Watercooler Stories

Princes pull voicemail prank on queen

LONDON, March 6 (UPI) -- Prince William and Prince Harry reportedly pulled a prank on their grandmother the Queen, recording a fake message on her answering machine.

The princes who were asked to help with the machine after the Queen was baffled by the technology, recorded the message "Hey wassup! This is Liz. Sorry I'm away from the throne. For a hotline to Philip, press one. For Charles, press two. And for the corgis, press three."

Britain's Sky News reported that the Queen was very upset at first but later saw the humor in the prank while thinking about who may have heard the message.

But, Queen Elizabeth's private secretary was not amused, said the Daily Star, adding that he almost fell out of his chair when he heard the message.

Couple to stay grounded during world trip

LONDON, March 6 (UPI) -- A British couple who launched a year-long planned journey around the world Monday have only one key strategy for international travel: no planes.

While Ed Gillespie, 34, and girlfriend Fiona King, 28, plan to travel 40,000 miles in their journey across 20 countries, The Daily Mail said that they have decided to do so without ever taking a single plane.

The couple decided to engage in a down-to-earth travel plan to show there are more environmentally friendly ways of traveling.

The trip will take longer to complete and will cost five times as much as traveling by air.

Yet Gillespie, an environmental manager, said he harbors no doubts regarding the quirky plan.

"The trip has provoked a mixed reaction, and some people think I am barking mad," he told The Daily Mail, "but I am confident that I am making a valid point and this is a good way to get it across."

Cyprus row brews over cheese mixture

NICOSIA, Cyprus, March 6 (UPI) -- An attempt to protect Cyprus as the birthplace of an exotic cheese is causing disagreement over the food's ingredients among farmers and dairy producers.

Cypriot authorities are trying to register the cheese, known as halloumi, as a Protected Designation of Origin in the European Union, The Times of London reported Monday. However, dairy producers and sheep and goat farmers in the country are embroiled in a controversy over how the cheese's formula should be presented.

Dairy farmers are pushing for the cheese to be listed as containing milk from cows, goats and sheep, but some purists insist the true form of the cheese uses only the latter two milks. They say cow's milk was later added to the mixture by authorities because sheep and goat milk is only available for two or three months out of the year.

"If it's only goat's milk it's too tough, if it's only sheep's milk, it's too soft, if it's just cows' milk it's not halloumi. So you need a balance of the three," said Athos Pittas of Pittas Dairies, one of the island's largest dairies.

'Obscene' signs draw complaints

EDINBURGH, Ill., Scotland, March 6 (UPI) -- The owner of Scotland's new Love Hate Tattoo parlor is attracting more than customers with paintings of a semi-naked woman straddling a tattoo needle.

Featuring a red bikini and knee-high boots, the cartoon-like images outside the shop are being called "obscene" and "demeaning" by residents of Edinburgh's Prestonfield neighborhood, The Scotsman reported.

Parlor owner Paul Brock said the paintings were intended to be "tongue-in-cheek" and were drawn by his daughter who will be managing the tattoo parlor.

Planning officers at the city council say they are powerless to rule on matters of taste and can only refer indecency complaints to the police.