It’s been revealed that the Duke and Duchess of York’s youngest daughter, Princess Eugenie, was in Mumbai just days before the terrorist attacks which killed almost 200 people.

The Queen’s 18-year-old granddaughter stayed at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and visited the Oberoi Hotel and the Leopold cafe – the scenes of much of the slaughter – just four days before last Wednesday’s rampage by a group of terrorists.

The princess is currently on her gap-year travels and had reached Goa by the time of the attacks.

According to a source, speaking to the Daily Mail: "Eugenie and her travel partner were very shaken up at the thought it could so easily have been them."

"Her policemen said afterwards that the last gunman had been killed in the very room they had been staying in."

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Name: exploora	Comment: I think the whole idea is to cause fear. It doesn't produce anything accept fear, as far as I can see. It was lucky Eugenie left when she did. I could see how someone would want to spend more time there, before the massacre happened, if a person had money it Bombay I best is an incredibly exciting place to visit.

Name: valmae	Comment: The events in Mumbai are another unspeakable tragedy for mankind. Just how can anyone benefit from a posse of gunmen letting rip at a crowd in yet another city? Princess Eugenie was lucky to have escaped the carnage. What about the people who didn't?

Name: exploora

Comment: I have my extra cell phone batteries all charged up, I have one big bottle of water that could fit on the cooler which would still work without electricity, and i have 6 energy bars, a portable radio, a flashlight for my head, lots of batteries. So that is about how far I have planned for a disaster. I think I would hide somewhere and eat my energy bars and hope the authorities when or if they turned up, knew how to behave and what to do. And I always make sure I have extra blue puffers. I just hope it never happens. It is sort of like wearing a rain coat, then it stops raining, and if you leave the raincoat at home, you better believe it is going to pour. I am glad Eugenie is ok. She is still very lucky to go to these places that many people only dream of going to. I always thought going to India would be a great experience. The terrorists win when people stop doing things they would normally be doing. Like sept. 11, 2002, I bought a plane ticket and went to visit my friend in the states, and I found people were incredibly friendly that day. Everyone from the security guy, to the person at Starbucks, and the guy I was sitting next to on the plane. And when we landed, the plane was completely quiet, and a little girl said we made it. And that is how people recover I guess. That may be the hardest part, to let the bad experience go and move on.

Name: anyacat	Comment: Plan as we may, few of us know how we will behave in a disaster.

Name: exploora

Comment: That is why people are supposed to plan for an emergency. Not that a person would expect something like what happened in India to happen. But there were apparently some warning signs, and usually these warnings signs are usually responded to half heartedly. In this case they increased security in the front entrance but left the back entrance the same. And then as individuals people need to be given relevant information and decide if they are going to go out for a quick curry in a location which is under some form of security alert. If I was to make the decision, I wouldn't go. I doubt those people making the decision were given enough information to make an informed decision for themselves based on their own self interest. There were also warning signs around the time of 9 11. I think in both situations the warning signs were not taken that seriously, that is usually how governments seem to run most things anyway. Even with a simple thing like a driveway, run by a government, they will find a way to devalue the asset so that traffic is slowed down, and risk of traffic accidents are decreased, such as putting a no entrance sign in a shops driveway. That is the government works. Posting a sensible speed limit in a block which should be zoned as part of downtown never comes into the equation. When do government programs really ever work the way they are suppose to? If that was a private army, I bet the fires would have been distinguished much faster, and the ten men would have been shot or tear gassed within minutes not days. They were only 10 men.

Name: anyacat

Comment: Well, I was raised in an era when we practiced hiding under our flimsy wooden desks in the event of a nuclear attack. Even then I knew that was foolish and useless. I did as I was told, but I was pretty sure that in the event of a nuclear attack by the Godless Communists, I'd be ashes within seconds. However... Today is the 50th Anniversary of a terrible school fire here in Chicago that killed 92 children and three nuns. There was no way out of the third floor classrooms as the halls were filled with thick black smoke and flames. The nuns told the children to sit in their seats and say The Act of Contrition. The good kids stayed put; the bad kids, said "F*@k this," and jumped out of the windows. The fire resulted in major changes in fire safety in schools. Unlike today, many of the changes were instantaneous. But I often wonder what I would have done if I was in that classroom filled with many children who had been my playmates. We moved, you see, about two years before the fire. Knowing who I was at age 12, I might well have been one of the children who obeyed and died. My brother, on the other hand, would have been the first kid out of the window. We don't know what we will do when faced with catastrophe. We think we will be the one to go down fighting, but maybe we will be the one who thinks that we will be saved by our obedience. As we journey through life, few of us think we will ever face the business end of a gun. On the other hand, there was that time in New York City--but that's another story!

Name: exploora

Comment: That is what the problem is. The civilians are targeted because they are not expected to be armed, and most of them aren't. They were just out for a curry, or earning a living serving the curry, or what have you. I know when one of the teachers at the school I went to in the primary grades was accused of alleged child abuse, to my understanding was related to something which allegedly happened over thirty years ago at another school, all the alumni were emailed and asked if they needed to talk to the psychologist. The person was very well known so the incident was continually on the news for a few days, though I have no idea what the outcome was. I believe one of the teachers which was facing a similar ordeal committed suicide. On the radio both schools were called elite schools, not independent schools. The school I went to, at the time, rented a hockey arena during the day, our classes were held in cold dressing rooms. And the school now does appear elite but it grew from being independent. The whole idea of being independent is to know when to run and know when to lie low, and to believe that you do have the conceptual tools to make that decision on your own. Maybe that is what makes people elite, is there ability to be both functional and independent. I don't know. Maybe civilians need to be armed. Would that mean that we would all shoot each other when our egos were offended. I don't think so. I think it would mean if someone was going to shoot, ten people could shoot back. That could be a deterrent in itself. Maybe that is what is going to have to happen. Of course there are risks related to that solution too.

Name: anyacat

Comment: When faced with ten heavily armed shooting men the reaction of most people is to run in the opposite direction, or at least hit the floor and crawl. However, our Texas contingent believes that all people should be armed at all times to guard against such attacks--and then you can have a shoot out. As for the kid, well, she has a wealthy father who can afford to give her a memorable gap year. She also has protection, which, in these frugal times, has been removed or reduced from other members of the family. In the end, she was away from the trouble before it began and I don't understand why the news stories present this as a "narrow escape." Knocking down the building wasn't the issue, killing the people inside was. Buckingham Palace belongs to the nation, and when it kicks the royals out, it may be used for any purpose by the nation, which also owns Windsor Castle. However, the family will not be homeless as they own, outright, Sandringham and Balmoral. Maybe they can open these as a bed and breakfast. John McCain owns even homes

Name: exploora

Comment: I guess this is what some people would call visiting such places as being "frugal" (in the face of the impending recession). At least she is ok. I think the strategy is to target ordinary people, while doing ordinary things, to terrorize ordinary people who identify with ordinary people. Why was it so difficult to outpower ten young men, of course they were heavily armed. But they were only ten of them. That is what is terrifying. If the same damage had been done by Hundreds of young men it would be less terrifying in a way. The problem is people wait until something happens then react, there needs to be a plan in place, with the thought in mind that the enemy is probably going to be armed, well trained, but possibly a small group. It is amazing the Taj is still standing. It looks pretty good from the outside. It is too bad Buckingham Palace couldn't be turned into a hotel. It would probably draw a huge crowd of vacationers. And that would be good for the economy. Why does one family need so many palaces is beyond me. . I guess it is possible such a family used to such a lifestyle would consider visiting the Taj as being frugal.