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Holmes was also ordered to pay $452m to the victims of the blood testing scandal.

Asian equities were headed for gains after US stocks rallied on signs of optimism from debt-ceiling talks, allowing

The firms aiming to help eradicate invasive species by making commercial use of them.

Lauren Boebert has denied a claim that her husband flew into a rage and set his dogs on a man after he was served with divorce papers. The Republican from Colorado called the claim by a process server in the state who handed the divorce papers to Jayson Boebert a “complete lie.” The allegations were made in an affidavit, which stated that Mr Boebert was drinking a beer “out of a glass” and was cleaning a gun when he was served at his home in Silt, Colorado, last month, reported The Daily Beast. Now Boebert has bashed the claims in a text message to the outlet. “Jayson doesn’t sit around cleaning guns and he certainly doesn’t drink beer out of a glass, just as much as he doesn’t drink Bud Light,” she said, referencing the recent right-wing controversy. She added that the dogs were already out in the yard when the papers were served. “Our divorce is a private matter, but the misrepresentations must be addressed,” Ms Boebert added. “Jayson deserves his privacy, not slanderous stories.” Ms Boebert announced on Tuesday that she was ending her marriage. “It is with a heavy weight on my heart that I have filed for divorce from my husband,” the Colorado congresswoman said in a statement. “I am grateful for our years of marriage together and for our beautiful children, all of whom deserve privacy and love as we work through this process. I’ve always been faithful in my marriage, and I believe strongly in marriage, which makes this announcement that much more difficult. “This is truly about irreconcilable differences. I do not intend to discuss this matter any further in public out of respect for our children and will continue to work hard to represent the people of Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.” Ms Boebert and her husband, Jayson, have been married for more than a decade and a half. They live in Silt, Colorado with their four sons and operated a restaurant in nearby Rifle until last summer, when the business’s lease was not renewed. A staunch conservative and outspoken Christian, Ms Boebert announced in March that her 17-year-old son and his girlfriend were expecting a baby, making her a grandmother at 36. The MAGA supporter re-won her seat in November after the race between the mother-of-four and Aspen Democrat Adam Frisch became so close that it forced a recount. Mr Frisch has launched a second campaign to unseat her. Ms Boebert, along with Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, is one of the most caustic and controversial stars of the GOP, following along the vein of the 45th president’s brand of politics. Mr Frisch targeted her national presence, arguing that she seemed far less concerned about matters within her district. He ran on a moderate platform; in the end, the congresswoman kept her seat by just 546 votes. Mr Frisch continued: ”Ranchers and farmers in western and southern Colorado are pragmatic, and they don’t see a representative that’s doing the job that they want to see happen,” Mr Frisch told The Independent one day after announcing his new campaign earlier this year. He said the campaign chose to announce early on 14 February because “the momentum that we had from the last campaign was still there” and because he believes any possible Boebert “course correction ... it’s pretty solidified that it’s not happening.” He outlined “three hurdles that we had last time: We had a short period of time, we had very low name recognition, and even though we raised more money than she did — during July through the end of the campaign — she had more money saved up than we did. “And and I think if we had another quarter million dollars or another two weeks of the race, we probably would have won,” Mr Frisch told The Independent. “And I think if the race would have been run a week later, we would have won.” Read More Trump goes after AOC’s ‘bad looking boyfriend’ in wild rant Marjorie Taylor Greene faces wave of mockery after saying she ‘stands with Tucker Carlson’ Donald Trump mourns ‘very good man’ Tucker Carlson after shock departure of Fox’s MAGA mouthpiece Mississippi sends National Guard to US-Mexico border, GOP governor says Republican-appointed federal judges grill FDA in mifepristone hearing More Trump indictments would give Biden and Democrats huge 2024 boost, poll finds

A member of the security detail for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle and a cab driver who transported the couple during a paparazzi chase on Tuesday night have opened up about the ordeal. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said that a relentless pursuit unfolded after the couple and Ms Markle’s mother Doria Ragland attended an awards ceremony in New York City. The “two-hour-long” chase reportedly resulted in multiple near collisions involving “other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.” Chris Sanchez, a member of the Sussexes security team, told CNN in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that he “had never” come close to the chaos he experienced on Tuesday night. “What we were dealing with was very chaotic. There were about a dozen vehicles: cars, scooters and bicycles,” Mr Sanchez said. “The public [was] in jeopardy at several points. It could have been fatal. They were jumping curbs and red lights. At one point they blocked the limousine and started taking pictures until we were able to get out.” “[I] was concerned about [Prince Harry and his wife] but more about the public because they [the paparazzi] were being so erratic,” Mr Sanchez added. “People were on sidewalks and crossing streets and the [paparazzi] were crossing red lights. We did everything by the letter of law.” But the taxi driver who picked up the Sussexes from the New York City Police Department’s 19th precinct, where they had gone to in an attempt to lose paparazzi, told the Washington Post he didn’t feel threatened. The driver said Meghan and Harry’s security asked him to drive back to the station out of concern their location would be shared with more people. “I don’t think I would call it a chase,” Sukhcharn Singh told the Post. “I never felt like I was in danger. It wasn’t like a car chase in a movie. They were quiet and seemed scared but it’s New York—it’s safe.” The NYPD told The Independent in a statement that the department assisted the couple’s “challenging” transport, but no collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests were reported. Meanwhile, Mr Sanchez told CNN that Prince Harry and Meghan were left frightened and exhausted by the time they arrived to safety. NYC Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference on Wednesday that he was told two officers could have been injured. The mayor said while he found it “hard to believe that there was a two-hour high-speed chase,” even an incident lasting 10 minutes could have been “extremely dangerous”. “It’s clear that the press, the paparazzi, they want to get the right shot,” Mayor Adams said. “But public safety must always be at the forefront.” “New York City is different from a small town somewhere. You shouldn’t be speeding anywhere but this is a densely populated city,” he added, noting the amount of traffic and movement and people on the streets. It is understood that the Sussexes believe the pursuit, which is said to have involved six blacked-out vehicles, could have been fatal. Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, died in 1997 from injuries sustained in a car crash after trying to flee paparazzi who were following her vehicle. The duke, who was 12 years old when his mother died, spoke about his concern of history repeating itself in his AppleTV+ docuseries The Me You Can’t See, in which he drew parallels between the treatment of his mother and the scrutiny he and Meghan faced. “It’s incredibly triggering to potentially lose another woman in my life, but the list is growing. And it all comes back to the same people, the same business model, the same industry,” Harry said. In the docuseries, Harry also reflected on the inquest into Diana’s death, which concluded she was unlawfully killed due to “gross negligence” of her driver, Henri Paul, who had been drinking, and the paparazzi who were following her car at the time of the crash. According to the duke, he was “so angry” that there was “no justice at all” after the inquest. “Nothing came from that. The same people who chased her into the tunnel photographed her dying in the backseat of that car,” he recalled. The royal has also spoken about the trauma of his mother’s death in his revealing memoir Spare. Prince Harry said in the book he’s retraced the route his mother’s driver took in Paris on the night she died. “I’d thought driving the tunnel would bring an end, or brief cessation, to the pain, the decade of unrelenting pain. Instead, it brought on the start of Pain, Part Deux,” he wrote. The pursuit of the Sussexes is said to have involved a number of traffic violations including driving on the pavement and through red lights, reversing down a one-way street, illegally blocking a moving vehicle and driving while photographing and while on the phone. In the statement, the spokesperson for the Sussexes condemned the “dangerous” way images of the couple and Ms Ragland leaving the event were obtained. “While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety,” the spokesperson said. “Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all involved.” Read More Harry and Meghan latest news: Buckingham Palace silent on ‘near catastrophic’ car chase with paparazzi Buckingham Palace refuse to comment on paparazzi car chase involving Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Prince Harry’s fears about ‘history repeating itself’ resurface amid paparazzi car chase

President Joe Biden would be vaulted to a massive lead over Donald Trump if the former president faces further criminal charges from the federal and state criminal investigations into his conduct, according to a new poll obtained by The Independent. The poll of 1,571 registered voters was conducted by WPA Research, a Republican polling firm. The CEO of WPA is an adviser to Never Back Down, the Super PAC supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but the survey was conducted independently without his input and was not sponsored by the Super PAC. It found that voters currently prefer Mr Biden over Mr Trump by a margin of 47 per cent to 40 per cent, including a 14-point lead for the sitting president among registered Independents. That’s five points worse than the nine-point deficit among Independents that led to Mr Trump losing to Mr Biden in 2020. The twice-impeached ex-president would also be a drag for down-ballot Republicans if he appears on the top line of a 2024 general election ballot, with Democrats holding a five-point advantage on a generic congressional ballot, 47 per cent to 42 per cent. Although the WPA poll found dismal polling results for Mr Trump at the time of the survey, his chances of beating Mr Biden would become even more remote if he were to face charges from the state and federal prosecutors currently weighing whether to seek indictments against the ex-president. According to the survey, the seven-point deficit between the former and current president would grow by 10 points if he is indicted by Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis, the prosecutor who supervised a special grand jury probe into Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the Peach State. Were Ms Willis to successfully seek an indictment against Mr Trump from a grand jury, Mr Biden’s advantage would grow to ten points, 49 per cent to 39 percent. Among Independents, Mr Trump’s deficit would grow to 21 points, with 50 per cent saying they’d vote for Mr Biden if he is indicted in Georgia compared with 29 percent who said they’d vote for the ex-president. The investigation into Mr Trump’s alleged unlawful retention of classified documents would put him in slightly more electoral peril if the prosecutor overseeing that probe, Special Counsel Jack Smith, convinces a grand jury to approve charges against the former president. If Mr Smith successfully obtains an indictment against Mr Trump, he would face an 11-point deficit against Mr Biden, who would lead him by a margin of 50 per cent to 39 per cent. Mr Biden’s advantage among Independents would be 21 points strong, 50 per cent to 30 per cent. The survey did find that 68 per cent of Republicans would “definitely” vote for the ex-president if he is indicted in either case, but Mr Biden’s margin against him would nonetheless grow because Mr Trump would lose five percentage points of support from GOP voters. Losing five per cent of Republican support would give Mr Biden two more percentage points of support from GOP voters, rising from five per cent to seven per cent. Mr Trump’s share of GOP respondents who said they’d “probably” vote to give a second term also falls from 13 per cent to nine per cent if he is indicted in Georgia, and the number of currently “undecided” self-identified GOP voters would increase from nine to 10 per cent if he is indicted in Georgia, with that number growing to 11 per cent if he is indicted by a federal grand jury; Amanda Iovino, a Principal at WPA, said in a statement that Mr Biden “would be spared a much-needed one-way trip to Delaware” if Mr Trump ends up the GOP nominee in next year’s general election. “Contrary to what one may hear on Truth Social, Trump’s indictment, in either the pending Georgia or federal cases, would energize Democrats, not Republicans, potentially producing the worst loss for a GOP presidential candidate in 60 years. In the process, Republicans would lose control of the House and forego pick-up opportunities in the Senate,” she said. Read More Nikki Haley calls for pardon for Daniel Penny in Jordan Neely chokehold death Republican-appointed federal judges grill FDA in mifepristone hearing Don’t look now, but Ron DeSantis just suffered some big losses Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky signals focus on family values in closely watched fall race Sunak to unveil agreement with Japan on closer defence, security and cyber ties New work requirements for federal aid? GOP pushes proposals in debt talks

Embattled Republican Representative George Santos compared Congress to the movie “Mean Girls” as he faces multiple federal charges and a potential expulsion vote in the House of Representatives. Mr Santos spoke on the Macrodosing podcast and was asked what Congress was like. “Have you ever watched ‘Mean Girls’?” Mr Santos asked the interviewer. “That’s Congress in a nutshell. There is a mean girl there.” Mr Santos compared himself to Cady Heron, the main protagonist in the movie portrayed by Lindsay Lohan. “I don’t come from a political background,” Mr Santos said, despite the fact he ran for Congress in 2020 and lost before he mounted his successful campaign in the Long Island district in 2022. Since then, multiple news outlets reported stories about the fact Mr Santos fabricated numerous aspects of his career, from his claim that he worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, to his falsehood about being of Jewish heritage, to his running a fake charity. Last week, the Justice Department announced 13 criminal charges against Mr Santos, leading to Mr Santos turning himself in and facing arrest. Specifically, the DOJ charged him with unemployment fraud and making false statements to Congress. He has since faced calls to resign even among New York Republicans and members of the House Republican Conference. Representative Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, filed a resolution to force an expulsion vote for Mr Santos, though it is unlikely to pass, given an expulsion requires two-thirds of the House to pass. Republicans hold a narrow majority in the House, which means they need all the GOP support they can get. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called on the House Ethics Committee to take up the expulsion resolution and has said he would not support Mr Santos for re-election despite previously saying he would stand by the freshman Republican. “You got to have a process,” Mr McCarthy said in a news conference. “So I'm going to ask that Ethics look at this.” Read More House lawmakers could decide whether to expel George Santos. He says Democrats want to ‘play judge and jury’ George Santos expulsion coming before House as Democrats force vote

As Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear prepares for what could be the most hotly contested election of the year, the first-term Democrat insisted on Wednesday that he would not cede so-called family values issues to his Republican opponent. In his first sit-down interview since Tuesday's primary, Beshear also tried to contrast his steady leadership with the just-concluded bitter GOP campaign in which state Attorney General Daniel Cameron prevailed in a 12-candidate field. The governor told The Associated Press that he intends to make the general election race about helping families and not trying to “rile people up,” and he accused Cameron of doing just that in his victory speech. “I think sadly from the other side, what we saw last night and what we’ll see is name-calling, stoking division, trying to incite fear or anger or maybe even hatred. And that’s not how we’re supposed to run these elections,” Beshear said. Cameron, buoyed by an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, finished 26 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival, state Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles. Trump’s former U.N. ambassador, Kelly Craft, was a disappointing third after a campaign that mostly centered around her and Cameron. The much scrutinized off-year matchup between Beshear and Cameron in November could provide insight about voter sentiment heading into the 2024 elections that will determine control of the White House and Congress. The race will test the strength of a popular Democratic governor in a Republican-dominated state who hopes the reputation he forged as the state’s consoler in chief during a tumultuous four years will be enough to propel him to a second term. Cameron, one of the most prominent Black Republicans in the country, came out swinging in a primary night speech. “The new religion of the left casts doubt on the greatness of America,” Cameron said. “They embrace a picture of this country and this commonwealth that is rooted in division, that is hostile to faith and that is committed to the erosion of our education system.” The AP reached out to Cameron for an interview, but his campaign did not immediately make him available. Beshear said he sees similarities between this year’s race and his run in 2019, when he defeated GOP Gov. Matt Bevin. "If you look at this last primary, I think that you are seeing the same nastiness, the same turning people against each other,” Beshear said. Much like that contest, Beshear said he has no plans to campaign with national Democrats, including President Joe Biden. Beshear relies on his family’s strong political brand in Kentucky, where his father, Steve Beshear, is a former two-term governor. “This is about us, not Washington, D.C. Everything you’re going to hear me talk about in this election is about our families and how we move them ahead — not right, not left, but forward," Beshear said. Biden joined Beshear to console the victims of tornadoes and flooding that hit Kentucky during the governor's first term. Asked if he was bracing for opposition ads showing pictures of him and Biden together, Beshear said, “It would be pretty callous, I think, for somebody to use photos of showing up at the toughest of times against somebody.” In his speech Tuesday night, Cameron tried to tie Beshear to Biden's immigration policies, lambasted the governor's record on crime and drugs and criticized him for vetoing legislation barring transgender girls and women from participating in school sports matching their gender identity. The Republican-led legislature overrode Beshear's veto. “A governor who will not speak out on these issues, and who will not stand up for your interests, has abdicated his responsibility to the commonwealth and is not fit to lead it any longer,” Cameron said. This year, Beshear vetoed a bill banning transgender young people from receiving gender-affirming health care. That veto also was overridden. Beshear has come under GOP criticism for the veto. Beshear said Wednesday that every youngster should be treated “as a child of God.” “At the end of the day, I think what’s been done here attacks parents’ rights, and I believe medical decisions for children are best left to their parents and not big government stepping in,” he said. Beshear said he is ready to run on a record of economic growth, support for public schools and increased help for people battling drug addiction. The governor noted that hundreds of Kentucky National Guard soldiers have been deployed to the nation’s southwest border during his term in office. Kentucky will continue to “do our part when asked,” he said, declaring that “border security is national security.” He pointed to advances in providing clean drinking water to Kentuckians and getting a new Ohio River bridge built to ease traffic congestion between Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. A bridge “isn’t red or blue, it’s just really important for our families,” the governor said. Beshear now faces an electorate that has turned increasingly Republican since he won the office. He said voters will hear a message from him driven by faith and values, not partisan politics. “For me, my values are rooted in my faith,” Beshear said. “And my faith teaches me that we’re supposed to live with love and compassion, not anger and division." Cameron is the first major-party Black nominee for governor in Kentucky’s history. "To anyone who looks like me, know that you can achieve anything," he said after winning the nomination. To Beshear, "it's taken far too long to have a Black nominee of either party for governor. But I think what the attorney general said last night is right, that in this campaign people are going to judge us by our record and our values." Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide VIDEO FOR YOU: Kentucky Gov. Beshear discusses jobs, his campaign and abortion AP News Digest 3:30 am AP News Digest 3:20 am

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS: The Associated Press is offering a video of Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaking about his campaign and plans for the future. Attorney General Daniel Cameron won the Republican primary for Kentucky governor and will face Beshear in November. Use the video on your websites, broadcasts, social media platforms and elsewhere. ___ GET THE VIDEO Gov. Beshear focuses on Kentucky families in campaign ___ READ AP’S COVERAGE Trump-backed Daniel Cameron to face Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear in November ___ PUBLISH THIS Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear sat down with the Associated Press on Wednesday to discuss his bid for second-term as Kentucky’s governor. He touted economic development, his work at the border and his response to natural disasters throughout the state. “We are at a moment of time and opportunity in Kentucky, the likes of which we’ve never seen. Getting picked for the largest investments of Ford and Amazon. More jobs than ever before. R&D facilities. I got to announce a steel facility in Bell County and a distillery in Fulton County on the same day. More rural jobs than we’ve ever seen. Now, this election for me is about seeing through this work and turning years of great economic development into decades of prosperity,” Beshear said. On Tuesday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron became the first Black nominee for either party in the state of Kentucky—the republican will be facing off against Beshear in the election. “It’s taken far too long to have a Black nominee of either party for governor. But I think what the attorney general said last night is right, that in this campaign, people are going to judge us by our record and our values. And I know that my campaign will show those values by lifting us up, by moving us forward, by focusing on on better jobs, by living out our collective faith of being there for our neighbor and not stoking division, calling each other names and trying to turn people against each other,” Beshear said. Beshear also defended his decisions while handling the COVID-19 pandemic, something his republican opponents have been keen to use against him. He also defended abortion rights in the state and pushed back on current strict state laws. “In Kentucky, they passed a total ban that leaves victims even of rape and incest without any options. It forces women who are pregnant to carry to term, even when it’s not going to be viable. And they’re going to have to go through the most heart wrenching moments and know they’re going to face that for many, many months. Listen, that’s wrong. And I believe the vast majority of Kentuckians believe that it’s wrong,” Beshear said. Beshear also said he is supporting President Biden for his bid for a second term. ___ Localize It is an occasional feature produced by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to Katie Oyan at koyan@ap.org. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide AP News Digest 3:30 am AP News Digest 3:20 am Kentucky Republicans pick nominee to challenge Democratic Gov. Beshear

Dorthy's ruby red slippers can't just take you home, they can also land you in federal court. That much was made apparent after a federal grand jury indicted Terry Martin, 76, with one count of theft of a major artwork for allegedly stealing one of four remaining pairs of Dorthy's ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz. The indictment claims that Mr Martin stole the slippers — worn by Judy Garland in her iconic 1939 role — in 2005 during an after-hours "visit" to the Judy Garland Museum in the actress's hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Federal prosecutors alleged on Tuesday that Mr Martin climbed into the museum through a window, broke a display case containing the slippers, and took off with the legendary film artefact, according to ABC News. The museum's alarm had been tripped, but it failed to alert local police, according to a report by The Guardian. “The biggest thing that ever happened to our museum was getting the slippers stolen. We were literally crying,” the museum’s co-founder, Jon Miner, told KQDS just after the robbery. The slippers were on loan to the museum from Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw when they were stolen. The other three pairs worn in the movie are in the possession of a private collector, the Smithsonian, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. At the time of their theft, the slippers were insured for $1m but had a market value of approximately $3.5m. After they disappeared, law enforcement, enthusiasts and film history buffs offered up rewards for the slippers' safe return, with one anonymous donor in Arizona offering up to $1m. The museum even hired a private investigator in 2013 to try to track down the slippers, but the investigation never made headway. In 2017, a man came forward and told the company that insured the slippers he could assist in their recovery. That man was later found to have been allegedly attempting to extort the individual who stole the shoes, according to the FBI. The agency launched a nearly year-long investigation, after which they launched a sting operation to recover the slippers. The FBI managed to recover the slippers in Minneapolis during the operation, and later examination by experts confirmed the shoes were authentic. However, no arrests were made following the sting, as the FBI was continuing its investigation into who actually stole the memorabilia. Since the 2018 recovery operation, the agency has been working to rule out suspects. Little is known about Mr Martin beyond his age. The indictment did not include a motive or any details about how investigators determined Mr Martin was behind the alleged theft. No attorney's information is available for Mr Martin. Read More Stolen ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz found by FBI after 13 years $1 million reward offered for the return of Judy Garland's ruby red slippers, a decade after they were stolen from a museum The Wizard of Oz most influential film of all time, study finds

The second of the two men who escaped from a Philadelphia jail last week was captured Wednesday, and at least three people have now been charged with their escape, according to authorities.

The State Department offered Wednesday to allow the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee to view a classified cable from U.S. diplomats in Kabul sent shortly before the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas had threatened earlier this week to make an unprecedented push to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress if he did not turn over the so-called dissent cable. It was not immediately clear whether the State Department's offer would appease the Republican lawmaker, who also wanted to see Blinken's response to the cable. State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters Wednesday that McCaul, as well as Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the committee, would be invited to the department to view the cable “with appropriate personal information redacted.” “Chairman McCaul himself has said that this is what he is interested in,” Patel said. "And so it is our sincere hope that our offer here will be sufficient to satisfy their request for information.” McCaul was planning to have the committee vote next week on a resolution to hold Blinken in contempt of Congress. It would have then proceeded to a full vote in the House, where Republicans hold a slim majority. The State Department had previously briefed McCaul on the substance of the cables, but he said he was not satisfied. The vast majority of the 123 cables sent since 1971, when the dissent channel was created during the Vietnam War, have remained classified, according to the National Security Archives at George Washington University. The State Department has long protected the cables from being released publicly. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide