Army relieved that Andrew is no longer Duke of York

Army Top Brass are pleased that the 'prince' will not be able to use 10,000 soldiers for needless yomps up and down hills any more. An army spokesman said, 'this was a gross misuse of trained professionals, marching these troops up to the top of a hill, for no reason other than to march them down again. And simply to confirm that when they are up, they are up. Madness. Sheer, bloody madness.'

Major-General Headly-Smedley-Landrover-Smyth was quoted as saying, 'We are glad that this unnecessary use of our troops has finally been dealt with. This was not a manoeuvre to practice the taking of an elevated position. This was a full division, comprised of multiple brigades, weirdly just men, marching up and down a hill. The report states some notes were made on the situation when they were only halfway up, but, quite frankly, I am embarrassed to give them to you. This whole exercise could have been done at squad level with ten soldiers, not ten thousand. Get me a brandy.'

When told the actual reason the Duke of York title was being removed, the Major-General spat brandy everywhere, and developed a new type of gout.

Image credit: Titanic Belfast, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Text added.

Prince Andrew to stand back, again

I have decided to stand back from using certain titles, so henceforth I and the press won't be using 'Randy Andy' anymore. 'His former Royal Highness Randy Andy' is included.

I am also ditching my remaining Royal patronages including Pizza Express. My Royal endorsement for Sure deodorant will remain as a necessity as I have, thankfully,learned how to sweat again.

I will renounce my attendance at Christmas lunch with the King and will be tucking in at the Hungry Horse in Windsor this year, as long as the sponsorship contract arrives.

Aunty Angela's Stamp Payment Error

Noah Thomkinson, now aged six years and four days, was in tears yesterday when an eagerly-anticipated sixth birthday card from his Aunty Angela failed to arrive until he was already three days into his sixth year.  He is now demanding that Angela resign from her position as his Aunt, on the grounds that she has no right to remain in the post if she was unable or unwilling to face up to the responsibilities of this position.

When he examined the envelope in which his card arrived, Noah noted that it only bore a second-class stamp, not a first class stamp, which probably accounts for its late delivery.  When Noah's parents questioned Angela about this, she explained that she had sought advice from the post office clerk before she posted the card, had been assured that a second-class stamp was all that was required, and that the payment of a substantial additional amount of money for a first-class stamp was not necessary.

Angela subsequently realised that she may well have been incorrectly advised, and that the correct payment should perhaps have been for a first-class stamp.  A final, definitive and authoritative verdict on this is currently being sought from Royal Mail, although for reasons of 'family confidentiality' they might not be able to fully reveal all of their findings to the public. 

Angela has also written to Noah and apologised for any error she may have made, and it is not clear at this stage how Noah will respond.  This is being watched carefully and with bated breath by all the rest of Noah's family, by all of his young friends, the family next door, the rest of the street, other customers in the post office and (as usual, because they are - as ever - desperately short of things to report on) the local press. 

Meanwhile, Noah's parents have praised Angela and expressed their 'full confidence' in her as an aunt to Noah.