George & Charlotte Back to School

The Easter weekend marks the end of the month long Easter break for Prince George and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge.

Much of the holiday has been spent at the Cambridges' home in Norfolk, Anmer Hall. The property on the Queen's Sandringham Estate is the family's "bolthole" where they have total privacy and spent much of the children's early years before formally moving to London in 2017.

The property has a tennis court, vegetable gardens and beautiful country to play in, just as the Duchess of Cambridge did, growing up in the Berkshire countryside. The family have a cocker spaniel, Lupo and at one stage a guinea pig named Marvin. 

Both George and Charlotte are learning to ride ponies and Charlotte has tennis lessons when in London. 

During the break the Duke and Duchess and the older children attended Burnham Horse Trials to watch William's cousin Zara Tindall ( also George's godmother) compete. 

So now it is back to London where George attends Thomas's Battersea and Charlotte goes to Willcocks Nursery School close to Royal Albert Hall in Kensington. Charlotte will celebrate her 4th birthday in early May and will start "big school" after the long Summer break.

But for now the focus is on little Prince Louis who turns 1 on 23rd April. Happy Birthday to Louis. 

Half Term For George And Charlotte

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have cleared their diaries for this week for a very special reason. Prince George, 5 and Princess Charlotte, 3 are enjoying half term break from Thomas's Battersea and Willcocks Nursery School respectively.

This time in 2016, when Charlotte was 10 months old the Cambridge family headed for a snowy holiday in the French Alps. Photos were released upon their return and they were able to enjoy the break in relative privacy.

Whether they head to the ski slopes for Prince Louis' first winter holiday or stay at their country home Anmer Hall in Sandringham remains to be seen. 

Meanwhile, Catherine took young Louis for a stroll in Kensington Palace Gardens on Valentine's Day. By all accounts the Duchess was friendly to passers-by and was dressed in skinny jeans and coat.

And for Baby Sussex news...

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are still hoping to move into Frogmore Cottage in Windsor in March. The new home is being renovated at a cost of 3 million pounds but there is still much work to be done including roofing. 

Harry and Meghan's baby is due in the spring but dates are not known. Perhaps early April? The couple are hoping to be in their new home in time for the baby's arrival so depending on building works they may still be in Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace.

It has also emerged that the Cambridge and Sussex courts will also split soon. Until now Prince William and Prince Harry shared staff but this is to change. 

When the Queen passes away and Prince Charles becomes King, William will be invested as Prince of Wales and also assume the title Duke of Cornwall. The Duchy is a huge business and alongside William's new roles in the royal firm, it will mean his responsibilities will be very different to that of Harry.

Back To School For George & Charlotte

As with millions of other families, the Cambridges will be busy this week organising their children for a return to school after the summer break.

Prince George, 5, will be starting year one at Thomas's Battersea on Thursday. Although he attended Reception last year and will keep the same friends, George will have a new teacher and classroom as well as more advanced work to adjust to.

Princess Charlotte, 3, started at Willcocks Nursery School in Kensington in January. She will return to her routine on Wednesday.

The royal youngsters have had a wonderful summer break with baby brother Louis and mum and dad Catherine and William.

The family of five first celebrated Louis's baptism on 9th July and the following day the children watched the RAF Centenary flypast from a Buckingham Palace window while the adults stood on the balcony.

Mustique in the Caribbean was the venue for a beach holiday with their grandparents Carole and Michael Middleton. It was here George celebrated his birthday.

Then the family spent a large amount of time at their country residence, Amner Hall on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. Amner allows the children to run and play in privacy as well as enjoy the property's tennis court.

Towards the end of the holiday the Duke and Duchess and children headed to Balmoral Castle in Scotland to visit the Queen and Prince Philip. Here George took part in his first grouse shoot which is quite a milestone for a royal youngster. 

All in all a lovely holiday before school begins again.

Happy 3rd Birthday Charlotte

Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge was born at St. Mary's Hospital, London on 2nd May, 2015.

Charlotte is the only daughter and second child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Catherine and William's firstborn, Prince George arrived in 2013. 

Baby Charlotte was christened on 5th July, 2015 at St Mary Magdalene, Sandringham. It is the same place her paternal grandmother the Hon. Diana Spencer was christened in 1961.

The young princess has spent most of her early years between Anmer Hall in Norfolk and the family's home Apartment 1A, Kensington Palace. She has been on two royal tours- Canada in 2016 and Poland and Germany in 2017. 

In January Charlotte commenced preschool at Willcocks Nursery School in Kensington. The princess also learns tennis at the Hurlingham Club, has shown an interest in horseriding and is learning some Spanish from her nanny Maria Teresa Borrallo.

George and Charlotte were joined by baby brother Prince Louis Arthur Charles last week- 23rd April. 

Her next big outing will be at uncle Prince Harry's wedding to Ms Meghan Markle on 19th of May.

Happy Birthday Princess Charlotte!

Baby Countdown

Prince George and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge have been out of the public eye since September when George started school at Thomas's Battersea.

The little prince was accompanied on his first day by dad Prince William but mum Catherine was suffering from extreme morning sickness and had to stay home in bed. 

William and George's arrival at Thomas's was captured by the press and Kensington Palace issued a photo of the two princes standing on the front steps of their home. 

Likewise, Charlotte commenced preschool
at Willcocks Nursery School not far from home in Kensington in early January. Press photographers were not in attendance but again the Palace released two gorgeous photos of the two year old princess taken by the Duchess of Cambridge. 

We really haven't seen much of the children since the Cambridge tour of Germany and Poland last July. But the coming months will present more opportunities to see the little ones. 

In April, the third Cambridge baby is due and it is expected that Catherine will again give birth in the Lindo Wing of St Mary's hospital in Paddington.  

As well as a photo opportunity on the steps of the hospital, it is hoped new photos will be issued to mark the arrival of this new prince or princess. Charlotte will turn three on May 2nd.

If that isn't enough excitement for the family and royal watchers, Prince Harry will wed Ms. Meghan Markle at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle on 19th May. George and Charlotte may well play a role as pageboy and flower girl just as they did for Aunty Pippa last May.

And then there will be the baby's christening approximately three months after his or her birth as well as Trooping the Colour at Buckingham Palace in early June. 

A big year coming up for the Cambridge family and Prince Harry!

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!