Week Ahead: William and Kate head to Bradford as fallout to Harry and Meghan’s bombshell continues

ROYAL COUPLE COME TO BRADFORD

The visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to Bradford this Wednesday was already highly-anticipated but will undoubtedly generate even more interest following last week’s bombshell announcement that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are stepping back as senior royals.

Harry and Meghan want to have their cake and eat it as selfish actions undermine the Queen - Andrew Vine

William and Kate will be in the West Yorkshire city to visit a number of projects which support community cohesion.

They will first visit City Hall in Bradford’s Centenary Square to join a group of young people from across the community to hear about life in Bradford.

They will then visit one of Bradford’s Khidmat Centres, whose main focus is to help the most vulnerable members of the community from minority ethnic backgrounds.

The trip now comes against the backdrop of the continuing fallout to Harry and Meghan’s decision to work to become financially independent of the Royal Family, an announcement reported to have been made without consulting the monarch.

It follows long-running rumours of a rift between William and Kate and Harry and Meghan.

The Duke and Duchess will undoubtedly try to put the drama to one side as they arrive in Yorkshire this week. On Thursday, attention will return to Harry as he is currently scheduled to host the Rugby League World Cup 2021 draw at Buckingham Palace in his role as patron of the Rugby Football League.

LABOUR LEADERSHIP CONTEST

The Labour leadership contest will move into its next phase this week as the field of contenders is expected to be narrowed.

At 2.30pm today, nominations from MPs and MEPs close – those in contention require the support of at least 22 colleagues to progress.

Nominations from constituency parties and affiliates open on Wednesday and run until February 14, with candidates needing the backing of either five per cent of all constituency Labour parties or three Labour affiliates – of which at least two must be trade unions – in order to proceed.

A ballot of members opens on February 21 and closes on April 2, with the winner being announced at a special conference two days later.

So far, Keir Starmer is making the early running in the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn, with other candidates including Lisa Nandy, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Jess Phillips.

LADY HALE’S REPLACEMENT

Following the retirement of Yorkshire-born Lady Hale as President of the Supreme Court last year, shortly after her famous ruling that Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue Parliament had been unlawful, her replacement will be sworn in today. Lord Reed, the current Deputy President and a human rights expert, is taking over the role to become the UK’s most senior judge.

MAKING IT SO

Sir Patrick Stewart is returning to arguably his most famous role as Star Trek captain Jean-Luc Picard and a premiere of the new series, which is to be shown on Amazon’s streaming service and will be called Star Trek: Picard, will take place in Leicester Square in London on Wednesday night.

The Mirfield-born actor has said the new series will be considerably different to the Next Generation series originally featuring Picard that presented a positive future where issues like race, class and poverty had been addressed and negotiation was key to solving conflict.

Sir Patrick told Variety that the new version will reflect our more uncertain modern world. “I think what we’re trying to say is important,” he said.

“The world of Next Generation doesn’t exist any more. It’s different. Nothing is really safe. Nothing is really secure.”