If the parliament is to stand up to the commission or to member governments over legislation, it needs an absolute majority of all its members something that the conservatives, even with their new chums, the Liberals, do not have.

ECONOMIST: The European Parliament

One of Taylor's recent buyers, a former Wall Street executive, says her 14-year-old son is ashamed to tell his New York City school chums that his family owns a ranch.

FORBES: Life

This is especially the case when the light falls for once not on Britain's beleaguered royals but on a dysfunctional family that really does run Britain, namely the handful of chums at the top of Tony Blair's New Labour government.

ECONOMIST: The saint and the scorpions