Royal – The Orbital

13Nov

By Madelaine GrayNo Comments

News, Opinion

The Diana Dilemma

The public’s obsession with Diana is as exploitative as the paparazzi who killed her. The final shot of series four of Netflix’s The Crown shows Emma Corrin as Princess Diana, a slow zoom bringing her wide, tear-filled eyes into prominence. It’s a haunting image, unpleasant to watch. In many ways, the whole series is. And yet we just can’t stop ourselves. Dianamania is back with a vengeance. Diana: The Musical was just released on Netflix (to a critical battering of possibly unrivalled ferocity), Spencer has recently hit the big screen, Rowing Blazers are re-releasing ‘iconic’ Diana fashion moments. Maybe it’s the upcoming 25th anniversary of her passing – is 25 years long enough that any semblance of respect goes out the window? It would seem so. With each year that passes, the ...

Mark Zuckerberg and the Metaverse: science fiction or (virtual) reality?

31Oct

By Hannah ArmourNo Comments

News, Science & Technology

Mark Zuckerberg and the Metaverse: science fiction or (virtual) reality?

Mark Zuckerberg, no stranger to controversy, has announced a change in the branding of the parent organization of his media technologies empire. Facebook, originally designed as a social networking website where Harvard students would rate each other’s attractiveness, is now universally recognisable and impossible to escape. Its namesake company Facebook, Inc. is a social media giant owning Facebook (surprise, surprise), Instagram, Messenger and Whatsapp. And now they will be attempting to digitally extend the physical world, through social media involving virtual and augmented reality - with a name change to Meta Platforms. Inc. to boot. This rebrand accompanies a series of recent public relations crises including the revelations brought by whistleblower Frances Haugen about Fac...

Emily Wilding Davison Building Officially Declared Open

24Oct

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Features

Emily Wilding Davison Building Officially Declared Open

On Wednesday 18 October, the Emily Wilding Davison was officially opened by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Chancellor of the University of London, Princess Anne. The building was closed to students between 9am and 4:30pm on that day to allow for the Princess’ tour and speech to be given. The building was worked on for nearly two years, with almost 3000 people working on the construction of the building to get it to what it is today. The library contains more than 400,000 books and over 1000 study spaces for student use. It offers other services, such as the Union Shop, the Santander Bank, the Student Services Centre, the Careers & Employability Centre and the Exhibition Space for interests in art and culture. The opening was a remarkable event, with many students head...

Royal Holloway Lecturer Sparks Backlash from ‘Get Surrey’

16Mar

By No Comments

News

Royal Holloway Lecturer Sparks Backlash from ‘Get Surrey’

A Royal Holloway professor has provoked a response from a local paper after he referred to Egham as “a very boring place to live”. Get Surrey, who cover local news and events pertaining to the county, published a defensive article entitled “8 Reasons Egham is actually Pretty Great”. The article is justified as a response to a councillor's derogatory comments on the small Surrey town in which the university is officially based. The accused councillor, of the Labour party, happens to be Jason Brock, who also teaches modern history and the history of political thought at Royal Holloway. He was discussing the move of 250 Procter and Gamble employees from Egham to Whitley, a nearby town just south of Reading. Brock said of Egham: "I oddly enough work in Egham and have lived in Egham for s...

28Oct

By No Comments

Features

Life as a Disabled Student

I spoke to Grace Bilney, a third-year history student at Royal Holloway who suffers from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, or ME. Grace was first struck by the chronic illness, often confusingly associated with the milder Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, in 2009, after a bout of glandular fever. What started as intense knee pain soon became something far more serious, but despite the severity of her symptoms it took a full three years before a formal diagnosis was made. Since then, she has managed to complete secondary school, the notoriously difficult International Baccalaureate, and, despite a great deal of uncertainty originally, complete two years of study at her dream university. She is always keen to discuss the illness that continues to dominate much of her everyday life, with a passionate ...

Racial Volunteer Force clashes with student protesters at Royal Holloway

24Oct

By No Comments

News

Racial Volunteer Force clashes with student protesters at Royal Holloway

On Saturday the 22nd October, a political group called the Racial Volunteer Force organised a demonstration at the main gate of the Royal Holloway campus. Prompted by an ongoing case involving two outsourced cleaning staff, hired by the company, CleanTech, contracted by the Students' Union, they arrived at the entrance just after 2pm, carrying flags, banners, and a megaphone. The 10 men and 1 woman were met with a throng of at least 50 students, which grew to maybe 80 or even 100 later on, brandishing their own banners and homemade flags. Their anti-fascist agenda was made clear as chants of “Nazi scum, off our streets” arose to welcome the arrival of the RVF. In both groups, faces could be seen covered by scarves, wary of betraying their identity to the opposition as well as the ...

28Jan

By No Comments

News

Magna Carta Centre to Open at Royal Holloway

2015 marks the 800th anniversary of a monumental document in British history, the Magna Carta (1215). To mark this anniversary, Royal Holloway, will be launching ‘The Magna Carta Centre for Individual Freedom’. This will include a Doctoral Scholarship Grant, offered by the Leverhulme Trust, worth £1 million. It will enable 15 post-graduate students to be funded, with the university offering a further 5 students the chance to pursue the course. The charter issued by King John of England in the Runnymede Borough, is a symbolic cornerstone of the British constitution, it introduced for the first time the idea that everyone, including the King, was subject to the law. Students of the course will be given the chance to research the relevance of this document in contemporary politics with the...