Harry and Meghan expecting a baby girl Couple secretly married three days before Royal wedding 'Kate made me cry' says Duchess of Sussex Royal family discussed Archie's skin colour Camilla Tominey lifts the lid on the inside story of the rift Harry and Meghan will regret this interview Princes William and Harry to reunite for Diana memorial The Duchess of Sussex claimed the Duchess of Cambridge apologised for making her cry ahead of her wedding, she revealed in the opening minutes of her blockbuster television interview with Oprah Winfrey. The Duchess has also revealed she married Prince Harry three days before their public ceremony. The couple plan to reveal the sex of their second baby later in the show. Racism, rifts, and a falling-out with The Firm - nothing will be off -limits, with the Royal family braced for a slew of damaging revelations. The interview, being broadcast in the US on CBS, will be shown in the UK at 9pm on Monday on ITV. But we'll be bringing you the latest on it here now in our live blog.
Austrian authorities have suspended inoculations with a batch of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine as a precaution while investigating the death of one person and the illness of another after the shots, a health agency said on Sunday. "The Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (BASG) has received two reports in a temporal connection with a vaccination from the same batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the district clinic of Zwettl" in Lower Austria province, it said.
Everyone aged 56 and over will be invited for jabs this week, NHS England has announced. Hundreds of thousands of letters for those aged between 56 and 59 began landing on doorsteps on Saturday. The latest round of invitations comes after eight in 10 people aged 65 to 69 took up the offer of inoculation. More than 18 million people in England - more than a third of the adult population - have already received a vaccine. Across the UK, more than a million people have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, while almost 21.4 million people have had one dose. Dr Nikki Kanani, NHS England national medical director for primary care, said: "It is testament to our incredible staff that we can now move on to the next age group. The vaccines are both safe and effective, so if anybody who is eligible hasn't been vaccinated yet, I'd urge them to go online or call 119 and get themselves booked in."
First time daily deaths below 100 since 19 October
"I find it ridiculous."
The Duke of Sussex is determined to stand shoulder to shoulder with his brother at the unveiling of a statue of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, whatever the fallout from his interview with Oprah Winfrey. Prince Harry hopes that the brothers can present a united front at Kensington Palace on July 1, which would have been the Princess’s 60th birthday, in an attempt to move past their rift. A source close to Prince Harry insisted that whatever had been said and done, he desperately hoped to attend the event and considered it a priority. There is more uncertainty about whether the Duke might make it back to the UK for earlier events, such as Trooping the Colour on June 12 or the Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday on June 10, partly due to the impending birth of his second child, thought to be due around that time. Despite the explosive nature of the revelations made to Ms Winfrey, the Sussexes consider the interview their last word on the subject and want to move on. They felt they needed to have their say and explain to the public why they turned their backs on royal life, but now consider the matter closed, sources said. One friend said: “It was something they felt they wanted and needed to do but now they have done it, they feel a line has been drawn under that chapter of their lives and they want to move on.”
Follow the day’s events as they happened
Boris Johnson has hailed the “joy and relief” that Monday's easing of lockdown will bring families as he confirmed a grandparent will be able to see young grandchildren under the new rules. Before Monday, the Government's Covid-19 guidance said two people were only allowed to meet outdoors if they were doing exercise, such as walking or jogging. Those restrictions have been loosened, with people now allowed to meet one-on-one outside for recreational activities such as having a coffee on a park bench or a picnic. The Telegraph can confirm that children aged under five are exempt from such rules, however, meaning a parent meeting a grandparent can bring along young children. Mr Johnson told this newspaper: “Today marks the first step in our cautious easing of lockdown restrictions, with pupils returning to schools and outdoor socialising with one other person allowed. “While this is only a small relaxation of the rules, I know this increased social contact will provide joy and relief for families with grandparents being able to see young grandchildren again after months of tough restrictions. "But we must remain vigilant as we move through our plan to reopen society and return towards normality.” The rule tweak is one of three key changes happening today, which is the first date in Mr Johnson’s “roadmap” out of lockdown. The other two are the reopening of all English schools and the ability for care home residents to be visited by a single named individual, with hand-holding allowed. The changes reflect that fact that the Prime Minister and his inner team have prioritised getting children into the classroom again and reuniting families. Many of the existing restrictions remain, however. No more than two adults from different households can meet outdoors to chat. Full family reunions outside will have to wait until March 29 at the earliest. Such one-on-one meetings also have to take place in public outdoor settings rather than private gardens. Social distancing rules also remain in place, which means people are advised to remain six feet apart and wear face masks if close to others. But the change does end the need to be moving when catching up with someone – a rule difficult to abide by for those with limited mobility and which was being broken by some. Mr Johnson has made “cautious but irreversible” the central theme of his reopening plan, which takes place in four stages. By the end of March groups of six or two different households will be able to meet outside. By April 12, pubs and restaurants should be allowed to serve outside. May 17 is the earliest indoor dining and indoor meet-ups will be allowed, with June 21 provisionally named as the date almost all restrictions will be lifted. However, the Prime Minister has repeatedly stressed that these dates are simply “earliest” ones, with delays possible if the data tracking the fight against Covid-19 worsens. Four metrics are being watched: the speed of the vaccine roll-out; the efficacy of the vaccines on deaths and hospitalisations; whether case rises threaten to overwhelm the NHS; and whether new variants emerge that increase risk. Reviews are ongoing to determine when social distancing rules could be eased and whether overseas holidays could be allowed again in time for summer.
‘Population immunity’ to flu and other viruses may have been impacted by Covid health measures, government adviser says
GOP Governor Reeves instead calls Biden ‘duly’ elected president
Follow the latest in our liveblog here The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were married in their back garden by the Archbishop of Canterbury three days before their fairytale wedding, they have revealed. In her interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex said the wedding at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018 was a "spectacle for the world". The couple decided to have their own moment and married days before. "Three days before our wedding we got married. The vows we have framed," said the Duchess. "We called the archbishop, and we just said, 'Look, this thing, this spectacle is for the world, but we want our union between us." The ceremony was "just the two of us in our back yard with the Archbishop of Canterbury."
It comes as those aged 56-59 are being invited to join the cohort of the population being offered a Covid-19 vaccine.
Hospitals offer holiday and bonuses to Covid-weary staff in England. Food, drama and poetry also part of efforts to reward NHS workers and improve conditions
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp reviews his side's 1-0 loss to league trailers Fulham. Klopp said the Reds "conceded a goal, didn't score and lost the game, not good enough".
Britain should prepare itself for a "hard winter" with the threat of Covid-19 and a flu surge still a possibility, a Public Health England official has said. The NHS will have to be ready for a potential rise in respiratory viruses as people wait to discover if there is a strong level of immunity in the population, according to Dr Susan Hopkins, who advises the Government on its Covid policy. Dr Hopkins, who is Covid-19 strategic response director to Public Health England, told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "I think we have to prepare for a hard winter, not only with coronavirus but we've had a year of almost no respiratory viruses of any other type, and that means potentially the population immunity to that is less, and so we could see surges in flu. "We could surges in other respiratory viruses and other respiratory pathogens." Dr Hopkins added: "So it's really important that we're prepared from the NHS point of view, from public health and contact tracing, that we have everything ready to prepare for a difficult autumn, and we hope that it won't occur and there will be a normal winter for all of us." Dr Hopkins said she believed "we will all have our summer holidays" but her job is to advise the Government and to prepare for "worst-case scenarios". She told the programme: "We have to make sure that we're prepared, and that we're better prepared for this autumn than we have been previously." Despite her warnings for next year, Dr Hopkins said the emergence of new variants of the coronavirus should not derail a plan to start easing a nationwide lockdown in England over the coming weeks. "I think it won't change it for the next three to five weeks, that would be highly unlikely," Dr Hopkins, PHE’s strategic response director, told the BBC's Andrew Marr show. "We will need to watch it carefully as new strains come into the country from around the world and we will need to be very ready for autumn."
More than third of Scottish voters less likely to vote for cutting ties with rest of UK after events of recent days
Morgan has criticised the duke and duchess of Sussex multiple times in recent weeks
Muddy potatoes are to be sold in Tesco for the first time since the 1970s, but scales will be adjusted so that you only pay for spuds and not mud. A new trial will see unwashed white potatoes sold across 262 Tesco supermarkets throughout the next six months. The scheme, which could eventually be rolled out to all of the chain’s 2,650 shops, is being run alongside Lincolnshire-based potato suppliers Branston. Sales of unwashed potatoes in supermarkets and grocery stores was common practice until the 1970s, as leaving the soil on would block out light and result in a longer shelf life. Tesco and Branston say that the shelf lives of the potatoes used in the scheme so far have more than doubled, with an increase from five days to 11 days. They have also worked out how much soil is on the average spud, and scales have been adjusted accordingly so that customers do not end up paying extra at the checkout. It comes after a positive response to a pilot last November saw unwashed potatoes sold at Tesco stores in Bristol, where the chain says that customers were happy to purchase the products regardless of appearance. The supermarket, which in 2013 became the first to reveal how much waste takes place as part of its operations, is hoping to gain a broader understanding of how consumers feel about buying muddy potatoes. “Towards the end of the 1970s, supermarkets and greengrocers in general moved towards selling more cosmetically perfect produce and as a result, potatoes were washed before being put out on display,” said Rob Hooper, Tesco Produce’s lead technical manager. “Last November we ran an initial trial at stores in Bristol and the surrounding areas to see how shoppers would respond and it was a success, so now we are widening this trial across the south of England.” The unwashed potatoes retain their quality for longer because chlorophyll forms within the cells of potatoes that are exposed to light, and this gradually turns them green.
Education secretary said teachers were among public sector workers set to face "pay restraint".
Exodus of foreign workers ‘a threat to UK recovery’Construction, care and hospitality industries all at risk from major shortage of employees, say business leaders The government could fail to meet its target to build 300,000 homes a year because of a potential shortage of workers in the construction industry. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images
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