High price for Duke of Windsor HRH letter

A LETTER in which King Edward VIII described his wife's lack of an HRH title as an "insult" has sold at auction for well over its expected price.

The 1939 letter from the Duke of Windsor sold to a private collector in Britain on Thursday for a hammer price of STG12,000 ($A20,623).

It had only been expected to fetch as much as STG8000.

The letter to Daily Express newspaper proprietor Lord Beaverbrook aimed to correct an article published in the Sunday Express which claimed the former monarch, who abdicated in 1936 to marry divorcee Wallis Simpson, wished to live in France.

In response to the article, Edward writes: "While the Duchess and I have received the greatest courtesy in all the countries, especially France, where we have resided since our marriage, I have not lived out of England for over two years by preference.

"It is true that there exists no law to prevent my returning to my country whenever I wish to do so, but I have remained away out of deference to my brother in order to leave the field clear for him to establish himself on the throne, which it is admitted he has succeeded in doing."

He also dispels claims that he had set conditions for his return to England, including that his new wife be accorded the title of Royal Highness.

Edward wrote: "I have never made any such announcement nor would I ever set conditions upon my return to England. Regarding the two stipulations I am alledged (sic) to have made, I wish to say firstly, that while naturally the matter of witholding (sic) the title of Royal Highness from the Duchess is an insult which I as her husband and a member of the Royal Family have always resented far more deeply than she has, we have too many other more important interests to worry over such a triviality.

"Secondly, whatever may be the behaviour of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth towards the Duchess, it would in no way affect any plans we might make for going to England."

The item was among 200 lots of royal memorabilia auctioned by International Autograph Auctions in Nottingham.

A letter in which George VI expresses his dislike of public speaking, written after his first Christmas broadcast as king in 1937, sold for STG3200. King George had a stutter he struggled with, captured in the film The King's Speech.

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Deadly wind change blamed for fire death

FIREFIGHTERS who battled a bushfire in Western Australia last summer were not warned about a deadly wind change until moments before the flames engulfed their vehicles, killing firefighter Wendy Bearfoot.

Ms Bearfoot, 45, died and several others were injured when their trucks were trapped by a fast-moving firestorm at Black Cat Creek last October.

A report into the deadly bushfire near Albany revealed vital weather forecasts showing dramatic changes in conditions were not passed on in full to the firefighters in the heat of the battle.

And the investigation, released by the state's Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES), concluded firefighters were left stranded in the so-called 'Dead Man's Zone' when the wind shifted, pushing flames towards the crews in moments.

"Within about four minutes, firefighters were trapped in a burnover," the report says.

"The nature of the terrain, thick vegetation and that the fire approached the crews on an angle from behind meant that they may not have been immediately aware ... until the fire was close, giving them a short time to react."

While the fire was jointly managed by the City of Albany, DFES and the former Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) none "had a direct line of control", the report revealed.

Plus the stranded crews had no in-cab radiant heat shields to protect them from the flames, and were not recently trained in what to do when they were trapped by a burnover.

The report made 10 recommendations, including all vehicles entering the fireground to be fitted with one accessible fire blanket per person, and fire managers receive more training about how to properly interpret weather forecasts.

Ms Bearfoot, a mother of three, suffered burns to more than 60 per cent of her body, and died three weeks later despite intensive treatment in Royal Perth Hospital's world-renowned burns unit.

Colleague Charlene Hordyk, 25, suffered severe burns to 20 per cent of her body.

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Mirabella under pressure in Indi

Sophie Mirabella is being challenged by a local independent in the Victorian electorate of Indi. Source: AAP

THE Victorian electorate of Indi is far from marginal.

But its sitting member is in serious danger of becoming one of this federal election's rarest of candidates - a coalition casualty.

Indi is represented by high-profile coalition shadow minister Sophie Mirabella who holds a nine per cent advantage after securing 52 per cent of the primary vote in the 2010 poll and who would normally benefit from the national tide of support for her party.

But thanks to a campaign based on simplicity and community values, Mrs Mirabella is under pressure from Cathy McGowan, a disaffected former Liberal and lifelong resident of the rural seat in the state's northeast.

Ms McGowan is somewhat hamstrung by her status as an independent, a group tainted in this election by the roles played in the Gillard and Rudd governments of independent MPs.

And she is confronted by opinion polls that place the Mirabella Liberal primary vote at 43 per cent to her 23 per cent.

In the face of all that, Ms McGowan is still in with a big chance of pulling off a major upset thanks to a campaign based on community involvement and well-managed preferences.

"The campaign's taken off like wildfire," Ms McGowan said.

"People have really grabbed hold of the idea of having a vision for their community."

Ms McGowan is set to receive preferential support from the Nationals candidate in what is seen as a backlash against the Liberal decision to run a candidate against high-profile National Andrew Broad in the Victorian seat of Mallee.

She will also benefit from Labor preferences.

Ms McGowan isn't joining the hopeful chorus of her supporters just yet, but she suspects the result probably won't be known on Saturday night.

"It's going to be very, very close," she said.

Indi covers the major centres south of the Murray of Wodonga, Benalla and Wangaratta, also taking in Victoria's Alpine region.

The area is also represented in state parliament by two Nationals MPs who have supported Ms McGowan.

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US births levelling off

US births may finally be levelling off after falling for four consecutive years. Source: AAP

AFTER falling four years in a row, US births may finally be levelling off.

The number of babies born last year - a little shy of four million - is only a few hundred less than the number in 2011, according to a government report released on Friday.

That suggests that lately, fewer couples may be scared away from having children because of the economy or other factors, some experts say. Among the signs of a possible turning point: The birth rate for women in their early 30s inched up for the first time since 2007.

"We may be on level course or potentially even see a rise" in birth trends in the near future, said Brady Hamilton, a statistician with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some are a bit more pessimistic.

"The decline has slowed down, but it's still a decline," said Carol Hogue, an Emory University expert on birth trends.

Falling births is a relatively new phenomenon in the US. Births were on the rise since the late 1990s and hit an all-time high of more than 4.3 million in 2007. The drop that followed was widely attributed to the nation's flagging economy. Experts believed that many women or couples who were out of work or had other money problems felt they couldn't afford to start or add to their family.

The economy officially was in a recession from December 2007 until June 2009. But well into 2011, polls showed most Americans remained gloomy, citing anaemic hiring, a depressed housing market and other factors.

The new CDC report is a first glimpse at 2012 birth certificate data from state health departments, but the numbers aren't expected to change much.

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