She was said to be looking forward to the ‘simplest things’ in life when she was released from jail .
And perhaps a cosy stroll for two through the streets of her hometown was exactly what Amanda Knox had in mind.
The 24-year-old clasped the hand of a mystery man who wrapped his arm around her shoulders as the pair went for a walk in Seattle on Tuesday.
While Miss Knox’s family insist romance is the last thing on her mind, the intimate body language between her and her companion suggested they could be more than just good friends.
Miss Knox returned from the Italian town of Perugia almost a month ago after a court overturned her conviction for the murder of British student Miss Kercher. Friends flocking to see her after her four years in prison have included David Johnsrud, her boyfriend before she went to Italy on a student exchange programme.
But Amanda’s father, Curt, dismissed suggestions they were rekindling their romance and poured cold water on claims that Miss Knox was pining after Raffaele Sollecito, the Italian ex-boyfriend who was also released from jail last month.
And he insisted his daughter was not about to dive into another relationship, saying she simply developed close bonds with both male and female friends.
However, Miss Kercher’s father John called on ‘insensitive’ Miss Knox to keep a lower profile after she was photographed dressed as a cat burglar for a Halloween party.
The last picture taken of Miss Kercher was at a Halloween party in 2007. The following day she was murdered in the flat the two women shared.
Mr Kercher said: ‘The anniversary is obviously a very difficult time for our family and images like this don’t help.’
Body language: Foxy Knoxy and the mystery man looked a bit more than friends
Life back in Seattle: Foxy Knoxy out and about shopping, left, and dressed as a cat burglar on Halloween, right
Solemn: Amanda Knox turned to a friend for emotional support on the anniversary of the death of Meredith Kercher
Settling back in: Foxy Knoxy was seen with the friend at a bus stop sending a text message
Side by side: Foxy Knoxy holds hands with her close friend as they stroll through Seattle
Thoughtful: Knox walks in the sunshine the day before Halloween
-Mother Hallie Adams appeared in interview with her daughter -Daughter Hillary says: 'I regret this is my own father' -Texas Court-at-Law judge William Adams remains unrepentant saying 'I have done nothing wrong' -Father is unlikely to face criminal charges -Girl's mother apologised for horrific attack but says she was 'brainwashed and controlled'
By Daniel Miller, Louise Boyle and Lucy Buckland
Scroll down for video
Speaking out: Hillary Adams (right), who secretly filmed her father lashing her with a belt, appeared today with her mother Hallie to reveal the abuse they faced at the hands of Judge William Adams
The mother of the disabled girl who posted a horrific video of her family judge father lashing her with a belt online, spoke for the first time today to reveal that she had been hiding a 'family secret of addiction for a long time'.
Hallie Adams appeared alongside her daughter Hillary in a TV interview in which they both described years of abuse in their 'dysfunctional' family and Hillary revealed her father had dared her to post the video online.
Police were today investigating Judge William Adams, of Rockport, Texas, after his daughter uploaded to YouTube last week a secretly-filmed video - taken in 2004 when she was 16 - of him beating her with a belt 20 times.
Today her mother, who also appeared in the video, tried to explain why she had also hit her daughter and stood aside to let her husband attack.
She said: 'I lived in an environment of addiction and dysfunction and it steadily got worse. I did leave him... but he shamed me into going back.'
Unrepentant: Judge William Adams (left) told reporters he had done 'nothing wrong' by violently beating his daughter Hillary Adams (right) after she posted footage of the horrific attack online
Hillary Adams, now 23, said she had forgiven her mother and did not regret making the video public. It has now been viewed more than a million times.
She told the Today show: 'I told him I had the video... and he dared me to post it.'
Judge William Adams remained unrepentant saying 'he had done nothing wrong except discipline his child'. The judge, who mainly presides over cases involving children, is unlikely to face criminal charges because the statute of limitations, five years for physically abusing a child, is up. The incident occurred seven years ago.
In extraordinary remarks to reporters, family law Judge William Adams denied he had done anything wrong after the YouTube video, filmed secretly in 2004 by his daughter Hillary, swept the internet.
He told local TV station KZTV10.com: 'She's mad because I've ordered her to bring the car back, in a nutshell, but yeah that's me, I lost my temper.'
The Court-at-Law Judge, from Aransas County, Texas, added: 'It was a long time ago... I really don't want to get into this right now because as you can see my life's been made very difficult over this child.'
'In my mind I have not done anything wrong other than discipline my child when she was caught stealing. I did lose my temper, I've apologized.. it looks worse than it is.'
The video, entitled 'Family law judge beats own daughter for using the internet, please spread', shows the motive for the attack was because Miss Adams, who suffers from cerebral palsy, had been caught downloading music to the computer in her bedroom.
In the footage, Judge Adams can be seen delivering around ten powerful strikes across his daughter's legs and backside. His wife then grabs the belt from him to take over, at which point he walks out only to return moments later with another belt so he can continue beating her.
On the seven-minute long clip, as his daughter begs him to stop he can be heard snarling: 'Bend over the f***ing bed.
'Lay down or I'll spank you in the f***ing face.'
In total the girl receives 20 hard lashes from her father and one from her mother.
Sickening: Texas family law Judge William Adams brutally whips his disabled daughter in footage caught on a webcam set up by the girl in 2004 when she was 16
Attack: The girl, who suffers from cerebral palsy, yelps in pain as her father beats her repeatedly with the leather belt for playing on her computer
The mother screams: 'You turn over like a 16-year-old and take it like a grown woman.'
As the child lies crying on her bed, her father shouts: 'Do you want to put some more computer games on? Are you happy disobeying your parents?
'You don't deserve to be in this f***ing house. What happened to you Hillary?'
'If I hear so much as you raising your f***ing voice to me or your mother with the wrong tone or do one little thing or you look at me f***ing wrong, I'm going to wear your f***ing a** out with this belt.'
The shocking footage appeared to have been filmed on a webcam set up in the bedroom and dates from 2004 but only became public last week on October 27.
Judge Adams said that he informed the Judicial Review board himself after seeing the video had been posted online by his daughter.
Taken when the girl was 16, Miss Adams, now 22, said she decided last week to make it public to help her father despite admitting that she may have ruined his reputation.
Little musician: Innocent Hillary Adams curtseys before a piano recital as a child
Dedication: Hillary Adams suffers from ataxic cerebral palsy which causes difficulty with balance, hand and feet movements and speech
She said: 'It had happened before and had been escalating. I set up a camera and I caught it.'
The judge's wife Hallie Adams, who it is believed is separated from him, posted on Facebook an emotional plea to her husband to end the abuse.
She wrote: 'I am praying for my daughters and me and my family to heal in all ways from emotional and physical abuse, for the current and continuing abuse of my children and me that has been ongoing to end.'
Police Chief Tim Jayroe, of Rockport, Texas, said yesterday that an investigation had been launched following phone calls from members of the public after the film swept the Internet.
It was later posted on the social news aggregate website Reddit.
Speaking to a local TV network yesterday, Miss Adams said she decided now was the time to show the secretly-filmed footage because she was tired of being harassed by her father.
Model child: Hillary Adams had previously posted a video showing herself as an extremely gifted pianist
Threats: Judge Adams jabs his finger at his disabled daughter while screaming foul abuse as she cowers in fear
She said: 'My father's harassment was getting really bad, so I decided to finally publish the video that I had been sitting on for seven years.
But yesterday Miss Adams said via Twitter she was sorry she had posted the video.
She tweeted: 'I'm feeling some regret for publishing the video because to ruin my own father is heavy indeed.
'But I really want him to seek help.'
As a result of the furore, the video was being examined by the District Attorney and previous controversial judgements Judge Adams made in cases involving children have come to light.
In a court judgement last October, Judge Adams said that a child's statements 'amounted to no evidence' despite the fact the child's words had been confirmed by third party witnesses and recorded on video several times. The young person had also been interviewed by a child psychologist who believed the child.
Judge Adams also agreed with a lawyer who claimed all children are 'fantasizers' and their testimony should just be ignored.
The footage gained speed with the video trending on Twitter and being viewed 600,000 times on YouTube. A Facebook page entitled Don't Re-Elect Judge William Adams that was set up two days ago now has almost 20,000 followers.
Widespread viewing: After the video was uploaded to YouTube by Hillary Adams, it was then posted on Reddit and thousands more times across the Internet
Gathering speed: A Facebook page Don't Re-Elect Judge William Adams was set up yesterday
She added that she decided to post the footage - which she'd been 'holding onto until the right time' - after receiving 'a barrage of harassment' in a phone call from her father.
From her Twitter account, she tweeted: 'Please spread the word that my father needs professional help and not hatred. We can offer him the tools to be a better person.
'It is my wish that people stop threatening my father and start offering professional help. That is what he really needs.'
Judge Adam's senior colleague County Judge C.H. 'Burts' Mills told MailOnline that Judge Adams was not currently at work and had not presided over any trials this week.
Miss Adams, who has suffered from ataxic cerebral palsy from birth, said her condition causes problems including difficulty with balance, shaky movements of hands or feet, and difficulty with speech.
The video has incited fury on twitter with dozens posting their disgust.
@Johnny_Ads wrote: oh my god. what a disgusting video. im shocked. poor girl - what repulsive parents. Shame on them.
Ganging up: The father and mother stand over the girl, who is hidden down the side of the bed, both brandishing belts
Take that: Judge Adams unleashes a powerful backhander as the sickening attack continues
And @eschaton added: I hope this exposure gets him sent to prison for a good, long time.
Before the identity of the man in the video was known several people took to the Internet to name and shame the judge.
One post from a J. Andre Bardin, who claims to be one of Hillary's friends, reads: 'I know in the article you say you cannot confirm the man in the video is him, but I can. It's him.
'That's his voice, that's his mannerisms, and that is his house.'
Judge Adam's wife, who is seen in the video delivering a single blow to her daughter, was said to have left the marriage after suffering emotional abuse.
She has apparently apologised for taking part in the beating and allowing it to happen.
Water-logged: Zebras plough through the waters at Safari World in Minburi District, Bangkok, Thailand, which has been inundated by flooding
Terrified and with nowhere to go but the small areas of dry land that remain, these are the animal victims of the flooding that has devastated Thailand.
In Ayutthaya, a distressed group of elephants is facing its second month cut off by the stagnant waters as they shelter on a concrete island at an animal sanctuary. The group of 17 include seven animals aged under four years who were too small to flee when the rest of their herd were led to safety in the city north of Bangkok.
Gimme shelter: The zebras wander around Safari World where they were forced to flee even deeper water
No room on the boat: Elephants are stranded on the concrete island at the conservation park in Ayutthaya where they are facing a second month cut off
Sad sight: An elephant drinks floodwater at the deluged site north of Bangkok
Distressed: Deer stand in the floodwaters at the wildlife park Safari World in Bangkok after half of it was submerged last night
The adults among them - including two males and a pregnant female - can frolic in the water, stretch their limbs and cool down. But the little ones cannot because they would drown if they stepped into the 6-foot-deep water.
'Yes the elephants are upset. I'm upset too,' keeper Parinnam said. "We're the same, humans and elephants.'
Elsewhere, hundreds of animals living in Safari World, Bangkok, were rescued and moved to higher ground after their enclosures were flooded overnight. Zebras and deer were among the animals affected.
Saved: A leopard kitten is bottle fed in a wildlife rescue centre in Phnom Tamao zoo near Phnom Penh, Cambodia, after the region also suffered flooding. The tiny leopard was found with another by a fisherman near floodwaters
Elsewhere in Thailand, flooding at the Honda motor factory at Ayutthaya province has caused immense damage to the local industry.
But it has also led to a shortage of essential car parts to UK, U.S. and Canada Honda plants resulting in production being halved in those countries.
Workers at Honda's Swindon factory have been told work has been cancelled for tomorrow and Friday.
Not bad for everything! These wading birds were in their element at the Bangkok Safari World
Car pool: An aerial view of submerged cars at the Honda Motor factory in Ayutthaya province, Thailand, which has been caught up in the country's flooding
A spokesman for the plant said: 'We don't know when work will resume.'
The floods have killed more than 380 in Thailand with areas of the country cut off from food and aid supplies
In the worst floods in half a century, many of Bangkok's government-run shelters sit largely empty, even as the submerged streets in some of the city's hardest-hit areas are still bustling with a constant stream of people wading, floating and boating in and out.
The city says it has no estimate for the actual number of Bangkok's nine million residents affected by the deluge, but population figures suggest they have impacted a far greater number than the 11,000 who have moved into the city's evacuation centers.
High and dry: Aerial view shows cars standing on a bridge surrounded by floodwaters at the Honda motor factory in Ayutthaya province, Thailand
Don Muang district alone - which the government says is nearly 100 percent flooded - is home to 166,000 people.
Many in Bangkok's 15 flooded districts have likely moved in with relatives or friends in unaffected areas, but swamped neighborhoods still show signs that life goes on despite disaster.
Along Don Muang's Chang Akat Uthit Road, the neighborhood duck restaurant was closed.
So were the two convenience stores, the gold shop and even the Party House pub.
Life buoy: Thai flood victim in a small bath tub shaped bucket paddling with flip-flop sandals past a flooded Toyota dealership in Bangkok
The car wash was deserted except for two Honda hatchbacks submerged in the driveway, and a construction site with the sign advertising "Cheap Land For Sale" was quiet.
But in the middle of the street people were ferrying supplies into the neighborhood, some carrying jugs of cooking oil, sacks of rice or styrofoam boxes of fresh food, while others were leaving, carrying valuables such as TVs and electric fans toward drier ground.
The Thai Red Cross Society, said the group has been sending 3,000-3,500 relief packs every day into flood-hit neighborhoods in Bangkok as well as the nearby provinces of Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi.
Waterway: Thai flood victims pass Toyota cars at the flooded Toyota Bangkok branch in Don Mueang district of Bangkok, Thailand
Row your boat: Thai flood victims passing the flooded Toyota car showroom in Bangkok, Thailand
Driven out: An aerial view of the Honda motor factory buildings submerged by floodwaters at Rojana Industrial Estate in Ayutthaya province, Thailand
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are greeted by Denmark's Crown Princess Mary and Prince Frederik as they arrive in Copenhagen to support Unicef's East Africa appeal
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge landed in Copenhagen today to visit a famine relief depot.
On their arrival, they were greeted by the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark ahead of the trip to view the effort to distribute food and medical supplies to east Africa.
The couple were offered a taste of a special high-protein peanut paste which is sent to malnourished children in Africa.
They were given a briefing on the crisis threatening the region and given details on nutrition and food for people in the area.
The duke took a fingerful of the paste before passing it on to the duchess, who declined to taste it and passed it over to Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, who accompanied them on the visit.
It is likely to be a bitter-sweet journey as it was just over a year ago that William arranged a romantic stay in a secluded log cabin on Mount Kenya, East Africa, so he could carry out his carefully planned proposal.
It's no wonder then the area is close to their hearts as William and Kate are to send off a relief flight loaded with aid as they take part in their first joint humanitarian mission.
Famine was declared in Somalia just three months ago after the worst drought in 60 years hit the areas surrounding where the royal couple holidayed.
The couple will tour a British Airways Boeing 747 before it leaves for the stricken region.
Their visit to the airport will follow their visit to Unicef's warehouse in the city with the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark.
Kate, pictured with Princess Mary, made a statement in a red Seventies-inspired coat and knee-high boots
The aircraft will be laden with 45 tonnes of aid, including emergency medical supplies.
Unicef UK's executive director David Bull said: 'We know that when children are malnourished their immune systems are weakened and they become very susceptible to life threatening diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea. We need to help these children urgently.
'The supplies being packed on this plane will help Unicef to save these children's lives.'
Thousands in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti have already died following a daily struggle for food, medicine and water and the lives of 320,000 children are currently at risk from sheer starvation.
William asked Kate to marry him in the surrounds of the beautiful Lake Rutundu while on holiday at the nearby Lewa Downs wildlife sanctuary.
Prince William has in the past described Africa as a place close to his heart
Six months after their wedding the royal couple must now be tinged with sadness when remembering the place and the moment they took their first step towards being wed.
It is a fact that cannot fail to impress on the couple today as they view the effort to help those in need and assist Unicef workers in packing emergency life-saving supplies.
The Duke in particular may feel a sharpened sadness for the current crisis; he has in the past described Africa as a place close to his heart.
During his gap year in 2001 he spent over three months learning about Africa's wildlife and environment while visiting a number of countries.
The couple will the Unicef's warehouse in the city with the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark
He also went on his first joint overseas engagement to Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa with his brother Prince Harry in June last year.
The brothers' visit was on behalf of the Football Association (FA), of which the Duke is president, in support of its bid to host the 2018 Fifa World Cup.
They are also both patrons of Tusk Trust and Sentebale and in 2008 trekked through the wilds of Africa to raise thousands for Sentebale.
The Unicef visit is perhaps also likely to lead to speculation that the Duchess might consider making African famine relief one of the causes she wants to support in her working life.
Severe food shortages in East Africa are affecting more than 13 million people and the royal party hope to maintain global attention on the crisis, which is worsening with more areas expected to be declared as 'in famine' over the next few months.
Unicef's emergency supply centre in Copenhagen is a worldwide co-ordination centre for nutrition and other emergency supplies reaching children in crisis around the world.
Beagle: Daniel, who is better known as the 'Miracle Dog', sits still while waiting for a treat in the home of Mark and Jill Pavlik after surviving the gas chamber
The animal-control officer loaded the dogs, one by one, into the death chamber. Four or five were facing their final moments of life as Cody Berry did what he had to do.
'It’s the toughest part of the job,' said Berry, who has spent the last five months working for the Animal Control Department in Florence, Alabama.
Berry turned the key and pressed a button. A light came on, and carbon monoxide seeped into the chamber.
Unnamed and unwanted, the young beagle mix was left anonymously in a drop box outside an Alabama pound. His life was supposed to end in a gas chamber.
Instead, the young stray emerged frightened but unscathed, wagging his tail. Now, he's being hailed as a miracle dog, given the name Daniel after the biblical figure who survived the lion's den.
And he has a fresh start in New Jersey, where a rescue group hopes to find him a good home.
Only three animals have survived the gas chamber at the Animal Control facility in Florence in the past 12 years.
'Maybe God just had a better plan for this one,' said city spokesman Phil Stevenson.
Miracle: Jill Pavlik plays with Daniel moments after arriving home from work. The stray beagle mix cheated death in an Alabama dog pound
New Home: Daniel is being fostered by the Pavlik's while a permanent home is found for him after he walked out unscathed from the carbon monoxide
Daniel's tail never stopped wagging as he stepped off a plane at a New Jersey airport, where he was flown on Wednesday by the nonprofit Eleventh Hour Rescue group and placed with volunteer Jill Pavlik until he can be adopted.
'He's absolutely fabulous,' Ms Pavlik, a hairdresser who works and lives in northern New Jersey, said on Friday.
'He walked in the house like he had always lived there. He's very sweet, happy and outgoing.'
Linda Schiller, the shelter's founder and president, said the facility has already received about 100 applications from people around the country seeking to adopt Daniel.
About half said they weren't interested in adopting another dog if the 20-pound Daniel wasn't available.
Popular: Hundreds of offers have been flooding in to adopt Daniel
'Maybe we'll get a cosmetic surgeon to make all our dogs look like Daniel,' Ms Schiller said jokingly. She added that Daniel, while thin, hadn't shown any residual effects of his ordeal.
No one is sure why Daniel was the lone survivor. 'It may be that his breathing was shallow because of a cold or something,' Mr Stevenson said.
He said the gas chamber is a stainless-steel box roughly the size of a pickup truck bed, and dogs are put into the chamber about seven or eight at a time.
A computer-controlled pump slowly feeds carbon monoxide into the chamber once it's sealed, and an operator presses a button.
Normally, the animals just go 'to sleep slowly. It's like the cases you hear about where people are overcome by carbon monoxide in their home and just never wake up', he said.
On that October 3 day, a new animal control officer placed the stray beagle into the chamber with several other animals and started the machine, Mr Stevenson said.
Variables that could allow a dog to survive such a gassing include the number of animals placed in the chamber, the concentration of carbon monoxide, whether the chamber is airtight or gas is leaking out and the health of the animal, said Julie Morris, senior vice president of community outreach for the ASPCA.
Young, healthy animals have the best chance for survival.
Since carbon monoxide is heavier than air, it sinks, so a tall dog, or one that climbed to the top of a pile, would have a better chance of surviving, she said.
Vinny Grosso, the Florence animal shelter's director, said Daniel showed up in one of the shelter's 'drop box' cages where people can drop off animals anonymously.
'It was an unwanted dog. ... We didn't have a history on him,' he said.
As many as 30 animals a month are put down; Mr Stevenson said Daniel was the third dog he could remember surviving in the last 12 years.
'It's just very, very rare,' Mr Grosso said, adding that the shelter's policy calls for officials to find surviving animals a new home.
He said the shelter is limited by law on how many dogs it can hold and had just taken in 60 in one day.
Because of the huge number, it had to pick some to put down, and strays like Daniel, dropped off with no evidence of an owner, are the first to go.
Mindy Gilbert, Alabama director for the Humane Society of the United States, said Daniel's story explains why the group pushed the Alabama Legislature to ban gas chambers for euthanizing dogs, effective December 31. She said many states still use them.
'They are still considered a humane method in many parts of the country.'
At least 15 states, including New Jersey and New York, have banned carbon monoxide for euthanizing shelter animals.
The ASPCA recommends injections of sodium pentobarbital for euthanizing shelter animals because it is faster, quicker and safer than carbon monoxide.
Ms Pavlik, who was worked with Eleventh Hour Rescue for seven years, said she planned to proceed with the adoption process with an abundance of caution due to the publicity generated by the case.
'We're going to be very careful,' she said. 'He's a dog; he's a lucky dog, but he's a dog. And there are a lot of nutty people out there.'
Mr Grosso said he was pleased to see the reception Daniel got in New Jersey and hopes his story will increase adoptions.
'It was a great ending to a kind of bizarre story,' he said.
Composed: Attending a private charity dinner last night, Kate looked glamorous in a pale aqua Amanda Wakeley dress, but her half-up half-down hairstyle exposed a three inch scar just above her left ear
The utterly charming Duchess of Cambridge mesmerised guests as she hosted a black tie charity event in Clarence House last week.
But as photos emerged the following morning of Prince William's pretty wife, the media and public were mesmerised by something else, a three inch scar that ran up the side of Catherine's head just above her left ear.
We can now reveal that the scar is the result of a sporting accident from when the 29-year-old was at school at Malborough in Berkshire.
A spokesman for the Duchess at St James’s Palace immediately confirmed that the scar was the result of surgery that had taken place more than a decade before. ‘The scar related to a childhood operation,’ they said.
The palace declined to discuss what kind of operation. But senior royal sources confirmed that it had been ‘a very serious operation’ and declined to comment further.
However one of Kate's childhood friends has now revealed the truth behind the injury. They told Grazia: 'Everyone knows Kate was sporty at school, and she told me how she had a sporting accident.
Kate's scar, the result of a sporting injury, was clearly visible on her temple, while right, William has what he calls his Harry Potter scar on his forehead, the result of being hit with a golf club when he was 13
Kate's scar was clearly visible on the side of her head in a photo taken earlier this year
'She was hit on the head when she was 14 or 15. Later, she was taken to hospital by her mother and had to have an operation. I can only presume the two were connected.
'There were whispers wondering if she might have had a brain tumour.'
But John Scurr, consultant surgeon at the Lister Hospital in London, said a tumour was unlikely.
‘I really doubt it was any serious medical condition,‘ he said.
Sporting injury: Kate Middleton, left, was on Malborough College's girls' hockey team - which is probably how she got the three inch scar in her hair
Model pupil: Kate, centre, back row, with the rest of the hockey team infront of her public school
‘It is remarkable, given the measurement, that no-one has noticed before.’
The accident is likely to have involved being hit on the heat by a hockey stick, as Kate was on Malborough School's team and played often. This makes her injury surprisingly similar to the one that left her husband with a 'Harry Potter scar'.
Prince William has a large zig-zag mark on his forehead as a result of being hit with a golf club when he was 13.
Kate looked slender in her beaded gown - which, unusually for the Duchess, who tends to cover up with either sleeves or small bolero, showed off her shoulders - as she chatted with the 30 guests at Clarence House
The Duchess was conducting her first solo engagement as a member of the Royal Family, standing in for her father-in-law, Prince Charles.
The Prince had been due to host a glitzy black-tie private dinner at Clarence House, his London residence, in aid of In Kind Direct, a charity he set up in 1996.
Unfortunately Charles was suddenly required to fly to Riyadh to present condolences to the Saudi Royal Family following the death of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. So he called his 'delightful daughter-in-law' and asked if she would step in.
Jump to it: A competitor leads her rabbit across the course as spectators look on
Great steeplechase events - in which the sharp intelligence of man and the raw power of beast unite in a sublime spectacle of nerve, aggression and high-speed - have dotted the sporting calendar for centuries.
The Grand National springs to mind as the yearly highlight of the 'sport of kings' in which thoroughbred steeds and their brave jockeys triumph - or fail - over gruelling courses and high-fenced adversity.
And now steeplechase enthusiasts can add another event to the annuals of great sporting occasions.
Run rabbit, run: The rabbits faced a number of different-sized hurdles along the route
Winner's enclosure: Lada Sipova-Krecova of the Czech Republic pets her rabbit after winning the competition
Furry friend: A girl kisses her rabbit after an obstacle course during the rabbit-hopping championships
For organisers in Switzerland have held the first ever European Kanin Hop Championships - in which dozens of rabbits compete to be first across the finish line.
The showjumping bunnies, representing a number of countries across Europe, hopped their way around a course consisting of several small jumps in the town of Wollerau, just south of Zurich.
More than 50 rabbits took part in the event, which attracted hundreds of spectators.
In recent years the sport has spread far from its Scandinavian homeland and clubs have now sprung up in several other European countries, the U.S., Canada and even Japan.
Bushy tailed: Two rabbits clear different hurdles as they race against more than 50 competitors
Happy bunny: One athlete in training before the championships in Switzerland
Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail: Another rabbit is put through its paces before Lada Sipova-Krecova and her pet (right) eventually win the day
The Swedish Federation of Rabbit Jumping was established in 1995.
The current rabbit jumping record holders are both Danish.
Yabo holds the Long Jump record with a leap of 10ft, while a rabbit by the name of Tosen completed a High Jump of 3.3ft in 1997.
10:24 PM
ms.tk
She was said to be looking forward to the ‘simplest things’ in life when she was released from jail .
She was said to be looking forward to the ‘simplest things’ in life when she was released from jail .
