VVS VS diamonds.

Sabyasachi is India’s leading luxury house rooted in heritage, quality and craftsmanship. A brand that revels in India’s legacy but with a unique perspective, capturing what was and what is, with a single-minded vision to create modern heirlooms. A market pioneer, Sabyasachi is the first Indian designer and brand to collaborate with Christian Louboutin, Bergdorf Goodman, Pottery Barn and H&M. Patrons of the brand include celebrities, intellectuals and achievers from across the world.

With flagship stores in major cities across India and a jewellery boutique in Dubai, the first international flagship was launched in New York in 2022. Sabyasachi is creating a unique global dialogue that brings together slow authentic luxury and the finest of Indian crafts.

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Prince Harry tells court press has blood on its hands

The lawyer then forensically and with increasing hostility quizzed the prince over 33 newspaper articles, whose details Harry claims were obtained unlawfully…reports Asian Lite News

Prince Harry launched a fierce attack on the “vile” press on Tuesday, blaming tabloids for destroying his adolescence and later relationships, as he gave evidence for almost five hours in his lawsuit against a tabloid publisher.

As he became the first senior British royal to appear in a witness box in more than a century, Harry also said the thought of people unlawfully intruding into the private life of his late mother Princess Diana made him “feel physically sick”.

The prince, the fifth-in-line to the throne, and 100 others are suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, at the High Court in London over allegations of widespread unlawful information gathering between 1991 and 2011.

In his 50-page written witness statement and a day of cross-examination from MGN’s lawyer Andrew Green, the younger son of King Charles said he had been targeted since 1996 when he was a schoolboy.

Harry said the press would try to destroy his relationships with girlfriends, blaming them for his break-up with Chelsy Davy, for causing his circle of friends to shrink, and for bouts of depression and paranoia.

He said he had been labelled a “playboy prince”, a “thicko”, a “failure” and a “drop out”.

“Looking back on it now, such behaviour on their part is utterly vile,” he wrote, saying the tabloids had incited “hatred and harassment” into his and his wife Meghan’s private lives.

In another section he said: “How much more blood will stain their typing fingers before someone can put a stop to this madness?”

Asked to whom he was referring, he said: “Some of the editors and journalists that are responsible for causing a lot of pain, upset and in some cases – perhaps inadvertently – death.”

Green began his questioning respectfully, personally apologising to Harry on MGN’s behalf over one instance in which it admitted unlawful information gathering, saying “it should never have happened and it will not happen again”.

The lawyer then forensically and with increasing hostility quizzed the prince over 33 newspaper articles, whose details Harry claims were obtained unlawfully.

Looking relaxed but serious, and speaking softly but firmly, Harry, the first senior British royal to give evidence for 130 years, said thousands if not millions of stories had been written about him, as Green pressed him on whether he had read the MGN articles in question at the time they were published.

The lawyer intimated that the distress he had suffered was caused by press coverage in general, not the specific MGN stories, and suggested they were based on details already in the public domain.

On a number of occasions, Green described his allegations as “total speculation”.

When asked about the source of information for articles at the centre of his lawsuit, Harry repeatedly said that question should be asked of the journalist who wrote them, saying they appeared suspicious.

Quizzed about one article, Harry said it was “as distressing looking at it now” as it was at the time it was published in 2004. He will be back on Wednesday to give more evidence.

ALSO READ-Prince Harry loses legal bid to pay for police protection

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Royal family reveals new details of King Charles’ coronation

The new British sovereign will be crowned alongside his wife, Camilla, in a deeply religious service at Westminster Abbey that will take place on the morning of May 6…reports Asian Lite News

The UK’s royal family revealed new details, including a new Twitter emoji ahead of the coronation of King Charles III, which is scheduled to take place next month.

Taking to Twitter, the Royal Family said, “A special emoji for the Coronation has gone live today! The emoji, based on St Edward’s Crown, will appear when any of the following hashtags are used: #Coronation #CoronationConcert #TheBigHelpout #CoronationWeekend #CoronationBigLunch”

The new British sovereign will be crowned alongside his wife, Camilla, in a deeply religious service at Westminster Abbey that will take place on the morning of May 6.

As per the royal family, in the morning of the Coronation, King Charles III and Camilla will travel from Buckingham Palace in the King’s procession to Westminster Abbey in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach – which was created in 2012 for Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.

There will be two processions through the streets of the British capital on coronation day – one taking the King to be crowned and a larger parade back to Buckingham Palace after the historic service, where the monarch and members of the royal family will make a balcony appearance, as per the report in CNN.

“The procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace – The Coronation Procession – will take same route in reverse and will feature Armed Forces from across the Commonwealth and the British Overseas Territories, and all Services of the UK’s Armed Forces,” The Royal Palace said in a tweet.

“Their Majesties will travel in the Gold State Coach, which was commissioned in 1760 and was first used by King George III to travel to the State Opening of Parliament in 1762, and has been used at every Coronation since that of William IV in 1831,” The Royal Palace added.

The three-day weekend will also feature a star-studded concert where more than 850 community representatives and key workers are being invited to the festivities in acknowledgement of their philanthropic work.

The list of invitees includes 450 recipients of British Empire medals, who will make up some of the 2,000-strong congregation, as well as 400 young people from organizations selected by Charles and Camilla, who will have a special private viewing of the coronation from nearby St Margaret’s Church, according to CNN.

A royal source told CNN it had “made sense” to refer to Camilla as Queen Consort in the early months of the new King’s reign so as “to distinguish from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”

The source added that the coronation is “an appropriate time” to transition titling and that that “all former Queen Consorts have been known as ‘Queen’ plus their first name, reported CNN. (ANI)

ALSO READ-Invites issued for King Charles’ coronation on May 6

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British navy seizes Iran missiles

The seizure by the Royal Navy comes after other seizures by French and US forces in the region as Western powers increase their pressure on Iran…reports Asian Lite News

The British navy seized anti-tank missiles and fins for ballistic missile assemblies during a raid on a small boat heading from Iran likely to Yemen, authorities said, the latest such seizure in the Gulf of Oman.

The seizure by the Royal Navy comes after other seizures by French and U.S. forces in the region as Western powers increase their pressure on Iran, which is it now enriching uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. It also comes as regional and international powers try to find an end to the yearslong war gripping Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, and as Iran arms Russia in its war on Ukraine.

The raid took place Feb. 23 after an American aircraft detected a small motorboat with cargo covered by a gray tarp heading from Iran, with a helicopter from the Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster chasing the vessel as it ignored being hailed by radio, the British Defense Ministry said. The boat tried to reenter Iranian territorial water, but was stopped before it could.

Inside the boat, British troops found Russian-designed 9M133 Kornet anti-tank guided missiles, weapons also manufactured in Iran under the name “Dehlavieh,” the U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet and the British navy said. Those weapons have been seen in other seizures suspected to be from Iran and bound for Yemen.

Sailors found small fins that the U.S. Navy identified as jet vanes for medium-range ballistic missiles, as well as devices the Navy identified as “impact sensor covers” that go on the tips of those missiles.

While the British did not specifically identify where it suspected the weapons would go, the U.S. Navy described the seizure as happening “along a route historically used to traffic weapons unlawfully to Yemen.”

Iranian components have helped build a missile arsenal for Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have held the country’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014.

A United Nations resolution bans arms transfers to Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. Tehran long has denied arming the rebels, despite physical evidence, numerous seizures and experts tying the weapons back to Iran.

In its statement, the Royal Navy referred to that U.N. resolution and said the world body “has been informed about the seizure and invited to conduct its own inspection of the materiel.”

“This seizure by HMS Lancaster and the permanent presence of the Royal Navy in the Gulf region supports our commitment to uphold international law and tackle activity that threatens peace and security around the world,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said.

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of the American 5th Fleet, said in a statement that this was the “seventh illegal weapon or drug interdiction in the last three months and yet another example of Iran’s increasing malign maritime activity across the region.” In that time, the Navy said, its sailors and allies have seized more than 5,000 weapons, 1.6 million rounds of ammunition, 30 anti-tank missiles and other weapon components.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations told The Associated Press on Thursday that Tehran wasn’t aware of the British navy’s seizure “but generally, it adheres to the Yemen sanctions resolution, regardless of its own reservations.”

The war in Yemen has deteriorated largely into a stalemate and spawned one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. However, Saudi-led airstrikes haven’t been recorded in Yemen since the kingdom began a cease-fire at the end of March 2022, according to the Yemen Data Project.

That cease-fire expired in October despite diplomatic efforts to renew it. That has led to fears the war could again escalate. More than 150,000 people have been killed in Yemen during the fighting, including over 14,500 civilians.

In the last two months, the US, France and local Yemeni authorities have seized thousands of assault rifles, ammunition, anti-tank missiles and other weapons coming from Iran.

Yemen’s peace efforts have been stalled since October when the Houthis refused to renew a UN-brokered truce. The group threatened to launch attacks if the government refused its demands to share oil revenue and pay employees in areas under Houthi control.

Yemeni military officers believe the Houthis have smuggled weapons from Iran and amassed fighters outside key cities such as Marib and Taiz in preparation.

Similarly, during the 40th session of the Arab Interior Ministers Council in Tunisia on Wednesday, Yemen’s Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Haydan called for intensified international efforts to stop the flow of weapons and drugs into Yemen, stating that his country’s coastguard, the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, and the international navies have intercepted numerous shipments of weapons and drugs.

The seizure by the Royal Navy comes after others by French and US forces, and as Western powers increase pressure on Iran as it continues to enrich uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.

ALSO READ-UK announces RAF and Royal Navy support to Qatar World

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‘Royals had a problem with Meghan’s acting career’

In the docuseries, according to ‘Variety’, Harry says: “I think we all now know that [Diana] was deceived into giving the interview, but at the same time she spoke the truth of her experience.”..reports Asian Lite News

The first three episodes of ‘Harry & Meghan’, the highly-anticipated Netflix docuseries about Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, dropped on Thursday after a frenzy of speculative reporting in the British media about the content and how damaging it would be for King Charles III and Prince William, reports ‘Variety’.

None of the royal family members agreed to be interviewed for the series, which contains a number of revelations on the Harry-Meghan love story — they met over Instagram and Harry was late for his first date! — and also about the early bumps in their relationship with the family.

The first three episodes, however, do not contain anything that may upset the royal family, but it carries footage from Princess Diana’s controversial ‘Panorama’ interview with the now-disgraced BBC journalist Martin Bashir, which, ‘Variety’ notes, is “likely to anger” the Prince of Wales.

It emerged last year that the interview had been secured via fraudulent means. Earlier this year BBC publicly apologised to William and Harry, and donated the $1.6 million it earned from the interview. Prince William had then said: “It is my firm view that this ‘Panorama’ programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again.”

In the docuseries, according to ‘Variety’, Harry says: “I think we all now know that [Diana] was deceived into giving the interview, but at the same time she spoke the truth of her experience.”

In another segment, Harry says that male family members were unsympathetic about the intense press intrusion into his and Meghan’s lives because their spouses had suffered the same.

“Some of the members of the family were like, ‘But my wife had to go through that’,” Harry says. ” ‘So why should your girlfriend be treated any differently? Why should you get special treatment? Why should she be protected?’ And I said the difference here is the race element.”

Harry and Meghan also reveal it was Meghan’s career as an actor — at the time she was appearing in the long-running legal drama series ‘Suits’ — that was one of the “biggest problems” for the royals. Unnamed members of the family reportedly predicted to Harry that the relationship wouldn’t last.

The couple share intimate details about how they met and the first time Meghan met Harry’s relatives, including William and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, as well as her first interaction with Queen Elizabeth.

Meghan, repeating an anecdote from her interview with Oprah Winfrey last year, says the meeting with the Queen was sprung upon her unexpectedly, with Harry asking her on the drive to Windsor Castle whether she knew how to curtsy.

“How do you explain that to people?” Harry says to the series helmer Liz Garbus. “How do you explain that you need to bow to your grandmother? And that you would need to curtsy, especially to an American. Like, that’s weird.”

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Cadbury, favourite brands of Queen may lose royal warrant

King Charles – Britain’s new monarch, in his former role as the Prince of Wales, had issued his own royal warrants to more than 150 brands…reports Asian Lite News

Cadbury, Mason teas, Burberry raincoats and Fortnum are among ‘600’ brands that will be compelled to remove their Royal Warrant on products following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

A Royal Warrant permits enterprises to use the royal coat of arms on products and in marketing in return for selling goods and services to the royals. Since the Queen died, the warrant becomes null and void – as it instantly expires at the death of the Royal who issued them.

If the companies do not receive the new monarch’s stamp of approval, they will have two years to remove the seal that designates them as preferred suppliers to the sovereign.

King Charles – Britain’s new monarch, in his former role as the Prince of Wales, had issued his own royal warrants to more than 150 brands.

Holders receive “the right to display the appropriate royal arms on their product, packaging, stationery, advertising, premises and vehicles”, the Royal Warrant Holders Association said.

Fortnum and Mason have a long and close history with the royal family, having created Royal Blend tea for King Edward VII in 1902. They were the grocers and provision merchants by appointment to Queen Elizabeth and the tea merchants and grocers by appointment to the Prince of Wales.

“We are proud to have held a warrant from Her Majesty since 1954, and to have served her and the royal household throughout her life,” the luxury London department store said.

Among the other brands that benefited from their association with Queen Elizabeth was the Dubonnet wine-based aperitif — the key ingredient in her favourite cocktail of Dubonnet and gin.

Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, passed away at the age of 96 at her remote, summer home – Balmoral Castle, in Scotland. People of the United Kingdom will relive the glorious life and legacy of the Queen at her state funeral on Monday.

For the funeral, several guests – starting from political heads of countries to distinct royal family members and dignitaries from across the globe – will fly to the UK.

ALSO READ-QUEEN ELIZABETH II: End of an era