A farewell letter written by British explorer Robert Falcon Scott when he realised he would not survive his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole is to be sold in London, Bonhams auction house said on Tuesday. Scott’s letter to financier Edgar Speyer, who had helped raised funds for the trip, was found on his body in November 1912. It had been written on March 1912. In the letter Scott writes: “I fear we must go...but we have been to the Pole and we shall die like gentlemen — I regret only for the women we leave behind.”
He went on to write: “We very nearly came through and it’s a pity to have missed it but lately I have felt that we have overshot our mark — no-one is to blame and I hope no attempt will be made to suggest that we lacked support.”
Scott is an icon of the heroic age of polar exploration who reached the South Pole in January 1912 only to discover that he’d been narrowly beaten by Norway’s Roald Amund-sen. He perished with four companions on the trek back to base camp, but the discovery of his letters and expedition diary prompted a huge outpouring of public sympathy back in Britain and turned him into a national hero.

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Cole xmas lunch party to be alcohol-free
Former Girls Aloud star Cheryl Cole is going to throw an alcohol free pre-Christmas party for her bandmates Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh and Sarah Harding.
The 28-year-old Fight for This Love singer will take charge of cooking but has taken booze off the menu because of Harding’s recent stint in rehab, where she received treatment for alcoholism and depression, reported Sun online.
“Cheryl is going all out. She has already ordered all the food and is determined to cook everything herself. She’s doing the full works, turkey with all the trimmings, and the lunch table will be laid with crackers and other traditional Christmas decorations,” a source said. — PTI

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Liz Taylor’s dog almost ate her pearl necklace
The pearl from Dame Elizabeth Taylor’s £7.4 million necklace, which pulled in a massive amount in an auction recently, was almost swallowed by her pet dog once. The famous La Peregrina piece, a diamond and ruby rope with a 16th century pearl pendant, was auctioned at Christie’s auction house in New York last week along with Taylor’s other possessions. “Twenty minutes after she put it on, she lost it. The incident happened in a hotel room in Las Vegas. The room had pink carpeting, and I was crawling past a settee when I saw one of Taylor’s two Lhasa Apsos dogs, and I heard the crunch. I said, ‘Liz, I know where the pearl is’. She got the dog to spit it out. I was afraid it had cracked,” said former head at Sotheby’s Ward Landrigan. — PTI

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Butler hospitalised after stunt accident
Hollywood actor Gerard Butler was reportedly rushed to hospital after escaping a dangerous surfing stunt. The 42-year-old was trapped underwater after being hit by a succession of waves while filming in California, reported Daily Mail.
The actor has been shooting for Men and Mavericks based on the true life story of a tragic young surfer Jay Moriarty. Butler has been training all summer on the coast to recover the six-pack physique he developed for 300.
The accident happened at Maverick’s, the infamous Northern California surf spot south of San Fransisco.
Butler who plays the role of champion surfer Rick “Frosty” Henson, was caught in a 12-foot swell when he was hit by a wave. — PTI