Dressing Down the Duchess

From an article in today's Guardian newspaper:
"Last night the princes - joined by the Duchess of Cornwall who was wearing a midnight blue embroidered coat over a dark suit - took their seats to loud cheers from an audience of 2,000 at the Tower of London for a concert to celebrate the anniversary. "

Are we living in the 1950s? Why is it relevant to mention what Camilla was wearing? And especially when the same sartorial attention is not given to Charles, or his sons? I know the left-leaning Guardian is no friend of the monarchy, but is it too much for them to try to not be sexist?

Towing Icebergs up the Thames?

The Times reported on May 17th that Thames Water was considering towing icebergs up the Thames to alleviate the drought conditions. (This is probably the only island in the world with water shortages - strange but true).

The same day, Thames Water issued a statement disputing the credibility of the iceberg story, citing media foolery for blowing the whole thing out of proportion. And this press release isn't buried in their website. There is even a mention of it on their corporate home page, where I found it with minimal effort.

But that didn't stop The Australian reprinting the exaggeration (with dumbed-down prose, no less), on May 18th.

Now, it may be possible that The Australian went to print before Thames Water issued the statement... but if not, it would have been nice if they checked their facts first, instead of regurgitating the sister paper's copy? Perhaps the lure of a sensationalist article was too much to pass up, especially when it cannot be so readily disputed down under.