Settling down to watch the Queen's speech after Christmas dinner, viewers could be transported to Buckingham Palace, almost able to feel the pine needles of the Royal Christmas tree as the speech is broadcast in 3D for the first time.

Behind the scenes footage of the broadcast, recorded on December 7, has been released, revealing the monarch in snazzy 3D glasses.

Not your average plastic iMax frames, the Queen's 3D specs are decorated on each side with the letter Q made from Swarovski crystals. They were first worn by the Queen during a visit to a movie training centre in Toronto in 2010.

The Queen, who has watched her 3D Christmas message, said she enjoyed the experience.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said the monarch thought the broadcast was "absolutely lovely".

She added: "We wanted to do something a bit different and special in this Jubilee year, so doing it for the first time in 3D seemed a good thing, technology-wise, to do.

The Queen recording her Christmas broadcast

"The Queen absolutely agreed straight away there was no need for convincing at all, she was absolutely ready to embrace something new in this year."

The Queen will pay tribute in her Christmas broadcast to the nation's Olympic and Paralympic athletes for inspiring all those who watched their achievements.

The monarch will hail the "splendid summer of sport" and highlight how the sportsmen and women gave the spectators the chance to feel part of the "excitement and drama".

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman outlined the themes of the message: "The Queen's broadcast this year focuses on service, achievement and the spirit of togetherness."

During the address, which will be broadcast in full on Christmas Day, the Queen will say: "As London hosted a splendid summer of sport, all those who saw the achievement and courage at the Olympic and Paralympic Games were further inspired by the skill, dedication, training and teamwork of our athletes.

A nurse who was found dead days after transferring a prank call made to the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for morning sickness, had made two previous suicide attempts, it has been claimed.

Jacintha Saldanha, 46, was found dead days after she transferred the call from two Australian DJs to a colleague who then described Kate's condition in detail.

It has now emerged she was being treated with anti-depressants and had made two attempts to take her own life during a family holiday in India, last December.


Jacintha Saldanha had made two suicide attempts previously, it is claimed

According to the Daily Mail, she was rushed to hospital after an overdose of pills, but tried to commit suicide again just nine days later by jumping from a building.

She was treated for depression and admitted to a psychiatric ward at Father Muller Medical College Hospital in
Mangalore, India, The Sun said.


Her brother Naveen Saldanha, 42, told the newspaper: “We didn’t know about the first incident, but we knew about the second.”

The news comes as it emerged Scotland Yard has submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service relating to the prank call.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will now consider whether any potential offences may have been committed, Scotland Yard said.

Ms Saldanha, a mother-of-two, was found dead in her nurses' quarters at London's King Edward VII's Hospital by a colleague and a security guard on 7 December.

king edward hospital
Saldanha worked at the King Edward VII hospital, where the Duchess was staying

Three days earlier she put through a call from DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, believing they were the Queen and the Prince of Wales.

Ms Saldanha left two notes in her room and was found with marks on her wrist when her body was discovered, Westminster Coroner's Court in London heard as an inquest was opened and adjourned.

Greig and Christian spoke of their grief on Australian television soon after the nurse's death.

They said their prank had prompted "a tragic turn of events no-one could have predicted or expected".

A Scotland Yard spokesman told the Press Association: "Following the death of Jacintha Saldanha, officers have liaised with the CPS as to whether any criminal offences had been committed in relation to the hoax call made to King Edward VII Hospital in the early hours of Tuesday 4 December.

Teachers are facing death threats, abuse and allegations of serious crimes by pupils and parents through social networking sites, a poll suggests.

One was even told her throat would be slit, while another was accused of being a rapist.

Online abuse of teachers is widespread, with more than two-fifths (42%) of those questioned saying they had been a victim of it, a survey by the NASUWT teaching union has found.

Of those, more than three-fifths (61.2%) said a pupil had written an insulting comment about them on a social networking or internet site, while more than a third (38.1%) said a student had made comments about their competence or performance as a teacher.

And nearly one in 10 (9.1%) said they had faced allegations that they behaved inappropriately with pupils.

One teacher told the survey that a student had posted that they were going to "slit my throat", while a second said a pupil had written "my English teacher should actually die" and a third said a student had posted that a teacher "is a rapist".

Another teacher had faced claims that they were unable to do their job and should be sacked. The teacher told the survey there had been "lies about me: saying inappropriate things to pupils, insulting pupils, having sexually absurd behaviours. Generally defaming and insulting me, spreading rumours about me throughout the school."

In some of these cases, action was taken against those responsible.

The poll, which questioned 1,522 teachers, found that the majority of pupils responsible (60%) were aged between 11 and 16, although some teachers reported comments by primary schoolchildren.

Racegoers should wrap up warmly and bring an umbrella today as thousands flock to Aintree for the 165th John Smith's Grand National.

A northerly breeze will keep the air icy cold as 40 runners and riders compete in the world's most famous steeplechase.

Racing enthusiasts should also prepare for rain, forecasters warned.

"It will be pretty chilly at the Grand National today, reaching about 9C. There will be showers this afternoon with hail mixed in," Paul Mott, forecaster at MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said.

The rest of the country will not fare much better as the South West faces heavy showers.

Mr Mott said: "There will probably be some thunder and hail mixed in and there will be heavy showers in the North East too. There could be some snow on the Pennines first thing in the morning, leaving a slight covering on the hills, but that should melt by 8am.

"Last night there was light snow over Aberdeenshire and the Highlands leaving maybe a centimetre or two on the ground.

"Tonight will be cold and dry, reaching -4C in rural parts of Scotland. It will be zero degrees in the south east and quite a sharp frost will be enough to kill off any flowering plants."

Mr Mott said Sunday night would be even colder.

"It will be about -4 to -5C in rural parts of south east England, which is very cold for this time of year."

A controversial new housekeeping service in the conservative depths of Texas has caught the attention of local police, despite its insistence that it isn't committing any illegalities.

It's supposed crime? Providing an unlicensed sexual service of entirely nude maids.

The business, Fantasy Maid Service, is based in Lubbock, Texas, which has legislation requiring businesses that are sexual in nature to have a permit to trade.

Lubbock police told the Associated Press that the business "doesn't have a permit to operate a sexually oriented business and officers are watching for any violation, which would bring a $2,000 fine".

While the organisation does not deny supplying nude maids, it denies being a sexual service.

"We really just clean houses. These girls are not performers. They're maids," owner Melissa Borrett said.

Borrett started the firm after having difficult making ends meet as a waitress – she was even forced to live on the nearby Texas Tech University's Occupy Lubbock camp.

"I just decided to go a little bigger, work a little smarter."

The rules and regulations of the business seem to solidify its claim to not be anything near prostitution, steering well clear of offering sex.

The company's website states that there is strictly no touching of the maids, and no attempts to "solicit a maid for sexual services."

However it is arguable that any service which promotes its nudity has an inherent sexuality.

An Argentinian mother has spoken of her shock after her stillborn baby was found alive in a morgue.

Analia Bouter's fifth child was born at 26 weeks - around three months premature - in Argentina's northern Chaco province.

Doctors told her the baby had died, but when she and her husband visited the morgue 12 hours later, they realised their daughter was breathing.

"That night I went with my husband to where the coffin was and he opened it up," she told journalists

"Immediately I heard her cry... I fell to my knees."

The hospital the baby was born in


Her husband Fabian Veron also told journalists of the moment they realised the baby was alive: "The baby was there and they put the little casket on a stretcher. We looked for a bar to prise it open. The casket was nailed shut," he told journalist.

"My wife jumped back," he said. "I started to prise, took a deep breath and took the top off. My wife was the first one to look at the body and she uncovered it slowly.


The baby's father Fabian Veron told of his shock


"She saw the little hand and then uncovered the face. That's when it let the first little cry out."

A tape allegedly showing X Factor Judge Tulisa Contostavlos performing oral sex on an unidentified man has emerged online.

The video was featured on several websites, including one called NotTulisa, but it has since been taken down.

A cached version however remains, with the following text: “Not Tulisa and an ex-boyfriend recorded themselves having sex in a public place, shot backstage at a music gig, on his Blackberry.

“This crystal-clear movie is in no way is a hidden camera! Just look at Not Tulisa playing to the camera, smiling and laughing... the naughty little minx!

“The fact it is filmed in a PUBLIC PLACE makes the whole sex act even more risky, as anyone could have been watching or taking pictures.”

Huffington Post UK was waiting for comment from Tulisa’s representatives at time of press.

In August last year a sex tape which allegedly revealed the N-Dubz singer “in a raunchy romp” was dismissed as 100 per cent fake by the 24-year-old and her management.

The clip, filmed on a Blackberry, was being offered for sale for £500,000, the Sun revealed.read more