FREEDOM Day and the implications of it - plus the Duke of Edinburgh title row - were discussed by columnists in the newspapers.

The Daily Express

Ann Widdecombe said she could not believe how infantilised so many of the British people have become, wanting the Government to tell them what to do.

“However, those of us who are quite happy to be asked to use our own savvy now face the prospect of some organisations second-guessing the law and enforcing their own rules, as I found when I was asked to a funeral which is to be held on July 19, freedom day itself,” she said. “The RC Diocese of Clifton has decided it will ignore the law and phase in changes according to its own timelines. So no liberation for worshippers on July 19.”

She said shops could have special times when people will be asked to wear masks.

“It does not have to be all or nothing,” she said. “From the wail that has gone up about “confusion” and “mixed messages” you would think that the most terrifying prospect on earth was taking responsibility for our own conduct when that should be the very essence of a free people.”

The Independent

James Moore said that for shielders like himself, the government’s 19 July “Freedom Day” – ‘which will allow, among other things, anti mask louts to breathe their virus particles all over me whenever I enter a supermarket – doesn’t feel very free.’

“For the immunocompromised in particular, “Freedom Day” represents something akin to a film from The Purge franchise, which depicts a world where people are allowed to kill each other, no questions asked, for one night of the year,” he said. “As for worries about the absence of mask mandates and what that means for shopping for essentials? You “may want to shop at quieter times”. Well, duh.

“The cold reality is that it is nothing more than a windy way of the British government saying it couldn’t care less about us so we might, maybe, perhaps want to cross our fingers. We’re on our own. People are going to die as a result.”

The Daily Mail

Richard Kay said Prince Edward was told ahead of his wedding that he would succeed to his father Prince Philip’s title as Duke of Edinburgh.

Not so any more, he said, according to Prince Charles.

“A source close to him was quoted as saying: ‘The Prince is the Duke of Edinburgh as it stands, and it is up to him what happens to the title. It will not go to Edward.’

“It is hard to imagine anything more crushing for the Queen’s youngest son than the ruthless certainty of those final six words.

“’Charles is making it clear that his brother may have jumped the gun [over the title of Duke of Edinburgh],’ says one of Charles’s circle. ‘It is not a done deal.’”