Captain Lisa Head: The girl whose courage Kate Middleton can learn from

Captain Lisa Head: The girl whose courage Kate Middleton can learn from

Patriotism, courage and an abiding sense of duty — Captain Lisa Head, who died this week doing the job she loved, embodied all that is great about Britain.

The 29-year-old bomb disposal expert was the first British female soldier ever to be killed doing this unimaginably dangerous work.

As I read of her heroism, I couldn’t help thinking that just as one extraordinary young woman’s perilous journey ended, so another’s is beginning.

Just as Captain Lisa Head (left), who sadly died this week, had to challenge prejudice about the role of female soldiers on the frontline, so Kate has had to confront those who sneered that she was too middle class to become a royal

Kate Middleton, also 29 years old, is preparing to become a very different form of ambassador for this country.

 

   

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On the surface, of course, the two girls could scarcely have been more different. Yet just as Captain Head had to challenge preconceptions and prejudice about the role of female soldiers on the frontline to pursue her professional dream, so Kate has had to confront those who sneered that she was too middle class to become a royal.

Now, as Kate prepares to take on the mantle of public duties, she would do well to reflect on what other inspiration she can draw from that courageous young officer.

For once the pomp, pageantry and joyful celebrations are over, Princess Catherine must realise that while she may have a title, public respect has still to be earned. Kate must learn — and quickly — that being a role model for Britain is not about shopping sprees on the King’s Road and glossy new hairdos.

She needs to knuckle down and throw herself into the charity roles and public duties which, if handled with care and dignity, can bring such credit to the monarchy. Kate must prove that she’s not afraid of engaging with the people.

At times, it will be damned tough. She will need resilience and a core of steel in what may prove a very lonely new world. And as Diana learned, she will not be able to rely on support from Palace courtiers.

But I have no doubt Kate can make Britain proud.

If she’s suffering from a few last-minute nerves, then she could do worse than to reflect on the courage, dedication and patriotism of that other 29-year-old girl whose family are preparing for a very different kind of church service this coming weekend.

 

Last time I looked, Colin Firth hadn’t found a cure for cancer or won a Nobel Prize.

Yet the man who made a name for himself by diving into a lake in Pride And Prejudice has just been named as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. 

Do you think the Americans realise he’s not actually a king?

 

Faith school critic who's beyond belief

As we celebrate the most important weekend in the Anglican calendar,  the bishop in charge of admissions policy for the Church of England says there are too many Christian children in its faith schools.

The Right Reverend John Pritchard wants to limit the number of church-going pupils to 10 per cent — even though he admits this will lead to a drop in standards.

The privately-educated Oxford graduate attacks the current system for giving priority to families of faith as it ‘collects nice Christians in safe places’.

Since when was being a ‘nice Christian’ such a terrible thing?

With attitudes like this, is it any wonder 900 Anglicans defected to the Roman Catholic Church this week?

 

Give these potatoes the sack!

It will not surprise anyone who’s endured an episode of Daybreak that it is one of the most unpopular shows on TV.

Viewers can’t decide who is more irritating — giggly, hair-flicking Christine Bleakley or grumpy ‘I’m-too-good-for-this-trash’ Adrian Chiles.

Time to go?: Daybreak, hosted by Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley, is one of the most unpopular shows on TV

Surely it’s time to kick these two potatoes off the TV couch — and get a couple on the sofa who actually want to be there and can connect with the audience.

 

The BBC is meant to be cash-strapped, yet 108 executives managed to spend nearly half a million pounds of our money on expenses in the first three-quarters of last year.

The new head of drama, Ben Stephenson, claimed £1,272.94 for just one dinner.

At £70 a head, he claimed it was a ‘cost effective’ way of meeting independent programme-makers.

Not as cost effective as having them come to your office for tea and biscuits.

 

Mariah Carey is the latest to follow in Demi Moore’s footsteps, posing naked while heavily pregnant.

The difference is Mariah posed with her equally-naked husband grasping her breasts in a passionate embrace.

I’m not sure whether Mariah intended these snaps to celebrate the miracle of motherhood — or to illustrate how her twin babies were conceived in the first place.

 

Nigella's just desserts

A total burka: Nigella Lawson was recently snapped in a burkini

She made her name as a spoon-licking seductress with an hourglass figure and a taste for rich food.

But with many pounds in the bank (and a few on her hips) what’s a Domestic Goddess to do when she’s conquered the Western world?

When Nigella Lawson was snapped in her burkini, it was supposed to be to protect her from the searing Sydney sun — but it’s autumn in Australia and was a comfortable 22C maximum on the beach that day!

No, this wasn’t about shielding her skin. It was about promoting her name while hiding the less-flattering consequences of indulging in those delicious chocolate cakes she whips up.

Even if it meant looking like a total burka.

 

Westminster Noticeboard...

• Back-stabbing Ed Balls pleads with people to give his boss Ed Miliband more time to prove he can be a good leader, while dismissing Ed’s brother and former leadership front-runner David as ‘a dad, thinker and politician for the future’. For which read: ‘They’re both losers and I’d have done a much better job.’
• Despite being banned from fronting the Yes To AV campaign because of his unpopularity,  Nick Clegg pompously claimed that the Alternative Vote system would stop MPs from fiddling their expenses. He mentions moats and duck houses (both Tory excesses), but fails to recall the £84,000 he claimed on his own modest semi-detached place in Sheffield. We paid for his kitchen and he even billed us for a £2.49 Ikea cake tin. A hypocrite through and through.
• On Monday David Cameron ruled out any invasion or occupation of Libya; on Wednesday he announced he was sending ten officers to help train the rebels. No boots on the ground, then, only brogues. Does he think we’re all fools?
• Vince Cable political suicide watch, Week 3: Campaigning in the lead-up to the May local elections, he talks of his ‘revulsion’ at the Thatcher era. That’ll be the same era that saw Britain transformed from an economic basket case to a modern prosperous nation, enabling millions to better themselves as never before. Isn’t it time somebody rid the Coalition of this tiresome troublemaker before he resigns to prepare for a leadership bid from the back benches?
• ‘People have got to have more say about their local post office and whether they have a Tesco, and 24-hour drinking, and nightclubs that change their area,’ Ed Miliband announced in his usual patronising tone. This from a member of the New Labour government that closed hundreds of post offices, oversaw the explosion of Tesco on the High Street and bulldozed through the catastrophic 24-hour drinking laws, all in the face of impassioned objection from local communities.

 

Wedding watch

• William will spend the night before the wedding with his father, during which Prince Charles will offer his wisdom on the secret of a happy marriage. ‘Don’t enter a marriage if you’ve already got a mistress,’ would be a good start.    
• Kate was apparently so determined for William to be the first to see her dress in all its glory that she asked to be screened from the cameras until the moment she walked down the aisle. Thankfully, aides managed to convince her otherwise. It’s a romantic but naïve wish. Besides, in all my years I cannot remember a single groom who, when asked a few months later what the bride wore, said anything other than: ‘Something white with a veil.’ 
• Amid rumours Kate has chosen the little-known Sophie Cranston to design her dress, Piers Morgan’s delectable new wife Celia says her own Cranston wedding frock ‘inspired’ our future Queen’s choice. Blimey, and I thought Piers was the one with a head as big as Buckingham Palace.