London papers love a good pun, a recent picture of the Duchess of Cambridge on an ice rink was memorably captioned ‘Skate Middleton!’ However, one paper takes punning to all new heights – I am speaking of course of the Sun.

The daily tabloid’s best-known puns include the following:

  • Obama Lama Ding Dong – President Obama meets the Dalai Lama.
  • Wam Bam! Sam Cam to be a Mam – Prime minister David Cameron’s wife Samantha reveals she’s pregnant.
  • It’s Paddy Pantsdown – Paddy Ashdown, former leader of the Liberal Democrat party, admits to an affair.
  • Papa Ratzi – Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is elected Pope.
  • I’m Having a Ball! – A woman bites off a man’s testicle during a fight.
  • Sting’s Massage in a Brothel – Sting is papped emerging from a brothel whilst on tour with the Police in Germany.
  • Sarky Gets Narky at Carla Malarky – French President Nicolas Sarkosy on his wife’s affair.
  • Drink Up Chuck & Di – On the Royal Wedding of Princess Diana & Prince Charles.
  • Elton Takes David Up The Aisle – Elton John marries his long-term partner David Furnish.
  • How Do You Solve a Problem Like Korea? – North Korea conducts unsanctioned nuclear testing.

The Sun is also known for its Page Three Girls, as page 3 contains a feature consisting of a topless female glamour model. This originated in 1970, when then editor Larry Lamb celebrated the tabloid’s first anniversary by publishing a photograph of 20-year-old German model Stephanie Rahn in her ‘birthday suit’. Unsurprisingly it was popular and became a regular feature using sports related costumes and props and captions containing double entendre. Page Three has long been controversial, and was the subject of a House of Commons campaign in the 1980s. In the late 1990s the costumes and props were phased out and the titillating captions replaced with a basic listing of the model’s name, age and hometown.

Page Three Girls include Jordan, Samantha Fox, Suzanne Mizzi and Melinda Messenger. However the Sun has instituted a policy of featuring models with natural breasts only, banning models with augmented chests, thereby preventing future appearances by Jordan and Melinda Messenger. I’m not sure where this leaves Samantha Fox, who had a breast reduction; the Sun ran that story under the headline ‘Where Bra They Now?’