New Charlotte Photos

source: Kensington Royal

Kensington Palace has released two adorable photos of Princess Charlotte.

The portraits were taken in early November by the Duchess of Cambridge at the family's country home Anmer Hall. 

Charlotte was six months old at the time and the photos show the princess looking very different from the baby we saw at her Christening in early July.

source: Kensington Royal

Charlotte And George News

The Duchess of Cambridge has been very busy undertaking engagements both solo and with Prince William.

From conversations Catherine has had with members of the public we have a few new insights into her children George and Charlotte.

Just last week during an engagement in Wales, the proud mum reported that George is "obsessed" with tractors and loves anything with big wheels.

Pauline Hallett of Ogwen Mountain Rescue told Hello magazine:
"Catherine then said how much George loved them (helicopters). He knows all the different colours and asks her about all the parts. She laughed and said she tells George to ask Daddy as she has no idea."

Prince George has a toy John Deere pedal tractor which he uses at Amner Hall.  The tractor would be similar to the image at the bottom of the page.

Also during the day in Wales, the Duchess revealed her plans to put George and Charlotte's names down for Rainbows and Scouts. Catherine used to be a volunteer at the local Scout group when she and William lived on the Welsh island of Angelsey.

Hello reports:
"She said that she needs to put Charlotte's name down for Rainbows," said Caernarfon's county commissioner for Girl Guides Jill Wilkinson.
"She really enjoyed helping with the scout group and said she will get George for scouting."

Let's hope we see some new portraits of the children before Christmas!

George Visits Natural History Museum

Friday 30th October, 2015

Prince George and his mum Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visited London's Natural History Museum last Thursday 22nd October.

Catherine revealed the outing when she was chatting to young children and their mentors during an engagement at Chance UK in London this week. 

Mentor Claire commented: "She said that George was more interested in a pigeon they found there rather than all the amazing exhibits ( at the museum)."

Catherine spoke to a young girl Faith about insects and said that "George likes them. George's favourite was the ladybird."

Hello magazine has quoted People magazine:Rimi Rahman, one member of the public who saw the royal visitors at the museum, told People: "She was holding George's hand, showing him around and talking to one of the people who worked there. People didn't really notice her at all. They went all around the dinosaur gallery – George looked so cute and little, his hair is so nice. He looked so happy."

According to Hello:
The Duchess was dressed down in a black jumper and patterned trousers, while George looked sweet in a navy jumper and trousers. The two-year-old held hands with his mother as they walked around, and is said to have gone mostly unnoticed during their day out.

The Duchess of Cambridge has has a hectic ten days of engagements including two movie premieres, State Visit by China's President and a trip to Dundee, Scotland with Prince William.  

Natural History Museum source: Blog author

Charlotte "ladylike": William

Sunday 18th October, 2015

Ladylike Charlotte

Prince William this week described his five month old daughter Princess Charlotte as "ladylike".

The Prince who was visiting St John's College, Cambridge University also mentioned that son Prince George was "lively".

George has been a handful since birth and no doubt is in the midst of the terrible twos.

The Cambridge children have not been seen in public since Charlotte's Christening on July 5th. Their mum Catherine, however, has returned to royal duties following her maternity leave. 

Photos of George and Charlotte watching a helicopter on the grounds of Kensington Palace have emerged. The young princess was being held by nanny Maria Borrallo as the youngsters looked on just like any other children.

As these photos were not taken with the permission of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, I will not include them here.

Helicopter at Kensington Palace source: Blog author

George & Charlotte Visit The Queen

Thursday 17th September, 2015

Balmoral Castle

Prince George, Princess Charlotte and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge travelled to Scotland last week to stay at Balmoral Castle. The family arrived on Tuesday the 8th, a day before the Queen became the longest reigning British monarch. 

Catherine is thought to have received the Royal Family Order from Her Majesty. The order is the highest honour that can be given to a female member of the Royal Family. 

Duke of Westminster

William & Charles Aberdeen 1984

The Cambridge family flew to Aberdeen Airport aboard a Cessna Citation X belonging to Gerald Grosvenor, The Duke of Westminster. The Grosvenor family has many links to the royal family including:

• Natalia, Duchess of Westminster is one of Prince William's godmothers

• Diana, Princess of Wales was godmother to Natalia and Gerald's daughter Lady Edwina Grosvenor

• Hugh, Earl Grosvenor is a godfather to Prince George.

• Lady Tamara Grosvenor married Edward van Cutsem whose family has a long standing friendship with the Prince of Wales and family:

  *the van Cutsem's previously lived at Amner Hall which is now home to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. 
  *Prince Charles has been a friend of the late Hugh van Cutsem senior since university 
  *Edward van Cutsem is godson of Prince Charles and was pageboy at Charles' marriage to Lady Diana Spencer
  *Hugh ( brother of Edward) van Cutsem's daughter Grace was flower girl at William and Catherine's wedding.
  *William van Cutsem ( like Hugh Grosvenor) is a godfather to Prince George

As you can see the Grosvenors, van Cutsems and the Wales/Cambridge families have many connections.

Prince William's Tribute To The Queen

Tuesday 8th September, 2015

This Wednesday 9th September, Queen Elizabeth will surpass Queen Victoria as Britain's longest serving monarch.

Prince William has paid tribute to his grandmother by writing the preface to a new book, Elizabeth II The Steadfast by Douglas Hurd. Hurd is a former British home secretary and foreign secretary and as such viewed Her Majesty at close quarters.

Elizabeth II The Steadfast is part of a series of short stories about Britain's sovereigns published by Penguin Press. 

For those interested in the Penguin Monarchs series, an article in the independent.co.uk gives a review:
 
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/penguin-has-embarked-on-a-fouryear-project-to-chronicle-the-lives-of-all-45-of-our-monarchs-9904553.html

William's preface is copied below:

Preface to Elizabeth II: The Steadfast by HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, 2015
Over the last ninety years, the world has changed more rapidly than at any time in history. 
When my grandmother The Queen was born in 1926, the wounds of the Great War were still healing, but few would imagine how soon they would be reopened. 
The confidence of the previous century had morphed into uncertainty and many worried – as they still do – about the challenge presented to our communities by rapid technological and social change.
After almost ninety years, we find ourselves in a world that has changed dramatically, almost beyond recognition to the world that The Queen was born into, but where the role of charity, family, duty and compassion perseveres. 
I think I speak for my generation when I say that the example and continuity provided by The Queen is not only very rare among leaders but a great source of pride and reassurance. 
Time and again, quietly and modestly, The Queen has shown us all that we can confidently embrace the future without compromising the things that are important.
From a personal point of view, I am privileged to witness the private side of The Queen, as a grandmother and great-grandmother.
The Queen’s kindness and sense of humour, her innate sense of calm and perspective, and her love of family and home are all attributes I experience first-hand.
I should add that no mention of The Queen is complete without paying tribute to my grandfather Prince Philip, who has devoted his life to supporting her.
All of us who will inherit the legacy of my grandmother’s reign and generation need to do all we can to celebrate and learn from her story. Speaking for myself, I am privileged to have The Queen as a model for a life of service to the public.

HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, 2015

Her Majesty's Milestone

Thursday 3rd September, 2015

source: kensingtonroyal

It is Summer/Autumn holiday time for the royal family and there hasn't been a lot of news of the Cambridges lately. 

While Catherine continues to care for George and baby Charlotte, Prince William is working in his role of helicopter pilot with East Anglia Air Ambulance. 

It is known that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be joining many senior members of the family at Balmoral Castle in Scotland next week to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen's milestone- becoming the longest reigning British monarch on 9th September. Until now Queen Victoria held that record. 

Before the 9th September we will look at the many commemorative events to celebrate The Queen's 23,227 days as Monarch.

Australia Post Stamp For Charlotte

Thursday 27th August, 2015

Australia Post has released stamps in honour of Princess Charlotte.

Entitled "The Birth of a Princess", the stamp features a photo of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge introducing their daughter Charlotte to the world  just 10 hours after her birth in May this year. 

The stamp is in the standard letter denomination of 70c and the series includes souvenir packs and first day covers. More specifications and how to order can be found at the following site:

https://shop.auspost.com.au/stamp-coin-collectables/stamp-issues/birth-of-a-princess

The Princess Charlotte stamps will no longer issued from 23rd September, 2015.

Harrassment Of George and Charlotte By Paparazzi

Sunday 16th August, 2015

source: kensingtonroyal

Kensington Palace has issued a strongly worded statement about the harrassment of Prince George by photographers.

Whilst thanking British, Australian and other press organisations for refusing to pay for and publish paparazzi photos of the Cambridge children, it did however lay out examples of recent stalking and harrassment which are both unnerving and potentially security issues. 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also wanted members of the public to be aware of the tactics employed by paparazzi to get exclusive shots. It is hoped that if the public understands the instrusion and underhanded manner involved they are less likely to buy publications which use the resulting photographs. 

The full statement follows:

Kensington Palace has today sent the attached letter to leaders of media industry bodies and standards organisations in the UK and in other international markets.
In recent months, there have been an increasing number of incidents of paparazzi harassment of Prince George. And the tactics being used are increasingly dangerous. This letter is being published now to inform the public discussion around the unauthorised photography of children. It is hoped that those who pay paparazzi photographers for their images of children will be able to better understand the distressing activity around a two-year old boy that their money is fuelling. We also feel that the readers who enjoy the publications that fuel this market for the unauthorised photos deserve to understand the tactics deployed to obtain these photos.
The vast majority of publications around the world – and all British publications – have refused to fuel the market for such photos. This is an important and laudable stance for which The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are hugely grateful. They have enjoyed sharing an increasing number of photos of their children and look forward to continuing to take them to more public events as they get older.

From: Jason Knauf, Communications Secretary to TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and HRH Prince Henry of Wales, 14th August, 2015
 
I am writing to provide an overview of the current challenges facing Kensington Palace as we seek to protect Prince George and Princess Charlotte from harassment and surveillance by paparazzi photographers.  I hope our experience will inform the ongoing effort to uphold standards on the protection of children in a rapidly changing media landscape.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have expressed their gratitude to British media organisations for their policy of not publishing unauthorised photos of their children.  This stance, guided not just by their wishes as parents, but by the standards and codes of the industry as it relates to all children, is to be applauded.  They are pleased also that almost all reputable publications throughout the Commonwealth – in particular Australia, Canada, and New Zealand – and in other major media markets like the United States have adopted a similar position.
The Duke and Duchess are glad that leaders in the media industry share the view that every child, regardless of their future public role, deserves a safe, happy, and private childhood.  They have been delighted to share official photographs of Prince George and Princess Charlotte in recent months to thank the public for the thousands of kind messages of support they have received.  News photographers have had several recent opportunities to take photos of the family and these will be a regular occurrence as both children get older.
Despite this, paparazzi photographers are going to increasingly extreme lengths to observe and monitor Prince George's movements and covertly capture images of him to sell to the handful of international media titles still willing to pay for them.  One recent incident – just last week – was disturbing, but not at all uncommon.  A photographer rented a car and parked in a discreet location outside a children's play area.  Already concealed by darkened windows, he took the added step of hanging sheets inside the vehicle and created a hide stocked with food and drinks to get him through a full day of surveillance, waiting in hope to capture images of Prince George. Police discovered him lying down in the boot of the vehicle attempting to shoot photos with a long lens through a small gap in his hide.
It is of course upsetting that such tactics – reminiscent as they are of past surveillance by groups intent on doing more than capturing images – are being deployed to profit from  the image of a two-year old boy.  In a heightened security
environment such tactics are a risk to all involved.  The worry is that it will not always be possible to quickly distinguish between someone taking photos and someone intending to do more immediate harm.
This incident was not an isolated one. In recent months photographers have:
• on multiple occasions used long range lenses to capture images of The Duchess playing with Prince George in a number of private parks;
• monitored the movements of Prince George and his nanny around London parks and monitored the movements of other household staff;
• photographed the children of private individuals visiting The Duke and Duchess's home;
• pursued cars leaving family homes;
• used other children to draw Prince George into view around playgrounds;
• been found hiding on private property in fields and woodland locations around The Duke and Duchess's home in Norfolk;
• obscured themselves in sand dunes on a rural beach to take photos of Prince George playing with his grandmother;
• placed locations near the Middleton family home in Berkshire under steady surveillance
It is clear that while paparazzi are always keen to capture images of any senior member of The Royal Family, Prince George is currently their number one target.  We have made the decision to discuss these issues now as the incidents are becoming more frequent and the tactics more alarming.  A line has been crossed and any further escalation in tactics would represent a very real security risk.
All of this has left The Duke and Duchess concerned about their ability to provide a childhood for Prince George and Princess Charlotte that is free from harassment and surveillance.  They know that almost all parents love to share photos of their children and they themselves enjoy doing so.  But they know every parent would object to anyone – particularly strangers – taking photos of their children without their permission.  Every parent would understand their deep unease at only learning they had been followed and watched days later when photographs emerged.
The Duke and Duchess are of course very fortunate to have private homes where photographers cannot capture images of their children.  But they feel strongly that both Prince George and Princess Charlotte should not grow up exclusively behind palace gates and in walled gardens.  They want both children to be free to play in public and semi-public spaces with other children without being photographed.  In addition, the privacy of those other children and their families must also be preserved.
Rest assured that we continue to take legal steps to manage these incidents as they occur.  But we are aware that many people who read and enjoy the publications that fuel the market for unauthorised photos of children do not know about the unacceptable circumstances behind what are often lovely images.  The use of these photos is usually dressed up with fun, positive language about the 'cute', 'adorable' photos and happy write ups about the family.  We feel readers deserve to understand the tactics deployed to obtain these pictures.
We hope a public discussion of these issues will help all publishers of unauthorised photos of children to understand the power they hold to starve this disturbing activity of funding.  I would welcome constructive conversations with any publisher or editor on these topics.  And I would ask for your help as we work to encourage the highest standards on the protection of children in every corner of the media.  The Duke and Duchess are determined to keep the issues around a small number of paparazzi photographers distinct and separate from the positive work of most newspapers, magazines, broadcasters, and web publishers around the world.
The text from this letter, which has been sent to a number of people in leadership positions, will be placed in the public domain to raise awareness of the issues discussed.
Jason Knauf,
Communications Secretary, Kensington Palace

Wetherby School

Monday 10th August, 2015

William's First Day January 1987

In exploring future options for the education of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, I had written last January about Mrs Mynors Nursery School where Princes William and Harry started their schooling. 

Now we will look at Wetherby School in Notting Hill Gate, West London which William joined on 15th of January, 1987 at the age of 5. The Prince left the school on 5th July 1990. 

According to wetherbyschool.co.uk
Wetherby School will be celebrating its 60th Anniversary in 2011. Founded in 1951, by Mr and Mrs Gerald Russell, the school was originally in Wetherby Place SW7. It remained there for the first twenty years of its life before moving to Pembridge Square in 1971 when it became part of the Family Educational Group Davies, Laing and Dick. In 2002 the family sold to the Alpha Plus Group (www.alphaplusgroup.co.uk) and the school expanded to three form entry to meet the increasing demands on the waiting lists in the area.

In 1984 Miss Frederika Blair-Turner was appointed headmistress upon the retirement of Mr and Mrs Russell and was in post for the next fourteen years. In 1998 Mrs Jenny Aviss succeeded her as head and in 2008 Mr Mark Snell becomes the first headmaster in the history of Wetherby School.
 

Harry's First Day September 1989

Wetherby is a boys pre-prep school so this would not be an option for Charlotte but George may well find himself pulling on the grey and red trimmed uniform and cap in another two years. 

Boys can start in the Reception class in the September after their 4th birthday. For George that would be in 2017. This first year is very much a preschool foundation year and teachers formulate the curriculum according to the needs of that particular cohort. 

From there the children progress to the formal school curriculum where they stay until the end of years 2 or 3. The form teacher teaches the core lessons whilst specialist teachers instruct the boys in such things as music, French, art, drama, sport, ICT, etc.

At the end of their time at Wetherby School, the headmaster will advise parents on which schools will best suit their child. Approximately 10-15 percent of Wetherby School children will go onto a boarding school.

The Reception and Little Wetherby is located at 19 Pembridge Villas, whilst the main Wetherby School is at 11 Pembridge Square. Pembridge Square Gardens across the road provides a place for the boys to run and play during breaks.