AUGUST 8, 1999 semget Bright Lights Celebrations Classifieds 28 Fashion eve 15 Heme & Garden cee 13 Pets eso 2} Seniors eve 18 Wiigh? ooo § North Shore Free Press Lic, Pubishiy Petes Speck 1139 Lonsdale Avennse, North Vanconec BC V7¥» 2H4 Canadian Pubkeabons Mait Saies Product Agrocment No 0087238 40 Pages ROMP beef filed Bob Mackin News Reporter AN internal investi- gation is under way into the North Vancouver RCMP search for avalanche victim Rory Manning. Supt. Jamie Graham said Friday the detachment is react- ing to a complaint by Manning’s father Dr. Hubert Manning to the RCMP’s Public Complaints Commission. The elder Manning is tak- ing issue with the nearly four- month delay in recovering his son’s body. He hired a private Abbotsford company, Canadian Amphibious Search Team, when the RCMP and North Shore Rescue (NSR) called off their scarch, citing, poor weather and the risk of more avalanches. ooo 12 See Father page 2 Layne Christensen News Reporter layne@nsnews.com WEST Vancouver’s arts community is in a royal flap over the actions of the Canadian Portrait Academy (CPA) and its president. Former North Vancouver resident Christian Cardel} Corbet, who founded the academy in the spring of 1996, firse made 2 name for himself when his 1995 painung Elizabeth Holding a Ribbon was accepted by the Queen Mother and reportedly dis- played at Clarence House, the royal’s residence. Corbet, who signs his correspondence “Artist to HM Qucen Elizabeth the Queen Mother,” again made headlines when it was reported that Fashion p15 Belts and socks finally get some attention bey ioc WV arts community questions credentials of portrait painter the late Diana, Princess of Wales had wished to acquire the paint- ing as part of her divorce settlement. Later, news reports told of how before her death the princess had agreed to a sitting with Corbet. In the spring, rumours began circulating that Corbet, 33 and a former teacher’s assistant at Seycove secondary school, had beer knighted by recommendation of the Queen Mother. But new evidence has called both credentials into question. Ruth Payne, visual arts coordinator for the District of West Vancouver’s Ferry Building Gallery, said she was asked by a num- ber of artists and gallery patrons to inquire on their bchalf into 3 Surf’s up THE late arrival of warm summer weather hasn't stopped anyone from enjoying it. Nine-year-old Patrick Krzesinski made the most of waves that crashed on Ambleside Beach in West Vancouver recently. Travel p26 Size matters in the jungles of Borneo Peanuts are the most common allergen affecting children Health p14 Corbet’s royal connections. Requesting clarification from Clarence House, Payne received an official letter from Alastair Aird, the Queen Mother’s private secretary, that while the elder royal had accepted the gift of Corbet’s oil painting, “Her Majesty has never exchanged per- sonal letters with him” «nd that “no one has ever been appoint- ed ‘Artist to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother’.” “There is in fact no such appointment,” continued Aird. “It is also untruc that his picture hangs at Clarence House alongside paintings by Degas and Renoir as there are no works by these artists in Her Majesty's collection.” Ina July 25 ¢-mail to the CPA’s executive director Dustin See Knighthood page 2