BYGONES: Reading circus trip marks Princess s 20th birthday FUTURE QUEEN: HRH Princess Elizabeth celebrated her 20th birthday The Mercury also published a series of photos of her majesty visiting Bertram Mills’ Circus in Reading, along with her sister HRH Princess Margaret. The Mercury headline announced: “Princesses at the Circus” and described how thrilled the hundreds of people in the audience were to see the royal party arrive- the first visit to a big top since the end of WWII. ROYAL VISITORS: Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret visted a circus A solemn prophecy that the Royal Berkshire Regiment was in danger of ‘going under’ was made by the Colonel of the Regiment 75 years ago, after a dramatic slump in new recruits.
Died: March 1, 2021. LYN MACDONALD, who has died aged 91, wrote an acclaimed series of finely researched books on the First World War, concentrating on the individuals who experienced the real horrors of the trenches. She told of their day-to-day existence with a beguiling and sympathetic understanding. Historians had previously written about the great strategic tactics of the High Command. Not Macdonald. She wrote of the first-hand experiences of the Tommy after speaking with hundreds of surviving veterans. In her books she brought an insight and understanding to many of the personal memories: with reason, she was often known as “the recording angel of the common soldier”.