I’ve had various costumes in my time; from my days as a teenage punk to being a Mötley glam rocker, clad in flame-pattern lycra with ozone-depleting products elevating my hair into a scruffy frightwig.

I’ve also worn the dress codes of the Employment Service (navy trouser suit; white shirt), and Medina Borough Council. 3d Puff Embroidery Hat

The latter was a ghastly skin-scratching polyester bottle-green blazer, issued to me with a synthetic blouse spattered with olive and magenta spots, like a wearable Magic Eye picture.

They used to say that if you squinted at that moiré fabric long enough, an image would emerge of the then-council leader Morris Barton.

As a youngster, I had a bright blue Girl Guide uniform; arms emblazoned with embroidered patches, won by completing diverse activities including country dancing, learning basic first aid, or cooking an egg over an open fire — these last two not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Above my tunic’s patrol insignia, I proudly pinned an enamel badge commemorating 1977’s Silver Jubilee.

As a guide, not only did I have to Be Prepared, but I also promised to serve the Queen. I made an effort, but I reckon that the Queen served me considerably more — devoting her life to service right up until her last breath.

Though her earthly remains have found their last resting place, even in death that omnipresent monarch will continue to give us the side-eye on stamps and currency for years to come.

I was in London on the day of the Queen’s funeral though, like millions of others, I watched it (intermittently) on the telly.

I saw her arrive at Westminster Abbey, the place of worship where she married her beloved Philip, and which was also the site of her coronation.

As her coffin approached, borne on a gun carriage, I realised that there was something missing.

I watched guardsmen, Jack Tars, beefeaters. I saw fellows in bearskins, naval caps, plumes. Pipers in tartan kilts, drum majors in scarlet livery, legions of well-buffed helmets.

Row upon row of men, marching in synch at 75 steps per minute.

Then, as the bearer party carried the draped casket through the gates to the abbey’s entrance, I finally saw them.

Two women who, with the Princess Royal, were pretty much the only conspicuous ladies in the cortege. And, like the chaps, all three were in military garb.

Queen Elizabeth II was the most famous and influential woman on the planet. Yet there she was on her penultimate journey, flanked almost exclusively by men in ceremonial battledress.

I appreciate that HRH was head of the armed forces, but she was also the president of her local Women’s Institute at Sandringham.

Elizabeth Windsor became a Girl Guide at the age of 11, and was the patron of the movement until she died.

She was head of the Commonwealth; she held patronages of hospitals, education and training centres, faith, arts and cultural organisations.

Who paraded for these people? How was I — a pacifist woman — represented? Elizabeth was my queen too.

Activists at the site of a German village threatened with demolition to make way for a coal mine expansion were urging others to come join their efforts on January 9, according to an appeal on their website.Footage posted to Twitter by activist and Mainz city councilor Maurice Conrad the previous day at Lutzerath shows police in riot gear restraining one individual. “Incidentally, this is what happens when citizens and climate activists demonstrate peacefully,” Conrad tweeted.Police from the nearby city of Aachen said activists were “pelting security forces and police officers” and that the “peaceful event in which the police acted extremely restrained … turned into violence for no comprehensible reason”. Police urged protesters to “refrain from further violent actions.”The activist group Initiative Lutzerath urged people who want to join the action to prepare themselves for the long haul, saying the “evacuation attempt will take one to six weeks”.Activists said lignite mine expansion goes against Germany’s pledges under the Paris Agreement, Deutsche Welle reported.The village of Lutzerath has no permanent residents, according to Deutsche Welle. Credit: Maurice Conrad via Storyful

For years the father and son team at the Sherborne Estate’s Home Farm had worked their Gloucestershire land hand in hand, a partnership each thought would continue down the generations.

Harry accused the ‘British press, specifically the tabloids’ of being ‘an antagonist’.

Singer Jessie J has announced she is pregnant, celebrating the news with a heartfelt Instagram post.

THEY sang … Shang-a-Lang. Pity really, but there it is. However, before we come to the Bay City Rollers per se, let us first consider my arguably more interesting days as a postie in the Warrender Park district of Edinburgh.

Celebrity Bridge Of Lies will debut on BBC One on January 14 alongside a second series of Bridge Of Lies which airs on January 23.

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has issued his first public statement since suffering a cardiac arrest during a NFL game five days ago, thanking fans for their support. After showing signs of improvement in hospital this week and speaking to his team-mates on Friday, Hamlin posted a picture of himself on Instagram on Saturday, describing the love from well-wishers as "overwhelming". After receiving medical attention on the field on Monday night, Hamlin was taken into hospital and the game was subsequently suspended.

The royal family is facing yet more accusations from Prince Harry when the Duke of Sussex’s latest interview publicising his memoir Spare airs on Monday. Harry’s interview with Michael Strahan was scheduled to go out on ABC News’s Good Morning America at midday UK time. In Sunday night’s interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby, the duke attacked close members of the royal family for “getting into bed with the devil” in forging relationships with the tabloid press “to rehabilitate their image”.

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano's crater glows red as it continued to erupt on Saturday, January 7. The volcanic activity continued in the Halema‘uma‘u crater at Kilauea's summit, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), after resuming on Thursday, prompting the volcano’s alert level to be raised from a watch to a warning.

A 'proud' local theatre is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Premier League high-flyers Newcastle suffered a shock FA Cup exit against third tier Sheffield Wednesday, while top-flight strugglers Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth were also dumped out by lower-league opposition on Saturday.

Hints and answers for today's Wordle 568, January 8.

Charles stopped to chat to well-wishers outside Castle Rising Church in Norfolk on Sunday morning.

McDonald's Kazakh licensee, Food Solutions KZ, could not source its beef patties locally and imported them from Russia until the war forced it to stop and ultimately shut down.

There was a 30 per cent rise in people handing over their British passports in 2021

Iran executed a former national karate champion and another man on Saturday for allegedly killing a security official during nationwide protests, despite pleas by relatives and criticism that their trial relied on forced confession.

Constance Marten, Mark Gordon and the baby have been missing since their vehicle broke down near junction four of the M61 on Thursday evening.

The duke outlined his love for his father, but also criticised his parenting in his autobiography Spare.

A California "energy practitioner" who says he can help "heal" depression and post-traumatic stress is among more than a dozen life coaches and health professionals thanked by Prince Harry for keeping him “physically and mentally strong”.

Embroidered Badges Here are the budding aesthetics that are already influencing our decor choices in the new year, writes Adele Cardani