£200,000 60.5sqft LONDON FLAT

AN ENGLISHMAN'S HOME IS HIS CASTLE, BUT IN LONDONER RAY BARKER'S CASE IT'S A CONVERTED BROOM CLOSET MEASURING 11ft BY 5.5ft. BUT LOCATION IS EVERYTHING, AND THANKS TO ITS COVETED SPOT OPPOSITE HARRODS IN KNIGHTSBRIDGE, THE MINIATURE FLAT HAS BEEN VALUED AT £200,000. AND IT'S JUST RIGHT FOR BARKER, WHO USES THE TINY SPACE TO SLEEP IN, THUS AVOIDING A LENGTHY COMMUTE BETWEEN BATH AND CHISWICK. THE 49 YEAR OLD BOUGHT THE SPACE FOR £120,000 FOUR YEARS AGO, THE MIRROR REPORTED. HE SAID: 'I DO THE CLEANING WHILE LYING ON MY SOFA BED. IN FACT, I CAN WASH UP, ANSWER THE DOOR, MAKE A CUPPA AND GO TO THE LOO ALL IN THE SAME PLACE.' THE FLAT'S TWO ROOMS MEASURE 60.5sqft AND HAS A TOILET, A SHOWER WHICH DOUBLES AS A WARDROBE, AND SIX-INCH DEEP CUPBOARDS. IT WAS CONVERTED INTO A LIVING SPACE IN 1987 AND BOUGHT BY A SECRETARY FOR £37,000. NOW WORTH ALMOST SIX TIMES AS MUCH, SELLING THE FLAT WOULD ENABLE BARKER TO PUT DOWN AN OFFER ON 600 YEAR OLD BALLYFINBOY CASTLE, WHICH RESTS ON TWO ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TIPPERARY, IRELAND.

AFTER 20 YEARS A RENEWED EFFORT TO FIND ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM ARTWORKS

IT REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST INTRIGUING AND TALKED ABOUT ART HEIST MYSTERY IN THE WORLD. IN THE EARLY HOURS OF 19.MARCH.1990, TWO THIEVES WALKED INTO BOSTON'S RENOWNED ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM DISGUISED AS POLICE OFFICERS, AND BOUND AND GAGGED TWO SECURITY GUARDS USING HANDCUFFS AND DUCT TAPE. FOR THE NEST 81 MINUTES, THEY CASUALLY WALKED ABOUT THE STUNNING ORNATE GALLERIES, REMOVING HISTORIC MASTERPIECES INCLUDING THOSE BY REMBRANDT, VERMEER, DEGAS AND MANET, CUTTING SOME OF THE LARGEST PIECES FROM THE ORNATE GILT FRAMES. BY THE TIME THEY DISAPPEARED, THEY WOULD BE CREDITED WITH THE LARGEST ART THEFT IN MODERN HISTORY, MAKING OFF WITH UPWARDS OF A HALF-BILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF ARTWORKS. NOW, 20 YEARS LATER, INVESTIGATORS ARE MAKING A RENEWED EFFORT TO RECOVER THE PAINTINGS. THE FBI HAS RESUBMITTED DNA SAMPLES FOR UPDATED TESTING, THE MUSEUM IS PUBLICIZING ITS $5 MILLION, NO QUESTIONS ASKED REWARD, AND THE US ATTORNEY'S OFFICE IS OFFERING IMMUNITY. AND RECENTLY TWO LARGE BILLBOARDS, ADVERTISING THE REWARD, WERE PLACED ON MASSACHUSETTS' INTERSTATES 93 AND 495. INVESTIGATORS SAY THEY HAVE RULED OUT SOME OF THE MORE POPULAR THEORIES, FROM THE SPECTER OF A RECLUSE BILLIONAIRE ART COLLECTOR TO THE HAND OF NOTORIOUSLY FAMOUS BOSTONIAN JAMES 'WHITEY' BULGER. MORE LIKELY, INVESTIGATORS SAY, THE TWO WERE HOMEGROWN THIEVES WITH KNOWLEDGE OF THE MUSEUM'S SECURITY SYSTEM, INCLUDING THE ABSENCE OF A DEAD MAN'S SWITCH THAT WOULD HAVE ALERTED POLICE ONCE THE GUARDS BECAME INCAPACITATED. THEY MIGHT HAVE EVEN UNDERESTIMATED THE BREATHTAKING SCOPE OF THEIR CRIME.

THE THEFT BEGAN AROUND 1:24am WHEN THE TWO MEN OVERPOWERED THE GUARDS, ACCORDING TO AN FBI REPORT. THE TWO TOOK THEIR TIME, A FULL 24 MINUTES PASSED BEFORE THEY WERE FIRST PICKED UP ON A MOTION DETECTOR ENTERING THE MUSEUM'S SECOND FLOOR DUTCH ROOM, WHERE THE MOST VALUABLE PAINTINGS WERE SEIZED. INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE THE FIRST ARTWORK TO BE TAKEN WAS REMBRANDT'S ICONIC 'STORM ON THE SEA OF GALILEE', MEASURING 5' X 4' AND DATING BACK TO 1633. THE FRAME WAS LAID ON THE FLOOR WHERE ONE OF THE THIEVES NEATLY SLICED IT FROM ITS FRAME. NEXT WAS 'LANDSCAPE WITH AN OBELISK' BY GOVAERT FLINCK. OTHER STOLEN MASTERPIECES INCLUDED A SECOND REMBRANDT ALSO CUT FROM ITS FRAME, 'A LADY AND GENTLEMAN IN BLACK' FROM 1633. THE MOST VALUABLE PIECE WAS VERMEER'S 'THE CONCERT', AND OIL PAINTING MEASURING ABOUT 2 1/2' X 2' FROM 1660, ONE OF ONLY 36 KNOWN WORKS BY THE DUTCH MASTER AND VALUED AT MORE THAN $250 MILLION. A REMBRANDT SELF-PORTRAIT FROM 1629, ONE OF THE MUSEUM'S MOST VALUABLE PAINTINGS, WAS REMOVED FROM THE WALL, BUT THEN LEFT UNTOUCHED WHILE ONE OF THE THIEVES PATIENTLY UNSCREWED AND REMOVED FROM ITS FRAME A TINY REMBRANDT ETCHING SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN A POSTAGE STAMP. IN ALL, 13 WORKS WERE TAKEN FROM THE MUSEUM. FBI AGENT GEOFFREY KELLY, WHO HAS LED THE INVESTIGATION FOR EIGHT YEARS, SAID IT'S UNLIKELY THE THIEVES DESTROYED THE ART. 'IF IT WERE ANY OTHER KIND OF COMMODITY, I MIGHT FEEL PESSIMISTIC ABOUT RECOVERY BUT IT'S NOT UNCOMMON TO STAY MISSING FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME', HE SAID. 'IT'S ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING NOVELS YOU COULD WRITE, EXCEPT IT'S MISSING THAT LAST CHAPTER.'

ROYAL COUPLE ARRIVE IN POLAND FOR EASTERN EUROPE TOUR

THE PRINCE OF WALES AND THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL RECENTLY LANDED IN A CHILLY WARSAW AT THE BEGINNING OF AN EIGHT-DAY TOUR OF EASTERN EUROPE. THE ROYAL COUPLE WILL BE SPENDING THREE DAYS IN POLAND BEFORE MOVING ON TO HUNGARY AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC. HAVING LEFT LONDON ON THE WARMEST DAY OF THE YEAR SO FAR, THE PRINCE AND THE COUNTESS HAD TO BRAVE FREEZING CONDITIONS IN THE POLISH CAPITAL, WHICH HAD HEAVY SNOWFALLS OVERNIGHT. THE DUCHESS WAS WEARING A PAISLEY SILK DRESS AND RASPBERRY COLOURED COAT, BOTH FROM ANNA VALENTINE. AFTER BEING WELCOMED AT THE AIRPORT BY RIC TODD, THE BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO WARSAW, THE ROYAL COUPLE WERE DUE TO MEET PRESIDENT LECH KACZYNSKI BEFORE PAYING THEIR RESPECTS AT THE GRAVE OF FATHER JERZY POPIELUSZKO, THE CATHOLIC PRIEST WHOSE MURDER AT THE HANDS OF THE POLISH SECRET POLICE IN 1984 WAS ONE OF THE CATALYSTS FOR THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL. FATHER POPIELUSZKO, WHO WILL BE BEATIFIED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH LATER THIS YEAR, HELPED GALVANIZE THE SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT BY SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THE COMMUNIST REGIME. HIS DEATH LED TO AN UNPRECEDENTED PUBLIC SHOW OF DEFIANCE AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT, WITH OVER 500,000 PEOPLE TAKING TO THE STREETS FOR HIS FUNERAL, A MOMENT WHICH IS WIDELY ACKNOWLEDGED BY HISTORIANS AS THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF COMMUNISM IN POLAND. THE TOUR HAS BEEN ARRANGED BY THE FOREIGN OFFICE TO STRENGTHEN BRITAIN'S TIES WITH EASTERN EUROPE, WHICH HAS IMPORTANT TRADE AND MILITARY LINKS WITH THE UK. POLAND IS ONE OF THE 20 LARGEST EXPORT MARKETS FOR THE UK, AS WELL AS BEING THE SEVENTH BIGGEST CONTRIBUTOR OF TROOPS TO THE NATO-LED MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN, WHERE 3,000 POLISH SOLDIERS ARE CURRENTLY SERVING. THE ROYAL VISIT WILL ALSO INCLUDE A VISIT TO A POLISH MILITARY BASE, WHERE THE PRINCE AND DUCHESS WILL MEET POLISH SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES. TODD SAID THAT AS WELL AS PROMOTING BRITAIN IN POLAND, HE HOPED THE ROYAL VISIT WOULD HELP BREAK DOWN THE OFTEN STEREOTYPICAL VIEW OF POLES AND ENCOURAGE BRITISH PEOPLE TO VISIT THE COUNTRY.

SWAROVSKI TO OPEN TWO NEW CONCEPT BOUTIQUES

THE AUSTRIAN BASED BRAND SWAROVSKI, IS ALL SET TO 'CRYSTALLIZE' THE CITY WITH TWO NEW SPECIALTY BOUTIQUES IN MANHATTAN. THE 'CRYSTAL FOREST' RETAIL DESIGN CONCEPT WILL BE LAUNCHED AT THE TWO NEW STORES AND THEY WILL JOIN FIVE SWAROVSKI BRAND BOUTIQUES ALREADY IN THE CITY. THE CRYSTAL FOREST DESIGN WAS CREATED WITH THE INTENT OF MAXIMIZING THE PLAY OF LIGHT ON DIFFERENT MATERIALS. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY THE BEDECKED METAL PRISM FACADES, TEXTURED WALL FEATURING REFLECTIVE WHITE PRISMS THAT CREATE AN ILLUSION OF DEPTH, WHITE LACQUER AND MIRROR STAINLESS STEEL FINISHES, AND A COMBINATION OF HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL SHOWCASES FEATURING LED LIGHTING. THE CRYSTAL FOREST BOUTIQUES WILL OFFER THE SAME PRODUCTS AS THAT AVAILABLE AT OTHER SWAROVSKI STORES, A MIX OF FASHION JEWELRY, TIMEPIECES, ELECTRONIC GADGETS AND HOME DECOR PRODUCTS STUDDED WITH THE BRANDS FAMOUS PRECISION-CUT CRYSTALS, WITH A SLIGHT VARIATION TO REFLECT THE PERSONALITY OF THE TOWN. THE FIRST STORE WILL OPEN AT 1540 BROADWAY IN TIMES SQUARE ON 14.MAY FOLLOWED BY A SECOND STORE OPENING AT PENN PLAZA IN JUNE.

MISSION IMMPOSSIBLE STAR PETER GRAVES DIES, AGED 83

Airplane! and Mission Impossible actor Peter Graves dies, aged 83
PETER GRAVES, STAR OF THE TELEVISION SERIES MISSION IMPOSSIBLE AND THE AIRPLANE! FILMS, HAS DIED. GRAVES' PUBLICIST, SANDY BROKAW, SAID THE ACTOR DIED SHORTLY AFTER RETURNING TO HIS LOS ANGELES HOME FROM BRUNCH WITH HIS FAMILY. HE WAS 83. THE ACTOR BEST KNOWN FOR HIS PORTRAYAL OF JIM PHELPS, LEADER OF A GANG OF SPECIAL AGENTS WHO BATTLED EVIL CONSPIRATORS IN THE LONG-RUNNING TELEVISION SERIES MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE.
NORMALLY CAST AS A HERO, HE TURNED IN AN UNFORGETTABLE PERFORMANCE EARLY IN HIS CAREER AS THE TREACHEROUS NAZI SPY IN BILLY WILDER'S 1953 PRISONER OF WAR DRAMA STALAG 17. HE ALSO MASTERFULLY LAMPOONED HIS MACHISMO IMAGE WHEN HE PORTRAYED BUMBLING AIRLINE PILOT CLARENCE OVEUR IN THE 1980 DISASTER MOVIE SPOOF AIRLINE! GRAVES APPEARED IN MORE THAN 70 FILMS, TV SERIES AND TV MOVIES. HIS BODY WAS FOUND IN HIS HOME IN PACIFIC PALISADES SHORTLY AFTER HAVING SUNDAY BRUNCH WITH HIS FAMILY, JUST FOUR DAYS PRIOR TO HIS 84th BIRTHDAY. ACCORDING TO GRAVES' BUSINESS MANAGER, GRAVES DIED OF A HEART ATTACK.

MADONNA TO SEEK HELP FROM QUEEN ELIZABETH II

MADONNA IS WRITING TO QUEEN ELIZABETH II TO ASK FOR ASSISTANCE WITH A FILM THAT SHE IS MAKING ABOUT WALLIS SIMPSON. THE 51 YEAR OLD AMERICAN SINGER IS ABOUT TO WRITE TO THE QUEEN TO ASK ASSISTANCE WITH 'W.E.', A FILM THAT SHE IS MAKING ABOUT THE EDWARD VIII ABDICATION CRISIS. 'MADONNA IS KEEN TO MAKE THE FILM AS AUTHENTIC AS POSSIBLE AND WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL IF WE ARE ALLOWED TO FILM AT CERTAIN LOCATIONS', SAYS ONE OF HER ASSOCIATES. 'SHE LOVES THE UK AND HOLDS THE QUEEN IN THE HIGHEST REGARD.' MADONNA, WHO LIVED IN SIR CECIL BEATON'S FORMER HOUSE IN DORSET DURING HER SEVEN YEAR MARRIAGE TO BRITISH DIRECTOR GUY RITCHIE, PLANS TO START SHOOTING THE FILM LATER THIS SUMMER. THE SINGER HAS LONG BEEN FASCINATED BY THE 1936 CRISIS, IN WHICH EDWARD VIII'S DESIRE TO MARRY WALLIS SIMPSON, A TWICE-DIVORCED AMERICAN SOCIALITE, CAUSED A CONSTITUTIONAL DILEMMA. THE CRISIS WAS RESOLVED BY EDWARD'S ABDICATION AND HIS SUCCESSION TO HIS BROTHER GEORGE VI, WHO WAS THE QUEEN'S FATHER. EDWARD WAS GIVEN THE TITLE OF 'DUKE OF WINDSOR' AND HE MARRIED HIS LOVE WALLIS SIMPSON. THE FILM, FOR WHICH MADONNA WORKED ON THE SCREENPLAY, WILL STAR ABBIE CORNISH, AN AUSTRALIAN ACTRESS, AS A CONTEMPORARY WOMAN OBSESSED BY THE STORY OF WALLIS SIMPSON. A COURTIER WARNS THAT MADONNA SHOULD NOT GET HER HOPES UP AS FILMING IS GENERALLY NOT ALLOWED IN THE ROYAL PALACES. 'I CAN'T IMAGINE THAT HER MAJESTY WOULD MAKE AN EXCEPTION, PARTICULARLY FOR A FILM ABOUT WALLIS SIMPSON', HE SAYS.

NEWSUEM TO PRESENT ELVIS EXHIBITION

Elvis' Clash with Media on View at Newseum in Washington
A SPARK THAT HELPED IGNITE ELVIS PRESLEY'S FAME MORE THAN 50 YEARS AGO WAS LIT BY THE NEWSPAPER EDITORS AND CRITICS WHO HATED HIM. THEY DETESTED HIS VOICE AND THOUGHT HIS MOVES WERE UNFIT FOR FAMILY PUBLICATIONS, ALL THE WHILE TEENAGERS WENT WILD. IT'S THAT SHOCKING STYLE AND CLASH WITH THE MEDIA THAT ALSO WILL MAKE ELVIS THE SUBJECT OF A NEW EXHIBITION AT THE NEWSEUM, A HISTORY MUSEUM THAT CELEBRATES THE FIRST AMENDMENT IN WASHINGTON DC. 'NEWSPAPERS IN THE MID-'50s VIEWED THEMSELVES AS ARBITERS OF SOCIAL VALUES, AND THEY FELT THEY SHOULD BE AMONG THE ONES TO SPEAK MOST LOUDLY WHEN THEY SAW SOMEONE THREATENING AMERICA'S MORES', SAID NEWSEUM'S PRESIDENT. 'WHAT'S INTERESTING IS THAT FIERCELY NEGATIVE COVERAGE DROVE ELVIS' FAME. . . AFTER THE NATIONAL NEWS COVERAGE KICKED IN, HE WAS THE KING OF ROCK AND ROLL.' ELVIS' TWO YEARS IN THE US ARMY, THOUGH, WAS THE TURNING POINT. PARENTS COULDN'T HATE HIM ANYMORE, AND THE NEWS MEDIA EVENTUALLY CAME ALONG, TOO. THE EXHIBIT OPENING 19.MARCH TRACES ELVIS' RISE IN THE 1950s, IN PART A STUDY IN IMAGE MANAGEMENT BY HIS LONGTIME MANAGER, COL TOM PARKER, TO HIS MEETING WITH PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON AT THE WHITE HOUSE IN 1970. IT WILL INCLUDE RARE OBJECTS FROM PRESLEY'S LIFE, SOME NEVER BEFORE DISPLAYED OUTSIDE GRACELAND AND OTHERS NEVER BEFORE PUBLICLY DISPLAYED ANYWHERE. OBJECTS IN THE COLLECTION INCLUDE ELVIS' 1957 HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTORCYCLE THAT WAS KEY TO HIS REBEL IMAGE, HIS FIRST GRAMMY AWARD FOR HOW GREAT THOU ART IN 1968, THE OVERCOAT AND GOLD BELT ELVIS WORE TO MEET NIXON AT THE WHITE HOUSE, AND THE BUREAU OF NARCOTICS BADGE THE PRESIDENT GAVE PRESLEY. HE HAD REQUESTED TO BE MADE A 'FEDERAL AGENT-AT-LARGE' TO HELP FIGHT DRUG USE. MANY DOCUMENTS WILL BE DISPLAYED FOR THE FIRST TIME, INCLUDING THE 1955 EXCLUSIVE MANAGEMENT CONTRACT ELVIS AND HIS PARTNERS SIGNED, GIVING PARKER 25% OF HIS INCOME. (LATER, IN THE 1970s, PARKER'S STAKE ROSE TO AN UNPRECEDENTED 50%)