A Who What Where When and Why UK Quiz: Part 2

Answer: Prince Charles

In 1984 the Prince of Wales spoke on the 150th anniversary of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). In a far-reaching address, he lamented some of the developments that had taken place in London since the end of World War 2.

He kept his special ire for proposals to build an extension to the National Gallery declaring: "Instead of designing an extension to the elegant facade of the National Gallery which complements it and continues the concept of columns and domes, it looks as if we may be presented with a kind of municipal fire station, complete with the sort of tower that contains the siren.

"I would understand better this type of high-tech approach if you demolished the whole of Trafalgar Square and started again with a single architect responsible for the entire layout, but what is proposed is like a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend."

Founded in 1824, the gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square. By the start of the 21st Century, it boasted of hosting more than 2,300 artworks.

Answer: Purple

Cirsium palustre, to give its horticultural name, grows in wet habitats throughout Britain. It reaches some 1.2 metres in height and is a biennial usually best seen between July and September.

Answer: Second Saturday in June

Queen Elizabeth II, monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was born on April 21 1926. However, in a tradition that dates to 1784, the reigning monarch has a 'real' birthday and an 'official' one.

It all started because King George II was born in November 1784. Britain is not noted for good weather in November, and George wanted to be able to have a public ceremony so that all could celebrate his birthday. The second Saturday in June was selected because of the better likelihood of good weather.

So, lucky Elizabeth gets two sets of birthday presents a year (we presume). The big headache for her family is deciding what to buy someone who is worth £350 million, according to the 'Sunday Times Rich List' in 2020. That makes the famously frugal monarch the 372nd richest person in the UK.

Since I know you are wondering, the same list recorded Sir James Dyson as the richest person in the UK. The inventor and innovator sucked up the accolade (sorry for the pun) with an estimated wealth of £16.2 billion.

Answer: Scotland

You need to be keen or hardy, or both, to ski in Scotland. Snow cover is fickle and not always guaranteed. When it does snow, it is usually from all directions at the same time.

Scotland has five natural ski and snowboarding centres. The Lecht has fewest runs but is considered ideal for beginners or nervous intermediates.

If your visits to Scotland are confined to summer, it is well worth a trip to the artificial slopes at Midlothian Snowsports Centre, near Edinburgh. It is also known as Hillend. From the top it offers great views over the city. The highest points can be reached via footpaths. It is also a good point for several walks in the Pentland Hills.

Answer: He lied to Parliament

So, red herring time: Lord Profumo did have an affair with the alleged prostitute Christine Keeler, but he might have got away with it had he not lied about it in the House of Commons. (Sometimes politicians have a moral code all of their own.)

John Profumo was Secretary of State for War. In 1961 he had an intimate relationship with Christine Keeler, who was also involved with Yevgeny "Eugene" Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché. Although it was over by the end of 1961, two years later it was bought into the open by a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons.

In March of that year, Profumo stood in the Commons and declared "there was no impropriety whatsoever in my acquaintanceship with Miss Keeler". That might have been the end of it except that in a court case that May a man called Stephen Ward went on trial accused of running prostitutes, including Keeler and other women. In evidence Christine Keeler testified she had had an intimate relationship with Profumo.

In June, Profumo was obliged to admit Keeler had been his mistress and that his March statement to the Commons was untrue. It is ironic that British intelligence services had been aware of the affair and the ménage à trois (figuratively) with the Russian and had concluded that there was no threat to national security.

After quitting politics, Profumo devoted the rest of his life to charitable and good causes.

Answer: Helen Worth

The fictitious Gail Platt is noteworthy for having had as many marriages as King Henry VIII. She was married six times to five men. (Not all at once, you understand).

Gail had an unhappy record with men. She had an affair with the cousin of her first husband, Brian Tilsley, and they divorced. He was later stabbed to death in a street brawl. She divorced husband number two Martin Platt when he had an affair. They remarried, but he soon departed with a new girlfriend in tow.

Husband number three was the maniacal murderer Brian Hillman who drowned when he deliberately drove his car into a canal. Gail and her three children narrowly escaped from the car before its watery plunge.

Fourth time down the aisle was with Joe McIntyre whose business ventures went down the tubes and he embarked on a scheme to fake his own death for the insurance money. Sadly for him it went awry and he actually did accidentally die. Gail was arrested for his murder, but was cleared.

Husband number five was Michael Rodwell. They first met when the down-on-his-luck Rodwell tried to burgle her home. The marriage was not to last when Rodwell found out she had been harbouring secrets.

So, everyday life in an urban streets. If you think that six marriages to five spouses is exceptional, another "Coronation Street" character, Steve McDonald, was married seven times to five women.

* Important caveat: All figures correct at time of writing.

After more than 2,000 appearances, Helen Worth by the start of the 21 Century was the third longest appearing performer in what was the UK's most popular soap opera. She has won Outstanding Achievement awards in two ceremonies.

Answer: Newgate

Newgate was the type of prison to which the adjective 'notorious' aptly applies. Built in the 12th Century on the orders of King Henry II, it served as place of confinement until 1902.

The name came from the fact that it was built into what had been a Roman wall. Although rebuilt several times over the next 600 years, conditions did not improve noticeably. In a period between 1790 and 1902, some 1,000 people were executed outside its grim exterior.

The Old Bailey, proper name, the Central Criminal Court, was built on the site and opened in 1907.

Answer: Roof of the Apple building in London

The date that has gone down in Beatles mythology was January 30, 1969. The cracks had already begun to appear in the Beatles timeline and on that date they performed an unannounced gig on the roof of their music company's headquarters in central London.

The Fab Four were joined by their sometime keyboards player Billy Preston and performed five songs. The performance was captured on tape and used in the documentary "Let It Be" in 1970.

The Beatles were to release just one more album, "Abbey Road", before they broke up in September 1969.

Answer: January 1976

The Anglo-French Concorde first flew in 1973, making its first transatlantic crossing on September of that year. Three years later the first supersonic flight carrying paying passengers took place.

Concorde (the French insisted on the 'e' at the end) was only ever operated by two airlines, British Airways and Air France. British Airways initially flew from London to Bahrain and Air France from Paris to Rio de Janeiro. Regular services were added to Washington, DC, in May 1976 and New York City in November 1977.

Concorde could fly at Mach 2.04, 1,354mph, but could only carry 100 passengers.

Only 14 of these beautiful aircraft were ever built and Concorde operations were ended by Air France in May 2003 and by British Airways in October 2003. Although several of the aircraft were placed in permanent exhibitions, many aviation buffs consider it an act of cultural vandalism that the airlines ensured that none could be made to take to the air again. (Though it is doubtful they could get airworthy certificates anyway.)

Answer: Dispute over fishing rights

While there was little, if any, human blood shed, the "Cod Wars" lasted 20 years.

Hostilities began in 1958 when Iceland declared a 12-mile exclusion zone around the island in which only its boats could fish. At the time the internationally-recognised zones extended to just four miles off a coast. The British were not happy and continued to fish. When Icelandic patrol boats tried to dissuade the British trawlermen, Britain sent Royal Navy ships in to protect them. Britain withdrew her ships when it was ruled that Iceland was within her rights to impose a 12-mile zone.

Fast forward to 1973 when an Icelandic patrol boat opened fire (with rifles) on a British trawler in the exclusion zone. A year later another British trawler was chased for 100 miles, shelled, then boarded and impounded. Peace broke out when Britain agreed to restrictions on fishing within a 50-mile seclusion zone.

All was fine for a couple of years until Iceland extended the exclusion zone to 200 miles in 1975. This was to be the most serious set of events, with Icelandic patrol boats cutting British nets and Royal Navy frigates ramming Icelandic patrol boats. In all 55 ramming incidents by the RN were recorded.

Iceland tried to buy bigger and better gunboats from the USA, which rejected the approaches. However, when the Reykjavik government threatened to close down an American airbase used to monitor Soviet warships, the US put pressure on the UK to agree to a peaceful solution.