This week's UK news: 22 July 2016
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22 July 2016


Prince George is three, wearing high heels can injure women, old-fashioned UK summer activities disappear, and how you can see Henry VIII's favourite warship close up.

Every week, we summarise the UK news to help you understand what is happening in Britain, and what people are talking about.

 

Happy Birthday Prince George

One day Prince George will be King. Today he is a three-year-old enjoying his birthday and playing with the family dog, called Lupo.

Most families like to take pictures of special occasions and the Royal Family is the same. They have taken some pictures of Prince George and given them to the newspapers and websites. You can see them here.

There has also been news this week that Prince George's aunt is going to get married. Pippa Middleton became famous when she was bridesmaid to her sister Catherine at her wedding to Prince William. Now she is getting married herself, to a man who works in finance. The newspapers say her diamond engagement ring may have cost GBP 200,000.

 

High heels hurt women

The UK's politicians (MPs) are investigating whether the clothes people are asked to wear at work affect their health. This is after a woman was sent home after refusing to wear high heeled shoes in a job as a receptionist.

One expert, Helen Sewell, told the MPs that high heeled shoes are costing British businesses GBP260m a year, because women have to take sick leave because of damage the shoes has caused their bodies.

She also says wearing high heels restricts women's ability to speak well to an audience, and make it harder to think and breathe properly. She said voice problems could be caused by wearing the wrong sort of shoes.

 

Old-fashioned summer activities disappearing

It used to be common for people to make jam, go punting on a river, or hire a beach hut to sit by the sea. But a new survey has found that very few people do these things any more
More than 80 per cent of people have never made lemonade, and under a third of people have never played croquet, a traditional garden game where you flick balls through hoops with big hammers.

If you've seen or read Alice in Wonderland, you'll know about croquet as it is part of the story.

 

Henry VIII's favourite ship goes on show again

The Mary Rose was the favourite warship of King Henry VIII. He was horrified to watch it sink 500 years ago off the South Coast of England during a battle. Nobody knows quite why the ship sank, but it may have turned very fast with all its guns on one side.

The ship was found on the seabed in 1971 and was rescued in 1982. Since then it has had a special treatment process at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and although it has been on show, it was not easy to see much. This week the ship has gone on show in a new building and you can see it very clearly. "I don't think people realise how big she is," said the woman in charge of the ship's museum.

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