CRHnews - Queen Eats Rat: Press Association 'Royal Reporter' Tom Corby

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• published: 07 May 2013
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In 'Queen Eats Rat' Tom Corby, veteran Fleet Street journalist and former Southend Standard junior talks of his 'good story' which made headlines around the world on his first foreign assignment as the Press Association Court (Royal) Correspondent. "The Gibnut is often called 'The Queens Rat' or 'The Royal Rat' because Queen Elizabeth was served Gibnut, a local delicacy, during her visit to Belize in 1985. Headlines in London read 'Queen Eats Rat'." See www.mayafirst.org/rat Tom Corby raised his eyebrows when the Duchess of York gave him a tabloid-style 'good story' telling him that men liked women with "round bottoms" and of how he was stunned when 'sworn' at through a limo window by the Princess of Wales. In his earlier talk, 'Dodtheboys Hall to Buck House' he talks of meeting and marrying fellow Essex reporter Kathleen, nee Travers, who at 20 was the youngest Parliamentary correspondent, Charles Dickens, having been a year older. Tom Corby is the sixth Court (Royal) Correspondent of the Press Association, Britain's national news agency, since Queen Victoria created the appointment in 1894. He was accredited to the Royal Household between 1985 and 1992, a turbulent period for the House of Windsor and a busy one for Fleet Street's 'Royal Rat Pack'. Tom Corby's key role with the Press Association gave him a unique insight into the tempestuous marriage break-ups of the Queen's eldest sons, Charles and Andrew. He was the only journalist with free access to Buckingham Palace and other Royal residences, however, it was a challenging job which he describes variously as a poison chalice/walking on broken glass/tightrope walking, but he survived the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune, hence his sobriquet Teflon Tom. He interviewed members of the Royal Family and traveled the world with them, attending every major event, and was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order by Queen Elizabeth II for personal services in 1993. Tom Corby has since been a regular after-dinner speaker and a guest speaker on Cunard liners. He has also appeared on chat shows on the BBC, Sky and European TV networks and in the UK and fronted NBC coverage of Princess Diana's funeral and as well as undertaking promotional tours to publicise his numerous books on members of the Royal Family, including the Princess of Wales and the Queen Mother. Check out the 'Royal Rat' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK9orRIDk4Q Photo credits: Creative Commons Attrribution Share Alike 2.0: Her Majesty the Queen - Bundesarchiv, Bild 199-1992-089-19A / CC-BY-SA Marie-Josefine Jirka Copyright Attribution: Save the Royal Rat - http://mayafirst.org/rat Music credits: Ten royalty free tunes by Kevin MacLeod of incompetech.com Procession of the King, Awaiting Return, New Friendly, Soverign, Wagner Bridal Chorus, Tafi Maradi, Montego, Minstrel Guild, Resignation, Music to Delight and Eastminster. All are Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/faq.html www.CRHnews.co.uk