What music did our monarchs like?

Royal warrant

The King revealed that among his favourite pieces of music were the 1980s hits ‘Upside Down’ by Diana Ross and ‘The Loco-motion’ by Kylie Minogue. What music did other monarchs like?

– Elizabeth II was reported to have been partial to ‘Cheek to Cheek’ by Fred Astaire, ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’ by Vera Lynn and ‘Sing’ by Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber, written to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee.

– George V attended a command performance by Louis Armstrong in 1932, hinting at a fondness for jazz.

– Edward VII knighted Sir Edward Elgar.

– Victoria commissioned Chopin to write music for her Diamond Jubilee.

Avocado blight

Alan Titchmarsh implored people to eat cornflakes for breakfast rather than avocado on toast, on account of the ecological damage wrought. Global production of avocados soared from 716,000 tons in 1961 to 10.4 million tons in 2023. The largest producers (in tons) in 2023 were:

Mexico 2.97m

Colombia 1.09m

Dominican Republic 1.02m

Peru 983,000

Indonesia 874,000

Kenya 542,000

Europe’s largest producer is Spain, with 86,800 tons.

Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organisation

Home rules

How many people pay full council tax? Of the 25.7 million dwellings in England:

– 16m (62.5% pay the full rate).

– 8.8m (34.1%) qualify for a discount, mostly because of single occupancy.

– 120,000 (0.5%) pay a premium, in most cases because they have been empty for more than a year.

– 280,000 (1%) are second homes, many of which will become liable for a 100% council tax premium from April.

– 748,000 (3%) are exempt, occupied entirely by students, disabled or mentally impaired people, or are being renovated.

Slave drivers

Who gets referred on suspicion of being a victim of modern slavery?

– In 2024 there were 19,125 referrals, a 13% increase on the previous year.

– The most common nationalities of the suspected victims were UK (23%), Albanian (13%) and Vietnamese (11%).

– The biggest increase was among Vietnamese, from 988 to 2,153.