New George Portraits

Kensington Palace has released four new portraits of future king Prince George on his 3rd birthday.

The photos were all taken in the gardens at the family home Anmer Hall in Norfolk. Photographer Matt Porteous was given the honour of capturing George to mark the young prince's birthday.

Enjoy looking at these beautiful new portraits.

Happy 3rd Birthday Prince George

On Friday 22nd July, Prince George of Cambridge turns 3 years old. He was born at the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, Paddington where his father William was born.

George was quite a difficult infant and has become an energetic and curious young boy. He loves anything with wheels or wings and took delight in joining his parents only two weeks ago at the Royal
International Air Tattoo. 
 
Climbing in and out of helicopters and fighter aircraft was a real treat for George, who can often be seen watching helicopters come and go from the lawns behind his London home Kensington Palace.

In January George started at a local Montessori nursery school close to Amner Hall, the main Cambridge family home on the Sandringham Estate, Norfolk. 

He attends the school a few mornings a week and no doubt some of George's new chums will be invited to join the family for George's birthday party. 

Catherine recently revealed George visits the Natural History Museum where he particularly enjoys seeing the 3D sculptures and displays. 

George and young sister Charlotte share family pets Lupo the cocker spaniel and Marvin the hamster. George is also learning to play tennis on the Anmer Hall tennis court.

Catherine and William are doing their best to balance a normal upbringing at a local school whilst growing up in stately homes and relatives who are anything but normal. 

Happy Birthday Prince George of Cambridge!

George Goes off To Work Again

Prince George of Cambridge will turn three on 22nd July. For the
second time this month ( and second time ever in the U.K.), the young royal has been taken on an engagement by his parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The royal trio left little Princess Charlotte at home and attended the 
Special Air Service 75th Anniversary at Credenhill.

The Cambridges unveiled a statue at the SAS Base before meeting serving and retired members of the regiment. No doubt aviation buff George revelled in a Red Arrow display and a Spitfire flypast. 
 
No photos are available of the event due to the secrecy and security surrounding the SAS.

Last week at the Royal International Air Tattoo, George was able to sit in a Red Arrow and other helicopters and aircraft.

What we are witnessing is William and Catherine gently introducing George to the life of public duty that lies ahead of him. Becoming used to crowds of people and large numbers of the media is also a factor. 


I have included a photo of George aged just 9 months attending his first ever engagement- a Plunket playdate with other babies and their parents  in Wellington, New Zealand.

Flashback

The cute photos of young Prince George of Cambridge at the RAF Fairford Air Tattoo brought back memories of his father Prince William of Wales at a similar age.

In 1985, at the age of three, William joined his father Charles to see the Red Devils parachute team land in the garden behind Kensington Place. 

George At RAF Fairford Airshow

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took Prince George to his first official engagement in the U.K. yesterday. The threesome attended the world’s largest military airshow, the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford. 

The Duchess is Patron of the Air Cadets and the Air Tattoo was staging events to celebrate the Cadets 75th anniversary.

George will turn 3 years old on the 22nd of July and his parents have often spoken of his love of planes, trucks and helicopters. So the young royal was able to sit in all sorts of fixed wing fighters, transport aircraft as well as helicopters.

Prince William was a RAF search and rescue pilot until Prince George was just a few months old. He has since taken up a role as a pilot for East Anglian Air Ambulance. He combines this with his royal duties and time with his young family. 

Prince Harry was an Apache helicopter pilot and served in an active war zone.

George seemed to love all that was on offer but had a tantrum that his mum and dad sorted out with a cuddle and distraction. I hope you enjoy the photos of gorgeous George!

More Trooping the Colour Photos

More wonderful photos of yesterday's Trooping the Colour balcony appearance by Charlotte and George.

Charlotte's Trooping Debut

Princess Charlotte of Cambridge made her Trooping the Colour debut today.
 
The official festivities were in honour of The Queen's 90th birthday.

Princess Charlotte was held by her mother the Duchess of Cambridge whilst big brother George was busy looking at the crowds and trying to take in the sights and sounds around him.

Prince George who will be 3 next month, was wearing the same outfit his father William wore to Prince Harry's Christening in December 1984. 

At last year's Trooping, George wore his father's outfit from William's own Trooping debut back in June1984. It seems the Wales children's clothing has been well stored and cared for over the decades. 

Queen's Official Birthday Events

William aged 3 and Harry 9 months 1985

The Queen's birthday is on 21st April but the official celebration is held in June- usually the second Saturday. The reason the official celebrations are not until June is that the chances of good weather are higher in the Summer. 

Yesterday most members of the Royal Family attended a Thanksgiving Service at St. Paul's Cathedral.

Today, the annual Trooping the Colour will take place. Let's hope little Princess Charlotte makes an appearance on the palace balcony!

The Trooping the Colour starts with Queen Elizabeth and members of the Royal Family travelling from Buckingham Palace, down The Mall to Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall.The ceremony is explained on the royal.gov.uk website:

What happens during Trooping the Colour?

Once The Queen has arrived at Horse Guard's Parade in Whitehall, she is greeted by a Royal salute and carries out an inspection of the troops, who are fully trained and operational soldiers wearing the ceremonial uniform of red tunics and bearskin hats.
The Queen used to attend on horseback herself, but in recent years has travelled by carriage.
After the military bands have performed, the escorted Regimental Colour, or flag, is processed down the ranks of soldiers. Over one hundred words of command are used by the Officer in Command of the Parade to direct the several hundred soldiers.
Once the Foot Guards have marched past The Queen, she rides back to Buckingham Palace at the head of the soldiers, before taking the salute again at the Palace from a dais. 
Her Majesty is then joined by other Members of the Royal Family on the balcony at Buckingham Palace to watch a fly-past by the Royal Air Force. A 41-gun salute is also fired in Green Park to mark the occasion. 

Horse Guards Parade

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

Family Day Out For The Cambridges

Last Saturday 28th May, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took
their children to the Houghton International Horse Trials.

The horse trials are celebrating their tenth year and are held at Houghton Hall near Kings Lynn in Norfolk. The Cambridge home Anmer Hall is close by. 

Prince George wore a blue and white striped jumper by Next. Charlotte sported a pale blue cardigan and a blue bow in her hair.

The family spent time with friend James Meade and his wife Lady Laura Marsham. James is a school friend of William and is godfather to little Princess Charlotte. 

After enjoying a picnic the family left for home. Prince William flew by helicopter to Berkshire to attend a charity polo match alongside brother Prince Harry.