Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 1, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba LEASING FOR NEW AND USED VEHICLES SCAN THE QR CODE TO START SHOPPING OR CALL (204) 663-6185 A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM K ING Charles acted briskly — as briskly as a Windsor ever does — and rather ruthlessly in dealing with his embattled brother. The King declared he was stripping Andrew of his “prince” title and that he would soon be leaving his Windsor lodgings. The fine print — that Andrew sup- posedly had an ironclad lease on Royal Lodge or that as the son of Queen Eliza- beth he was born a prince — turned out to be pesky details. After days of bruising headlines, the King’s brother would henceforth be known as plain old Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and be vacating the Royal Lodge mansion. One could almost hear the moving vans. “Charles is dutifully acting to pre- serve the monarchy and maintain its reputation by sacrificing his brother,” said royal historian Ed Owens, who added the monarchy could have “saved itself a lot of trouble” by acting after Andrew’s ill-fated 2019 BBC interview. It may not have been quick, but it was classically royal: Charles put the crown first. The monarchy has endured for more than 1,000 years precisely be- cause it has shown cold, even surgical, pragmatism. Kings and queens down the ages have demonstrated that when duty collides with blood, the institution wins — even if it means sacrificing one of their own. Here are five moments when the Roy- al Family has shown survival instincts triumphing over family ties. Harry and Meghan, 2020 When Prince Harry and Meghan, complaining about their harassment by the tabloid press, proposed a new working arrangement, Queen Eliza- beth made it clear they could not have a “half-in, half-out” role and live abroad part time while continuing official dut- ies and keeping their security detail. In his memoir Spare, Harry recounts the “Sandringham summit” in January 2020 in which his grandmother, father, brother and senior aides determined the terms of their departure. Harry wrote that five options were discussed, ranging from keeping the status quo, to complete separation. Af- ter an hour, he said he was handed a statement Buckingham Palace would release announcing Option 5. Harry described feeling blindsided. “The fix was in, this whole time? The summit was just for show?” he recalled asking. There was, he wrote, “no answer.” Owens, the historian, noted that Elizabeth herself may have been more open to compromise, but the courtiers were not. “The institution is run by cold-blooded individuals,” he said. Princess and captain, 1955 The romance between Princess Margaret and Group Captain Peter Townsend captivated 1950s Britain. Townsend, a dashing war hero who had worked for the royal household, fell in love with Queen Elizabeth’s glamorous, high-spirited younger sister. But Townsend was divorced, a ser- ious problem under the rules of the Church of England, of which Elizabeth was the head. The queen asked her sis- ter to wait a year; Townsend was dis- patched to Brussels. Owens, the historian, said while it’s not known exactly what passed be- tween the sisters, it’s believed that the queen made it clear that if Margaret married Townsend, she would have to give up her royal duties — and the priv- ileges that come with them. For 25-year-old Margaret, the privil- eges won out. “I have been aware that, subject to my renouncing my rights of succession, it might have been possible for me to contract a civil marriage. But, mindful of the church’s teaching that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Com- monwealth, I have resolved to put these considerations before any others,” she said in a statement. The crown won, love lost. Abdication, 1936 That hadn’t been the case a genera- tion earlier. The abdication of King Ed- ward VIII remains the ultimate royal sacrifice. Less than a year into his reign, Ed- ward VIII chose love over the mon- archy, or perhaps the monarchy chose the throne over him. His wish to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée, was blocked by the government and the Church of England, whose teachings at the time opposed remarriage after di- vorce. “I have found it impossible,” he told the nation in a speech, “to carry on the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge the duties of king, as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love.” Edward was hugely popular with the public, but distrusted by the estab- lishment. Owens noted that courtiers around his successor, George VI, quick- ly moved to contain the risk. “There were some very canny forces around him,” he said, “who saw that Ed- ward was toxic — that he had the po- tential to undermine George’s reign. To manage it effectively, they kept Edward and Wallis as far from the U.K. as pos- sible.” Not a bad idea, as it turned out since Edward VIII’s sympathies ran rather famously too close to the Third Reich for comfort and the Second World War was around the corner. Wartime monarch, 1917 It wasn’t the first time that the Royal Family’s relations with Germany came under scrutiny. King George V reigned during the First World War, the earlier continental tussle with Berlin, and his role as a wartime monarch demanded patriotism and pragmatism. In 1917, with anti-German sentiment running high, he changed the Royal Family’s name from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the resolutely British-sounding Wind- sor, and he stripped his German rela- tives of their British titles. He also refused asylum to his cousin Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, a wartime ally, fearing that sheltering a deposed autocrat could inflame social unrest. Princes in the tower, 1483 Medieval monarchs played for simi- lar stakes, but there were no courtiers drafting statements or unnamed “royal sources” briefing the press. There were just kings, nephews and a convenient fortress down the road. One of the most notorious cases of royal bloodletting is the story of the princes in the tower. When Edward IV died, his 12-year- old son took the throne and became Edward V, while his uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, became Lord Pro- tector, effectively a caretaker king. Within weeks, however, Richard had declared his nephews illegitimate and confined them to the Tower of London. He crowned himself Richard III and the princes disappeared soon after. It was never proved that Richard killed the children. Why would he have had the boys killed? Maybe he thought a 12-year-old couldn’t hold the country together in the midst of a civil war — the War of the Roses — or maybe he just wanted power. Two years later, however, he himself was deposed by Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth and a ruthless new family took the throne. — The Washington Post NEWS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2025 VOL 154 NO 295 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2025 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published six days a week in print and always online at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204-697-7000 CEO / MIKE POWER Editor / PAUL SAMYN Associate Editor Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor News / STACEY THIDRICKSON Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Director Photo and Multimedia / MIKE APORIUS NEWSMEDIA COUNCIL The Winnipeg Free Press is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to determine acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please send them to: editorialconcerns@freepress.mb.ca. If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the website at www.mediacouncil.ca and fill out the form or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information. ADVERTISING Classified (Mon-Fri): 204-697-7100 wfpclass@freepress.mb.ca Obituaries (Mon-Fri): 204-697-7384 Display Advertising : 204-697-7122 FP.Advertising@freepress.mb.ca EDITORIAL Newsroom/tips: 204-697-7292 Fax: 204-697-7412 Photo desk: 204-697-7304 Sports desk: 204-697-7285 Business news: 204-697-7292 Photo REPRINTS: libraryservices@winnipegfreepress.com City desk / City.desk@freepress.mb.ca CANADA POST SALES AGREEMENT NO. 0563595 Recycled newsprint is used in the production of the newspaper. PLEASE RECYCLE. INSIDE Arts and Life D1 Books G1 Celebrations D5 Classifieds E7 Comics I3-7 Community Voices A19 Destinations I1 Diversions G6,7 Faith G5 Horoscope D5 Miss Lonelyhearts D5 Money Matters B7 Obituaries C1 Opinion A8,9 Sports E1 Television D7 Weather D8 49.8 F1 COLUMNISTS: Tom Brodbeck A4 David McLaughlin A9 Tim Kist B6 Laura Rance B6 Tory McNally B8 Jen Zoratti D1 Ben Sigurdson D2 Taylor Allen E1 Ken Wiebe/Mike McIntyre E2 Jerrad Peters E5 Alison Gillmor F8 READER SERVICE ● GENERAL INQUIRIES 204-697-7000 CIRCULATION INQUIRIES MISSING OR INCOMPLETE PAPER? Call or email before 10 a.m. weekdays or 11 a.m. Saturday City: 204-697-7001 Outside Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 press 1 6:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.; 7 a.m. - noon Saturday; Closed Sunday TO SUBSCRIBE: 204-697-7001 Out of Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada Clinic run by suspended plastic surgeon closes T HE clinic operated by a suspended plastic surgeon has closed amid an investigation by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba. Ziesmann Cosmetic Clinic has closed permanently, a staff member at the Portage Avenue site told the Free Press Friday, before breaking down in tears and declining to comment further. Manitoba’s physician watchdog sus- pended clinic founder Dr. Manfred Ziesmann on Oct. 15 while the probe is being conducted, said Dr. Guillaume Poliquin, the assistant registrar of com- plaints and investigations, last week. The college had placed restrictions on Ziesmann’s practice earlier this year following a disciplinary hearing regarding patients who suffered com- plications from breast augmentations and other surgeries. One of Ziesmann’s former patients, a woman who was considering a breast reduction procedure, said she received a call from the clinic Friday to say all of her appointments would be cancelled. “I just got a phone call from his of- fice saying, ‘We’re just calling to let you know he is gone, he is retired. The office is shutting down in a couple of hours,” said the woman, who the Free Press is not naming to protect her pri- vacy. “They said they were blindsided by it. It was a complete, out-of-the-blue shock.” The woman said she briefly met Zies- mann last year after she attended the clinic for cosmetic cool sculpting. The non-surgical procedure uses freezing to eliminate fat cells in targeted areas. While at the clinic, a staff member recommended she meet with Ziesmann to discuss breast reduction surgery. At a consultation appointment a few days later, he showed up about four hours late, she said. The patient was not satisfied with the consultation, saying it was rushed and didn’t adequately address her questions and concerns about the scope of the procedure, possible risks and the re- covery period. She said she needed extra time to consider the surgery, but asked the of- fice to keep her on Ziesmann’s client list in case she changed her mind, she said. “It didn’t feel right,” she said. Ziesmann registered with the col- lege in 1981 and was licensed as a plas- tic surgeon in 1987. At the time of the March hearing, he had been the subject of six complaints related to: obtaining informed consent from patients; his level of vigilance and attentiveness in following patients and monitoring for post-operative complications; and/ or the accuracy and completeness of clinical documentation, a disciplinary report said. Twice, in 2017 and 2020, Ziesmann was ordered to complete additional re- cord keeping and communication train- ing, it said. The college’s investigations commit- tee comprises two doctors and a mem- ber of the public who does not work in health care. Its role is to review complaints and decide an appropriate outcome. If a complaint is found to be credible, it can result in a disciplinary hearing in which details are compiled in a public report. The latest investigation into Zies- mann has not progressed to that stage. tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca TYLER SEARLE For the royals, duty is thicker than blood KARLA ADAM KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Andrew’s fall has not been sudden, but shouldn’t have been a surprise, history suggests. ;