Flashback

Seeing gorgeous Princess Charlotte in her pretty sheep cardigan reminded me of her late Grandmother's very famous sheep jumper.

Diana wore the jumper twice at the polo- once in 1981 when she was Lady Diana Spencer and engaged to the Prince of Wales. The second occasion was in 1983 when she had been married for two years and a mother to William for 12 months. 

Having returned from a history making Australia and New Zealand tour only months before, Diana was immensely popular and growing in confidence and poise. 

Also looking through the archives, I spotted some photos of Prince William as pageboy at the 1986 wedding of his uncle Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson or "Fergie" as she was known. 

William was 4 years old at the time, just a bit older than Prince George will be at his aunt Pippa Middleton's wedding on 20th May. Photos of William acting out, wriggling and being plain cheeky were beamed around the world. 

William was paired up with his cousin Lady Laura Fellowes. Laura's mother is Diana's sister Jane and the Queen's Equerry Robert Fellowes. Jane, Robert and family lived at Kensington Palace and so were neighbours to Diana and her children. Laura is now a godmother to Princess Charlotte. 

As an aside, it was reported at the time that the Queen was not very impressed by William's behaviour and Charles and Diana were spoken to. I bet lots of parents are nodding in sympathy......
 

The Queen at 90

Although this website focuses on the children of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and eventually any children of Prince Harry, I have decided it timely to include some information about the official celebrations this weekend to mark H.M. The Queen's 90th birthday.

The Queen was born Princess Elizabeth, first child of the Duke and Duchess of York. Her birth took place on 21st April 1926 at 17 Bruton St, Mayfair, London. Her father Prince Albert was the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. Whilst being second in line to the throne it was never anticipated that Albert would ever succeed the throne.

The heir to the throne was the Prince of Wales, Prince Edward and when King George V died in 1936, Edward became King Edward VIII. However a coronation never took place. Edward was given a choice- be crowned King of England and hence Head of the Church of England or abdicate and marry his divorced American lover Wallis Simpson. He chose the latter and formally abdicated in December 1936.

Overnight the lives of the York family changed forever. Albert became King George VI, his wife now Queen Elizabeth and his daughter Elizabeth became heir to the throne. Although she had a younger sister Princess Margaret Rose, should the King and Queen have a son in the future, the boy would overtake Elizabeth as heir.

It is interesting to note that before Princess Charlotte's birth in 2015,  the law was changed so that younger brothers could not overtake older sisters in the line of succession.

Princess Elizabeth would go on to marry Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark on 20th November 1947. Prince Philip's surname was the German Battenburg but this was "softened" to Mountbatten ( his mother's British family name) to reassure Britons still suffering after World War II. Philip also had to renounce claims to the Greek and Danish thrones and covert to the Anglican Church.

Philip was a serving British Naval Officer and whilst the couple met previously, it was a meeting at the Dartmouth Naval College when the Princess was 13 that they became attracted to one another .

The couple had Prince Charles in 1948 and Princess Anne in 1950.

When King George VI died of lung cancer on February 6th, 1952 at Sandringham House, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Elizabeth I was of course the daughter of Tudor King Henry VIII.

The Queen's coronation took place on 2nd June 1953 at Westminster Abbey. Prince Charles and Princess Anne looked on with their grandmother who would come to be fondly known as the Queen Mother. 

The Queen later had two further children, Prince Andrew in 1960 and Prince Edward in 1964.

The Queen has gone on to become Britain's longest serving Monarch and is also it's oldest ever Monarch.

Over this special weekend when the formal birthday festivities takes place, I will add further posts.

Royal Family 2015 Trooping The Colour source: royal.gov

Catherine Speaks About George

source: Duchess of Cambridge

The Duchess of Cambridge has had a steady stream of royal engagements in the past few weeks. 

The year ahead is going to be busy for Catherine and William with a tour of India and Bhutan in the northern Spring as well as attending the Queen's 90th birthday celebrations. They will also be joined in France by Prince Harry, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla in late June to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Somme. 

Recently Catherine attended her first engagement in her capacity of Patron of the Air Cadets. This patronage was passed to the Duchess by Prince Philip who is slowly reducing his patronages as he ages. 

As the first female Honorary Air Commandant of the RAF Air Cadets, Catherine took part in a church service at the RAF church, St Clement Danes, followed by a reception at the Royal Courts of Justice.

source: Blog Author

The Express newspaper wrote about Catherine divulging son George's love of aeroplanes: 

She told cadet Lucinda Conder, 19, that she had shown George, who is two and a half, pictures of Spitfires after a royal engagement.

"He is now obsessed with the air cadets and wants to join," said Ms Conder, a medical student from Hammersmith in west London, who was the top female cadet of 2015. "We are going to have to push that one when he gets to age 12."

George's love of aviation is not surprising given that he has flying in his blood from both sides of the family:

• Before having children, the Duchess's mother Carole was a flight attendant with British Airways and father Michael worked as ground staff for the airline.

• Michael's father Peter flew with the RAF

• Prince William has flown both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters in the RAF and is currently a pilot with East Anglia Air Ambulance.

• Prince Harry flew helicopters with the RAF and did stints in Afghanistan twice.

• Prince Charles also flew aircraft in the armed services as did his brother Prince Andrew, most notably RAN helicopters in the Falklands War.

And since helicopters are a frequent mode of transport for the royal family, George will no doubt see them coming and going from Kensington Palace and the Sandringham Estate.

 

Flashback

Monday 6th July, 2015

A few reminders of royal history were evident at the Christening of Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

The Milson pram that was used to carry the little princess to the church was the very same pram that the Queen used for her two youngest sons Princes Andrew and Edward.

Another flashback, Prince George's outfit by Rachel Riley was almost identical to that which his father William wore to meet Prince Harry in 1984.

source:kensingtonroyal

source:kensingtonroyal

source:kensingtonroyal

Prince William 1984

Changes To Line Of Succession Approved

Sunday 29th March, 2015

Prince George

New changes to the Line Of Succession mean that if the new Cambridge baby is a girl, subsequent brothers cannot overtake her in succeeding the throne. 

An example of the previous law meant that Princess Anne, although second born child, was overtaken by brothers Andrew and Edward. 

Also, a monarch can now be married to a Catholic whereby previously, a member of the royal family had to give up their place in succession if they married a Catholic. This is the case for Prince Michael of Kent but he has now had his place restored.

A third change is that only the first six in line to succession need to seek the Monarch's approval for marriage instead of all members of the royal family. 

Australia was last of the Commonwealth countries where the Queen is Head of State to pass a law approving the changes this week. Britain had rushed through it's law in 2013 before the birth of Prince George of Cambridge but needed all other fifteen countries to add their consent via their own law changes.

Amner Hall Renovation

Amner Hall

8th August, 2014


Prince George has been spending some of the U.K. summer at his parents new home Anmer Hall.

Amner Hall is on the Queen's Sandringham Estate in Norfolk and the home was gifted to Prince William for his 30th birthday in 2012. The Cambridge family have been at Amner for the past two weeks overseeing the final stages of it's extensive renovation.

Work has been slow on the 200 year old, Grade 2 listed home. It has been reported that the renovations have cost GBP 1.5 million. The property boasts 10 bedrooms, a tennis court and swimming pool. A new conservatory-style room has been installed along with a new driveway and planting more advanced trees to ensure greater privacy. 

Lady Diana Spencer in 1981

It is interesting to note that Prince William's late mother Diana, Princess of Wales was born on the Sandringham Estate at Park House in 1961. Her parents were renting Park House from The Queen as both Diana's parents came from families of trusted aides to the royal family.  Diana's family, the Spencers later moved to Althorp House in Northhamptonshire when her father became Earl Spencer upon the death of her grandfather.

Diana's childhood friends included Princes Andrew and Edward. 

Hence Prince George has ties to both paternal grandparents at Amner Hall and his childhood will be spent here and at the Cambridge's London residence at Kensington Palace. 

Park House

New Role

Kensington Palace has announced that Prince William will join East Anglian Air Ambulance as a helicopter pilot from early next year.

The Duke of Cambridge will first undertake 999 training and a civilian pilot course. The Duke will be flying as a co-pilot on the EC145 T2 aircraft. Over time will progress to a pilot in command position.

William will be based half way between London and Norfolk so can easily reside in either Kensington Palace or the Cambridge's new home, Amner Hall. 

The Prince's salary will be donated to charity.