An Easter Baby For Harry?

As we continue our royal baby watch, there are few signs that the birth is imminent. However, should the newest royal arrive on Easter Sunday, it will be special for another reason.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 93rd birthday on 21st April and she is also staying in Windsor Castle, not far from Meghan and Harry who are in their new home, Frogmore Cottage.

The Queen will be attending an Easter church service at St. George's Chapel, Windsor but it is highly unlikely that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will join her. Her Majesty's birthday is marked each year by gun salutes at Midday:

41 gun salute in Hyde Park
21 gun salute in Windsor Great Park
62 gun salute at the Tower of London

Meghan and Harry's decision not to share the baby's arrival publicly has created a lot of comment in the media and public alike. Part of the joy of following the royal family is sharing special moments in their lives. It is a very fine line to tread- including the public when you choose, especially when tax payers money is used for some of those occasions. 

The public have always held a special place in their hearts for William and Harry as they are the children of the late Diana, Princess of Wales and Prince Charles. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are future monarchs and have found a lovely balance of publicly sharing occcasions in their children's lives with maintaining their privacy for most of the year.

On that note, Prince Louis of Cambridge will be celebrating his first birthday on April  23rd. We hope his parents release an updated photo of their little boy.

Happy Birthday Your Majesty!

Flashback: Harry As A Baby

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are due to welcome their first child over the coming weeks. We thought a look back at Prince Henry ( Harry) Charles Albert David of Wales as a baby would be fun. 

Harry was born on 14th September, 1984 at the Lindo Windo of St. Mary's Hospital Paddington. 

The young prince was Baptised just before Christmas at St. George's Chapel, WIndsor. Footage from the celebrations afterwards was included in the Queen's Christmas Day broadcast. 

Harry's younger years were spent in Apartments 8 & 9, Kensington Palace and weekends at Highgrove House, Tetbury, Gloucestershire.

Cambridge And Sussex Households

William 1983

Prince William of Wales, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry of Wales, Duke of Sussex grew up primarily in Apartments 8 & 9 in Kensington Palace and Highgrove House in Gloucestershire.

After their parents divorced, Prince Charles's London residence became St James's Palace and later, after the Queen Mother died, Clarence House on The Mall.


In 2011, Prince William and new wife Catherine moved into Nottingham Cottage in Kensington Palace. Later, after Prince George's birth in 2013, Apartment 1A became the Cambridge's home where they are raising their three young children.

Wales brothers 1985

Prince Harry moved into Nottingham Cottage when his brother vacated it and Kensington Palace also houses the official offices for the Cambridges and Sussexes. This has been a secure, convenient and convivial arrangement for the royal brothers, however this will now change.

Late last year, it was announced that Prince Harry and wife Meghan will move to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor Great Park. The property has been converted from five apartments for Estate workers to a comfortable family home for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their new baby, due in the next few weeks.

Last week Buckingham Palace confirmed that the newly formed Household of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be located in the Queen's official London residence. Harry's father the Prince of Wales along with the Queen will assist with the establishment and staffing. This is much the same arrangement for the Queen's sons the Duke of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex and daughter the Princess Royal and husband Sir Timothy Laurance. Most likely apartments will be allocated to the Sussexes for their London engagements. 

Prince William and wife Catherine will continue to have their household offices in Kensington Palace as they prepare for the time when William is heir to the throne and thus Prince of Wales. 

Diana's sitting room 1985

William in Palace walled garden

The future of the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is unknown. Perhaps it will soon be time to split the Foundation to allow the couples their own areas of charitable interest.

Cambridge's Apartment

Cambridge's Apartment

George 2016

I hope you enjoyed a peek inside the Wales and Cambridge apartments at Kensington Palace over the years!


Baby Sussex
As previously stated, Harry and Meghan's first baby is due to arrive in the coming weeks. There has been no official advice as to where Meghan will give birth- London's Lindo Wing, Frimley Park Hospital near Windsor where the Countess of Wessex had Lady Louise and Viscount Severn or perhaps the Portland Hospital in London where Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were born. 

In public, Prince Harry has become a much more serious character since his engagement to Meghan and information flow is quite controlled. So we wait and see whether we welcome a new Lord or Lady Sussex, their birthplace and names. 

 

Blog author outside Kensington Palace 2017

George & Charlotte Star at Eugenie's Wedding

Princess Eugenie's Wedding

Princess Eugenie of York will marry her long time boyfriend Jack Brooksbank on Friday, 12th October at St George's Chapel, Windsor. 

Eugenie and sister Beatrice were brought up in the Windsor area, first at a purpose built home Sunningdale then at Royal Lodge in the Windsor Castle grounds. 

Eugenie and Jack now live in a Cottage in Kensington Palace, just next to cousin Prince Harry.

Buckingham Palace has just announced the attendants for the day and Eugenie has included all of her young royal cousins and second cousins:

Bridesmaids:

• Princess Charlotte of Cambridge
• Savannah and Isla Phillips, daughters of Peter and Autumn Phillips
• Mia Tindall, eldest daughter of Zara and Mike Tindall
• Maud Windsor, eldest daughter of Lord and Lady Frederick Windsor. Maud is a classmate of Prince George and also a goddaughter of Eugenie.
• Theodora Williams, daughter of singer Robbie Williams

Pageboys:

• Prince George of Cambridge
• Louis de  Givenchy, whose parents are friends of the bride

Prince Edward and wife Sophie's children Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn will be special attendants. Louise and James are first cousins of Eugenie. Lady Louise was bridesmaid for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011 and is regularly seen at royal events. James is a little shy and is seen in public less often.

Princess Beatrice will be maid of honour and the groom's brother Thomas will be best man.

Little George and Charlotte will be wedding attendants for the fourth time.

Wedding Rehearsal

Thursday saw the major royals converge on Windsor Castle to rehearse for Prince Harry's wedding.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge along with their eldest children Prince George and Princess Charlotte took part in the run through for tomorrow's marriage of Prince Harry to Ms Meghan Markle. 

George and Charlotte will be among the pageboys and bridesmaids for the wedding. Photos of Catherine leaving Kensington Palace were the first public images of the Duchess since giving birth to Prince Louis on 23rd April. 

Prince William will be best man for Harry and Catherine will be busy helping with the children just as she did at her sister Pippa's wedding twelve months ago (see photo below). 

No doubt little Louis will be at Windsor Castle on the big day, being cared for by nanny Maria Borrallo or grandmother Carole Middleton. Catherine will be close by for feeding or cuddles for their first major separation since birth. 

Prince Harry's First Big Occasion At Windsor

In the lead up to Prince Harry's wedding we look at his first big event at Windsor Castle. Harry was christened at St George's Chapel in December 1984 at the age of three months. 

Big brother William will once again be there to support Harry on another historic occasion.

Inside St George's Chapel

St George's Chapel (left) in Windsor Castle

Cambridges At Easter

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children George and Charlotte spent Easter with Catherine's family in Berkshire.

Carole and Michael Middleton hosted the the family for what would have been a fun time in the lead up to the arrival of the third Cambridge baby.

Catherine and William enjoy being part of normal family gatherings and the children would have been doted on by their grandparents.

On Easter Sunday, the Duke and Duchess travelled to nearby Windsor Castle to attend mass with the Royal Family. However they became stuck in a traffic jam and arrived at St George's Chapel after Her Majesty. The Queen is always last to arrive and this lapse in protocol would not have pleased Her Majesty.

Anyone stuck in traffic knows that there is little that can be done but be patient. One would think that police outriders could have eased the path but perhaps that was not possible.

The Duchess looked lovely with her baby bump seeming to grow daily. With each pregnancy she suffers from extreme morning sickness which requires extended periods of bed rest and medical intervention. But towards the end Catherine seems much more energetic and can be seen out and about shopping.

On Easter Monday the family was back at their country home Anmer Hall in Norfolk. Photos have appeared on the internet showing Catherine shopping at Waitrose in Norfolk.

George and Charlotte will be due back at school and preschool in London so it is expected the Cambridges will head back to their Kensington Palace home soon.

George And Charlotte With The Queen

Another new portrait has been released to commemorate the Queen's 90th birthday.

Her Majesty celebrates her birthday on the 21st April. This portrait was taken by Annie Leibovitz just after Easter at Windsor Castle. It features the youngest members of the Royal Family.

Grandchildren:

• Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn are Prince Edward and his wife Sophie's children. 

Great grandchildren:

• Savannah and Isla Phillips are the daughters of Princess Anne's son Peter and wife Autumn.

• Mia Tindall is the daughter of Anne's daughter Zara and husband Mike Tindall.

• Prince George and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge are the children of William and Catherine.

Young Charlotte was 11 months old at the time and is pictured sitting on Queen Elizabeth's lap.

The Duchess of Cambridge also used her camera to take photos on the day for her personal album.

Happy Birthday Ma'am!!