Mary Tourtel was created in 1920, at a time when the "Express" was in competition with "The Daily Mail" and its then popular comic strip "Teddy Tail", as well as the strip "Pip, Squeak and Wilfred" in "The Daily Mirror". The then news editor of the "Express", Herbert Tourtel, was approached with the task of producing a new comic strip to rival those of the "Mail" and "Mirror" and immediately thought of his wife Mary, already an established author and artist. Rupert Bear was the result and was first published as a nameless character in a strip titled "Little Lost Bear" on
Daily Express other newspapers to publish commemorations) the front page was given over to Diana. This tendency was also mocked on "Have I Got News for You" when on 6 November 2006, the day other papers reported the death sentence given to Saddam Hussein on their front pages, the "Express" led with "SPIES COVER UP DIANA 'MURDER'". According to "The Independent" "The Diana stories appear on Mondays because Sunday is often a quiet day." In February and March 2010 the paper returned to featuring Diana stories on the front page on Mondays. In September 2013, following an allegation raised by the estranged