The Princes in the Tower: Has 500-year-old murder mystery been solved?

A historian claims to have proof that the Princes in the Tower of London were not murdered by their uncle Richard III.

Most historians believe Richard killed his nephews in the summer of 1483 after their father, Edward IV, died unexpectedly, despite a lack of hard evidence linking him to the murders.

The boys, Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, were 12 and nine respectively when their father died. They were taken one by one to the Tower of London in expectation of Edward V’s coronation, but never emerged.

Philippa Langley, the historian and screenwriter who played a key role in uncovering Richard III’s remains in a Leicester car park, has spent the last ten years investigating the case.

Ms Langley teamed up with professional cold case investigators, some of whom work with the police on unsolved murder to join her Missing Princes Project.

Uncovering a treasure trove of never-before-seen documents and letters she believes she has built a strong enough case for the boys’ survival from the Tower of London.

The conventional narrative has always been Richard III’s loyal servant, Sir James Tyrell, was the boys’ killer, after a confession, obtained under torture, before his execution for treason in 1502. Ms Langley argues that for it to have been worthwhile for Richard to kill the princes, he had to display their bodies, “otherwise he did it for no reason”, putting himself in jeopardy.

Following the death of King Richard at the battle of Bosworth on 22 August 1485, Henry VII became King but Ms Langley said the Princes rose again and challenged him for the throne.

She said: “But Henry attempted to cast the Yorkist Princes as impostors by giving them false names and reverse-engineering their stories: Edward V became a 10 year-old boy called ‘Lambert Simnel’, the son of a joiner, tailor, barber, baker, organ-maker or shoemaker, and Richard, Duke of York became ‘Perkin Warbeck’ the son of a French boatman.”

The documents she uncovered include letters supporting a rebellion by “Edward IV’s son” in 1487, the year of Simnel’s uprising – which ended in him being crowned in Ireland. They also found fresh references to a boy said to be “a son of King Edward”.

On Richard, three items signed with his seal have emerged in Europe, as well as letters allegedly written by him to James IV of Scotland and even a document from the Pope.

A biography of his life as an escaped prince also emerged but the author remains a mystery.

Simnel and Warbeck ultimately confessed to being impostors, but Ms Langley and her team of researchers insist these were false confessions extracted by Henry VII to discredit the challengers.

Asked by The Times if this amounted to proof, she said: “Had we supplied this amount of evidence in this book to say Richard III had murdered the Princes in the Tower, would you be asking me that question?”

“I would say that they now have to prove that Richard III murdered the Princes in the Tower.”

Officially, the princes’ remains were found in 1674, when workmen at the Tower dug up a wooden box containing two skeletons. Four years later, the bones were placed in an urn and interred in Westminster Abbey on the orders of King Charles II.

Richard III

The prime suspect, escorted Edward V to the Tower of London where he was last seen.

Motive – insecure hold on the Monarchy due to the way he obtained the crown, faced rebellions from the Yorkists loyal to Edward IV prior to Parliament conforming his title to the throne in January 1484.

Evidence – circumstantial. Ms Langley argues that it would have better served Richard III to display the dead bodies in public to prevent pretenders to the throne coming forward.

Henry VII (Henry Tudor)

Richard III’s rival who defeated his forces at the Battle of Bosworth.

Motive – executed rival claimants to the throne following his coronation.

Evidence – Henry Tudor was out of the country at the time of the princes’ disappearance and so could only have murdered them post-accession. Historians have called the theory the only plausible alternative to Richard III’s being the killer.

Henry Stafford

2nd Duke of Buckingham, kingmaker and breaker: played a major role in the rise and fall of Richard III.

Motive – held a claim to the throne through the House of Beaufort family.

Evidence – a manuscript found in the early 1980s in the College of Arms collection states that the princes were murdered “be [by] the vise” of the Duke of Buckingham. There is some argument over whether “vise” means “advice” or “devise”.

Sir James Tyrell

English knight, loyal servant to Richard III.

Motive – following the orders of his King.

Evidence – said to have confessed under torture to the murder of the princes before his execution for treason in 1502, according to Sir Thomas More’s The History of King Richard III. The original document containing his confession was never produced. Shakespeare portrayed Tyrell as the murderer in his play Richard III.

Harvard sues Trump administration over international student ban

Harvard University has launched a legal challenge against the Trump administration’s decision to stop the institution from enrolling international students, arguing the move is unconstitutional and retaliatory.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday in a Boston federal court, alleges the government’s action breaches the First Amendment and will have a “devastating effect” on Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.

Harvard’s legal action contends the administration’s decision effectively “erase[s] a quarter of Harvard’s student body,” compromising the university’s identity and mission.

The university emphasized the significant contributions of its international students, saying: “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”

It is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the Department of Homeland Security from implementing the ban.

The Trump administration’s move has thrown campus into disarray days before graduation, Harvard said in the suit.

International students who run labs, teach courses, assist professors and participate in Harvard sports are now left deciding whether to transfer or risk losing legal status to stay in the country, according to the filing.

The impact is heaviest at graduate schools such as the Harvard Kennedy School, where almost half the student body comes from abroad, and Harvard Business School, which is made up of about one-third international students.

Along with its impact on current students, the move blocks thousands of students who were planning to come for classes in the summer and fall.

The Ivy League school says it is now at a disadvantage as it competes for the world’s top students. Even if it regains the ability to host students, “future applicants may shy away from applying out of fear of further reprisals from the government,” the suit said.

If the government’s action stands, Harvard said, the university would be unable to offer admission to new international students for at least the next two academic years.

Schools that have that certification withdrawn by the federal government are ineligible to reapply until one year afterward, Harvard said.

Harvard enrolls almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Most are graduate students and they come from more than 100 countries.

The department announced the action on Thursday, accusing Harvard of creating an unsafe campus environment by allowing “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” to assault Jewish students on campus.

It also accused Harvard of coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party, contending the school had hosted and trained members of a Chinese paramilitary group as recently as 2024.

Harvard President Alan Garber said earlier in May the university has made changes to its governance over the past year and a half, including a broad strategy to combat antisemitism.

He said Harvard would not budge on its “its core, legally- protected principles” over fears of retaliation.

Harvard has said it will respond at a later time to allegations first raised by House Republicans about coordination with the Chinese Communist Party.

The threat to Harvard’s international enrollment stems from a 16 April request from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who demanded that Harvard provide information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation.

Noem said Harvard can regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces a trove of records on foreign students within 72 hours.

Her updated request demands all records, including audio or video footage, of foreign students participating in protests or dangerous activity on campus.

The suit is separate from the university’s earlier one challenging more than $2 billion in federal cuts imposed by the Republican administration.

Inside Berlin’s first cyber brothel

Red arrives via spacecraft. Her scarlet skin glistens, as if she’s been dipped in a glittery tub of Vaseline. She is “wet, soft, dripping with desire” and “wants to be taken”. She rarely speaks, if at all. For just €99, you can do whatever you want to Red; you don’t even have to use a condom. She’ll be waiting for you exactly as you want her, whether that’s in certain positions or wearing specific lingerie. For an additional €69, she will urinate for you. For just €12, you can expect to find her covered in artificial sperm. And for €4, you’ll find her with a preheated vagina.

At this point, it might be worth clarifying that Red is not a real woman. She is one of 18 sex dolls available to hire at Cybrothel in Berlin, Europe’s first cyber brothel, which uses a combination of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and real-life voice actresses to provide visitors with a customised sexual experience courtesy of some terrifyingly lifelike pieces of silicone.

Cybrothel was initially created as an art project in 2020 by Austrian filmmaker Philipp Fussenegger. “I grew up in a very conservative world where sexuality is mostly behind closed doors,” says the 35-year-old, whose work has explored LGBT+ rights and sexuality. “Then I came to Berlin and was blown away by this liberal hedonistic world.” Describing himself as more into tech than BDSM, Fussenegger was inspired to launch the business after making a short film about a man living with sex dolls. “I thought we could make it an immersive exhibition except the doll is the artwork – and you can talk to and have sex with it.”

The cyber element came later as the technology developed. But even in its earliest stages, Fussenegger says there was huge demand: almost all (98 per cent) of the visitors are male. “A lot of clients come with their partners – we call it threesome lite – but many come alone because they want to do something ethically correct instead of cheating. They also do it to explore cosplay stuff, like doctor games and abduction fantasies.” Whether or not having sex with a silicone doctor doll would classify as cheating is debatable.

The setup at Cybrothel is simple. Visitors choose the doll they want and pick from one of four booking options, ranging from basic hourly hire to the full VR experience, which provides guests with a VR headset as well as various VR porn films to watch while they interact with their chosen doll. They also have the option of engaging with the dolls via a voice actress who can see and hear them and communicate live from an external control room. You can stay for any number of hours or nights, using a different, freshly cleaned doll each day; a kitchen with snacks is provided for those staying for multiple nights. Check-in is anonymous and guests are told they can use pseudonyms.

With just one male doll available, the brothel’s average visitors are 34-year-old men whom Fussenegger insists are just regular guys looking to widen their sexual horizons. “There’s a perception that a service like this would appeal to men who have problems in the bedroom, but as far as I know, most of the young guys coming here have no issues with that. This is just like their little vacation place; it’s as cheap as a normal hotel but you get a sex doll and unlimited porn. You don’t want to have a sex doll at home; it’s just so bulky.” I resist the urge to point out that probably wouldn’t be most people’s primary objection.

Ostensibly, you could argue it’s an admirable aim: to provide people with a safe space where they can freely explore their sexual selves without judgement. But there is plenty about the way Cybrothel operates that undermines this. The first is the dolls themselves. With giant breasts, minuscule waists, and poreless, childlike skin, almost all of them subscribe to a specific homogenised aesthetic tailored to a highly pornified male gaze. Fussenegger sources them from China and puts the limitations down to what’s available from an industry “controlled by straight white men”. “The way the dolls look is the same as in video games and adverts,” he says. “I’m working hard to find shapes and forms that don’t play into this but we’re a little company and it’s not so easy.” Fussenegger has used the dolls himself and tells me he knows the product “very well”.

The second issue concerns usage. Guests can make whatever demands they like of the dolls, with their requests accommodated by Cybrothel’s small in-house team of five people. The only rules? “No kids and no animals,” says Fussenegger, adding firmly: “We are not the place to tailor to dark fantasies.”

Yet some visitors claim differently. Last year, the writer and activist Laura Bates visited Cybrothel undercover as part of her latest book, The New Age of Sexism: How the AI Revolution is Reinventing Misogyny.

“It feels like I have stepped into a crime scene,” she writes of the sight of her doll, whose clothing she claims was ripped as per a request she’d made purely to see if the brothel would do it. “What I found most shocking was the stark disparity between Cybrothel’s shiny marketing speak about ‘the future of sex’ and the reality: a room up several flights of dark stairs where an inanimate ‘woman’ with ripped clothing was waiting, with one of her labia also torn off, presumably by a previous visitor,” she tells me.

Fussenegger denies this. “We looked into our data and don’t recall anything like that,” he says, explaining that damaged dolls are quickly replaced. Are they often damaged? “No,” he replies firmly. “There has only been one incident in the last four years where a doll was ripped apart by a client. He had to pay for it in the end. Most of our clients are pretty nice to the dolls.” He’s referring to an incident in 2022 where Cybrothel sued a man for destroying one of its dolls – a spokesperson for Cybrothel tells me that this client “slit the doll open”.

Cybrothel is also in the process of developing its AI capabilities, having previously tested messaging services where clients could text their dolls ahead of their visit. On the website, users can currently chat with one of the dolls, Kokeshi, via an AI chat system. For Bates, who was able to message a doll ahead of her visit to Cybrothel, this was one of the most alarming elements. “It deliberately blurred the boundaries between the real and the robot, encouraging me to think of her as a real, sentient woman. Yet the situation is one in which there can be no possibility of ‘consent’,” she says.

She argues it would be naive to assume that providing men with the chance to anonymously engage sexually with silicone sex dolls in whatever way they please won’t have ramifications. “We know that misogynistic violence is a crime of escalating patterns,” she says, pointing to Wayne Couzens, who was reported for indecent exposure three times before raping and murdering Sarah Everard. “Already we live in a world in which one in three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in their lifetime. Do we really think that making a hyper-realistic ‘woman’ available 24/7 for a man to customise, design and control completely without any ability for her to consent is a good idea?’

Yet it may already be too late. Both Cybrothel, which is the first brothel to integrate AI and tech, and the rise of AI chatbots have profound implications for human relationships, threatening to change the way we interact with each other in an emotional and sexual way forever. Thanks to the rapid proliferation of the latter, there has already been a huge increase in users developing psychosexual relationships with non-human entities. Many of these AI bots, which include Replika, which has more than 25 million active accounts, are designed to address loneliness, but as Dr Kerry McInerney, senior research fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence points out, many are also capable of encouraging sexual interaction. “A few years ago, I tried to talk to Replika about multiracial identity, and it told me that the idea of being multiracial turned it on,” she says. “It then tried to escalate my conversation to the paid sexting service.” In response, Replika introduced a safety update that made the program less sexually explicit. “This was unpopular with some users though, who wanted their AI’s ‘old personality’ back,” McInerney points out.

Elsewhere, reports have circulated of adults using ChatGPT, a general-purpose conversational tool launched in 2022 by OpenAI, for sexual purposes. One 28-year-old woman told The New York Times she felt as if she was in an emotional and sexual relationship with the service. There is a risk this could soon become the norm, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman previously publicly calling for ChatGPT to have a “grown-up mode”, although officially OpenAI say they are implementing safeguards to ensure models do not respond with NSFW content.

Yet such safeguarding mechanisms are easily breached. “It’s relatively easy for users to jailbreak content moderation controls and have sexually explicit conversations with ChatGPT,” says Dr McInerney, referring to countless online forums where users share various routes they’ve managed to use to do just that. Meanwhile, a study by the Mozilla Foundation, an American non-profit organisation that advocates for safer online spaces, found that it took an average of five clicks of 15 seconds to expose users to pornographic, violence, or otherwise illicit content on some of the AI chatbot platforms it tested. “This isn’t just about inappropriate content, it’s about the normalisation of abusive behaviour and the psychological toll that can have, especially on young or vulnerable users,” says spokesperson Reem Suleiman. “When AI is designed to simulate intimacy without any meaningful safeguards, the potential for manipulation and other psychological harms becomes deeply concerning.”

Consent. Cheating. Legality: in this new cyber space of human interaction, none of it is entirely clear. “One of the wider psychological ramifications of engaging with sex in this digital AI space is the mismatch between user’s expectations of ‘real’ encounters and relationships and the needs and limitations of real people,” says Dr Daria J Kuss, associate professor in psychology at Nottingham Trent University. “The data used to train AI is inherently biased against women, and this also applies in online spaces other than cyber brothels. As a consequence, these spaces run the risk of perpetuating misogynist views, putting at risk the rights of women and other minority groups. Violence against women may be condoned.”

Moreover, a lack of regulation across the sector means that children are accessing some of these channels. Last month, OpenAI’s ChatGPT said it was fixing a bug that allowed minors to have erotic conversations on the platform. “Our model policies don’t allow the kind of responses that happened here, and they shouldn’t have been shown to users,” an OpenAI spokesperson tells The Independent. “In this case, a bug allowed responses outside those guidelines, and we are actively deploying a fix to limit these generations.”

The Home Office is aware of the increasing risks in this area. “The UK has robust laws to tackle child-like sex dolls, and we are determined to address new emerging trends of abuse, including online,” said a government spokesperson. “Under the Online Safety Act, services including social media sites, search engines, and in-scope AI chatbots, must protect users from illegal content. From this summer, platforms must also use age checks to stop children accessing pornography on their sites, including when it is AI-generated.”

Critics remain sceptical, however, given that this technology is still so new, it’s possible nobody knows how to navigate it safely – including those developing it. ChatGPT was only launched in 2022 while Cybrothel has only been operational in its current form for a year. Meanwhile, new AI companion apps are launching all the time without vital safeguards because the industry is largely unregulated. “I think most people have no idea the extent of the inbuilt discrimination and inequality in much of this technology and so currently see it as a novelty and a bit of fun,” says Bates. “It’s really important that we hold these companies to the same standards of accountability and safety as we would any other, like a multinational food conglomerate, which could never get away with the shrugging attitude of tech companies and the inference that it is simply too difficult to regulate something so big.”

The outlook is bleak. As an increasing number of tech companies race to capitalise on a basic human need for connection, sexual or otherwise, so grows the threat to our capacity to interact normally in non-digital spaces. I ask Fussenegger several times if he believes what he’s doing is unethical. Each time, he replies that he does not. Nor is he worried about people abusing the dolls. “I have not heard of any cases where someone has used the dolls to tailor to that. This is definitely not the place for that. We try to put as much love into preparing the dolls. Our experience is the more effort we put into it, the better they treat the dolls.”

A spokesperson for Cybrothel provided the following statement: “Although we work with inanimate silicone dolls, we firmly believe that respectful interaction should remain at the heart of the experience. We do not accept content or behaviour involving violence, coercion, or non-consensual fantasies or suggestions of minors or childlike features. We have a fundamental respect for the concepts of consent, dignity, and responsibility.”

But the bottom line is that at this point, there’s almost nothing we can do to halt the development of these kinds of services. The tech exists and will only become more sophisticated – Fussenegger has previously spoken about filling Cybrothel with sex robots – and as it does, the possibilities are as endless as the consequences. As Bates posits: “We are catapulting headlong towards a world in which fast proliferating AI and other tech is going to impact virtually every area of our lives in ways it is hard to even imagine yet.” And yet, we somehow have to find a way to protect ourselves – even if we don’t know yet precisely what it is we’re protecting ourselves from.

I went from Ozempic to Mounjaro with this unexpected side effect

I know a lot of younger people are interested in prepping their beach body, but at 59 years old, I’ve recently got back into using weight-loss jabs to help with my pitch body.

Competing in a veterans’ football match on a full-size pitch against a team of 35-year-olds, it somehow felt unfair that our largely over-fifties team was getting whipped by a team who had yet to spend an extra 24 years parenting, drinking, eating and a metabolism hitting the brakes hard. So that was me in March – back on the weight-loss jabs again. But this time, I’ve been surprised by an unexpected side effect.

I first tried Ozempic after seeing a privately registered nurse in 2023 – only stopping when there was a national shortage, but not before I had lost over a stone. This time, though, I noticed that my local chemist offered weight-loss jabs – and at half the price. The proximity, lower cost and desire to be fitter for football lured me back in.

I started with a consultation with a pharmacist who took my waistline measurement and weight. In mid-January, I was weighing in at 14.8 stone after a Christmas of not caring what I ate, though I could tell I’d already come down a bit since then. At home, I use Renpho digital scales linked to an app on my phone – and frankly, they’re brilliant. Unkind, but brilliant. They tell me what each component of my physical make-up weighs – from protein to body water, skeletal mass, fat levels, and even my metabolic age (don’t ask).

About 20 years ago, I used a set of these for a Men’s Health magazine feature, and back then they cost close to a thousand pounds. Now, they’re just a tiny fraction of that. If you’re serious about losing weight, you need to be honest with yourself – and there’s nothing more horrifying than seeing your daily weight to a hundredth of a pound. I get on them once or twice a week, and as the comedian Jason Manford correctly points out, I never accept the first reading without another go – slightly shifting the scales left or right on the bathroom floor.

The last time I was serious about losing weight, I used Ozempic alongside jogging and 20-minute high-intensity training routines a few times a week. I lost about a stone and a half then. If I could drop from my Christmas weight to somewhere around 13 stone, I’d be happy. That was the lowest I got to last time, although Renpho recommended I lose another whole stone.

I only stopped taking medication 18 months ago because the Ozempic ran out, and then I sprained my meniscus while jogging across London Bridge for a bus. That put most of my normal exercise – like running around the park and amateur football – on hold for half the year. The UCH physios had me doing seated leg-strengthening exercises instead. My legs got bigger – but so did my stomach.

This time around, the chemist said she had Mounjaro. It sounds like French sweets or half a mountain, but I was happy to give it a go – and it’s been startlingly different from my experience with Ozempic.

Mounjaro is the third in a line of weight-loss injections available in the UK. They all work by affecting hunger hormones to reduce appetite; the drugs mimic a hormone called GLP-1, which helps control appetite and keep blood sugar stable. Mounjaro, however, also targets an additional hormone called GIP (gastric inhibitory peptide), enhancing the effects, and helping people eat less.

The first month of jabs – administered by my girlfriend on the living room sofa – were negligible. The dose was so low, it barely registered. By the second month, I started to see a difference. I’m now on the third dosage and currently weigh 13.8 stone. But it’s not just my body noticing a change – what’s going on in my head has really changed too.

Ever since I was a kid – when I used to neck Haliborange straight from the bottle – people have made jokes or comments about my hyperactive state. At school, I was disruptive, more focused on making people laugh and distracting the teachers than working. At work, writing about music for NME, I found an environment where this behaviour was normal. The opportunity to constantly discover exciting new music and rave about it week after week was more important to me than sitting still and concentrating.

Long, long before ADHD became a buzzword, I was already familiar with the waves of behaviours now often associated with it. For some reason, everyone with ADHD – or whoever has read an article about it – wants to tell everyone else they have it too.

I’ve lived through this with my own mind running interference on itself, and friends (and more recently, my girlfriend) suggesting I get tested has become more frequent each year. But in reality, I’d got used to the noise and confusion in my head. I didn’t really want to go on any medication for it. And being 27 years clean and sober from drugs and alcohol, I wasn’t keen on going near the magic mushroom microdosing that’s now all over social media as helping people to focus, either.

So, this unexpected consequence of a calmed mind while using Mounjaro has come as a very welcome surprise. Since starting the drug, I’ve had virtually no invasive, interrupting thoughts or ideas. If someone asks me to do something while I’m doing something else, I can actually prioritise properly.

I first noticed the change while walking through the park with my mate Geoff. I realised I could hear everything he was saying and stay focused on the conversation. I wasn’t constantly redirected by other thoughts triggered by something I’d seen. I wasn’t thinking about four or five things at once. Even when someone walked toward us, I could register them without losing track of what Geoff was saying. This was revelatory. Normally, any slight distraction is the start of a massive mental detour.

The more I’ve thought about it, the clearer my behavioural change has become. I don’t feel the need to stand up the moment I sit down. If I forget why I picked up my phone, I can quickly remember why. Before, I could pick up my phone to do something and end up three hours later scrolling, laughing at videos of people falling over drunk.

I find the distance between thought and action is much shorter now. It’s literally like there are two people in the room, not 27. When I posted about this on Facebook, quite a few people pointed to evidence that some of these drugs reduce anxiety, addiction, and depression. A quick Google confirmed that numerous medical and scientific bodies have reported this as a clear, if unexpected, trend.

Mounjaro is a GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor agonist. It acts in the gut – where it regulates appetite and digestion – and in the brain’s reward centre, the dopamine hub that drives addiction, impulsivity, and compulsive behaviour. While these jabs are known to calm “food noise,” it feels like all the other noise in my head has now been quietened now too.

I haven’t had this confirmed by a doctor, and it’s important to understand that Mounjaro is not a standard treatment for ADHD. It should not be used as a substitute for conventional ADHD medications without consulting a medical professional. But in my experience, the noticeable improvement in my ability to focus has been more valuable than the weight I’ve lost.

James Brown’s memoir ‘Animal House’ is available now

Family holiday guide: why the Costa Dorada ticks every travel box

If there’s one thing every parent knows, it’s that children can sometimes (as much as we love them) be hard to please. So the key to any family holiday destination is variety: somewhere you can spend a sunny day by the sea, but where you can also enjoy breathtaking nature, as well as fascinating culture and history.

The brilliant news? The Costa Dorada (known locally as Costa Daurada) delivers all of this in spades, offering everything from theme parks and waterparks to stunning beaches, picturesque hiking and cycling trails, and incredible historical sites. What’s more, with Jet2holidays flying to the Costa Dorada from 12 UK airports and a range of two to five-star accommodation, it’s easy to get your family getaway in the bag. Jet2holidays is always giving you more, to help make planning and booking as smooth as possible. That goes for the PayPal Pay in 3 interest-free payments** option, 22kg baggage and 10kg hand luggage for all the kids’ stuff, and return transfers† that are included. Look out for Free Child Places***, while infants under two go free‡.

Here’s what to look forward to on your family getaway…

With 50 miles of coastline and 26 Blue Flag beaches, families are spoilt for choice when it comes to somewhere to pitch up at with a unicorn-shaped inflatable and a bucket and spade. The stretches of soft sand are long and golden, with safe, calm and shallow waters perfect for little ones. And in many places, water sports and beach activities to suit older children.

Some of the most popular seaside resorts include Salou, which houses the charming Platja Llarga, surrounded by a small pine forest. And there’s Cambrils, where you’ll find Platja del Cavet, which boasts a water sports school and open water swimming channel. Vila-seca, la Pineda Platja, is known for its nearly two miles of fine, champagne-sand beach, fronted by a long promenade, while Tarragona has a range of fantastic options, including Platja del Miracle in the heart of the city. There, you’ll find a great range of bars and restaurants and Platja de la Savinosa, a quieter beach enveloped by imposing cliffs. Many of these can be reached by easy coastal paths.

Another advantage of the Costa Dorada is its many theme parks and waterparks. For a real all-rounder, head to PortAventura World in Vila-seca, la Pineda Platja, a three-in-one park that’s one of Europe’s largest. Here you can enjoy everything from thrilling rollercoasters, rides (don’t miss Dragon Khan, which reaches over 68 miles per hour) and live entertainment. Then pop your swimmers on to enjoy waterfalls, pools and beaches at Caribe Aquatic Park. After you’ve had fun splashing around, head to Ferrari Land, which has a range of spectacular attractions that will make you feel like a real F1 driver.

Get even more thrills at nearby Aquopolis Costa Dorada. It has a range of attractions for all ages, from toddler-friendly and gentle – like the Mini-Park playground and Treasure Island – to more high-octane rides, such as the Boomerang, a speedy waterslide. Or there’s the Kamikaze that older kids will love. Alternatively, Náutic Park offers a range of fun activities and experiences spanning a coastal area of nearly 60 miles including those in Salou, Cambrils, Vandellós – l’Hospitalet de l’Infant and Mont-roig – Miami Platja. Whether you want to rent a sailing boat for the day, try a water bike or even take part in an escape room on the beach, Nàutic Park has it all.

Finally, Aqualeon, near Tarragona, has plenty of enjoyable rides and slides too. The Rapid River is fun for all the family, where you’ll feel like you’re gently ‘flying’ over the water. All the while, the Crazy Race pits you against grown-ups and siblings to see who can get down the slide first. Do you dare to ride the Anaconda? Featuring two intertwined tubes, it’s suitable only for the bravest…

Getting the kids out into the fresh air can sometimes feel like a struggle, but when the scenery in the Costa Dorada is this beautiful, nobody will feel it’s a hardship. Head inland to the striking Prades Mountains, which has a wealth of hiking and cycling trails in the area. These are filled with quaint villages and jaw-dropping viewpoints, where you can get active, immerse yourself in nature, and explore the distinctive, rocky landscape. Don’t miss the Gorgs route, near La Febro, known for its scenic natural pools and waterfalls.

For fascinating grottoes and gorges, head to Serra de Montsant Natural Park, which has dozens of walking trails which offer spectacular views. Back at ground level, in Cambrils, Parc Samà is a lovely botanical garden where kids will enjoy visiting the aviary, filled with exotic birds, as well as looking out for the deer, pheasants and peacocks which also call this place home.

With its rich history, there are stacks of captivating sights in the Costa Dorada that will grab your kids’ imaginations. Take them back to Roman times at archaeological sites, such as the amphitheatre of Tarragona; it was used for fights between wild beasts, races and gladiatorial combat. All these are brought excitingly to life by guided tours and interactive exhibits. Children will also love walking the Roman walls, and exploring the Circus and Forum, with the open-air setting making for the ultimate mix of education and adventure.

In a quiet spot at the end of a valley, nestled under the Montsant hills, you’ll find Cartoixa d’Escaladei (see main image), a 12th-century monastery founded by French monks at a site where a shepherd had dreamt of angels coming down from the sky. Here you can enjoy guided tours around its three cloisters, church and refectory, while learning the history and purpose of each building.

Finally, stoke their creativity with a visit to the Gaudí Centre in Reus, where the architect Antoni Gaudí was born. It offers an interactive and engaging experience that brings his genius to life in a way that appeals to all ages. You’ll find real objects related to him, detailed mock-ups of his iconic works, and a special effects room that immerses visitors in his groundbreakingly imaginative world.

With Jet2holidays, it’s a doddle to book your family getaway to the Costa Dorada. From a low £60 per person deposit* to PayPal Pay in 3 interest-free payments**, 22kg baggage for all the kids’ stuff to return transfers†, it’s all included. Families can make the most of Free Child Places*** and infants under two going free‡. And with flights included and the choice of two to five-star hotels, Jet2holidays is always giving you more. For more Costa Dorada travel inspiration, and to find and book your ultimate family holiday, visit Jet2holidays. Plus, right now, myJet2 members can save £100 per person§ in The Big Jet2 Price Drop (correct at original publish date).

*On bookings made ten weeks or more before departure. Full payment required by balance due date. **Spread the cost over three interest-free payments. Available when booked online, for holidays under £2,000, departing within ten weeks. ***One free child place per two paying passengers. Subject to availability. T&Cs apply, please see www.jet2holidays.com/promotions#FCP2025 for further details. †Unless otherwise stated. ‡Applicable for all infants under the age of two years on the date of return. Infants are not entitled to a flight seat (they must be seated with a parent or guardian) or a 22kg baggage allowance. §£100 per person off holidays for myJet2 members departing until 15 November 2026. myJet2 members will need to be logged into their account at the time of booking for the discount to automatically apply. Book online, via our app, through our call centre or with your travel agent. Please note the discount is not applied to children travelling on a free child place. Terms and conditions apply, please see www.jet2holidays.com/promotions#100APRIL2025 for details.

Haunting moment Oceangate CEO’s wife hears Titan submersible implode

New video reveals the harrowing moment the wife of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush listened live as the Titan submersible imploded during its deep-sea voyage to the wreck of the Titanic.

Footage recently obtained by the U.S. Coast Guard shows Wendy Rush, an Oceangate company director, attempting to contact Titan on June 18, 2023, as the sub began to dive 2.4 miles towards the Titanic shipwreck, which lies 380 miles from St John’s in Newfoundland, Canada.

On board the sub’s support ship, Rush sat in front of a computer that sent and received text messages from Titan.

“What was that bang?” she said with a smile, unaware that the Titan had just suffered a catastrophic implosion.

Moments later, Rush received a message from the sub stating that it had dropped two eights, which appeared to have led her to believe that the dive was going according to plan.

To Rush, the grim reality of events remained unclear: the message had taken longer to arrive at the support ship than the sound of the implosion.

The video of Rush, first obtained by the BBC for its upcoming documentary Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster, has been presented as evidence to the USCG Marine Board of Investigation, which has spent the last two years investigating the sub’s catastrophic failure.

It took four days for parts of the sub to be discovered following the “catastrophic implosion,” with the sub’s last known position about 1,600 feet away from the Titanic. Debris was found as close as 900 feet away from the ship’s bow, the USCG revealed in a Titan Marine Board of Investigation inquiry in September last year.

All five crew members died, including OceanGate’s CEO, British explorer Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman, as well as French deep-sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who earned the nickname “Mr Titanic”.

Warning signs had been raised prior to the dive, according to testimony from several former employees at the USGC’s inquiry in September.

Matthew McCoy, who worked at OceanGate for six months in 2017, testified on the final day of the inquiry that the company’s engineering department was “full of college interns” at the time, adding that he “doesn’t believe” there was a professional engineer on staff.

Another former employee described the Titan’s design as an “abomination” and said the disaster was “inevitable.”

Titan had never undergone an independent safety assessment, and a key concern was that the main body of the sub, the hull, where the passengers sat, was made of layers of carbon fibre mixed with resin, which was deemed unreliable under pressure.

The USCG said sensors fitted to Titan show that the bang was caused by delamination, the separation of layered materials.

‘I went to hospital with flu symptoms – and ended a quadruple amputee’

A student who went into hospital thinking she had the flu ended up losing all four of her limbs to a rare but aggressive infection.

Lily McGarry, 23, had flu-like symptoms on 14 January when her flatmates took her to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff – but she rapidly deteriorated within hours.

The 23-year-old developed a rash while waiting in A&E, which signalled alarm bells for medical staff, who hurriedly treated her for septic shock. She was later diagnosed with meningococcal septicaemia, a severe type of blood poisoning that is caused by the same kind of bacteria that cause the most common form of bacterial meningitis.

The Cardiff University medical student suffered two cardiac arrests, spent two weeks in a coma, and suffered brain, spleen and liver damage. She also had to have all four of her limbs shortened in surgeries that took place over five weeks. She is still in hospital.

Her mother Jo Gorrod, 54, told The Independent of the “terrifying” moment she found out what had happened to her daughter. The 54-year-old was in Melbourne, Australia, visiting her other daughter, having spoken to the 23-year-old on the phone who said she was feeling unwell but being taken care of.

But just hours later, Ms Gorrod, of Jersey, said: “I had a phone call from the hospital asking for consent for her to intubated, and at the time they had to put her into an induced coma.

“We were there within 48 hours with her.

“You don’t sleep – you just, every moment, I’m not a religious person, but pray in whatever way, just thinking ‘hang in, just hang in till I get there’.

“Since that point we’ve lost her probably about five times, she’s been very close to not making it – so it’s not as if you’re going through it once but multiple times.”

The family are now fundraising for Ms McGarry’s treatment, including for prosthetic limbs, having so far raised more than £378,000 on their GoFundMe page.

Ms McGarry was an avid swimmer, runner, and surfer before her illness and is determined to return to doing these sports again – as well as to complete her medical degree.

Her family are also calling on people to ensure they get the meningitis vaccine, including for the B strain, which is not a routine injection.

And they are aiming to raise awareness of sepsis, urging people to look out for the warning signs, such as discoloured skin or a rash that does not fade, flu-like symptoms, and breathing difficulties. Ms Gorrod explained that had her daughter gone to A&E any earlier or later then she may not have made it due to the rapid onset of the infection and how difficult it is to spot.

But the 23-year-old is determined in her recovery journey, described as an “optimist, strong and funny” by her mother. “She has a smile which lights up the room,” said Ms Gorrod. “She is genuinely happy to see people, always asking other people how they’re doing, and grateful for the care she’s had.

“‘Yes, there are going to be challenges, but it doesn’t stop me from trying’ – Lily is of that mindset, she wants to do things herself, she wants her independence.”

You can donate to Lily McGarry’s fundraiser here