The Daily: June 20

The modern gent
The classic British gentleman sported a moustache, wore a tie and always smoked a cigarette but as Royal Ascot has shown the modern gent is very different. No longer does he wear a tie or smoke: instead he goes empty collard and chews nicotine gum. The kedgeree breakfast has been replaced by muesli and blueberries and the Proms for Glastonbury. The modern gentleman is more of a David Beckham than a Mr. Darcy. These findings are revealed in new book Gentlemen’s Pursuits, which examines the pages of Country Life magazine over the past century to see how the gentleman has changed.

Animal chase
A cow fell 20ft of a cliff into the Gannel Estuary whilst being chased by two dogs which then bit the cow and wouldn’t let go. The cow’s owner, Roger Rundle of Kestle farm, criticised the dog’s owners for not being able to control their animals and said “Farmers have the right to shoot a dog if it is caught worrying their livestock.” Stuart Wallace witnessed the event whilst on a family picnic and said the owners were “completely ignored” and some of the members of public who tried to stop the dogs fell and were trampled by the cows.

Prince rallies for rhinos
The Duke of Cambridge visited Port Lympne Wildlife Park in Kent and sent out a warning shot to all poachers saying, “Traders in illegal rhino horn are ignorant, selfish and utterly wrong.” The horns of a rhino are seen as cancer cures and aphrodisiacs by some Asian countries and can fetch up to £40,000 per kilogram. The Prince was asked about the issue on BBC Breakfast whilst feeding one of the Park’s rhinos. He and is  the Patron of the wildlife charity Tusk Trust, which is backing the release of three rhinos to the Tanzanian wilderness. The Prince hopes that these don’t run into the same fate as another rhino raised buy a Kenyan friend which “ran into the wrong people” and is probably “on someone’s mantle piece.”

Victor Spinetti dies
Fancied by George Harrison’s mum and described as “the man who makes clouds disappear” by Sir Paul McCartney, Victor Spinetti, star of the Beatles films, has died at the age of 82 after a year of suffering from pancreatic cancer. Mr. Spinetti was born in Cwm, Wales on the 2 September 1929 and attended Monmouth School followed by Cardiff College of Music and Drama. He appeared regularly on West End performances and acted in 31 films alongside Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. He won a Tony Award for his role in Oh! What a Lovely War, but is perhaps best known for his roles in the three Beatles films.

Super horse
Royal Ascot was shocked when Frankel the horse destroyed his rivals by an incredible 11 lengths in the Queen Anne Stakes yesterday. The Timeform organization, which has been rating horses for 60 years, reacted to the "greatest performance" in racing by dubbing Frankel as the “ultimate racehorse”, rating him above the French-trained 1965 Derby winner Sea Bird II. Timeform’s Flat Editor said, “Frankel’s performance likely to surpass anything witnessed in Timeform’s 64 years.” Frankel’s trainer, Sir H. Cecil has entered him in another four races, but whether he competes or not will be up to Frankel’s owner, Prince Khaled Abdullah.