Camilla Swift

The news that Prince Philip will be retiring from his royal duties from August is a terrible blow. It’s entirely fair, of course. The Prince, after all is 95, and will be 96 by the time he retires. He has done far more than his share of Royal duties; last year he had 219 official engagements in the UK, and he’s Britain’s longest serving consort in history. But it’s still a terrible shame, because where will the fun be in the royal family without Prince Philip?  I remember nervously waiting in a queue at St. James's Palace to receive my Gold Duke of Edinburgh's award  – which was, of course, all his idea – worrying what questions he might ask and how I might be embarrassed.

Aintree’s Grand National festival is well underway, with the ladies of Liverpool making the most of the unseasonably warm weather. It’s not just the champagne bars that will be doing well for themselves, though. The nation’s bookies also benefit hugely from today's Grand National race; it’s estimated that a quarter of the UK’s adult population will have a punt on it. The thing with the National is that with so many horses taking part, how on earth can you choose a winner? When there are 12 or so in a flat race, the probability of picking a winner is much higher. But with 40 horses to choose from, and the course so challenging, it’s a much harder task. Many people have one tried and trusted way of picking their horse. Some choose by colour.

One of the huge benefits of the British education system is the sheer number of alternatives on offer. But when it comes to choosing a school for your child, the choice can be overwhelming. In our cover piece on page 8, Ysenda Maxtone Graham looks at Britain’s faith primary schools, which could be a sensible option for the undecided parent. And for those who truly need expert help in deciding, on page 25 Constance Watson examines the world of ‘educational consultants’, who do all the work for you. We all hear constantly about how public school turns out smooth-talking, confident creatures (like David Cameron, for example). But on page 18 Henry Jeffreys recalls how his expensive education was no help in preparing for his disastrous job interviews.

Pity the poor sheep. Every other animal has its champions. There are fox fanatics, dog obsessives, campaigners for cat welfare. Pigs, once a celebrity pet of choice, have their supporters, too. But it’s sheep who need friends right now, because they are, quite literally, under attack. My Facebook pals are mostly country types and barely a day goes by without one of them posting a picture of a sheep mauled, often fatally, by untrained, unrestrained city-dwelling dogs. Camilla Swift is joined by Ben Fogle to discuss the plight of sheep: Sheep-worrying used to be quite a minor problem but it is now getting much worse in terms of the number of incidents. The police say that up to 15,000 sheep were killed last year, which is ten times higher than previous estimates.

Boxing Day is the one day of the year when people really come out en masse to support their local hunts. Over a quarter of a million people are expected to show their support wherever the meet may be – in town centres, country pubs or the local stately home. It won’t just be hunt supporters going out, though. Twelve years after the Hunting Act, hunt saboteurs will be out in force as well. This is despite the fact that in the past two years, no registered hunts have been prosecuted under the Act. Surely, many people would argue, this means that hunts are sticking to the law, making hunt saboteurs redundant? But this doesn’t seem to be the case.

‘A more thrilling, uplifting, glorious way of living has yet to be invented,’ the jockey John Francome said of National Hunt racing. Watching last weekend’s action from Cheltenham racecourse, it was easy to see what he meant. Now is when the National Hunt — or jump — season really gets under way. The summer months are about flat racing, although these days flat racing goes on through the winter, too. There are now six all-weather racetracks in the UK; the latest, Newcastle, opened earlier this year. Of course, it’s not quite the same (floodlights are no replacement for long summer evenings), but it does enable flat horses, trainers and jockeys to stay in business all year round. For most racing aficionados, winter is about the jumps.

It used to be the Coca Cola advert that signalled Christmas was on its way. Holidays were coming, and Coke would deliver joy to the world. These days, it’s the John Lewis advertisement that everyone looks forward to. There’s a running theme to these Christmas adverts. A schmaltzy song, a sickly sweet storyline (often with a few animals thrown in, just to make it that bit sweeter), and a happy, Christmassy ending. Hurrah!! This year’s, which was released today, is no different. Personally, though, I’d say that whoever came up with this advert needs a serious dose of reality – and quick.

Ever since it was founded in 1895, the National Trust has been considered a good thing. That oak tree sticker on the windscreen isn’t just a passport to some of the country’s finest heritage. It is a middle class status symbol declaring that you are cultured, a lover of the bucolic, someone who’d rather their children went out collecting tadpoles and tramping round nature reserves than staying in glued to an iPad. But the Trust, originally set up to ensure ‘the preservation for the benefit of the nation of lands and tenements of beauty or historic interest’ seems to have abandoned at least one of the laudable aims that made it so popular.

In August the papers were full of smiling pupils clutching their exam results. Now we’re in September, when children and teenagers across the country are taking the next steps in their academic lives, be that starting school, switching to a new one, or moving on to university or college. Navigating today’s education system can be mind-bogglingly complex for parents, so I hope this magazine will help to stimulate debate and shed light on new developments. For this issue we have given Spectator Schools a light facelift, introducing some new columns. In Talking Heads we meet Keith Budge, headmaster of Bedales. And in My School Trip Katy Balls tells of her drama-filled outing to Peru.

Team GB are currently resting in second position in the Olympic medals tables, with a total of 41 medals and 16 golds. This year, our team is made up of more women than ever before; the 164 women make up almost 45 per cent of the whole team. It’s strange but true, however, that apart from the mixed tennis doubles, the equestrian events are the only time you will see men and women on the same winners' podium at the Olympics. Last Wednesday the medal ceremony for the team eventing competition took place. On that podium were the French team, made up of four men, the German team, made up of three women and one man, and the Australian team, made up of four men.