Insiders reveal the food King Charles has BANNED from French state visit banquet – and the reasons why (but mushrooms are on the menu because they remind him of Queen Elizabeth II)

• Charles provided a strict list of culinary demands for meal at Palace of Versailles

By Peter Allen In Paris

Published: 03:03 EDT, 20 September 2023 | Updated: 04:56 EDT, 20 September 2023

Harrowing images taken from inside Poland’s incest house of horror have revealed the dingy basement where depraved Piotr Gierasik allegedly threw the newborn babies of his own daughter to die while they continued their four-year relationship.  

Piotr, 54, and Paulina Gierasik, 20, are facing life in prison for murder and incest after the remains of three infants were discovered at the property in the village of Czerniki, in northern Poland, last week. 

Police had conducted a visit at the property after receiving a disturbing tip-off from social services, but while combing the property for evidence discovered a filthy stench emanating from a basement inside the house.

Upon further inspection, they made the horrific find – the rotting corpses of three children who had been tossed into the pitch-black pit. 

Two of the babies were stuffed in plastic bags and buried in a shallow grave in the soft ground beneath the house. A third – believed to belong to another of Piotr’s daughters – was simply left to decompose.

Inspectors were forced to pick their way along a dank corridor crudely held together by cement and crumbling brickwork before lowering themselves into the gloom to make their gruesome discovery.  

Locals interviewed by local media told how the father and daughter were in a relationship for four years and ‘walked around hand-in-hand’. 

Colleagues of Paulina at a cake shop in the neighbouring village of Stara Kiszewa have now told how her father ‘shaved her head so that other boys wouldn’t look at her’ and that she looked up to him ‘as if he were God’.

The father and daughter – who are said to have ‘lived like a couple’ – were each charged with multiple counts of murder and each of incest.

Paulina’s colleagues said they became suspicious that she was pregnant after she started to wear large, loose-fitting clothes. She then took three weeks off work but returned a week later.

One fellow shop worker told the Super Express newspaper: ‘We all guessed she was pregnant, I think she had tied belts around herself like a sort of corset.

‘When she returned early from her holiday the change was visible. She was much thinner, weaker, and constantly tired.

‘When we asked about the child, she feigned surprise and denied it.’

Another local told Fakt newspaper: ‘They lived like a couple. She called him Piotr, by his first name. They walked around hand in hand.

‘A few months ago, he shaved her head so that other boys wouldn’t look at her.

‘She looked up to him as if he were God.’

Addressing the arrests earlier, Mariusz Duszyński from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Gdańsk said: ‘The woman has been charged with two counts of murder and a charge of having an incestuous relationship with her father.

‘The man was charged with three counts of murder, a charge of incest with his 20-year-old daughter, and a charge of having incestuous relations with another daughter.’

According to prosecutors, two of the murdered children came from his relationship with the 20-year-old who they say was in a consensual relationship with her father.

The third baby was from a relationship he had with another daughter after forcing her into sex.

The prosecutors added that they suspected him of killing the third baby.

Grażyna Wawryniuk from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Gdańsk told the Polish Press Agency: ‘Our system’s data shows that in recent years, proceedings have been conducted regarding abuse of other family members.

‘Even earlier, proceedings were conducted on suspicion of incest.

‘All these proceedings were ended at the stage of the prosecutor’s office due to the lack of data sufficient to justify the suspicion of committing the offences.’

She added that prosecutors would now re-examine the previous evidence.

The grim discoveries came after police received a tip-off from social services. One of Paulina’s work colleagues is reported to have alerted social services after seeing a ‘disturbing’ text message the 20-year-old had sent to her father.

Moving to the village around 15 years ago, Piotr was left to bring up his children after his wife died.

A family friend has said that Piotr Gierasik who lives off social benefits used to beat his former wife.

Described as a ‘loving and caring’ mother, the friend told Fakt newspaper that Hania, who died 15 years ago on 18 September, was regularly abused by her husband.

The friend said: ‘She was a caring mother and a very good woman.

‘But he was picking fights with her every day. The whole village could hear him shouting at her. Hania was regularly beaten up.

‘He had sex with his daughters when Hania was alive, she was not able to defend them.

‘She was never sick, but suddenly she lost weight, her hair fell out, she was hospitalised and never came out alive, her death was never explained, I don’t believe she just died like that, she was only 38 years old.

‘Hania was very important to her daughters, the children regularly visit her at the cemetery.’

One local told the Super Express newspaper: ‘The father was left alone with the children.

‘There are a lot of them, ten or twelve, the oldest ones have already left.

‘Piotr made a good impression. The yard is neglected, but he installed new windows in the house.

‘There was no sign of him drinking. He took the kids for walks or to the forest to pick mushrooms.

‘Just ordinary people. Who would have thought that such abominations existed in their home.’

But other locals told Fakt that while he ‘seemed calm’ he ‘had the devil under his skin’.

It comes as the small town of Czerniki – with a population of less than 180, located 50km from Gdańsk – has been accused of holding a ‘conspiracy of silence’ over the allegedly known relationship between the father and daughter.

Locals said they ‘always suspected something was wrong’ with the family.

One neighbour said: ‘We often heard him shouting at the children. His verbal abuse was shocking. Sometimes we’d hear one of girls screaming.

‘What people say now is that he used to go for walks with them. Maybe he did, but the whole village knew that something like this was happening.

‘It’s a tiny village, so everyone knew about these things.

‘Around ten years ago, the police were told that he was sleeping with one of his daughters. But after they investigated they couldn’t find any concrete evidence.

‘The older daughter, who we suspected he had slept with was so scared she refused to say anything.

‘He [the father] has such a personality that everyone in this village was afraid of him. That’s why this case didn’t appear for so long’.

‘She later moved away, as did many of his other children. There were about twelve of them.’

A neighbour of the older daughter told Super Express: ‘She now lives in our village.

‘She has a decent husband. As far as I remember, everyone said that she ran away from that father.

‘If I were her husband, I would kill that monster. If someone hurt my wife like that, I would kill him too.

Police have so far discovered the remains of three babies buried in the family’s house.

Unconfirmed reports say that one of the bodies wrapped in a black plastic bin liner was about three weeks old at the time of death.

Katarzyna Matyszczak, the manager of the confectionery shop where Paulina worked, said: ‘Everyone was gossiping about it.

‘His youngest daughter Paulina is a beautiful girl. Everyone said she was pregnant. So I asked about it directly.

‘She denied it. One of her friends didn’t believe it. I won’t say who, but she was the one who informed the relevant services about the whole matter, because she suspected that she had given birth to a child.’

Prosecutors are now waiting for an autopsy to determine how the three babies died. Meanwhile, police are continuing to search the property to see if any more bodies are hidden in the house.

Both the father and daughter are currently in detention as the investigation continues.

They are snapshots of a bygone age when foreign holidays were adventurous, exotic and simply had to be recorded with a postcard to home.

Millions of beach, street, hotel, matador and flamenco dancer postcards washed through the British postal system every summer as tourists discovered the Spanish Costas and revelled in sun, sangria and souvenirs in the 1970s.

A treasure trove of postcards sent from Spain has just emerged and with it a fascinating glimpse of a culture in which observations of distant lands would only navigate the chicanes of European postal systems long after you got home.

The worn and faded postcards are coming to light in house clearances as a generation, who kept them in albums, folders and shoe boxes for decades, de-clutter to discover what are now regarded as important societal insights.

Measuring less than six by four inches, they lay bare the need travellers had to share their experiences as they took their first steps into unchartered territories.

They existed in a different age when ‘abroad’ was largely unknown and the dense beachside developments of modern resorts a distant dream. 

There was no internet, no Facebook, no Instagram, no mobile phones and no phone calls unless you had deep pockets and were prepared to endure the time delay, echoes and crackles that frustrated early international telephone exchanges.

Postcard messages, with breathless detail often crammed onto every available square inch of space, were the only way to relay the exciting, amazing – sometimes ‘awful’ – experience of ‘going abroad’ in the pioneering days of package holidays.

Pat tells her friend in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, that there is ‘so much to do’ in Majorca: ‘Dancing every evening somewhere. Went shopping on bicycles. Today bought shoes.’ 

She also marked her hotel with an X in pen on the cover image of Mallorca resort scene.

Many British tourists lapped up the entertainment that was staged by the fast growing hotel sector in Spain and Jean and Bill wrote home in praise of the hotel buffet and revealed: ‘Last night there was a leather fashion show and tonight there is folk dancing.’

Many of the cards date to the early 1970s and feature views of emerging resorts such as Benidorm, Fuengirola and Magaluf before their hotels, bars, restaurants and apartments colonised the coastal strips.

Postcards were also a way to get creative and spread the fun with Steve, writing back to Chislehurst, Kent, channelling the Shipping Forecast for his resume: ‘Spaniards very good, friendly, tolerable. 

‘Women very very good, plentiful, abundant. Drinking very good, very varied, usually successful.’

Rod treated Mary and John back in Yeovil to sketches of a wine bottle, cocktails, a filled champagne bucket and a filleted fish on a plate to illustrate his fun-fuelled holiday and added a cheery ‘Someone said something about a drink so must be off’ to his artistic effort.

The freedom to drink round the clock – British pubs were still subject to restrictive licensing hours – and on a budget was a popular theme running through the postcards that are being sold on the internet. 

Kev tells his parents in Northampton that the weather is not good but ‘you can drink all night’. 

He finishes ‘I’m off down the pub’.

Rose and Bob marvel to their friends in Gillingham: ‘I am drinking your health with a double rum and Coca Cola 2s 6d (12p)’ while Mike and John can scarcely contain their thrill at a night around the clubs where ‘wine, brandy, cognac etc is about 5s 6d (26p) a bottle.’

Leah and Bert tell friends in Northampton that the hotel is A1 and there is ‘plenty of cheap wallop so we can’t grumble’ while Greg informs the typing pool slaving away at Halton Borough Council in Cheshire that he is ‘keeping the bars busy’ in Salou.

The cards poured through letter boxes radiating sunshine across Britain with many spreading their joy, and jealousy, to work family, friends, colleagues and even schoolteachers.

Exposure to the scorching sun is a recurring topic with Pauline and Alan telling their aunty and uncle stuck in Bristol that they were being careful as they were ‘a little burnt already’ and Annie and Billy tell friends in Newcastle: ‘we are as brown as berries’.

A reminder of home is always welcome with Vicky, revelling in the decadence of ‘writing this on the balcony while my hair dries’, telling family in Wimborne Minster, Dorset: ‘Thanks to our courier we’ve found a very good disco that plays 90% English records.’

Ann writes back from Mallorca to her mum in Harrow: ‘The food is really awful though, they need to get an M&S up here.’ 

Missing luggage was a constant concern of the early package tours and Jean laments that a suitcase turned up in Lisbon while she and husband Eric were in Ibiza. ‘Poor Eric,’ she wrote to the Walkers in Blackpool. ‘Imagine having nothing to wear?’. 

But the lack of clothing didn’t dim their enjoyment as she continued about the fantastic weather revealing: ‘Eric is like a bronzed God – me like a boiled lobster, covered with blisters, insect bites and freckles.

‘Food is very good. I will be in the Roly Poly league by the time we come back.’ She too had little faith in the postal system, signing off: ‘I expect we will see you before this card arrives.’

Holidaymakers ‘B & S’ wrote back to Blackpool about the entertainment on offer informing the Robertsons: ‘We had a game of bingo in the hotel last night. Mum won a large giraffe.’

The sense of adventure is peppered through many of the cards with a group from a Somerset building firm taunting stay-at-home colleagues about their time in the ‘playgrounds of Europe’. 

They add: ‘Weather is glorious and England seems 10,000 miles away.’

They were indeed trailblazers as around only four million Brits a year ventured to Spain in the early 1970s compared to the budget airlines boom of the 1990s when numbers soared and reached the record of 17 million in 2019.

‘In the 1970s, Spain was for many of us the first experience of an overseas holiday and the Spanish offered up a version of the country based around Flamenco dancers, paella and sangria but also some traditional home comforts from the UK, like English breakfasts and Sunday roasts,’ says Sean Tipton, of the Association of British Travel Agents. 

‘Most tourists were thrilled to let people know how good it was via a postcard.’

Cultural historian and author Dr Alwyn Turner reveals that foreign travel was still a novelty with around 7 million holidaying abroad in 1975 – around 12% of the population – compared to the 40% that headed abroad this year.

‘It was a minority in the 1970s so it was an adventure,’ says Dr Turner, a senior lecturer in history at the University of Chichester. 

‘The real shift doesn’t come until the cheap air travel of the 1990s and by 2000 we took more than 36 million foreign holidays a year.

‘Those early tourists were keen to tell family and friends about the weird and wonderful things they encountered and what they were doing and, of course, there was an element of the brag about some of the postcards.

‘They have sociological relevance because it is people communicating about how they experience foreign culture and this was at a time when the UK was looking to join the European Union. There is a cultural importance because these were the first stirrings of a European interaction.’

The physical signs of exposure to different cultures came in the giant sombreros, stuffed toy donkeys, maracas and wine bottles that were crammed into luggage for the return trip but a deeper impact is revealed in the lexicon of the cards.

The postcards are being viewed as an important window on British culture and Steve Kentfield, Honorary Secretary of the Postcard Traders’ Association, comments: ‘Some of the cards will have a value because of the rare photographs but they are mainly important because of their social history.

‘Millions were sent every year but, although many people kept them for a while, most were thrown away so they are not as common as you’d imagine. 

Travelling abroad by plane was still very new in those days and there was no other way of telling people about it other than a postcard.’

The age of wide-eyed wonder has gone but it remains time-locked in batches of dog-eared postcards that once delivered joy.

Experiencing different cultures is part of the magic of travelling.

But some have the potential to leave tourists scratching their heads, thanks to bizarre local customs.

Commenters took to online forum Ask Reddit to reveal some of the choicest examples after user ‘LifeOnMarsden’ posed the question: ‘What is totally normal in your country that would be really bizarre to foreigners or tourists?’

The discussion, which has gained thousands of comments since it began, recently resurfaced online. 

Getting the ball rolling, ‘chillphilsonthegrill’ said: ‘In Canada, we put maple syrup on snow and wait for it to get all gooey, then we eat it.’

Explaining how this is done, fellow Redditor ‘truecdn’ added: ‘You basically make a mound of snow and cut a trench in it, then pour the hot syrup into it and the snow cools it. Then, when it’s still gooey, you roll it onto a stick and eat it off the stick.’

Sharing another peculiar foodie tradition,’seeyouyeah’ suggested: ‘Throwing cheese down a hill then running after it.’

The comment, which earned 788 upvotes, refers to the Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake event in Gloucestershire, England, where competitors roll a cheese wheel down a steep hill and the first person to cross the finish line wins.

In another food-focused comment, ‘Azel’ said: ‘In Cambodia, there’s this food called “Happy Pizza”. It’s a pizza with marijuana on it.’

While ‘molecularpotet’ shared how, in Colombia, people put cheese in hot chocolate.

They explained: ‘You put in a bit of cheese in the cup, it melts, and you take it out with a spoon and eat it with bread. No, it doesn’t make your chocolate taste cheesy, it just melts in a nice way… the first time I did this with foreigners they were completely beside themselves.’

And while it’s not a foodie custom per se, chewing gum is banned in Singapore – a rule that locals find ‘odd’, Reddit user ‘Im_Tsuikyit’ revealed. 

Sharing the story behind the ban, which was implemented in 1992, they said: ‘The fact gum is illegal here in Singapore may be odd to foreigners, but there’s a reason for that. The reason being, people [were] constantly spitting gum onto the ground, sticking it on cars and elevator buttons, making everywhere you went covered in gum. And when the gum dried up, it would become very hard to remove.’

Also in Singapore, ‘bluezebra1990’ said that in food halls, coffee shops and food courts, you can ‘reserve a table or a seat by placing a packet of tissue or a handkerchief on the spot’.

They added: ‘No need to leave my bag or bottle or anything else to reserve the spot before I walk over to a food stall to buy food. I come back and my 20-cent packet of tissue is still there.’ 

And quirky customs extend to drinking too. Offering insight into a Russian tradition, Reddit user ‘Skordge’ revealed it’s customary to put ‘liquor bottles under the table when you finish them, because there’s a superstition about empty bottles on a table bringing bad luck’. They added: ‘You follow it even if you don’t believe it because you never know if anyone drinking with you actually does and takes offence.’ 

Several users, meanwhile, pointed out that ‘clamanto juice’ – clam juice and tomato juice – is frequently mixed into beer in Canada and Mexico. ‘It’s a “hangover cure” but I’ve had it and it might be the most repulsive thing ever,’ user ‘thatdrunkgirl’ commented. 

And user ‘DrUnce’ revealed that drive-through daiquiri shops are an unusual custom in the U.S. The cocktails are served in closed containers, so they can’t be sipped while driving. 

Another common theme in the discussion was different countries’ approaches to parenting. For instance, ‘Zrina94’ said Denmark’s approach to caring for children ‘baffles a lot of foreigners’.

They explained: ‘We find it natural to leave them unattended. They are left in their prams to nap basically everywhere, usually outside, no matter what time of the year it is.’

‘Rimana2015’ replied that it’s customary for children to be left to nap outside in Finland as well.

Sharing a parenting custom of the Ute people, an indigenous tribe in the U.S, ‘nativehoneybaby’ said that it’s traditional for new mothers to be confined to a room in their homes for 30 days after having a baby, only leaving to go to the doctor. 

The Reddit user, who explained they are Ute themselves, said that ‘it’s to help the baby identify where his/her home is’.

Manners and politeness are other topics that seem to underpin intriguing local customs.

Irish Reddit user ‘Madra_ruax’ suggested that the custom of ‘thanking the bus driver’ can confuse visitors from other countries. They said: ‘If I don’t thank them, I think that [the bus drivers] think I’m rude.’ Another UK-based Reddit user admitted this is commonplace in Britain too. 

Sharing a custom in Iran, ‘Sunchild21’ said ‘it is common to say “no” out of politeness’ when you are offered something.

They explained: ‘Only if the other person asks again will you say yes. Cab drivers will do this too for instance.

‘You ask how much you owe them and they’ll say something along the lines of “oh, don’t worry it’s worth nothing” to which you then reply by insisting on paying. Only then will they tell you the price.’

User ‘EasyDeezy’ said: ‘In Bulgaria, we nod for “no” and shake [our heads] for “yes”… foreigners get really, really confused.’

And Reddit user ‘Skordge’ revealed that in Russia, it’s not customary to smile at strangers. 

One unnamed user said the ‘no smiling’ practice also happens ‘in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia’, adding: ‘When we smile, it actually means something.’

Local festivals can baffle foreigners, the forum suggested. Reddit user ‘TommyTbone’ revealed that Swedes dance around a penis-shaped maypole that’s festooned with flowers to celebrate Midsummer each year. ‘Historically this was to ensure a plentiful harvest,’ they explain. 

Other customs that can cause confusion are the different words used to describe the same thing, the forum highlighted.

Australian Reddit user ‘Imnotavegan’ said: ‘We call flip-flops “thongs” and erasers “rubbers”.’ User ‘guustavoalmadovar’ weighed in and said that flip-flops are called ‘jandals’ in New Zealand.

While ‘butterpopkorn’ said that in Malaysia, water is referred to as ‘sky juice’. 

Disney has released first-look images of its renovated Disneyland Hotel – and revealed that the five-star Disneyland Paris property will reopen on Thursday, January 25, 2024.

Disney said in a statement that ‘every centimetre of the interior of this legendary establishment is undergoing a complete “reimagination” – from the spectacular grand lobby to the luxuriant rooms and suites’.

Future guests at the not-so-faraway hotel, Disney said, will experience ‘a new luxury concept interwoven with beloved royal Disney characters both classic and new’.

All 487 rooms and suites – 346 Superior Rooms, 82 Deluxe Rooms, 41 Castle Club Rooms, 16 Signature Suites, 1 Princely Suite and 1 Royal Suite – are ‘entirely redesigned with an elegant atmosphere as well as modern comfort and luxury amenities’, Disney said.

It continued: ‘The tradition of Disney storytelling can be found inside all rooms and suites, from artwork and subtle touches that celebrate iconic elements of Walt Disney Animation Studios royal stories down to the last decor details.’

Guests staying in The Castle Club – ‘an exclusive hotel within the hotel’ – will enjoy a range of VIP benefits and services, including extra privacy with a dedicated private elevator and check-in area, as well as a breakfast with Disney Princess characters in the Castle Club Lounge.

Suites, meanwhile, ‘will offer unprecedented levels of immersion into royal Disney stories’.

And whatever room they’re in – ‘children will be welcomed like princesses and princes during their stay’, declares Disney.

There will even be spaces tailored just to them, we’re told, such as the Royal Kids Club, ‘where they will be immersed in augmented reality magic and unforgettable encounters’.

And there’s more.

Disney continued: ‘[In the] My Royal Dream experience… young guests will be able to transform into their favourite Disney royalty with the help of regal hairstyles, special outfits, accessories and a little pixie dust.

‘And after a full day creating magical memories at the parks, families will have the opportunity to enjoy together a spa experience at Disneyland Hotel Spa by Clarins or a relaxation session in a dedicated space. Additionally, all the hotel’s restaurants, bars and lounges will offer kid-friendly treats and exquisite themed pastries.’

Disney added: ‘Disneyland Hotel is the first Disney hotel to propose a five-star journey celebrating Disney royalty in all its expressions. From Cinderella to Frozen and The Sword in the Stone, and from The Princess and the Frog to Moana, guests will be given the lead to become part of the story and create their own magical moments.

‘Combining their creativity with the expertise of European suppliers and craftspeople, the Walt Disney Imagineering Paris team has developed a singular, immersive experience that pays vibrant homage to both Disney royal stories and celebrated European landmarks such as Le Chateau de Versailles or Neuschwanstein Castle.

‘The hotel will offer its guests a unique entertainment program that creates memories alongside beloved royal Disney Characters, or Mickey, Minnie and their friends in new exclusive regal attire and even an exclusive La Troupe Royale Disney.’

Natacha Rafalski, Presidente of Disneyland Paris, said: ‘This marks a new chapter for Disneyland Paris, as we continue to be one of the leaders of the European tourism industry with our unique blend of immersive storytelling and world-class hospitality.

‘We are thrilled to unveil the newly reimagined Disneyland Hotel, a one-of-a-kind five-star property celebrating Disney’s beloved royalty and storytelling. Our commitment to innovation and unparalleled guest experiences remains unwavering, and we look forward to welcoming guests to one of the most immersive hotels in Europe.’

Reservations are now open at www.disneylandparis.com.

With eight billion people now walking the Earth, the thought of humans going extinct anytime soon seems rather unlikely.

Barring nuclear annihilation, being overrun by artificial intelligence or a catastrophic impact from space, of course.

But even if our population is booming today, it hasn’t always been that way.

That’s because there have been at least five occasions throughout history where the human race has been in danger of dying out, not least because of the eruption of a supervolcano 70,000 years ago that almost sent us the same way as the dinosaurs.

But what happened on the other occasions? And how close did we really come to not existing? MailOnline takes a look.

1.1 million – 1.2 million years ago

It took until 1804 for the world’s population to reach one billion, 1927 to surpass two billion and 1960 to get to three billion.

If that population growth seems rapid, it’s nothing in comparison to the fact that in the six decades since, it has soared to more than eight billion.

Rewind 1.2 million years, however, and things weren’t so rosy.

Researchers have estimated that between our ancient cousins Homo ergaster and Home erectus, the entire human race was made up of just 26,000 people.

Worse still, the breeding population was about 18,000 – i.e. without children – which means there were fewer humans then than there are gorillas today.

Classified as a critically endangered species, there are now estimated to be around 316,000 western gorillas in the wild and 5,000 eastern gorillas. 

So what was to blame for this drop in human population, especially as fossil evidence shows that members of our Homo genus were spreading across Africa, Asia and Europe?

Scientists aren’t sure, but they know there was an extinction level event which temporarily wiped out early humans from Europe around the same time.

The previously unknown ice age pushed the European climate to ‘beyond what archaic humans could tolerate’, according to a study published last month. 

Ocean sediments from 1.1 million years ago show temperatures suddenly dropped by more than 9°F (5°C), which scientists say would have made it impossible for our ancestors to survive because they didn’t have heating or warm clothes.

This absence of our species from the continent lasted for about 200,000 years, before humans adapted and returned.

800,000 – 900,000 years ago

That was all well and good, but it wasn’t long before our race faced another perilous challenge.

Just last week, a separate piece of research suggested that another severe cooling period put humans at risk between 800,000 and 900,000 years ago.

It was so dicey the population of our ancestors dropped to just 1,280 individuals during a period in Earth’s history known as the Middle Pleistocene.

This severe ‘bottleneck’ lasted around 117,000 years and was a threat to humanity as we know it today, experts said. 

The decline also coincided with climate change that led to long periods of glaciation, a drop in sea surface temperatures, possible long periods of drought in Africa and Eurasia, and loss of other species which may have been a food source. 

Our last common ancestor with Neanderthals, and another extinct human species called Denisovans, was also thought to live during this period.

Professor Giorgio Manzi, a senior author of the research and anthropologist at Sapienza University of Rome, said: ‘We know that between about 900,000 and 600,000 years ago, the fossil record in Africa is very scarce, if not almost absent, while both before and after we have a greater number of fossil evidence.

‘The same can be said for Eurasia: for example, in Europe we have a species known as around 800,000 years ago and then nothing for about 200,000 years.’

Professor Chris Stringer, the head of human origins at the Natural History Museum in London, said things were so dire that it was ‘remarkable’ the human species survived.

‘For a population of that size, you just need one bad climate event, an epidemic, a volcanic eruption and you’re gone,’ he told the Guardian.

150,000 years ago

Around 195,000 years ago, the world once again started to undergo a big change.

Deserts and glaciers began to expand, causing temperatures to drop and destroying habitats across what became a cold and dry landscape.

It is unclear why, but groups of humans in Africa started to split up, which in turn caused our numbers to plummet dramatically around 150,000 years ago.

The continent was largely the only place that Homo sapiens, or modern humans, lived until about 50,000 years ago.

But the scale of the glacial phase was so threatening that some scientists believe our breeding numbers dropped to as low as just 600 individuals.

Those that survived appeared to thrive after settling beside the sea in what is now South Africa, experts say. 

This was vital because the area happened to be rich in plants that stored their energy below the surface of the soil, as well as having relatively warm waters nearby which enabled shellfish to flourish.

Both of these factors provided Homo sapiens living there with just enough food to survive and enabled our species to evolve into the humans we are today.

70,000 years ago

It’s clear that humans don’t fare well in extreme cooling events, but there was a very different threat that almost annihilated us just over 70,000 years ago.

Rather than an ice age, it was the largest volcanic eruption in history that nearly brought an end to our existence.

The Toba super-eruption fired out some 720 cubic miles (3,000 cubic km) of rock and ash which spread across the world, blocking out the sun and creating a volcanic winter which lasted at least a decade.

Such was the extent of the catastrophe that it killed off huge swathes of animal and plant life, while also squeezing our species to a few thousand people.

It had been thought that those remaining were confined to parts of Africa, but in 2020 a study found evidence that humans in India also survived the fallout. 

Researchers assessed a 80,000 year-long record of rock layers from the Dhaba site in northern India’s Middle Son Valley.

Tools made from rock were found which coincide with the timing of the Toba event, indicating humans in India were already using Stone Age tools when it erupted.

The site yielded evidence that use of the tools persisted after the catastrophic event created a decade-long winter — proof that the people who created them survived. 

The Toba eruption was so massive that all that is left of the mountain is the enormous Lake Toba, which stretches 62 miles (100 kilometres) long, 19 miles (30 km) wide, and up to 1,657 feet (505 metres) deep.

It occurred 74,000 years ago on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, and was about 5,000 times larger than the Mount St Helens eruption in the 1980s.

40,000 years ago

Climate change may be one of today’s greatest debates.

But between 25,000 and 40,000 years ago it was what could have wiped out one of our most famous cousins. 

Computer analysis suggested in 2020 that Neanderthals may have failed to adapt to a rapidly changing climate, although it has also been argued that the arrival of Homo sapiens from Africa could have led to a desperate squabble for resources.

Ultimately, some say, the superior intelligence of us modern humans gave us the edge in this fight and led to Neanderthals dying out.

However, a study published three years ago suggested that it was because Neanderthals lost most of their ‘climatic niche’.

This describes a locale where conditions are just right for the species to survive, not too hot, dry, cold or barren.

Researchers investigated temperature, rainfall and other data over the last five million years to get a gauge of the climate for every 1,000-year window.

This allowed them to come up with their theory about why climate change may have killed off Neanderthals between 25,000 and 40,000 years ago.

Another early human species, Homo floresiensis, nicknamed the ‘hobbit’ also died out around this time, although what happened to them is a mystery. 

It meant Homo sapiens were left as the sole-surviving species in the once diverse human family tree, allowing us to ultimately swell in number to more than eight billion individuals.

So when will our species go extinct?

If you’re an optimist, it won’t be for another billion years.

That is when the expanding sun will cause our planet to heart up to a Venus-like state and render all life on Earth extinct.

However, a billion years is a long time, especially when you consider that scientists this year placed the Doomsday Clock at a record 90 seconds to midnight. 

So if there is a global apocalypse, what might be to blame for wiping out all life on Earth?

A wandering black hole, giant asteroid impact and nuclear war could all trigger such disaster, as could the rise of killer robots or the reversal of our planet’s magnetic field. 

Experts on catastrophic risks think there is a six per cent chance humans will go extinct in just 77 years, while renowned physicist Stephen Hawking said our species would probably have to find another planet to live on within 1,000 years if we are to live on.

Others argue that mammalian species typically last around one million years before going extinct, which, considering modern humans evolved around 200,000 years ago, would give us another 800,000 years on the planet.

Looking at the course of human history, and the ever-present threat of nuclear war and growing artificial intelligence, that might end up still being a rather bullish and hopeful outlook, however. 

By Ted Thornhill, Mailonline Travel Editor

Updated: 09:07 EDT, 6 September 2023

• Revamped colours and conversation filters are among changes being tested
• The changes vary depending on the type of device you are using 

By Lauren Haughey

Updated: 07:28 EDT, 6 September 2023

Whether it’s whipping out pick-up lines or receiving flowers, everyone has their own idea of romance.

But experts now say that four key traits contribute to ‘romantic competence’.

A new study, led by Western Kentucky University, claims that perceptual, behavioural, assortative and interactive factors all play a role in forming a happy relationship. 

Partners who steer clear of insecurities and jealousy are deemed ‘most romantically competent’, with a ‘glass half full’ outlook on love. 

But sizzling passion was not considered a big deal at all, as researchers say it doesn’t truly reflect love, trust or commitment.

‘Our research demonstrates the importance of social cognitive processes when problem-solving in relationships,’ said Michelle R. Persich Durham, the study’s lead author. 

‘Romantically competent people tended to view relationships more positively and were less prone to relationship worries and doubts. 

‘It was also found that they tend to date partners who were similarly competent and who described themselves as having intrinsic qualities such as kindness, as opposed to extrinsic qualities like money and status.’

As part of their research, experts surveyed 171 predominantly heterosexual couples who were all at different stages in their relationships – from ‘casual dating’ to ‘married’.

Participants were given 10 fictional scenarios, ranging from simple lifestyle differences to more serious issues, like discovering a partner’s secret Tinder profile. 

Each partner was asked how they would respond to the problems at hand, with their answers used to determine their romantic competence and satisfaction. 

Overall, scientists concluded that accessible and responsive partners were the most satisfied in their relationships.

This was encompassed under the umbrella of ‘behavioural competence’, with more anti-social partners deemed to be less skillful in relationships.

Optimism was also considered to be a key ‘perceptual’ factor of competence, with the best partners less prone to problematic insecurities and doubts.

But experts claim that competence also depends on the characteristics of our other halves.

If both partners are balanced in their optimism, sociability and accessibility, this can boost romantic satisfaction even further as a part of ‘interactive competence’.

This also links to ‘assortative matching’, as it’s believed that partners with similar levels of intelligence, attractiveness, money, status and kindness will get along much better in the long-run.  

These values increased with age, suggesting that extensive relationship experience can boost your wisdom on what not-to-do over time. 

Passion didn’t play a part in this at all however, with researchers claiming that it fizzles out over time. 

In light of this, psychologists Dr Louise Goddard-Crawley and Dr Gurpreet Kaur believe a recognition of our own romantic competence can help to improve relationships.

Dr Kaur told MailOnline: ‘There are many things to consider when thinking about one’s own “romantic competence” and becoming the best version of ourselves in relationships. 

‘The journey must start with self-awareness through self-reflection which means taking time to reflect on our own life experiences and how they have impacted us. Recognising patterns, both positive and negative, can be insights for growth.

‘Looking at important relationships around you and wondering what you have learned from them is also important, as learning can often be implicit meaning it is done without intent.’

Dr Goddard-Crawley also told MailOnline: ‘Romantic competence, viewed through the lens of attachment theory, hinges on an individual’s capacity to establish and sustain healthy, secure romantic bonds. 

‘As life continually evolves, relationships must adapt to various challenges and transitions. Romantic competence encompasses the ability to embrace change and collaboratively navigate life’s myriad twists and turns with a partner.’ 

By Ted Thornhill, Mailonline Travel Editor

Updated: 12:13 EDT, 4 September 2023