New Cambridge Family Photo

Kensington Palace released a new photograph of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

The black and white photo also includes family dog Lupo! It was taken at Kensington Palace in April in association with an interview Prince William has given to GQ magazine. 

William speaks about mental health and how he wishes his mother Diana was still here to meet Catherine and his children. 

Aunty Pippa Weds

The Duchess of Cambridge's sister Pippa married James Matthews on Saturday. The service was held at St Mark's Englefield near the Middleton family home in Bucklebury, Bershire.

Prince George ( almost 4) and his sister Princess Charlotte (aged 2) were pageboy and flower girl respectively along with a group of other children. 

Catherine took charge of the children at the church and could be seen making a "shushh" gesture as the group approached the church doors. 

Enjoy the lovely photos of the day.

Flashback

Seeing gorgeous Princess Charlotte in her pretty sheep cardigan reminded me of her late Grandmother's very famous sheep jumper.

Diana wore the jumper twice at the polo- once in 1981 when she was Lady Diana Spencer and engaged to the Prince of Wales. The second occasion was in 1983 when she had been married for two years and a mother to William for 12 months. 

Having returned from a history making Australia and New Zealand tour only months before, Diana was immensely popular and growing in confidence and poise. 

Also looking through the archives, I spotted some photos of Prince William as pageboy at the 1986 wedding of his uncle Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson or "Fergie" as she was known. 

William was 4 years old at the time, just a bit older than Prince George will be at his aunt Pippa Middleton's wedding on 20th May. Photos of William acting out, wriggling and being plain cheeky were beamed around the world. 

William was paired up with his cousin Lady Laura Fellowes. Laura's mother is Diana's sister Jane and the Queen's Equerry Robert Fellowes. Jane, Robert and family lived at Kensington Palace and so were neighbours to Diana and her children. Laura is now a godmother to Princess Charlotte. 

As an aside, it was reported at the time that the Queen was not very impressed by William's behaviour and Charles and Diana were spoken to. I bet lots of parents are nodding in sympathy......
 

Charlotte's Birthday Portrait

 

Kensington Palace has released a gorgeous photo of Princess

Charlotte to mark her second birthday on Tuesday. 

The portrait was taken by the Duchess of Cambridge in April at the family's country home Anmer Hall. 

In the snap, Charlotte is wearing a very cute yellow cardigan featuring sheep and has a blue ribbon in her hair.

Happy Birthday Charlotte!

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

Charlotte & George To Star At Pippa's Wedding

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's children Prince George and Princess Charlotte will be the stars of their aunt Pippa's wedding next month. 

Catherine's younger sister Pippa will marry banker James Matthews at St Mark's Church, Englefield near the Middleton home in Berkshire on 20th May. George will be a pageboy and Charlotte who will turn two next week will be a flower girl. The Duchess will not have a formal role on the day but is expected to give a reading at the church.

It has been confirmed that Prince Harry will also be present at the wedding. He will most likely join the Cambridges who will be staying as guests of Carole and Mike Middleton at their family home in Bucklebury. 

It will be a very busy time for the bride's parents who will host the reception in a marquee on their grounds. 

Heads Together 

Catherine, William and Harry have been undertaking several speaking engagements in the last few weeks to promote their organisation Heads Together.

Heads Together is an umbrella for the mental health charities that the royal trio support:

• Best Beginnings
• CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably)
• Contact (a military mental health coalition)
• Mind
• Place2Be
• The Mix
• YoungMinds
• The Anna Freud Centre

 Last weekend's London Marathon chose the organisation as this year's beneficiary. 

Prince Harry spoke about his struggle to process the grief for his mother, the late Princess of Wales who died 20 years ago. Harry was just 12 when he lost his mother and bottled up his feelings because he didn't see the benefit in dredging up sadness. 

From express.co.uk

"The fifth in line to the throne said he sought help when he was 28 after his brother the Duke of Cambridge intervened. Harry, 32, said he had "shut down all my emotions" for almost two decades after losing his mother but often felt anxiety during royal engagements and on the verge of punching someone.

The Prince, now a much calmer individual, admitted he took up boxing to try to control his aggression but for a long time felt that lining in the public eye he could be "very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions".

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph journalist Bryony Gordon, he said he had spent his teenagers years and early twenties determined not to think about his mother after losing her when he was 12.
“I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and sort of lies and misconceptions and everything are coming to you from every angle," he said.

Asked whether he had been to see a 'shrink' to offload his thoughts, he said: “I’ve done that a couple of times, more than a couple of times, but it’s great.”

I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions. Harry admitted that he had turned to boxing as an outlet for his frustration.

My way of dealing with it was sticking my head in the sand, refusing to ever think about my mum, because why would that help?
“During those years I took up boxing, because everyone was saying boxing is good for you and it’s a really good way of letting out aggression,” he said.

“And that really saved me because I was on the verge of punching someone, so being able to punch someone who had pads was certainly easier.”

He eventually asked for help with the encouragement of William, 34, and others close to him, who told him: “Look, you really need to deal with this. It is not normal to think that nothing has affected you.”
Since learning to talk honestly about his feelings, he said, he now feels able to put “blood, sweat and tears” into making a difference for others.

Prince Harry said he turned to boxing following his mother's death

“The experience I have had is that once you start talking about it, you realise that actually you’re part of quite a big club,” he said.
He said he counted himself lucky that it was "only two years … of total chaos" before he learned to talk about his mental health problems. "I just couldn’t put my finger on it,” he said. “I just didn’t know what was wrong with me."

He had even found himself battling a "flight or fight" reaction without understanding why when he was on official royal duties.
He insisted it was all about Diana and nothing to do with his experiences serving two two tours of duty in Afghanistan."

George's New School

Kensington Palace has announced plans for Prince George's first "big school".

George, who is currently at Westacre Montessori School in Norfolk, will commence his formal schooling at Thomas's Battersea day school in September. 

Thomas's Battersea is part of a group of Thomas's day schools in London. The school is co-educational and has three, three year stages. There are approximately 540 boys and girls at the school currently. 

The young prince will be four years of age when he starts school.

According to the express.co.uk
"Mr Ben Thomas has been headmaster of Thomas’s Battersea since 1999 but will step down this summer to focus on his wider role as principal of the whole group of schools.
His successor, appointed last May, is Simon O’Malley, currently headmaster of Wellesley House School in Broadstairs, Kent."

The tweet from Kensington Palace:

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have announced that Prince George will attend Thomas's Battersea School in London from September 2017.

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) March 24, 2017

Thomas's Battersea

Remembering Diana

On 24th February 1981, Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. 

Now, 36 years on, the late Princess of Wales will be publicly remembered in a number of ways by her sons Princes William and Harry. 

 
















 Diana: Her Fashion Story 

An exhibition will be opened at Kensington Palace on the 24th February to celebrate Diana's influence on fashion- from the days of her engagement to the end of her life in 1997.

From the Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) website: 

Celebrate the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, in this major new dress exhibition at Kensington Palace.

Trace the evolution of the Princess’s style, from the demure, romantic outfits of her first public appearances, to the glamour, elegance and confidence of her later life. Don’t miss an extraordinary collection of garments, including the iconic velvet gown, famously worn at the White House when the Princess danced with John Travolta.

White Garden

The Princes have been important in supporting the creation of the White Garden at Kensington Palace. The sunken garden was often visited by the Princess during her life. 

Again from the HRP website:

In Spring and Summer 2017, the historic Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace will be temporarily transformed into a White Garden.

 Spring planting will include an elegant palette of tulips and scented narcisii through a carpet of 'forget me nots'. In the summer, pots of classic English white roses will surround the reflective pool in the centre of the garden and the planting will become more exuberant, with glowing ornamental grasses weaving through Cosmos daisies and billows of graceful Gaura.

Statue

Diana's sons are convening a committee to commission and raise funds for a statue of the Princess. A sculptor and design for the statue will be announced soon. It will be placed in the public gardens of Kensington Palace.

It is hoped the statue will be unveiled by the end of 2017

Diana, William & Harry in Kensington Palace

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

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