Woman's Hour - The role of Princess Anne, Fracking, Medusa

Episode Date: September 14, 2022

A heartfelt statement was released from from the Princess Royal, who accompanied her mother’s coffin on its long journey from Balmoral to Buckingham Palace. The Royal Editor of the Times Newspaper Roya Nikkhah joined Krupa to discuss the role Princess Anne has played in the Queen's life.Queen Elizabeth II was the head of state in 15 of the 56 Commonwealth countries. Professor Chandrika Kaul joins Krupa Padhy to discuss the way the Queen led the Commonwealth countries and the challenges King Charles III may face as a monarch, and as a man, as some countries express an interest in becoming a republic.Liz Truss has announced the ban on fracking will be lifted to help boost the UK's domestic gas supplies. Fracking, which is a controversial method of extracting shale gas, was banned by the Conservatives in 2019 following fears over the risk of earthquakes. Tina Rothery, of the campaign group UK Nanas, joins Krupa. 'Beehives, Bobs & Blowdries' is an exhibition celebrating the art and skills of hairdressing along with some of the most iconic looks of the past 70 years, it opens in The Piece Hall in Halifax on the 17th September. Our reporter Tamsin Smith saw the exhibition when it was in Barnsley and she spoke to some of the women perusing the exhibits about some of the looks they've tried over the years and about where they got their style inspiration from.Since she was a girl the writer and broadcaster Natalie Haynes has been fascinated by Greek Myths. Her fourth novel ‘Stone Blind’ tells the story of Medusa and gets us way beyond snake hair and a deadly gaze to understand why she's become the monster in re-tellings of her story over centuries. Presenter: Krupa Padhy Producer: Emma Pearce

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BBC Sounds. Music, radio, podcasts. Hello, this is Krupa Bharti and you're listening to the Woman's Hour podcast. Hello, welcome to the programme on the day when the Queen's coffin will leave Buckingham Palace and be taken to Westminster Hall to lie in state for four days until her funeral on Monday. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to file past to pay their respects. Maybe you will be one of them. We are continuing to reflect on the Queen's legacy for the people of this country, but also for those in the Commonwealth, citizens of those former British colonies

for whom the Queen's passing has reopened conversations about their nation's post-imperial legacy. The historian Professor Chandrika Kull will join us. Maybe you or your family members, like my own parents, grew up under the Empire or during the fall of some of these colonies. We want to hear from you about your feelings about the Queen's passing, what it means to you, your memories. My own mother often beams when she talks of receiving a cup at primary school in Tanzania in honour of the Queen's coronation. And what kind of a relationship do you want King Charles to nurture with the Commonwealth? Also, in the last few days, it's emerged that the late Queen wished that her

only daughter, the Princess Royal, should take the primary role in escorting her coffin to London. In a statement, Princess Anne wrote, I was fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest mother's life. It has been an honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys. For some of you, reading this and seeing the image of Princess Anne by her mother's coffin may have brought back some memories of your own final moments with your mother. We'd love to hear from you as you share your thoughts and this is how you can get in touch. Text us, the number is 84844. On social media, we are on the handle at BBC Women's Hour. And of course, you can email us. And we're also now on WhatsApp. So you can send us a voice note or a message. That number is 03700 100 444. We'll also turn our attention

to developments in British politics. Last week, Prime Minister Liz Truss pledged to overturn a 2019 ban on fracking. We speak to women against this move. Plus, beehives, bobs and blow-dries, the name of an exhibition celebrating the art of hairdressing. And on the subject of iconic hair, we talk about the perception of the snake-haired medusa with the author Natalie Haynes. But let us begin with that heartfelt statement that was released from the Princess Royal, who accompanied her mother's coffin on its long journey from Balmoral to Buckingham Palace. I'm joined now by Roya Nicker, Royal Correspondent for the Sunday Times. Good to have you with us, Roya.

What did you make of what she had to say in that statement released yesterday? I thought it was an extremely moving statement from the Princess Royal who of course has accompanied her mother all the way down from Scotland to London. I thought the simplicity of it was exquisite actually, just talking about how it had been a privilege to spend her last 24 hours with her how much of a contribution to our national life and identity the queen has made and how perhaps we had taken that for granted but also there was support for her brother she talked about how she was really encouraged that the people are showing her brother you know charles understanding and

support as he takes on what she called the added responsibilities of being the monarch and i think you know there has been suddenly so what she called the added responsibilities of being the monarch. And I think, you know, there has been suddenly so much focus on the Princess Royal in the last couple of days. This is a woman who has spent decades very quietly supporting the monarch and the monarchy, not someone who is all about attention and wanting to get praise for the work she does. So I think the public in the last few days, you know, all eyes are turning to her as she takes on an even more prominent role within the firm. She has long been known for being quite stoic and as you've described there,

in many ways a stabilising force for the Royal family. But over the last few days, the grief, the grief that would be inevitable, it has been etched on her face, hasn't it? It has been etched on her face as hasn't it? It has been etched on her face, as it has been on all the Queen's children and grandchildren that we've seen so far. And that's understandable.

I mean, you know, the death of the monarch is such a public moment. It's an enormously public moment. You know, the world's eyes are watching the royal family. But at every stage of this very painful journey that Anne has made with her mother, this is a daughter, the Queen's only daughter, in mourning for her mother. And I think she, Princess Royal, has a reputation of being very stiff upper lip. But I think we have seen in recent days,

it is impossible to continue with that stance when you are accompanying your mother on this great last journey, as she described it. And I suspect we will see more of that emotion etched on the faces of the Queen's children and grandchildren today when they process from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall for the lying in state. As it was the Queen's wish to have Princess Anne accompany her coffin from Balmoral and on that plane to Northolt why would she have chosen her? They had a very, very close relationship, extremely close. And I think it's both logistics and that closeness. The Queen would have known that the King, the new King, would not have been able to spend three, four days up in Scotland accompanying his mother,

and that perhaps other members of the royal family would be required to be doing other engagements. And we know that Princess Anne was already up in Scotland. But I think there is something very moving about the monarch's, the late monarch's choice of her daughter and determination and willingness to do that that speaks volumes about that relationship, which I think a lot of people, you know, I think a lot of people and the media has spent many years focusing on the queen's relationship with other of her children or the family dynamics in other areas and that's

you know the relationship between the queen and anne is a relationship that has been very quiet and under the radar but we have seen how close it was in the last couple of days because she was a princess let's say raised in a very modern era one in many ways seen as an equal to her brothers. That's right. But I think, you know, Anne is as equal on a par with all her brothers, if not more so in terms of their work rate. We've seen in the last few years, every time there's the annual stock take of royal engagements, Anne is always right up there, quite often beating her brother as the hardest-working royal. But again, like I said, it's not something that she bangs the drum about.

It's just how she rolls. She's very under the radar, very determined to do her duty. That's the thing, I think that's the other thing that she and her mother had in common so much, that extraordinary sense of duty and just to carry on and not expect praise for it all the time. Another thing they had in common was their love of horses, wasn't it? Yes, absolutely. Love of horses, love of the great country life.

Anne competed at the Olympics and her equestrian career, which she passed on to her daughter Zara, something of which the Queen was incredibly proud and took great delight in um so yes I mean there are wonderful photographs of Anne when she's a small child and that she was child you know riding ponies being led by their mother so they have an enormous amount in common I think she had a very good relationship with Prince Philip too and I so I think you know of all the children um people often talk about this I think myth that Princess Prince Andrew was the queen's favourite child. You know, people who know her really, really knew the monarch, so she didn't really have any favourites. But actually that bond with Princess Anne was something that was always overlooked by the media and by the public, I think.

I understand not having favourites, but she was the Queen's only daughter. And I wonder whether that impacts the kind of relationship that they shared? I would imagine it probably did, yes, in terms of, you know, there's a way that daughters and mothers can speak that sons and mothers can't. And I think Anne appears to have had a much less complicated relationship with her mother than perhaps the Prince of Wales, who is the now king, who as Prince of Wales had a trickier relationship with his mother, which he's spoken about. But yes, of course, I think, you know, being the Queen's only daughter,

and I think we see that, it's so visible when she's, in the last couple of days, been walking alongside her brothers, that procession in Scotland, and we'll see it again today. It's striking, there she is in her military uniform, as the only daughter, and that's an incredibly special and moving sight yes absolutely what do you think she will be making of all this attention on her

I don't think she'll be paying any attention at all yes because she's as we have said, a dutiful daughter. I don't think she'll have an opinion on how much attention the media are giving her. At this time of sort of national mourning and mourning for the family, it won't even be on her radar. But when the dust does settle, you know, the princess role will just carry on with her job as she always has been. And, you know, supporting the king even more so than she did previously with her relationship with Charles. But the tension on her won't change her her at all she won't even acknowledge it and what i was going to ask how her role does change now her brother is the king i don't think her role will change either you know the princess royal has been a stalwart in the royal family for a very long time

really you know huge workload on her shoulders very quietly behind the scenes getting on with her work I suspect possibly the media may cover her engagements more now but I don't think her position or her role or her determination and enthusiasm to do all of that it won't change she's been she has been doing that for a very very long time. I know that you are obviously covering the various ceremonial events of the day and in the coming days where are you right now and what are you what are you observing? I'm going to shortly be making my way to Westminster in a few hours to I am at the privilege and the honour of being in Westminster Hall today when the Queen's Coffin

arrives from Buckingham Palace for the beginning of the Lion's Day. And I'm sure many of our listeners will want to be there or may well be making a journey there themselves. But for now, Roya Nicker, Royal Correspondent for the Sunday Times, thank you so much for spending a bit of time with us here on Woman's Hour to talk about that statement from the Princess Royal and her role and her relationship with the Queen. We've had this message in saying, My mum also died at 96. Like the Queen, she was a woman who valued family.

I had the privilege of being with her during her final hours. It was a huge gift and one of the hardest moments. It was the big garden bird watch and a charm of goldfinch suddenly came to the feeder we could see. I told her about them and said it would be okay, we would be okay, and that she could go now. Thank you so much for sending in that very personal message and if you do want to do the same, please do so by text, by email or on the handle at BBC Women's Hour. We will continue with our coverage of the Queen's passing a little later in the programme. The latest inflation figures were out this morning and they show that although the rate has eased

slightly, prices are still continuing to rise at nearly their fastest rate in 40 years. If you can remember back to last Thursday, before the news of the Queen's death, the Prime Minister Liz Truss stood up in the House of Commons to deliver her much-anticipated plans for soaring energy bills faced by households and businesses. It was announced that energy bills would be free at an average of £2,500 a year for two years. Today, we are discussing something else mentioned in that speech, fracking. The Prime Minister announced that the ban on fracking will be lifted to help boost the UK's domestic gas supplies. Just to remind you, fracking is a method of extracting shale gas.

It involves drilling into the earth and directing a high-pressure mixture at a rock layer in order to release the gas inside. And one group that's been campaigning against fracking call themselves the NANAs. Tina Rothery is co-founder of UK NANAs and joins me now. Thank you for your time, Tina. The Prime Minister has said that these new sites should only go ahead with local consent. And she's argued that the UK is too dependent on international energy supplies, especially in light of that war in Ukraine at the moment. What do you make of these plans? I think that having fought this since 2011, we can't understand in the anti-fracking community

how it is that anything has changed other than the political circumstances. Certainly the safety of the process and the suitability with UK geology is just not changed at all. You know, so in the manifesto in 2019, the Conservative government said that they would not allow fracking to resume unless it was proved safe but nothing has changed to prove it's safe all that's happened is that the war in Ukraine has changed the dialogue about it but certainly for the residents that I know throughout the country who have stood strong against having this in their communities nothing for us has changed to make us feel reassured that this is a safe process

that won't harm our children or our environment. And you have been supporting these residents tell us about the work of the NANAs. I think when we came to this we were you know just disparate people trying to stop something scary coming to our community that was after research proving to be problematic in Australia and America and Canada and other places where it was already taking place, we watched it unfold in Poland as communities went out and got their ban. And we looked into it a lot further. And then we decided we'd probably be a lot more effective as a group. So I think it's really difficult when you look at activism. It's not a natural life choice. You know, it's certainly not a choice to walk into something that's so awful and demanding. And, you know, it puts you in a conflict situation a great deal.

And it's a situation where, you know, you're attacked in media or, you know, your neighbors don't necessarily like it. It's a really hard thing to do. I think maybe more so for the women that I met who perhaps didn't know how to be activists. So we created Bananas as a title to make it clear it isn't because we were just environmentalists or activists or hippies. It was because we were grandparents and mothers and aunts. And, you know, it was a familial thing. It was because we wanted to protect our young.

And there was an article in Rolling Stone that came out about you to our midwives and the increased number of early-term loss in pregnancy for women living near fracking sites. And that that was noted by the increased number of graves. And I remember being really heartbroken about that for them and that the women were, the midwives were silenced pretty much gagging orders until there was evidence.

And then in the area also, young racehorses were being born and they had misaligned jaws. And then that became news because a racehorse is of value, whereas the children that were being lost weren't. So there's a great deal of emotional reasons to be against fracking but there's a lot more that are reasons that have been proved scientifically and stated clearly by so many scientists that this is just not suitable and particularly in the UK the UK geology is so prone to seismicity around fracking sites like when they did it here in Lancashire there were 57 minor seismic tremors that then culminated in a 2.9 earthquake. And the kind of point for that is if it reaches a 0.5 whilst they're drilling, they're supposed to stop drilling and they do. But it still reached 2.9 because even though you stop drilling,

the tremor continues. I can hear your concern. I can hear that you are well versed in the environmental concerns related to this. But in my opening question, I said that the PM said that these new sites would not go ahead unless there was local consent. Does that reassure you in any way? I think what they mean is local desperation due to high fuel costs. This is not people reaching out and going, you know what, this is going to be great for us. This is people being told, we'll give you a reduction in your energy bills if you live nearby.

And that's tantalizing. And a place particularly here like Lancashire in Blackpool is one of, a place just rippled with poverty and food banks. And so dangling that carrot is just a cruelty. It's a cruelty. It's asking us to take something dangerous. And industrial strategy for comment. And they haven't given us a statement,

but they have pointed us to the speech that Liz Truss gave in the Commons last Thursday, in which she says, we will end the moratorium on extracting our huge reserves of shale which could get gas flowing as soon as six months from now where there is local support for it. We will launch the great British nuclear this month putting us on a path to deliver a quarter of our electricity generation with nuclear energy by 2050. What do you say to that? For a start, we disagreed with this process since 2011. And certainly here again in Lancashire in

2017, in January, we did 1000 days of protest up until the moratorium in November 2019. During that time, they literally got a sniff of gas out of the ground, not enough to power a three-bed semi. The fact that she imagines that after a decade of fracking companies trying, that they're going to have this flowing in six months, I really don't understand where that figure comes from. We're currently awaiting a report that was brought out in April into the fracking, commissioned by the government. And the government's been holding that since before summer recess. And we're looking forward to finding out what's in that.

Previously, when Liz Trust was in the Environment Department back in 2014-15, there was another report put out by the Geological Society that said that we couldn't get access to and we had to demand it by law. Eventually, she released a heavily redacted report and then finally got that unredacted. And it said there was risk to life. Well, they don't call it life. They call us receptors. We're in the same category, residents, as grade two listed buildings. So receptors could be impacted.

So I don't understand where she's getting any of the figures or ideas from that she has. So until we see that report or what it where she's getting any of the figures or ideas from that she has. So until we see that report, or what it is she's basing her words on. Well, obviously, there are various organisations who are continuing to carry out research on fracking. Some will say it provides an alternative to coal because there is a reliance on natural gas rather than coal. So it's a move away from coal. Others will say that burning natural gas does create pollution. It doesn't produce pollutants such as ash and mercury.

But there is a wider concern from ordinary folk who aren't as well versed in what is happening in the fine environmental details of fracking, who simply say we are facing a cost of living crisis here we need a secure reliable low-cost energy supply in the current climate especially as i said in light of the war in ukraine if this is an option should we not work towards making it work for us in a safe way choosing that option would be a knee-jerk reaction to fear. You know, we should have been for a very long time reducing our energy use and putting in insulation and, you know, developing those wind farms and solar. And to say that this will come online and do anything for our bills, there's two things to consider there. One, it can take anything up to

10 years to start getting gas from a site that you're developing and two the gas is not british gas for british use you know this gas when it's produced certainly here quadrilla the company that would be developing in lancashire is an australian owned partly australian owned with um chinese loan money and an american investor and that is not for uk use. It goes onto the international market and is sold at the highest price they can get for it. And it is not something that is for us.

And that whole discourse of saying, but you need this because it will bring your bills down is an outright lie. OK, but putting aside the bills, what about job creation? Because there is that argument that fracking,

at least in the United States, it's triggered a revolution, a shale gas revolution when it comes to job creation. Again, in the current climate, is that not something that communities like your own would benefit from? There was a report, I'm trying to remember it, but when they assessed that, they said it's approximately, as soon as you've developed the site, which takes about six weeks to actually put the site into process, and then once you've managed to get the fracking going, eventually you only require security staff on site.

The highly skilled people who come in and do site build, site development, and actually put in place the fracturing of the shale then from that point onwards you're still looking at roughly 10 years until you're getting a decent amount of gas so it's not immediate, it's not straight away and that has been agreed that this whole process will

take time My final question to you Tina My final question to you what will it take for you to come on board with an increase in fracking in the United Kingdom? You know, I gave evidence in the House of Lords in 2012 about this. And Lord Lawson asked that question. And I asked him to picture the fact that my grandchild is standing behind me and the fracking industry is coming at me. What is it going to take to move me out of the way and let this dangerous industry come out absolutely nothing you know people say

well what if you don't win well there isn't that point for us certainly as nana's we're already you know crowdfunding for you know what comes next because there is no end to this until it ends you can't just stop fighting and say, it's OK, I'm going to unknow all of those facts I know and let you do this, because that would just be impossible, I think, for any grandma. Tina Rothery, co-founder of the UK Nanners. Thank you for joining us here on the programme. And Tina's not alone in her concern, but we have also heard from people who are in support of fracking. Chris has been in touch to say,

I'm a woman and I'm totally in favour of fracking. I've just returned from a trip where I've seen a huge number of fracking sites and they're pretty unobtrusive, very quiet. I'm providing the sort of energy we need rapidly in this current situation. That debate does continue. On to something lighter now.

Beehives, bobs and blow dries in an exhibition celebrating the art and skills of hairdressing, along with some of the most iconic looks of the past 70 years. Curated by fashion research consultant and the academic Donna Beavan, it opens in the Peace Hall in Halifax on Saturday. Our reporter, Tamsin Smith, saw the exhibition when it was in Barnsley and she spoke to some of the women perusing the exhibits about some of the looks that they've tried over the years and about where they got their style inspiration from.

Morning. You all right? I'm fine, thank you. We almost see each other in the hairdressers, don't we? We do, yes. You've just had a look round the gallery here and the exhibition. Are there particular images and hairstyles which are a bit of a trip down memory lane for you?

Yeah, beehives. My hair would never stay put, no matter how much I backcombed. No, no, it went its own way, yeah. Mae fy ngwyddoedd ddim yn parhau i ddod yn dda. Felly, mae'n bwysig i mi fod yn dda. Mae'n mynd ei ffordd ei hun. Ond roeddech chi'n ceisio? O, ie, yn sicr. Roeddwn i wedi mynd i ffasiwn. Rwy'n Glyn ac rwy'n 70.

Roedd yn fwy fel stil Ben Lynch. Oedd hi ar gyfer gwrs Senedd? Pan oeddech chi'n cael eich bêl wedi'i wneud? Roeddwn i'n ei gael bob amser. Ie. Roedd hi'n fy ngwyddoedd, dwi'n meddwl, yn well na gwaith gwybod arall. Was it for a Saturday night? When did you have the beehive done? I had it all the time, every day. It suited me, I think, better than any other hairstyle I've had. Dorothy, you grew up round here as well. I'm 73. Even with short hair, with the back combing, it still had to be high. It was the height that you had to get.

We used to have the Carmen rollers. I'll go to sleep in rollers. Not very comfortable, no. We had to suffer to be beautiful. I'm Donna Bevan, curator for Beehives, Bobs and Blow-Drys at Barnsley Civic. The original beehive was a very small, really like a little beehive hat on top of the head. But how we see that move forward, both in the UK and in America is into this big exaggerated look which really comes from the celebrities of the time through Hollywood but definitely through the music as well so both in terms of black and white singers who were involved

in the sort of you know the kind of move forward into the swinging 60s we start to see that the o ran ymddiriedolwyr gwlif a chynllunwyr gwlif sy'n ymwneud â'r symud ymlaen i'r 60au yn symud ymlaen i'r 60au yn symud ymlaen i'r 60au yn symud. Rydym yn dechrau gweld y bydwch yn dod yn fwy fwy ac yn fwy fwy. Un o'r pethau sy'n gysylltu â hynny hefyd yw datblygiadau mewn sgwydau cân. Felly gyda'r dechnoleg i greu sgwydau cân a allai ddod â'r cân ond heb fod yn lachr. Yn ymddiriedolwyr gwlif a chynllunwyr gwlif. ac mae'n ddiddorol. Mae'n ddiddorol, mae'n ddiddorol, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol.

O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol.

O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol.

O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. O, mae'n ddiddorol. But if you spray it and like it, you can take off in a rocket. And in outer space... So to see these, some of these are just like looking at me, you know, my aunties, you know, when they were ready for going out and everything. So it's absolutely beautiful. It's amazing. This is an old perming machine from what year? So this one was still being used in the 50s. It wasn't until the late 50s, early 60s that people started to move out of being wired up.

I mean, it looks like an instrument of torture, doesn't it? I mean, there are all these wires coming out of it. I mean, give these a shake. You can hear how many are coming out of this contraption and each wire would be attached to... Yeah, so they would have put a roller in and the chemical and then there's a clip that goes on and then that clip has a connector that goes to the machine,

and then they turn it up depending on the voltage to go through, and it was through that heat transference that the perm took place. My name is Juliette Atkinson. And so you remember this perming machine? Yes, I do, yeah. It just took me back to being 14. To being? 14, that's when Yes, I do, yes. It just took me back to being 14. To being? 14, that's when I started hairdressing.

You started hairdressing at 14? So this contraption you'd sit with it attached to it, how long did they have to sit there with these leads going to their rollers? Depending on the hair. You know, if it was fine hair, not very long, a quarter of an hour, 20 minutes. If it was thick hair that didn't curl a lot longer, sometimes it got burnt. It was a very dangerous contraption really. We were very expensive. We charged five guineas for a perm, whereas everyone else was charging

£2.19.11. I'm going back to old money now. So, as you were a high class salon salon i'd expect fewer perming disasters i'm not telling you anymore i'm not telling you anymore but this is something donna where the the technology has made a difference to women yes definitely yes so with the introduction of the chemical perm that made obviously made it much easier for you know you could just stay in your seat you still had to have all the chemicals on your head, obviously, and, yes, definitely it was no longer needed electricity, which is always a good thing, isn't it?

It does things for you. If you don't have your hair done, if you don't experiment, you know, it's just... You do the same thing all the time. What particular hairstyles stood out most for you or made you feel most different when you had them? When he was all spiked, you know, very short at the sides and then spiked so that he stood up like that.

Oh, so you had punk hair? Yes. Ha, ha, ha, ha! 1970s punk rebellion hairstyles. Yes, yes. But do you remember wanting to make people look at you or perhaps shock them a bit? Was that something you wanted to do?

I wasn't quiet, so I suppose it's the attention I like. Originally you have that kind of moral panic and worry about what punks are about and what they're doing, but then it soon quite quickly moves through to like mainstream but really it's the time when you see women exploring their hair in a whole new way this is not about hair that's for beautification in a classic sense it's about we've had the exaggeration of the beehive and now we've got something that's just like really exploring a kind of almost tribal look that the punk groups had and to be part of Ac nawr mae gennym rywbeth sy'n ymwneud â chyfweliad y gwirioneddol y llawrwyr

y mae'r grwpiau pwc wedi'u gael. Ac i fod yn rhan o'r llawrwyr a chyfeirio at y cerdd a'r lyreigion. Rwyf wedi cael popeth. Roedd yn blon, goff, blw, gwyr, rydw i wedi cael tipiau rydw i wedi cael tipiau goff, rydw i wedi cael llinellau sy'n cael eu llifio, nid oedd yna cwrdd â ddim yn ei gael. Roedd colori yn un o'r fathau anodd arall sydd wedi cymryd rhan drwy newyddion newydd, felly dyfodolwyd y ffyrdd o ddoli cân, a allodd i ddoli cân mwy argyfwngol, fel y gallai'r Wittorion ei wneud gyda'u cwmni ac yn syth gyda prosiwndaethau arall. Yn ôl y gwartheg, rydych chi'n gweld rhai ffyrdd o ddysgu ar colori, a bit like the Victorians could with their homes, and suddenly it was protein dyes all over the place. Post-war, you see some interesting kind of spray on colours, but really in punk it starts to become something that is more exaggerated

and played with as a sort of way of trying to challenge particular looks. And then through, I think, like Debbie Harry with her dark roots and the darker tips and blonde on top. So either dyeing it dark or light or kind of adding sort of fun colours, those sort of day-glow colours that were very popular in the early 80s. Looking at these, I'm thinking, oh, my God. So what's your name? It's Julie, Julie Lee.

So we're standing in front of a really long gallery of photos and you are picking out all the hairstyles that you've already had yeah yeah yeah I've had all this this is a wedge cut isn't it yeah I've had that I've had you know point oh short long side boards I've had that I've had this where to grow my fringe Mae'n ddwy bwyd o'r ddwy ffordd. Mae gen i hyn. Roedd yn rhaid i mi ffynnu fy ffrindiau'n ddwy iawn. Ond mae hyn yn un o'r pethau rwy'n cofio'n fwyaf am fy nheulu. Felly rydych chi'n ddyn 80? Ydw i. Ydw i hefyd.

Pa cerdd oedd yn gwrando i chi yn y 80au? Yn sicr, George. Roedd yn hoffi ei gwaith. Roedd yn anhygoel o'i gwaith. What music did you used to listen to in the 80s? Definitely Boy George. Loved his make-up. Was really envious of his make-up. Absolutely lovely. Honestly, just seeing them, I'm like thinking, I've had that, and I've had that, and I've had that. Yeah, these bring back lovely memories. Lovely, lovely memories.

And that report there by Tamsin Smith, and I do hope it's put a smile on your face. It certainly did for me. So many of you have been getting in touch to share your memories of your final moments with your mothers following the Princess Royal Statement. And I do want to try and read as many of these as I can because these are personal memories and we do appreciate you sharing them with us. Philippa writes, my mum hung on and on until my daughter returned from Australia. On the day my daughter arrived and on what turned out to be my mother's

last day at home, we all lay on my mum's bed together chatting about everyday stuff while we waited for the ambulance. Then just two nights later as she lay on a noisy, busy, mixed ward, my daughter and I were summoned from our sleep to her bedside for a final time. Her last words to us were with a smile, I'm so glad you're here. I feel safe now. And she died a few hours later. Thank you so much, Philippa, for being in touch. I will continue to try and read

the many messages that you are sending us as you share your memories of your mother's final moments with you. Staying with the Queen, looking through the newspapers this morning, and you are reminded

of the status of the monarchy, not just at home, but also abroad. The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has announced a day of mourning to mark the Queen's death and the Prince and Princess of Wales are now expected to conduct a tour of Australia next year. 56 countries make up the Commonwealth which is a voluntary association

with countries working towards the shared goals of prosperity, democracy and peace. And to give you a sense of that scale, the group represents 2.5 billion people globally and a quarter of the world's land mass. The Queen played a diplomatic role, greeting many foreign leaders and encouraging cooperation in the Commonwealth. And she praised the organisation in her speech to the United Nations in 1957. Ten Commonwealth countries are represented in this Assembly. Countries which form a free association of fully independent states and which have widely different histories, cultures, and traditions. Common ideals and hopes, not formal bonds, unite the members of the Commonwealth

and promote that association between them, which, in my belief, has contributed significantly to the cause of human freedom. Over 60 years on from that statement, the future of the Commonwealth, well, it looks very different now with countries like Australia and Antigua and Barbuda considering becoming republics. Back in June, we had the Jamaican government announcing its intention that Jamaica become a republic by the time of the next election in 2025. And since the death of Queen Elizabeth,

the conversation has been reignited around the challenges of the organisation and the challenges that King Charles may face as a monarch and as a man in keeping the groups of countries together. Let's speak to Professor Chandrika Kaur, lecturer in modern history at the University of St. Andrews, joining me now. Thank you for your time, Chandrika. Look, Queen Elizabeth came to the throne at a very complex time, didn't she? She had the empire beginning the process of ending. She had a country that had just come out of a war. How did that impact her reign?

Well, I think the first thing and most important thing to understand is that it was a very difficult situation. You know, we are likely to now look back and put a gloss on it, which is, I think, just right in the context. But it was very difficult. It was very touch and go. You know, for instance, India, which is the largest, in terms of population, member of the Commonwealth, you know, nearly didn't join. And it was only because of Lord Mountbatten's persuasive powers and friendship with Jawaharlal Nehru,

that really swung it that way. So I think that was shaky. It was shaky stuff. But combined with that, you also had this young woman, you know, who was inexperienced, who was finding her way. And she was very greatly aided initially by the fact that there was still a great deal of goodwill and deference towards her, and dare I say it,

towards the former British Empire, despite the bus hangs, which were bloody in many cases for the former imperial countries. And I'll give you a very quick example of this. In 1961, we made a first trip to India with her husband. You know, she was greeted with a great deal of public admiration and adulation on the streets.

And we have wonderful videos to show her resplendent on an elephant. And of course, we also have the ghastly images of, dare I say it, I use the word ghastly in quotes, of her husband, Prince Philip, shooting a royal Bengal tiger. You know, the fact that this was acceptable in 1960s, you know, shows what a different world this still was. And you're right, the 1960s, the 1950s, an extraordinary time during her reign, a time when British attitudes were also changing. We had these independence movements growing and

this is all, these are all elements that she had to manage under her reign. Absolutely. And I think two things that really helped her, which also testify, I think, to the type of leader she was in general. And the two I would talk about is, you know, the idea for her of the Commonwealth, you know, not being an institution that went out of fashion. For her, it was an article of faith. You know, much like, if you like, her sartorial choices, you know, she seemed to always look the same, though the world was changing around her. This was very much linked,

really, to the courage of her convictions. She really believed in the Commonwealth. And the fact that she soon became the most widely traveled member of the monarchy in the Commonwealth meant that she was able to convince leaders of where she was coming from. And, you know, the honesty of her purpose of power is a very difficult thing. Well, let's expand on that a bit more, because she was a global leader, a global diplomat at a time when politics was almost entirely dominated by men. What kind of a leader was she? I think that's exactly right. I think it's really wrong to talk about her

and she didn't herself. She was very angry when people tried to talk about her as a woman. So for instance, in 1961, there was talk about her not going to Ghana because it was considered to be too dangerous for a woman. And she said, this is all nonsense. I'm going because I promised to go and I

postponed it already once in 1959 because I was pregnant and I couldn't go. So she was not willing to be defined by her gender. She was her own woman, but she realized that she was operating within certain constraints, you know, the rules of the Commonwealth and indeed the rules of the constitutional monarchy. She understood that. But then she used that in her own way. She was not a woman who would take things lying down. And soon, you know, this was a learning process. Let's not forget, this didn't happen overnight. She grew into her role. And finally, could I just add just one other element, because

you can say so much about her style. Can I just quickly go fast forward to that, you know, that famous speech in 1992, when she talked about her year of being the Annas for Iblis, you know, where she talks about her divorce of her, I'm sorry if I mispronounced that, but, but, you know, she talked about the divorce and the winds of fire and so on. And everyone remembers that. But what we forget is what then she added in her speech. She said, criticism is good for people and institutions. However, and I quote, it can be just as effective if it is made with a touch of gentleness and

understanding. The Times this morning describes her as the quiet diplomat who could soften the steeliest of leaders. And they say that the survival of the Commonwealth can be credited to the Queen's force of personality. So now I want to look forward, Chandrika, because we are already hearing from some leaders

of members of the Commonwealth, like the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, who has said that they're going to hold a referendum on becoming a republic within three years following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. And the Prime Minister did insist that this is not an act of hostility or any difference that the Antiguas may feel about the monarchy, but it is a final step to complete that circle of independence to ensure that we are a truly sovereign nation. So a couple of thoughts there. What does King Charles III now have to do to retain the commitment of members of the Commonwealth? And might we see more members of the Commonwealth wanting to move in this direction?

Well, let me answer the Charles question first. I think Charles is beginning from a very good pitch. Not only does he have the enormous success of his mother, but also the fact that he's an elected head of the Commonwealth. This is important to recognise. He was unanimously elected in 2018. This is important. He also has his own record of achievement when it comes to the Commonwealth.

And I think if I were to give you one example of how he might make a difference is the fact that he's an internationalist. And we see that in his concern for climate change. And I would argue that something like that platform for climate change is very much a global one and one that also ties in with a lot of concerns for the former imperial and now commonwealth countries of the world who have long been suffering from the effects of climate change. So here is an issue based approach that might help Charles abridge, if you like, and keep the Commonwealth together. And I also then add, you know, the point about your question about the nature of the Commonwealth itself. I think it's important historically to recognize that this was never a static organization. Countries left it, countries rejoined it. You know, we've got countries like South Africa that left and rejoined 30 years later. We also have members, you know, who are not, who never were part of the empire, choose to join the organization as well. You know, we do have Commonwealth members that were never associated with the empire.

So, you know, I think we mustn't have a knee-jerk reaction to this. But I'm so glad that you are highlighting what I have been trying to argue, which is the importance of situating Britain as one part of this organism of the Commonwealth, not standing above it. And certainly one part, but a central part, because for many, Chandrika, the empire is linked to a history of trauma and racial inequality. I mean, by 1930, the empire had grown to rule over 400 million people, the largest empire in history. And you talk about King Charles being a modern monarch dealing with modern day concerns, climate change being one of them. But considering the history, the weight of the monarchy and its complex history, how should he manage that in his reign? I think it's absolutely central to address it. I think the worst thing that the monarch could do was if it were to come up as an issue,

is to try and ignore it or to undermine the reasons why this becomes an issue. And I think this has to do with the sensitivity of the new nations. I know we saw this year, the 75th anniversary of Indian and Pakistani independence. Now, 75 years is not a long time in the history of nations. And memories are still very much alive to the horrors of the imperial years not just in the subcontinent but across Africa and other parts of the world and I think this is legitimate this is a legitimate concern but can I quickly suggest perhaps Charles might take a leaf out of his mother's book and we saw how in 2011 when the queen visited Ireland for the very first time,

this is important to note, this is the very first visit of a Queen of Great Britain to the Republic of Ireland. This had never happened before because remember Ireland left in 1946. Anyway, she was dressed in emerald green and she spoke about recognition, about contrition, but also about redemption and wanting to move forward. And this was, I think, really struck the right note in Ireland. And I'd like to think that if Charles were to sensitively handle some of these concerns that are raised in the wider commonwealth, I think he would be very positively greeted. Professor Chandrika Kaur, I wish I could spend much longer speaking to you because a fascinating conversation, one that many communities are having. And I'm glad

that we had a chance to speak to you and get some of your expertise on this. Thank you so much, Professor Chandrika Kaur, lecturer in modern history at the University of St. Andrews, joining us to talk about the Commonwealth and that post-imperial legacy. On to something slightly different. Since she was a girl, the writer and broadcaster Natalie Haynes has been fascinated by Greek myths. Her Radio 4 programme, Natalie Haynes' Stands Up for the Classics, is available over on BBC Sounds, and there have been eight series so far. Clearly, there are lots of stories of ancient Greece and Rome for her to unpick and retell for a modern-day audience.

And Stands Up, it's got two meanings. She is championing them, and she's also finding the humour. Her fourth novel, Stone Blind, tells the story of Medusa. Many of us will know her for the snakes in her hair and the unfortunate ability to turn people to stone by looking at them. The only mortal in a family of gods. And at 16, Medusa has the misfortune to catch the eye of Poseidon. Natalie, welcome to the programme. Would you begin by reading from the beginning of the book as it really sets out what you are trying to do here clearly? I will. So this is chapter one.

It's very short, just so you know. Gorgoneion. I see you. I see all those who men call monsters. And I see the men who call them that, call themselves heroes, of course. I only see them for an instant. Then they're gone. But it's enough. Enough to know that the hero isn't the one who's kind or brave or loyal. Sometimes, not always, but sometimes he is monstrous. And the monster, who is she?

She is what happens when someone cannot be saved. This particular monster is assaulted, abused and vilified. And yet, as the story is always told, she is the one you should fear. She is the monster. We'll see about that. Thank you. I like to sell out my stall on the first page.

No, no, it's powerful reading. Thanks. Beyond the snakes, beyond those deadly eyes. Yes. Refresh our memories about Medusa and the story behind one of three sisters and this I think is often forgotten for the very good reason a very strong reason which I don't dispute that in 1981 the Ray Harryhausen movie Clash of the Titans was released and so people of my generation all saw that on every bank holiday through our childhoods with Harry Hamlin as Perseus decapitating this terrifying monster that lives in a cave on her own.

And she's a predator. She's got a bow and arrow. She's trying to pick them off. They have to kill her by looking at a reflection so her lethal eyes can't turn them to stone. Even her blood, when she's been killed, is corrosive and destroys metal. And that's the version of her that we know. But here's the thing. Gorgons in ancient Greece have a sort of dual identity. They're scary. Yes, you would put one on your shield. Agamemnon has one on his shield in the Iliad, a gorgoneion, just a gorgon head. And that should tell you that it's two things. It scares your enemy, but it protects you. Gorgons are apotropaic. They protect us from the things that we're scared of.

And so the gorgon heads that you can see all over Greek buildings, you can see them on temples and doorways and places like that, on shields again, they're obviously designed to reflect and fight the fears of the societies which created them. And Gorgon heads or these sort of grotesque heads can be traced all the way back to Humbaba in Gilgamesh, the Mesopotamian myth. So this idea of the head which is sort of part human, maybe part monster, part animal, the snakes for hair, but the hair also looks a bit like a lion's mane.

Gorgons often have tusks like wild boars. Sometimes they have beards like wild pigs. So they are obviously meant to reflect the natural world. A line that has struck me that you have shared openly is that you have over time learned to see Medusa not as a monster, but a monstered woman. That's going to stay with me. Explain that to me.

Well, because we think of her as the archetypal monster, I think, partly because she's so iconic in its more literal sense, not in its Generation Z sense, where it's an iconic image and you see it all the time. But she is turned into a monster. She's not born one. As a young woman, she is described by Pindar, for example, as a uparu. She has beautiful cheeks. Ovid says she's incredibly beautiful and the most beautiful thing about her beautiful cheeks. Ovid says she's incredibly beautiful and the most beautiful thing about her is her hair. And then she's sexually assaulted by Poseidon, raped in a temple.

In one version of her story, they have a consensual encounter, but in almost every version, he rapes her. And the punishment for that is that she is, and note that the punishment is meted out to the victim and not the rapist, of course, is that she is given and note that the punishment is meted out to the victim and not the rapist, of course, is that she is given the snakeish hair. And so she's turned into a monster.

So she's literally the first monstered rape survivor. And once I looked at her in that light, I knew I owed her a novel. I wrote a chapter about her in a nonfiction book called Pandora's Jar a few years ago. And I was still so angry for her when I'd finished it and hurt for her that all these, you know, that she gets turned into a monster, she gets assaulted, turned into a monster. And then we only think of her as a monster. I was like, I owe this person a book. And that pain, it comes across in your writing because after she is raped, she becomes introverted and her sisters approach her and that relationship between her sisters

and Medusa it's moving oh good I'm really glad because I am a sister but I don't have a sister if you see what I mean but I really wanted to write about the kind of love that you experience not as a mother you know they have a very maternal relationship with her yeah but they are not her mother and they're conscious of the fact that they're sisters. And so, yeah, I wonder if it's because I've become an aunt in relatively recent years. They have quite an auntly vibe going on. They certainly do. Not just auntly, maternal, even deeper than that.

A little bit. Yeah, absolutely. I want to kind of put Medusa now into the modern age and how she's been depicted in popular culture, arts, movies, and how that has changed over the years. Yeah, I mean, it is really interesting that she starts out essentially in ancient art. She's monstrous or at least grotesque. As I say, there's a protective element. But then in the 5th century BCE, there's this process of beautification

where monsters that had been very scary start to look like very beautiful women, oddly enough. And then as Christian art essentially takes over, what you get is she becomes scarier again. If you were to look at, I don't know, Caravaggio as a painting or Canova, I guess, or Cellini as sculptures, you get a much scarier version of her. But then we have this little glitch with the Ray Harryhausen version, which is properly monstrous, the stop-motion animation version, and there's a little homage to that version in the Lego movie.

Lego Medusa has a lovely snaky tail, just like that version. But generally, she is sexualised. Surprise! You're welcome. So she tends to be... Uma Thurman plays her in one movie, for example, in the Percy Jackson film. Don't ask me the end of the title because it's too long and I can only remember Homer at that length, as you know. But also Rihanna was styled by Damien Hirst on the cover of GQ magazine as an extremely sexy Medusa with kind of snake contact lenses and everything. It's like, oh, oh okay so this idea that it's really interesting because if you try to find a gender switched version of the story

like Judith and Holofernes where Judith beheads Holofernes there is no sense of sexuality in it at all nobody is sexy in that version of it you know look at the Artemisia Gentileschi painting of it not sexy but then when you look at a story where a man decapitates a woman, there is for sure a sense of sexual subtext in this scary, sexy monster lady. There are times in your writing when I feel like I can almost hear you talking to me as if we're sat around a table having a cup of tea. Oh, that's because I've moved into your house, did I not say? And there is one line, the idea that Perseus is a hero is one I have taken exception to since I can't even tell you how long it is as long as I've known his name he's arrogant and he's spoiled it sounds like you have Medusa's back throughout I do have her back yeah I mean I I'm kind of a I'm hopelessly uh lovelorn

when I write so I love everybody I even love Perseus when I'm writing him because I think if I don't you won't you know I have in that moment, even when someone's doing something terrible, I have to be inside their mind and on their side. Because I don't think many people go through life or gods or demigods go through life thinking, how can I be awful? I think what's the best thing? But experiencing what your protagonists feel is important. It is. Even in your writing, you had long COVID at the time. Yeah, I was pretty ill actually.

Yeah, no, I was pretty ill for quite a long time. I had really, really crippling migraines. And pedic speech in your book, you had long COVID at the time. Yeah, I was pretty ill, actually. Yeah, no, I was pretty ill for quite a long time. I had really, really crippling migraines. And headache speech in your book, don't they? All the pain in this book is mine. It's so melodramatic. But yeah, I mean, I wanted to write the scene where Zeus famously gives birth to, that sounds weird, but you know what I mean, produces Athene fully formed from his head.

And it's like, well, I've had a really bad migraine for 26 days now. So I think I can write this. Come on. So yeah, no, the physical pain, I'm afraid, is all me. Although I was really cold with long COVID. And obviously everybody in my book is somewhere really warm. But always with a tinge of humour with you, Natalie. Thank you so much, Natalie Haynes.

And Stone Blind will be read on Radio 4 from next week at 10.45pm. And you can find it over on BBC Sounds. In the last minute or so of the programme, I do want to read a few more of your very moving messages that you have sent in about your final moments with your mother. Maureen says,

I spent a wonderful afternoon with my mother with my own daughter, Zara. We giggled a lot. She died later that day. And when I walked into my kitchen shortly afterwards, all I could focus on was the rubbish bag my mother, with my own daughter, Zara. We giggled a lot. She died later that day. And when I walked into my kitchen shortly afterwards, all I could focus on was the rubbish bag my mother had tied tightly. It's very interesting how the small things in life become important at this time.

Jenny says, my mother died at home here in Midwells, 20 years younger than the Queen, sadly. And I sat with her through the last two and a half days, talking to her and playing her favourite Mozart concerto. It was a beautiful late summer weather and after much unheaval

and uncertainty, it was such a blessing for her that her last days were spent in such a peaceful and lovely place. Well, I'm glad you've been in touch. So many of you have. Thank you for sharing

these personal memories. Please do keep them coming in. But for now, thank you from the Women's Hour in. But for now, thank you from the Woman's Hour team. Thanks for listening. There's plenty more from Woman's Hour over at BBC Sounds. I'm Sarah Treleaven. And for over a year, I've been working on one of the most complex stories I've ever covered. There was somebody out there who's faking pregnancies. I started like warning everybody. Every doula that I know. It was fake. No who's faking pregnancies. I started like warning everybody.

Every doula that I know. It was fake. No pregnancy. And the deeper I dig, the more questions I unearth. How long has she been doing this? What does she have to gain from this? From CBC and the BBC World Service, The Con, Caitlin's Baby. It's a long story, settle in. Available now.