Six degrees

Azealia Banks, the American rapper, is hotly tipped to turn our smoggy grey skies a profane blue next weekend, when she performs at Clockenflap, Hong Kong’s multimedia music extravaganza. The Harlem-born lyricist (right) achieved instant fame and notoriety with her debut single 212, an expletive-laden pop gem that required more than 50 edits just to make it playable on Britain’s postwatershed Radio One. Surprisingly, one of the song’s admirers is the wife of British prime minister David Cameron, Samantha … 

As the second of King Henry VIII’s six wives, Anne was queen of England for a mere three years before her removal to the Tower of London – the destination du jour for inconvenient monarchs. Arrested on charges of incest, adultery and treason instigated by the king’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, she was executed following a trial since recognised as a legal travesty. Anne always maintained her innocence, pleading she had never been unfaithful to the king. She remains an inspiration within popular culture and is referenced in the song Ghost Town by Cat Stevens …