Darren McDonald

Darren McDonald is an Australian news anchor known for his work on Australia's Seven Network and New Zealand's TV3.

News reading

He was one of Australia's youngest news anchors, first presenting at age 17. He went on to read the news on 11am, and then became the first anchor of Sunrise News when it launched to cover the first Gulf War. He later worked at National Nine News, however his involvement with Network Ten show 'Sex/Life' saw the end of his Australian television career after a segment saw him simulate masturbation.

He later became a news reader in New Zealand at TV3 in the late 1990s.

Drugs issues

At the beginning of 2002 after the police had arrested a lot of people for importing MDMA into New Zealand,and selling methamphetamine, Darren McDonald was arrested. In 2003, he pled guilty to drugs charges relating to MDMA (Ecstasy). He admitted being a drug addict for a number of years, saying he'd spend around $1000 on drugs each week, and that he had even read the news while high on methamphetamine.

Let them eat cake

"Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French phrase "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche", supposedly spoken by "a great princess" upon learning that the peasants had no bread. Since brioche was a luxury bread enriched with butter and eggs, the quote would reflect the princess's disregard for peasants.

While it is commonly attributed to Queen Marie Antoinette, there is no record of this phrase ever having been said by her. It appears in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions, his autobiography (whose first six books were written in 1765, when Marie Antoinette was nine years of age, and published in 1782). The context of Rousseau's account was his desire to have some bread to accompany some wine he had stolen; however, in feeling he was too elegantly dressed to go into an ordinary bakery, he thus recollected the words of a "great princess". As he wrote in Book 6:

Rousseau does not name the "great princess" and he may have invented the anecdote, as Confessions was, on the whole, not a very reliable autobiography.

Darren

Darren a masculine given name of uncertain etymological origins. Some theories state that it originated from an anglicization of the Irish firstname Darragh or Dáire meaning "oak tree". According to other theories, it is a variant of Darrell, which originated from the French surname D'Airelle meaning "of Airelle". The common spelling of Darren is found in the Welsh language, meaning Edge, and is commonly featured in place-names found in remote areas of Wales, typically noting a sharp fall or cliff edge. Examples include Black Darren and Red Darren which are found on the eastern side of the Hatterrall ridge, west of Long town. Darren has several spelling variations including: Daren, Darin, Daryn, Darrin, and Darryn.

In the United Kingdom, its popularity peaked during the 1970s but declined sharply afterwards.

The name Darren can be found in Half Man Half Biscuit song 'Totnes Bickering Fair' in the line of lyrics; "Not long now before lollipop men are called Darren"

The name is frequently shortened to Daz or Dazza.