Catherine Back In London

George at 24 hours

The Duchess of Cambridge has returned to London to await the birth of baby number three. 

Prince George attends Thomas's Battersea and Princess Charlotte goes to nursery school in Kensington. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge is busy along with the other senior members of the Royal Family supporting The Queen at Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting events.

Charlotte only a few hours old

Catherine, William and the young family spent Easter with her parents in Bucklebury, Berkshire. The Cambridges then went to their country home Anmer Hall on the Sandringham Estate. Catherine was photographed by fellow shoppers at Waitrose in Norfolk.

So now the entire Cambridge family is settled in Apartment 1A, Kensington Palace no doubt finishing preparations for the arrival of the new prince or princess in the next week or two. 

Charlotte Begins Nursery School

 Princess Charlotte of Cambridge has started at Willcocks Nursery School close to home in Kensington.  

Kensington Palace released two photos of Charlotte to mark the occasion. Charlotte's mum Catherine took the pics.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge escorted their 2 1/2 year old daughter on her first day and helped her settle in to her morning class routine. 

Willcocks has a strong emphasis on numeracy, early reading, poetry, art, crafts and music. The classes are structured but allow plenty of time for free play. 
   
Charlotte's older brother George attended Westacre Montessori School in Norfolk as the family was based at Amner Hall at the time. George started "big school" at Thomas's Battersea last September.

 Kensington Palace has released a 2017 highlights video:

For our final highlights video, let's take a look back at some of the key family moments this year. pic.twitter.com/gwVftwrcso

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) December 31, 2017

 

Charlotte Off To Nursery

Princess Charlotte of Cambridge is to start at The Willcocks Nursery School next term. The school is located in Kensington not far from the family home at Kensington Palace and the Royal Albert Hall. 

Charlotte will attend the structured morning classes and will be introduced to alphabet, numeracy as well as art and crafts. Singing, poetry and free play also make up the timetable. Established in 1964, Willcocks is housed in the hall of Holy Trinity Church and takes children between 2 3/4 and 5 years.

The annual fees for Charlotte will be GBP 14550-.

As well as this long awaited news, the Cambridge family has released it's 2017 Christmas photo taken by Chris Jackson. It appears that the shot was taken in the Summer as George is wearing the same clothes as his birthday portrait and the Duchess had her pre-pregnancy figure.

Enjoy the photo!

 

Busy Year Ahead For The Cambridges

It is shaping up to be a busy 2017 for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

In our last blog post we canvassed possible choices of London nursery schools for Charlotte. There were suggestions the family would be moving to their Kensington Palace apartment this year for Prince George to begin school. This has since been confirmed in an announcement from William and Catherine.

Prince William's helicopter pilot role with East Anglia Air Ambulance will come to an end in the summer. This position was perfect for William to transition from his RAF Search and Rescue role before assuming full time duties on behalf of The Queen.

Flying for EAAA meant that the Duke could work and live in Norfolk at the couple's home Anmer Hall. The family were able to enjoy a more relaxed, private life away from London but commute to the capital when royal duties demanded. Anmer will continue to be their home but Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace will become their weekday residence. 

It has become apparent that the younger generation of royals will need to step up to more full time roles in the near future. Whilst Her Majesty and Prince Philip carry out more engagements than William, Catherine and Harry combined, they are ageing and need to reduce their workload. 

Kensington Palace Hedge Planting For Privacy

The Queen's illness at Christmas saw her miss several church services over the festive period. This was a wake up call for many who have only ever known Queen Elizabeth as the nation's Monarch and saw her as immortal. 

Prince George is rumoured to be starting school at Wetherby but not at the Notting Hill campus where Princes William and Harry attended! A new, smaller Wetherby Kensington is opening in September in time for George to start his formal schooling. 

Wetherby Kensington is located at 4 Wetherby Gardens near Gloucester Road, not far from Kensington Palace. It is a more discreet building than the original Wetherby and will cater for Reception through to Year 3. From there, boys will have an automatic place at the original Wetherby School in Notting Hill. The school will open with just the first two Reception Classes and grow as the years progress. 

With fewer pupils and parents it might be perfectly low key for the Cambridges. 

So a move to London to enable Catherine and William to undertake more official duties and starting school and nursery for the children means a momentous year ahead.

Site Of Wetherby Kensington

How The Labour And Birth Will Be Announced

Sunday 12th April, 2015

Prince George Leaving Hospital

Kensington Palace held a media briefing on Thursday to outline events surrounding the forthcoming birth of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's second child this month.

The Duchess is currently resting at the couple's country home Anmer Hall and is expected to return to London's Kensington Palace closer to the birth.

Kensington Palace will announce that Catherine has gone into labour via Twitter and then follow up on KensingtonRoyal and Instagram about two minutes later.

Before the birth of Prince George, the media camped outside St Mary's Hospital, Paddington for three weeks before his arrival. It was dubbed The Great Kate Wait. This time the media has been asked to arrive outside the hospital only when the Kensington Palace tweet is sent to the media outlets.

If the baby is born after 10pm, the media will not be advised until 8am the following day. The traditional notice on an easel will also be posted outside Buckingham Palace. Catherine and William's families along with Queen Elizabeth will be notified first.

Charles & William 1984

As with Prince George and Princes William and Harry before him, the new baby will be born in The Lindo Wing of St Mary's. This is only a five minute drive from Kensington Palace.

Prince Charles took Prince William to visit Diana, Princess of Wales when she gave birth to Prince Harry. It is not known if George will be introduced to his new brother or sister in hospital or at home in Kensington Palace.

Prince William has started his flying duties for East Anglia Ambulance. At worst, William will need to make a two hour dash in the car to reach Catherine.

Surgeon Gynaecologist to the Royal Household Alan Farthing along with obstetrician Guy Thorpe-Beeston will take care of The Duchess throughout the labour. They were part of the team under the now retired Sir Marcus Setchell who delivered Prince George.

No doubt Catherine will be glad to see the end of another difficult pregnancy and meet their new baby. 

After a few days rest and a chance for the Queen to meet the baby, the Cambridge family will return to Anmer Hall in Sandringham, Norfolk.

William after meeting Harry

Busy Duchess Talks About New Baby

Tuesday 20th January, 2015

Source: Clarence House

The Duchess of Cambridge has had a busy week of engagements in London.


Last Thursday, Catherine officially named the Clore Art Room at Barlby Primary School. This engagement was postponed when she was very ill with extreme morning sickness. So it was lovely that Catherine could now attend in her capacity of Royal Patron of The Art Room. This charity provides therapy for children in the form of art.

On Friday The Duchess visited the Fostering Network offices in Islington, north London to find out more about the work of foster families. 

And yesterday, Catherine undertook three engagements in her local area of Kensington and Chelsea. First the Duchess attended Family Friends which provides mentoring for families and children in need. 

Then it was off to open a rebuilt Kensington Leisure Centre which replaces an ageing facility. It was here that Princes William and Harry had swimming lessons when they were pupils at nearby Wetherby school. Catherine remarked that she hoped son George would have swimming tuition here too. 

Her Royal Highness was presented with a large inflatable duck shaped flotation ring and a swimming bag for George. The Cambridges were also given a family life membership for the leisure centre.

Catherine commented when asked about the new baby ,"It's moving all the time. I can feel it kicking now." She also said she did not yet know the gender of the new Cambridge baby.

Finally, Catherine opened the new Kensington Aldridge Academy which started classes in temporary buildings last September.