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Prince Andrew will miss Jubilee celebrations after testing positive for Covid

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 2nd June 2022

Prince Andrew has tested positive for Covid and will no longer be attending any of the Jubilee celebrations this week, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

As the Duke of York is no longer officially a working royal he was never due to appear at today’s Trooping the Colour ceremony.

But he was expected to attend a service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral tomorrow.

Prince Andrew is Queen Elizabeth II’s second son, but stepped back from royal duties in 2019 following allegations surrounding his friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Read more: Song called ‘Prince Andrew Is A Sweaty N***e’ climbs the charts ahead of Queen’s Jubilee

A palace statement said: “After undertaking a routine test the Duke of York has tested positive for Covid and with regret will no longer be attending tomorrow’s service of Thanksgiving.”

It’s understood that he has seen the Queen in recent days, but not since testing positive for Covid-19.

Her Majesty was seen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace today, along with other members of the royal family including Prince William, Kate Middleton and their three children, for the huge Trooping the Colour ceremony.

The celebrations will continue throughout the bumper bank holiday weekend.

In Manchester, there’s entertainment taking over Piccadilly Gardens all weekend, and a beacon being lit this evening at St Peter’s Square.

The Manchester Flower Show has also kicked off in the city centre, including a Jubilee Trail of royal-themed floral installations.

If you want to see more events that are happening for the Jubilee, check out our guide here.

Featured image: Royal Family

UK News

Live football to be prescribed by some GPs to help treat patients with depression

Danny Jones Danny Jones Get live football tickets on NHS prescription for depression

Live football looks set to be prescribed by a section of the NHS in an effort to try and help people suffering from depression.

As part of the experimental new wellbeing and mental healthcare initiative, GPs across the UK could soon be able to suggest watching football in person as part of their wider treatment plans.

While it may sound like a somewhat unorthodox approach, it’s sparked plenty of conversation on social media and is already gathering some steam up and down the country.

The scheme is being pioneered by Labour MP, Dr Simon Opher, the representative for Stroud, as well as Ecotricity owner and green industrialist, Dale Vince.

‘Prescribed footy’, to coin a somewhat jarring colloquialism, is set to be rolled out to relevant patients across the Gloucestershire region diagnosed with depression and some other mental health conditions.

Those on the receiving end of these prescriptions will be offered free tickets to watch local National League side, Forest Green Rovers (FGR), based in the town of Nailsworth.

Vince, who founded Ecotricity – formerly known as Renewable Energy Company – back in 1995, bought Forest Green back in 2010 and is just passionate about football and mental health as the push for clean energy and environmental causes.

Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio in an interview on Tuesday, 22 July, the 64-year-old Norfolk-born OBE said: “We just do the things that we see, that we think could be done, should be done, that will help; whether it’s helping our planet, our country – people here [in Gloucestershire]…

“When you attend football matches, particularly regularly, you find yourself a part of something, a part of a group of people with a common purpose. It’s a wonderful social experience that we think would be really good for people suffering from mental health problems.”

Any season ticket holder can no doubt vouch for the sense of the unity matchdays can bring, especially when it comes to combatting loneliness; Norwich City FC went viral back in 2023 for sharing a moving awareness video touching on this very same communal spirit.

Despite some doubters and detractors questioning his motives online and in the media, he insists the sentiment is purely altruistic, and FGR hope to aligning itself with big causes like mental health, even making the first fully vegan-certified football kits ahead of the 2025/26 season.

He also went on to add, “We also won’t take adverts or sponsorship from gambling companies: they do great harm in our society.”

As for Dr Opher, he has continued to champion ‘social prescribing’ across his medical and political career, backing it as a viable alternative to common medication such as antidepressants for some individuals with mild-moderate depression.

The live football on presecption concept has been met with plenty of pushback online, including lots of discourse surrounding priorities and the NHS remaining underfunded, but only time will tell how well these early trials go.

What do you make of the idea of football being put forward as an aid for depression and do you think it should be considered by the NHS at large?

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Featured Images — @nicksaerbi (via Flickr)/Steve Daniels (via Geograph)

UK News

Oasis 25: Heaton Park send off Oasis like only Manchester could – with biblical rain

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall

Oasis are well and truly back on top as they performed for the final night at Heaton Park and what could still be the very last time in Manchester.

There are countless moments every night that show how uniting this full-on cultural moment has been.

The guy in the wheelchair being lifted overhead by a group of strangers for a better view. The couple getting engaged before being enveloped in a sea of bucket hats. The thousands of people gathering on ‘Gallagher Hill’ every night just to be close to this historic music event.

Then the celeb-spotting too: Jack Grealish, Shaun Ryder and Andy Whyment off Corrie in the same frame of a video; Orlando Bloom waving at fans. Liam and Noel’s kids all together on a big cousins’ night out. It’s had it all.

For a lot of Mancs, the Oasis reunion has felt like Christmas morning ever since it was announced last year following a number of post-gig teasers like that Blossoms headliner at Wythenshawe Park.

And it certainly felt like that as we braved the soggy ground over at Heaton Park for their fifth and final live show in Manchester.

The atmosphere in the crowd was almost surreal, a mass of Britpop-loving super fans who have been waiting for this exact moment for almost twenty years – and you could tell.

As the brothers strutted on stage, hand in hand, a feeling of euphoric joy surged from the crowd of 80,000.

For two hours, they deliver anthem after anthem, each song transcending generations as the older lot look back to their ‘Live Forever’ days and the youth can’t quite wrap their head around the band in front of them being here and now.

oasis live 25 reunion review final night heaton park manchester
Oasis’ final night at Heaton Park was everything we dreamed it would be. (Credit: Audio North)

Oasis are just as good as ever; Liam’s gritty vocals and Noel‘s ripping guitar slot together perfectly as though they were made for one another.

They’re loud and they’re unapologetic, they are the sound of the people, and we were absolutely lapping it up.

Every song was a hit, from bangers like ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’ to fan favourite ‘Live Forever’, and of course ‘Wonderwall’, the brothers gave the people exactly what they wanted.

Liam, maracas in hand and parka zipped to the top, not only might be the coolest man to walk the planet, but was undoubtedly born to be a frontman of a band. The head nods, the frowning eyebrows, the fists clenched behind his back – we were fully gripped by his sheer stage presence.

oasis live 25 review night 5 Manchester
oasis final night at heaton park
Images: The Manc Group

There was a moment where he put the tambourine in his mouth, closed his eyes and lifted his head to the sky, taking it all in and getting lost in the music – an icon.

And of course, in true Manc fashion, the heavens opened an hour into their set as the grey cloud everyone had an eye on took centre stage.

Did we care? No, we did not. It only made the moment that more special as we united as one unit, singing as loud as we could to combat the elements.

It’s clear to see how much Oasis means to so many; their music is embedded into the national psyche with a presence that simply defines generations.

Who knows when they’ll be performing back in Manchester again, and if this was their last time, then they can rest assured that by returning, they’ve made themselves the biggest band in the world again. And that’s an accolade they truly deserve.

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group

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