Brandishing a pair of oversize scissors, she joked: ‘I’d go anywhere for a hot meal!’
It was a dig at critics, who’d been moaning that the gig was unbecoming of a British royal. But the light-hearted remark also laid bare a more serious truth: that despite their blue-blooded pedigree, the Princess and her husband, Prince Michael, had grown accustomed to being perennially short of cash.
The Prince and Princess Michael of Kent photographed at Nether Lypiatt Manor, their unconventional pursuit of money continues to make headlines
Prince Michael and Putin were joint patrons of an event at Kensington Palace promoting sambo, an obscure Russian martial art (pictured, Prince Michael and Putin in London in 2003)
With its characteristic wide track, low silhouette and its distinctively deep exhaust note the Humvee sets itself apart from the range of light utility trucks it replaced. Fully air-portable, the Humvee features an aluminium body seated on a steel ladder chassis, powered by a 190hp V8 engine.
Introduced into service in 1985, the Humvee remained pretty much unnoticed until its baptism of fire during the invasion of Panama in Operation Just Cause. It wasn’t until almost a year later, in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Strom that the Humvee really came into the public eye.
As a result of its newly found fame its manufacturer, American Motors General, started to produce a civilized version for public consumption, with sales and profile boosted by Hollywood patronage. At the same time the Humvee continued to serve in some of the most dangerous US operations undertaken to date. From the streets of Mogadishu to the Balkans, the Humvee developed into a vehicle far removed from its ori