Penny Wong has issued some cautionary advice to China’s top foreign affairs official, in a move likely to further infuriate former Labor hero Paul Keating.

Australia’s foreign minister – hailed as the country’s most popular politician – drew Mr Keating’s ire over her handling of Australia’s relationship with China.

Mr Keating has repeatedly criticized Anthony Albanese’s government’s approach to China, claiming Foreign Secretary Wong had been co-opted into taking a “foolish pro-American stance”.

She met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday, but the official has also sought a meeting with Mr Keating, which will take place on Thursday.

‘Mr Keating is entitled to his opinion. He does not speak for the government or the country,” Senator Wong said in a statement to The Australian.

At the opening of the Australia-China Foreign and Strategic Dialogue, Ms Wong reiterated her pledge to confront Chinese leaders on key issues.

She said she “looks forward to speaking candidly about Australians detained in China, human rights, maritime security and regional and international issues.”

She met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday, but the official has also sought a meeting with Mr Keating, which will take place on Thursday.

Ms Wong referred in particular to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the troubles in the Pacific and the conflict in the Middle East.

“I have emphasized that it is in all our interests to commit to preventive architecture to reduce the risk of conflict, and that communication should never be withheld as a punishment or offered as a reward,” she said.

‘Dialogue allows us to manage our differences; we both know it doesn’t eliminate them. Australia will always be Australia and China will always be China.”

Ms Wong spoke of China’s “unsafe conduct” in the South China Sea and urged the nation to adhere to international law.

Her input on the subject in the past has angered Mr Keating, who has emerged as an outspoken supporter of China and critic of the AUKUS deal.

Speaking at the ASEAN Summit, Ms Wong said: “We are facing destabilizing, provocative and coercive actions, including unsafe behavior at sea and in the air and militarization of contested features.

“We know that military power is expanding, but measures to limit military conflict are not – and there are few concrete mechanisms to avert this.”

Ms Wong spoke about China’s “unsafe conduct” in the South China Sea and urged the nation to adhere to international law

Ms Wong referred in particular to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the problems in the Pacific and the conflict in the Middle East

Just a day later, Mr Keating reflected on her comments – which were widely praised – and claimed that ‘it wouldn’t take much to encourage Penny Wong, with her ‘deeply concerned’ frown, to rattle the Chinese tin can.’

Speaking to Sky on Tuesday morning, Opposition spokesman for foreign affairs Simon Birmingham asked questions about the optics of that meeting.

‘Look what Paul Keating had to say about Penny Wong and the Albanian government. And he has been very critical of them,” Mr. Birmingham noted.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong was criticized by Paul Keating

The former Labor hero was outspoken in his disappointment with the current Labor government, prompting rebukes from the country’s most senior elected officials.

He said that while the opposition “welcomes Wang Yi’s visit” and can recognize its importance, he considers the meeting with Mr Keating “pointed”.

“It is quite pointed and somewhat insulting to Penny Wong that the Chinese Embassy has sought this meeting with such an outspoken critic of Penny Wong.”

Mr Wang is the most senior Chinese official to visit Australia in seven years, a sign that tensions between the two countries are thawing after contact was lost during Covid-19.

He met with Ms Wong in Canberra on Wednesday, where they jointly held the China-Australia Foreign and Strategic Dialogue.

Ms Wong then gave a solo press conference, despite inviting Mr Wang to join her.

The meeting was followed by a planned sit-down with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

The Australian newspaper reported on Monday that Keating will hold an “unofficial” meeting with Wang, likely in Sydney on Thursday.

Mr Keating has been highly critical of the Federal Government’s AUKUS nuclear submarine deal and has taken personal aim at Ms Wong.

These comments prompted a swift response from Mr Albanese, who considers Ms Wong one of his closest confidantes.

‘Penny Wong is someone who gives Australia a lot of respect. “She is someone who is diligent, she is someone who is committed, she is someone who ticks all the boxes,” he said.

‘Paul is responsible for what he says, he knows that. But as far as Penny Wong is concerned, I think he is clearly wrong.”

Mr Albanese attended Ms Wong’s wedding to her long-time partner Sophie Allouache at the Bird in Hand Winery in the Adelaide Hills on Saturday.

Mr Wang is the most senior Chinese official to visit Australia in seven years, in a sign that tensions between the two countries are thawing after contact was lost during Covid-19.

Simon Birmingham said Wang’s meeting with Keating was an “insult to Penny Wong.”

EXCLUSIVE

A heartbroken family has been told they ‘should be grateful’ to property developers in Malaysia who covered up the discovery of an Adelaide woman’s buried remains. 

Greg Jenkins, 44, has spent the last six years on a quest for justice after his mother Anna Jenkins, 65, went missing while on a trip to the island of Penang in 2017. 

Mr Jenkins said the comment – made this month by a Malaysian High Court judge as she threw out a negligence case against local police he alleges failed to properly investigate – ‘highlights the disrespect’ his family have consistently encountered. 

Mr Jenkins said the judge told his family they should be grateful that construction workers involved the police when his mother was found but he alleges they only did so after he put pressure on them. 

After his mother disappeared, Mr Jenkins, a member of Australia’s Defence Force, got leave from his post in Hawaii. He flew back to his home in Adelaide before making 34 trips to Malaysia at a cost of more than $300,000 in an effort to track her.

His persistence paid off when a construction worker in 2020 replied to a missing persons flyer he posted saying his mother’s body had been found during works on a building site and it had been quietly moved nearby to not disrupt the development. 

The last call Ms Jenkins made from Penang’s main city of Georgetown indicated she was being followed by men after her passport and her family believe she was robbed, murdered and left at the building site – which at that point was still jungle. 

Australian grandmother Anna Jenkins, 65, (pictured) is believed to have been snatched off the streets while on a trip to Penang in 2017 and was never seen again

Georgetown city in Penang, Malaysia sprawls out against its jungle surroundings 

Mr Jenkins has received the backing of SA-Best MLC Frank Pangello who also accompanied him to Malaysia for the recent ruling.

Mr Pangello said the Jenkins family, who just want someone to answer for what happened to Anna, have been repeatedly brushed aside by Malaysian authorities. 

Ms Jenkins had dual citizenship because she had lived in Australia since the early 1970s, raising a family in Adelaide after she married RAAF serviceman Frank Jenkins as a young woman.

‘It’s high time the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, made strong representations to the Malaysian Government about the treatment of the Jenkins family,’ Mr Pangello said.

Her son Greg said none has been held to account after a project manager and landscape contractor who were working on the housing development moved his mother’s remains in a deliberate effort to cover up the body.

‘We have proof they found and reburied mum’s remains,’ Mr Jenkins told Daily Mail Australia.

‘How is tampering with evidence and contaminating a crime scene not a criminal offence in any Commonwealth country?’ he said.

‘Instead the judge absolved them and said we should be thanking them that they brought the police in – which they only did because of the amount of pressure I put on the construction worker.’

‘They at first didn’t do anything and the police refused to go there until we forced their hand because it was getting some local media coverage and I said I would go to the foreign minister.’

Devoted son Greg Jenkins found the skeletal remains of his missing Australian mother at a Malaysian building site as he rummaged through rubble after years of investigating

A 2023 coronial inquiry into Ms Jenkin’s death was declared an ‘open verdict’ due to a ‘lack of evidence’.

Anna’s daughter and Greg’s sister, Jen Bowen, said she felt authorities ‘did not care’ for her mother and didn’t want to help.

The housing development was aimed at wealthy Chinese buyers – and traditionally they can’t buy a home anywhere that’s had human remains on it.

‘This development cost over $100million to build but the selling price of the luxury villas made it worth more than a billion – so everyone just hushed it all up,’ Mr Jenkins said.

‘They didn’t want word leaking out that dead bodies had been found there as it’s taboo and could have killed off the market for Chinese buyers.

‘So they moved my mother’s bones off to the side to an area which was going to be a water feature in parkland, and wouldn’t be residential land.

‘We found 34 bones from my mother but the police and deputy public prosecutor called the search off. They said the excavation equipment could destroy any more remains which is ridiculous.

‘When I first went to the site the Chief of Police told me we were not allowed to tell the press we were going or post it on social media.

‘The developer has put a lot of money into Penang and they don’t want anything putting that at stake.

‘They are setting the profits of this developer above a kidnapping and murder investigation.’

Mr Jenkins said during his investigations he found out that an Australian passport is worth $100,000USD on the black market in Malaysia as they are used by transnational criminal groups.

‘Someone holding an Australian passport can access 129 countries without a visa, which is very valuable to these people.’

There is no suggestion the construction workers had anything to do with Ms Jenkins’ disappearance, only that her remains where later found at the building site.

Despite the fact Ms Jenkins was an Australian citizen her case has largely gone under the radar at home.

‘If this had been a younger blonde Australian woman there would be outrage.

‘That just crushes my heart, my mother was the most beautiful person.

‘She was a Christian woman who dedicated her life to helping others. She helped the homeless and refugees in Adelaide through her charity work and an Aboriginal group through the church.

‘It’s just indicative of the person she was.’

Malaysian-born Anna Jenkins married husband RAAF serviceman Frank Jenkins and moved to Australia in 1970, raising son Greg and daughter Jen in Adelaide, South Australia

Mr Jenkins said the Malaysian High Court judge won’t accept an appeal until he pays the legal costs of the defendants – the government, the police, the land developers, the project manager and a landscape worker.

‘They just want me to drop the case but I haven’t let this go for six years and I’m not going to let an unjust system deter us.’

The quest to find Anna and the legal case has cost the family about $600,000 and the Australian government has provided little in the way of help.

‘Anthony Albanese goes out of his way to send a text about David Warner’s missing baggy green, yet there’s been an Australian citizen go missing overseas and we’ve had no assistance at all.’

TIMELINE OF THE HUNT FOR ANNA 

December 5, 2017 –  Retired RAAF serviceman Frank Jenkins and his Malaysian-born wife of 47 years, Anna, make their regular trip from Adelaide to see Anna’s 101 year-old mother on the island of Penang.

December  13, 2017 – Anna has a 3pm dentist’s appointment and the receptionist calls her an Uber afterwards to go on to visit her mother. She is last seen at 4.45pm. Around 5.30pm, Frank says he gets a call from his wife saying she is being followed by ‘two Ukrainians who are after her passport’.

The family raises the alarm and hotel staff help search for her. Anna never arrived at her mother’s nursing home.

December 14, 2017 – Police are alerted at 9.28am and a missing person’s report is filed.

December 15, 2017 – Greg Jenkins arrives in Penang to join the search for his mother, alerts police to six CCTV cameras near where she was last seen.

Earlier CCTV footage had captured Anna Jenkins with her husband Frank talking to a local outside their hotel before she vanished

December 16, 2017 – Family claim police lost interest in the search from this point on, ignoring offers to search her hotel room or phone records.

December 21, 2017 – Distressed husband Frank, who suffers from dementia, flies home to be with his daughter Jen. Greg remains.

December 24, 2017 – Police tell the family they will not be following up on the Uber driver after he gave a statement which they ‘consider to be true fact’ without any corroborating evidence.

January 2018 – Police fail to attend several meetings with Greg, despite a string of possible sightings. Requested CCTV footage is no longer available as it expires after three to six weeks. A series of possible sightings of Anna throughout the year are apparently ignored by police.

October 16, 2018 – Anna’s elderly mother dies without knowing what happened to her daughter.

2019 – Greg continues to travel to Malaysia to hunt for his mother

June 25, 2020 – Greg receives a WhatsApp message from a construction worker saying he’d seen his mother’s dentist’s appointment card among possessions and bones dumped at a building site. He supplies pictures showing items from her bag, including her cross and asthma inhaler, and a coccyx bone. Greg begins five week process to get permission to travel to Malaysia during Covid lockdown.

The WhatsApp message that changed everything in the hunt for Anna Jenkins

WhatsApp messages (pictured) from a Malaysian construction worker proved to be the breakthrough. The worker found some of Anna’s belongings and went back to try to find more for the family

June 26, 2020 – The worker hands in the possessions to police.

July 3, 2020 – The family is told the lead police investigator has gone on leave for two weeks.

July 29, 2020 – Greg Jenkins finally gets to the construction site and immediately finds one of his mother’s shoes, weeks after police were alerted to the location and were said to have searched it.

August 7, 2020 – Greg finds his mother’s vertebrae and other possessions in the rubble next to the area where police had been searching. Further digging finds more bones and bone fragments

April 12, 2022 – Police give Greg all his mother’s remains to bring home to Australia in a cardboard box filled with bags of bones.

January 23, 2023 – Malaysian coronial inquest sits for a week but is branded a farce by the family after it visits the wrong location and mistakes a bag of gravel and sand for ground up bone fragments. Vital clues for a murder investigation, including a skull fragment showing trauma damage, are destroyed. The findings are due later this month.

February 2023 – SA-BEST MP Frank Pangallo calls for a South Australian coronial inquiry into Anna’s disappearance. 

February 2024 – A Malaysian High Court judge throws out Mr Jenkins’ negligence case against the government, the police, the developers, a project manager and a landscape worker.

MIKEL ARTETA was accused of insulting the family of Porto manager Sergio Conceicao as Arsenal’s Champions League win turned ugly at full-time level.

The Gunners had lost their last SEVEN last 16 matches since beating Porto in 2010, but ended that 14-year hoodoo with a victory on penalties to reach the quarter-finals.

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David Raya saved two penalties from Wendall and Galeno, while Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice all scored from twelve yards.

Leandro Trossard had initially leveled the score with a first-half goal, but the match turned into a firecracker as Odegaard had a second-half strike disallowed for a foul in the build-up.

Arsenal celebrated the shoot-out wildly, and the dramatic victory sparked an on-pitch row between Arteta and Conceicao.

The pair appeared to embrace but Conceicao began to protest at Arteta and waved his finger at him before they parted ways. Arteta seemed unimpressed by what was said.

Trossard and Nico Gonzalez also had a flare-up before Arsenal defender Gabriel came on.

Arteta and Oleksandr Zinchenko then pulled the Gunners players away to continue celebrating.

Both Arteta and Conceicao were both booked during the match for complaining to the referees, and there was tension between both technical areas throughout.

At the post-match press conference, Arteta refused to comment on what was said between the two coaches, but Conceicao spoke out.

HOW TO GET FREE BETTS ON HORSE RACING

Conceicao said: “The result was unjust. We deserved to continue.

“During the match and towards the bench he insulted my family in Spanish, I don’t know if this has to do with the Spanish managers.

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“And at the end I said: attention, whoever he offends is not between us, he must concentrate on training his team because they have a lot of individual qualities to do that.”

SunSport understands Arteta strongly denies the allegations.

SunSport has also approached Porto asking whether they will complain to UEFA about Conceicao’s allegations.

Conceicao has a history of accusing managers of abusing him during matches in Europe.

In October 2020, Conceicao suggested during a Champions League group stage match against Manchester City that Pep Guardiola was “obnoxious” and insulting towards Portugal.

Conceicao said: “I have a lot to learn from Pep Guardiola, in the way he puts pressure on referees, talks to opponents and the opposition dugout.

“I have to learn this. We were angels compared to the other dugout. He spoke with ugly words about our country. Guardiola’s attitude was extremely unpleasant.”

And in April 2021, after a Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea, Conceicao said of then Blues boss Thomas Tuchel: “I was insulted by this man standing next door.

“I told the referee that the fourth referee had heard the insults. My English is not perfect. I was focused on the game. I don’t know why he responded.

“I heard some insults, but it’s gone… it’s not nice and my irritation ultimately had something to do with it. I haven’t even spoken to him.”

ARSENAL NEWS LIVE: Stay up to date with the latest transfer news from the Emirates

JUDE BELLINGHAM has seen allegations that he called Mason Greenwood a “rapist” dismissed.

LaLiga has launched an investigation into Bellingham’s apparent defamation of Greenwood during Real Madrid’s match with Getafe last month.

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It came after the Real Madrid and England star landed a blistering tackle on the on-loan Manchester United player and appeared to take a swipe at him.

Getafe asked match referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea to record the incident in his match report, after which it was referred to the Spanish Football Association.

A lip-reading expert was called in by LaLiga to determine whether the 20-year-old used the word unquestionably.

However, Marca now report that the investigation was dismissed after it could not be clearly proven whether Bellingham said “rapist” or “crap.”

Because the use of the word could not be convincingly proven, the case was dismissed.

Greenwood, 22, was loaned out to Getafe in September, seven months after charges of attempted rape, assault and coercive control were dropped.

A source exclusively told The Sun last month how Greenwood wanted to drop the case against Bellingham.

They said: ‘Mason has told them he does not want Jude to be punished and has asked them to drop the case.

“He doesn’t want bad publicity and wants to continue playing football.

“He was very upset at the time because he didn’t expect this from someone like Jude.

‘But he knows there’s a good chance he’ll always have one goal for things like that, so he’s accepted that he needs a thick skin.

Greenwood has settled in Spain with his partner and baby after scoring eight goals with five assists in 26 games.

A footballer’s fiance has been forced to hit back at haters who suggested she didn’t deserve to attend London Fashion Week.

Jilly Cross, from Glasgow, is engaged to ex-Rangers and current Motherwell star Andy Halliday.

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She regularly shares her outfit choices and shopping trips with her army of 300,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram (@jillyisabella).

With years of fashion knowledge and experience, she also launched her own clothing label Dula in 2021.

The stylish entrepreneur wants to ‘normalize’ the repetition of outfits with her curated collection, which is featured in Vogue magazine.

As she continues to establish herself as a player in the fashion game, Jilly was thrilled to be invited to London Fashion Week this year.

But after sharing clips of the catwalks in action, she faced comments from trolls who claimed “they are now really giving everyone access to fashion shows”.

Jilly responded angrily: “I may not look like it now because I have hair that looks like Jimmy Neutron, but I have been working in the fashion industry since I was 16.

“When I was at school I had a Christmas temp job at Debenhams. I know it’s not a super fancy store but it was a start.

“Then I left there and actually worked for a luxury store called Cruise. I learned all about fashion houses because the designers sent representatives from the designers we were selling, so I learned all about them.

“I worked there the whole time while I studied fashion business at university for four years and got an honors degree there.

“Two weeks after handing in my thesis I got a job straight out of university, which is hard to do in the fashion industry, especially in Glasgow.

“Even though I wasn’t working for Dior or Conde Nast, I was still in the fashion industry and working for fashion brands. I was working on cool campaigns, learning things and networking.”

She added: “Then I started my own fashion brand which has since been featured in Vogue. And we also worked with Harvey Nics last summer, we had an event with Harvey Nics. Have you heard of them before?

“And calm down, I wasn’t shouting from the rooftops. I literally said I was faking it until I made it and I was just trying my best to make it in a very tough industry.

“Were you at the fashion shows? Were you FROW [front row]?

“Let me join the shows, stop being a hindrance to me. I’m not Anna Wintour, I’m not Andre Leon Talley, but maybe one day I will be. Okay, I’m not going to be one day, but I try my damn best. This trolls man.”

Jilly’s hilarious clip has been viewed more than 264,000 times, and social media users are completely on her side.

“I TOTALLY BELIEVE you will be Anna Wintour one day,” someone predicted.

A second wrote: “HAHAHAHA tell her queen.”

A third added: “I was so proud to see a little girl from Glasgow at fashion week!! You should be so proud of yourself.”

“You were MADE for the fashion world,” someone else insisted.

“Jilly for the next Vogue editor,” another pleaded.

While a sixth said: “You’re a fashion icon, what does she mean?”

Jilly got engaged to midfielder Halliday in 2022 during a romantic holiday in Mexico, after seven years together.

By Katrina Conaglen

Published: 04:40 EST, January 27, 2024 | Updated: 06:42 EST, January 27, 2024

Tipping can be an etiquette minefield

Tipping is a sign of decency, an indication that you appreciate the effort your waiter, taxi driver or doorman has put into caring for you.

However, it can be a etiquette minefield when traveling abroad, not to mention a costly gesture.

For those who hate the mental gymnastics that come with adding 15 percent to a bill at the end of a wine-soaked meal, or who are tired of knowing when and where to tip, you can you are considering a trip to one of these countries.

That's because they are countries where it is considered bad form to leave a tip – and in some cases, leaving a tip is downright insulting.

Australia

You can leave a little something when you pick up your flat white without causing offense in Australia. However, no one will be mad if you don't. Pictured is a barista making coffee in Perth

Downstairs, tipping is not expected, but it is not sniffed either. In larger cities, a 10 percent service charge is often included in the bill, and you won't raise any eyebrows if you leave a tip if you order a flat white.

Switzerland

It is not customary to tip in Switzerland, where service charges are included in prices in most places under federal law. That said, if you are happy with your service, a tip is welcome.

It is not customary to tip in Switzerland, where service charges are included in prices in most places under federal law. Pictured is the famous cosmopolitan Swiss city of Geneva

But don't worry about ensuring that waiters are adequately compensated: the country has one of the highest minimum wages in the world.

Argentina

A curious one. A 2004 labor law makes it illegal to tip people who work in hotels or restaurants. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, nor that it isn't welcome.

However, the law is not regularly enforced: tips account for about 40 percent of the average Argentine waiter's income, so it's kind to leave something.

Belgium

Wages are nice in Belgium, so tips are not expected. However, you won't be chased out of the restaurant if you offer 10 percent.

French Polynesia

No one expects a tip in French Polynesia. If you are overwhelmed by the great service and offer a tip, the recipient may decline. Some restaurants add notes to the bill to indicate whether or not tips are welcome, to avoid tripping up customers.

Singapore

Tipping is somewhat controversial in Singapore. A small offering will not offend while dining or taking a taxi. But it is officially discouraged: the government website states that 'tipping is not a way of life' on the island.

COUNTRIES WHERE Tipping is an insult

Japan

It's a slap in the face to tip in Japan, where it's the cultural norm to take great pride in your work. Employees set a very high standard when providing a service: no tip is necessary to feel appreciated.

When you give a tip, you indicate that you think the employer does not see the value of it and therefore does not pay him enough.

China

Leaving a tip in China is virtually forbidden. In the photo: a waiter in Shanghai

Here it is virtually forbidden. Tipping used to be prohibited in China; For decades, tipping was considered bribery. To this day, in much of the country, it is considered a personal insult to restaurant workers or hoteliers to tip them.

The exception to this is tour guides or tour bus drivers; you can give them some money for their problems without causing offence.

South Korea

As in Japan and China, tipping is considered downright rude in South Korea. An attempt to leave a tip may very well be rejected.

By MailOnline Reporter

Published: 12:31 EST, December 21, 2023 | Updated: 12:38 EST, December 21, 2023

Edward and Sophie are the unsung heroes of the royal family, but it’s an insult that their titles as Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh aren’t hereditary.

That’s the view of Richard Eden, who believes King Charles should give them an immediate upgrade so they can pass the dukedom down from generation to generation – a move that could also encourage their son James to join ‘The Firm’ close when the time is right.

‘It is sometimes easy to forget that the royal family is much more than just our monarch. And I’d like to shine a spotlight on two of my unsung royal heroes of the year: Prince Edward and Sophie,” Eden writes in the latest edition of his Palace Confidential newsletter.

Sophie and Edward are the unsung heroes of the royal family, says Richard Eden

However, the title of Duke of Edinburgh, bestowed by Edward’s older brother Charles, will only remain with the family during his lifetime. It is not hereditary

The late queen holds her fourth child, Prince Edward, in her arms on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Color in 1964. His father, the previous Duke of Edinburgh, looks down lovingly

The King, Queen, Duke and Duchess of Sussex at this year’s Trooping the Color. Edward and Sophie are now key figures in the running of the monarchy

Now that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have quit their royal duties, or been “forced” to step down, as Prince Harry ridiculously claimed in the Supreme Court, and Prince Andrew is no longer a “working royal,” Edward and Sophie are even “The company” has become even more important.

“They have worked as hard as ever this year, completing assignments across the country and abroad with little fanfare.

“While Harry and Meghan have used their royal titles for personal gain and helped them make a fortune in the United States of America, Edward and Sophie have continued the tradition of quiet public service epitomized by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.

‘They have consciously chosen often difficult, old-fashioned causes to draw attention to, such as in Sophie’s case, helping women who have been victims of sexual violence.

‘Edward will meet hundreds, if not thousands, of young people who have achieved gold in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme, of which he is a patron.

‘King Charles recognized the couple’s contribution to the success of the monarchy by announcing on Edward’s 59th birthday in March that he would succeed their father as Duke of Edinburgh. This was something that our late Queen and Prince Philip publicly made clear would happen at the time of Edward’s wedding to Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip with Prince Edward in 1876

King Charles III wears the Imperial State Crown and State Mantle for the State Opening of Parliament in November

Kate, Charlotte and William and accompanied by Sophie and Edward. The Waleses and Edinburghs now form a quartet supporting the work of King Charles

‘However, it was a shame that the King turned the Duchy of Edinburgh into a life peerage rather than the hereditary title it had previously been. In my opinion this was an insult.

‘What better way to celebrate Edward and Sophie’s importance than by upgrading the title to a hereditary title?

‘Perhaps that would be a good way to encourage their son, James, the Earl of Wessex, to join The Firm when the time comes? He could join his sister, Lady Louise Windsor, in providing vital support to their cousin Prince William.”

• For more expert royal commentary from Richard: click here

By Marta Jary for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 06:52 EST, December 3, 2023 | Updated: 08:28 EST, December 3, 2023

During Sunday’s premiere episode of The Bachelors, two contestants clashed over their jobs.

Anastasia, 32, discussed her career and asked the other women to guess what she does for a living.

Mel, 35, took a moment to answer before suggesting: “Are you a stripper?”

A clearly offended Anastasia then replied, “No,” without clarifying what she does for work.

Anastasia is a real estate developer from Victoria, while Mel is a Indigenous mentor from the Northern Territory.

During Sunday’s premiere episode of The Bachelors, Anastasia (pictured) discussed her career and asked the other women to guess what she does for a living.

Viewers watching the episode at home were left stunned by the exchange, with many sharing their thoughts on X, formerly known as Twitter.

‘Are you a stripper? The funniest moment of the whole night!’ wrote one person.

Another viewer said: Let me guess what your job is… are you a stripper? Somewhat clumsy’.

Still, someone else agreed: “Awkward, don’t think anyone is a stripper.”

Mel (pictured) took a moment to answer before suggesting: ‘Are you a stripper?’

A clearly offended Anastasia then replied, “No.” Anastasia is a property developer from Victoria, while Mel is an Indigenous mentor from the Northern Territory

“Were these women told to say random and offensive things to each other for the drama?” someone else wrote.

“So Mel assumes every hot girl is automatically a stripper?!” someone else asked.

“Anastasia, what’s wrong with being a stripper? I’m sure some people would find it better than being a property developer, lol,” someone else said.

‘I think I like Mel. I think we’ll find out that Anastasia is not a property developer,” one conspiracy theorist mused.

Viewers watching the episode at home were left stunned by the exchange, with many sharing their thoughts on X, formerly known as Twitter