Happy 2nd Birthday Charlotte

1st Birthday

On 2nd May, Princess Charlotte will turn 2! The littlest royal has had a very busy year- appearing at her first Trooping the Colour, going on her first Royal tour and attending her first Christmas church service.

Charlotte enthusiastically waved to the crowds outside Buckingham Palace and the aircraft flying overhead to mark the Queen's official birthday parade - Trooping the Colour. 

The Cambridge family travelled to Canada for a royal visit last September and this was the Princess's first overseas tour. Brother George was just 8 months old when he went to Australia and New Zealand in 2014.

 The royal siblings were a hit- from the arrival in Victoria to the children's party for defence families where Charlotte cuddled a rabbit and dog to their departure aboard a seaplane. 

On Christmas Day, George, Charlotte and their parents joined Catherine's family for church at St Mark's Englefield near the Middleton home in Berkshire.

The year ahead will be a busy one for the Cambridges. The family are relocating to their Kensington Palace home- Apartment 1A from Anmer Hall in Norfolk. 

Amner will still be their weekend home but the time has come for George to start school in September and for Catherine and William to step up their role as working members of the Royal Family. William's job as helicopter pilot with East Anglia Air Ambulance will come to an end and he will share more of the Queen's duties as she and Prince Philip grow older. 

Trooping the Colour 2016

On May 20th, Charlotte and George will be flower girl and page boy at their Aunt Pippa's wedding. Look out for the gorgeous photos!

It is expected that Charlotte will start nursery school in the last half of the year but no further details have been made public. 

Happy Birthday Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge!

Christmas Day

In Canada

Which Nursery School For Charlotte?

Princess Charlotte of Cambridge is only 19 months old but sometime in the next year she will most likely start at a local nursery school. 

An increase in royal engagements for her parents and possible retirement from his role as helicopter pilot will dovetail with Prince George starting school later this year. 

This will most likely mean the Cambridges relocate to Kensington Palace as the main family home in the coming months.

George January 2016

Last January, George started at Westacre Montessori school near the family's Norfolk country home, Amner Hall. He was almost 2 1/2 at the time. The prince attends the school a few mornings a week and is expected to move onto a Pre-Prep school later this year.

The Queen and Prince Philip are ageing and whilst they currently fulfil more official engagements than Prince William, Catherine and Prince Harry combined, are slowly handing over more patronages and duties such as investitures to the their children and grandchildren.

Prince William's contract as part time helicopter pilot for East Anglia Air Ambulance will soon be up for renewal. The time for William and Catherine to become more active members of the royal family may now be here.

Given all of this, which London nursery schools are options for little Charlotte?

Proximity to Kensington Palace is important as is the Montessori philosophy. For these reasons, Princes William and Harry started school life at Mrs Mynors in Pembridge Square, Notting Hill. It has since been bought by Alpha Plus and re-badged The Minors Nursery School.

http://minorsnurseryschool.co.uk/

Ladbroke Square Montessori School in Notting Hill has to be high on the list for Charlotte. Like The Minors, it is very near to Wetherby and just around the corner from Kensington Palace. Intakes are in September, January and April for this school, established in the 1940s.

http://www.ladbrokesquarenursery.com/index.php

Miss Delaney's in W11 is very highly regarded and has Montessori in it's philosphy. It has a secure garden playground on-site so for security purposes this has to be a plus.

http://missdelaneys.co.uk/

The Acorn in Notting Hill has no website. However it is so highly regarded that applications for a place on the wait list are recommended shortly after the birth!

The Square is similarly located to the other contenders. It has small sessions of 18 children and adheres to the Montessori way of learning.

http://www.thesquareschool.com

Last but not least is Young England Kindergarten in Pimlico where William and Harry's mother Diana, Princess of Wales was an assistant before her engagement to Prince Charles. Montessori based, "Miss Diana" was a favourite with the children. One of Lady Diana's students, Clementine Hambro ( descendant of Winston Churchill) became a flower girl at the Royal Wedding! 

http://youngenglandkindergarten.co.uk/

You can also read my earlier blog post about Montessori Nursery Schools for the royal children here:

http://williamandharryschildren.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/mrs-mynors-nursery-school.html

William 1985

Harry 1987

Lady Diana 1980

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.

 

Press Release Of Christening Details

Sunday 5th July, 2015

From princeofwales.gov.uk:

The Christening of Princess Charlotte: Guests and Godparents

The following guests will attend Princess Charlotte’s christening today at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Sandringham:

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall 
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Middleton, Miss Pippa Middleton and Mr. James Middleton
Princess Charlotte’s godparents and their spouses.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have asked the following people to be godparents to Princess Charlotte, all of whom are friends or family of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge: 

Miss Sophie Carter
Mr. James Meade
Mr. Adam Middleton
The Hon. Laura Fellowes
Mr. Thomas van Straubenzee

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will walk from Sandringham House to church with their children. 
Princess Charlotte will wear the hand made replica of the Royal Christening Robe, made by Angela Kelly, Dressmaker to The Queen. 
The Lily Font and water from the River Jordan will be used during the baptism.
Following the service, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will give a tea at Sandringham House. Guests will be served slices of christening cake, which is a tier taken from The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding cake.

Christening Day

Sunday 5th July, 2015

Charlotte aged two weeks

Today is Princess Charlotte of Cambridge's special day. Charlotte, who is two months old will be surrounded by family and godparents for her welcome into the Church of England.

What we know is:

The young royal will be christened Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. 

The Christening will take place in St Mary Magdalene church on the Sandringham Estate. The Cambridge's country home is also on the estate. 

The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall along with the Middleton family will attend. Prince Harry is visiting charities in Africa for three months and will be absent.

The ceremony is due to commence at 4.30pm and the Cambridge family will make the walk from Sandringham House to the church. The public have been invited to congregate in the paddock adjacent to the path to witness the family as a foursome for the first time. 

Mario Testino will take the official photos and some will be released in the coming days. 

St Mary Magdalene is also the church where William's late mother Diana Spencer was christened in August 1961. Diana also lived on the Sandringham Estate at Park House.

After the ceremony, The Queen will host a high tea at Sandringham House for family, the godparents and their spouses.

The godparents names are due to be released this morning. As soon as this happens, I will update the blog. 

Catherine Busy Before Maternity Leave

Wednesday 11th March, 2015

Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge has a very busy week of engagements planned before taking time off before the birth of her second child next month.

Monday saw William and Catherine join The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall along with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in celebrating Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey.

Catherine wore the Alexander McQueen pale pink coat that she previously wore to the Trooping of the Colour in June 2013, just weeks before George was born.

Today, Wednesday The Duchess is to visit the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery, Margate in Kent to see the Self: Image and Identity exhibition.

On Thursday Catherine is due to visit Ealing Studios to see the making of Downton Abbey. The show's interiors are shot in these studios and no doubt Catherine will love to see the staging and meet the actors of this successful period series.

Update: On Friday 13th March, Catherine joined the Queen and members of the Royal Family at St Paul's Cathedral for a service to commemorate the war in Afghanistan. (below)

source:Hello

Then on 17th March the Duke and Duchess will visit Mons Barracks in Aldershot to see a St Patrick's Day parade and hand out shamrocks to guardsmen as they have in recent years. The Duke is Colonel of the 1st Battalion Irish Guards.

The Irish Guards' official mascot Domhnall has the rank of Guardsman!

Catherine & Domhnall 2014

 After taking a few months off due to severe morning sickness in the early stages of this pregnancy, Catherine seems to be doing some catch up in these next few weeks.