There are so many it has become an infestation which is impossible to keep out. Now there are hundreds, even thousands, of theatrical events but the fact is that you cannot be sure everything will be good.”There has also been a terrible increase in the number of stand-up comics. Yesterday, Richard Demarco, one of the founders of the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, the country’s first fringe theatre, lamented the decline in quality of the city’s Fringe Festival and its increasing domination by stand-up comedians.
At a debate on the role of the 50-year-old Edinburgh Festival in the next millennium he said: “In the old days 90 per cent of what was on at the Fringe was of high quality. This followed the anxieties expressed earlier by Professor George Steiner that the Festival had lost its sense of purpose. Criticism of the Edinburgh Festival heightened yesterday when one of the city’s best-known arts entrepreneurs attacked the state of the Fringe.

Anyone crossing the Channel this summer would be mad to miss out on a currency deal as crazy as this.”The offer is a boost for tourists at the end of a week when it emerged that at least one large holiday tour operator, Airtours, intends to increase the price of some of the holidays which it advertises in its brochures, by up to pounds 30 a time.That move was condemned by consumer groups yesterday, who said they were considering whether to make a legal challenge.A spokeswoman for the Consumers’ Association said that it was an offence for companies to give prices in their brochures that were “inaccurate or misleading”.. The company’s normal commission is 1 per cent.The pesetas offer in June boosted orders and purchases by more than 500 per cent and Thomas Cook hopes its offer on francs, the second most popular holiday currency, will have a similar impact.The deal applies to cash transactions only and is limited to a maximum of pounds 2,000 on any one deal.Lindsey Allardyce, Thomas Cook’s foreign exchange marketing manager, said: “If you are off to France this summer, make sure you get your currency now. The offer for holidaymakers is for today only but the company is considering longer commission “amnesties” on the most popular foreign currencies next year.
A spokesman for Thomas Cook, which controls about a quarter of the multi- million-pound high-street business and has 600 shops and bureaux de change, said a pilot scheme with Spanish pesetas earlier this year had been “extremely successful”.Nick Agarwal, the company’s public relations manager, said: “We found that the trial with pesetas generated a lot of interest and from our point of view this kind of offer can bring in other business.”He said the company was actively considering bringing in the scheme on a more permanent basis for travellers next year, though the free service would probably be restricted to the larger-volume currencies such as francs and pesetas. The prospect of an end to commission for holiday currency moved a step closer today with Thomas Cook changing sterling into French francs for no charge. Last Friday she snatched his camera bag, motorcycle helmet and keys.She swore in the affidavit: “I can no longer drive out of the gates of Kensington Palace without fearing what the defendant might do to me next.”But the fact remains that anyone who claims a photographer is a “stalker” must prove it.. I have never heard her say that before.”The 36-year-old photographer’s habit of waiting near the entrance to Kensington Palace then trailing the Princess on his motorbike amounted to stalking, she alleged, after a series of incidents including smashing into her car, pushing her, shouting abuse and spoiling outings with her sons.

As the supporting affidavit sworn by the Princess and reproduced in full in yesterday’s Sun newspaper shows, the claim was not simply about irritation, but fear.Ken Lennox, the Sun’s picture editor, said he was con-cerned that stalking legislation could hamper photographers’ coverage of stories of genuine interest, but added: “This case may be unique [She] said he frightened her. But the spokeswoman said the letters, sent two weeks ago, were unconnected to the injunction gained from the High Court in London on Wednesday night by the Princess of Wales against a freelance photographer, Martin Stenning.The order bans Mr Stenning, who has himself consulted lawyers, from approaching within 300 metres of Princess Diana and from communicating with her, harassing her or interfering with her safety, security or well- being or behaving in any way which has the effect of disrupting her life.But does it signify a new attack on press freedom, of the kind potentially raised by the planned law on stalking? And could this be the beginning of a concerted counter-attack on the paparazzi by a princess in search of a new identity?It is too soon to say. What we have had over a number of years is photographers with long lenses who have used the public access roads to take photos of the Royal Family when they are enjoying private time and on their own property.”
The photographers, who have not been named, have been asked to reply. The Palace also hinted strongly that it will consider legal action against them if they fail to comply with the requests. A spokeswoman said the Queen and her family were entitled to privacy on their holiday, which starts today, and added: “This is something we have been considering for a long time. Success, he said, was relative: it depended “on what we can make of the mess we have made of things”..

The royal backlash against the media increased last night when Buckingham Palace revealed its lawyers had written to four photographers asking them not to “infringe the privacy” of the Royal Family on their summer holiday in Balmoral. But hot-housing and the world of the fast-track academic were not her choice. She is a pharmacist at Charing Cross Hospital in London.The poet TS Eliot took a wider and more pragmatic view. Coached by her mother, she too had an early top-grade maths certificate at 11.

But happiness? It is probably too early to tell.Ruth’s sister, Rebecca, was equally precocious. Another degree and her doctorate were won before her 16th birthday.After teaching in Harvard and the University of Michigan, Ms Lawrence went on to research “knot theory” at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques at Bures-sur-Yvette, near Paris.Her father Harry Lawrence – often branded a figure of either obsession or excessive parental devotion – still accompanies his prodigy daughter everywhere.After her A-level result came fleeting fame and continuing success. She went on to collect a First Class honours degree at Oxford at the age of 13. Andrew Archer’s results (mathematics, further mathematics, chemistry, electronics, physics and general studies) prove that he is intelligent, but it seems that they are not an open passport.If the choice is hard at age 18, is it harder at age nine? Ruth Lawrence achieved a top grade in A-level mathematics at the time when most pupils are struggling with long-division sums Mr Snow’s correlation held.