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Thursday, April 22, 1999 Published at 16:08 GMT 17:08 UK


UK

Calendar girls send royal greeting

Some of the women had wine before their photographs

The Royal household at Sandringham must be the last place one would expect to find a calendar of nude pin-up girls.

But the Queen and the Queen Mother have both received free copies of a sell-out calendar in which members of a Yorkshire branch of the Women's Institute have posed nude.

The members of Rylstone and District Womens' Institute near Skipton decided that it would be appropriate to send the calendar to their royal Women's Institute colleagues.

As well as being in the best possible taste - what the women call "hairy and wobbly bits" have been tactfully camouflaged - the calendar venture is making thousands of pounds for leukaemia research.

3,000 sold

Already the initial print run of 3,000 calendars has sold out. Such is the demand, however, that another run of 10,000 copies is being produced.

In the two weeks since it was launched amid a fanfare of publicity and critical approval, the models, all aged between 45 and 60, have been inundated with requests to buy the calendar.

Despite their international fame, the women are not recognised on the street. "Maybe we will be recognised but I don't know really, with our clothes on!" quipped Angela Baker, who was Ms February.



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