Papers praise Charles' tribute

The Prince of Wales' tribute to his grandmother is the main focus of coverage of the mourning for the Queen Mother.

It is the main story for several papers, with their headlines taken from his own words.

"Oh, how I'll miss her laugh", is the Sun's choice, and for the Telegraph: "She was simply the most magical grandmother".

The Times and the Mail lead on criticism of the BBC's coverage of the Queen Mother's death. According to the Times, Prince Charles pointedly filmed his tribute for ITN.

It says the royal family is unhappy that BBC presenters failed to wear black ties when making the announcement of her death, and is upset by a decision by the corporation to scale back its coverage.

In response, the BBC is quoted as saying the decision to devote less time to the event accurately reflected the public mood.

The paper adds that the number of complaints about the interruption to the schedule - about 700 - dwarfed the number objecting to the lack of coverage, which were fewer than 100.

April fools

The Independent says that only two papers - the Guardian and the Star - chose to lighten the otherwise sombre tone of their editions with April Fools' Day stories.

The others, it says, felt they would not be suitable on a day when their editions were so dominated by coverage of the Queen Mother's death.

Most continue to give prominent and extensive coverage to the death of the Queen Mother.

There are several pages of reports and pictures of the tributes to her.

The televised homage by the Prince of Wales is printed in full, and a picture in the Telegraph of bouquets and posies covering the lawn outside St George's Chapel in Windsor is accompanied by the headline: "A people's love in flowers, cards and teddy bears".

Parliament

The Independent and the Mirror report that a number of Labour MPs have suggested that the emergency recall of parliament tomorrow organised as a mark of respect for the Queen Mother could be extended to include a statement and short debate on events in the Middle East.

According to the Mirror, it is thought that some Labour MPs will refuse to attend the Queen Mother's tribute at the House of Commons - either because of their republican views or because of the refusal of a statement on the Israeli Palestinian conflict.

Yasser Arafat

The paper carries a report on conditions inside Yasser Arafat's besieged headquarters in Ramallah.

It says that after four days of being imprisoned by Israeli soldiers in the ruins of his empire, the Palestinian leader is weary, cold, hungry and cornered.

Toilet facilities are non-existent and washing is an impossibility after troops shot the compound's water tanks.

The electricity supply has been cut off, and any restoration is sporadic, so for much of the time candles and cigarette lighters are the only source of light.

The conflict in the Middle East is the main story for the Guardian, Independent and Financial Times.