Happy Anniversary to The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge!

Today is the second wedding anniversary of my dear friends, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge! It has been a busy week for them, but I hope they find some time soon to celebrate the milestone for the last time before the baby arrives.

In other news, I have Internet now and I am so, so relieved–it means I can keep up better with our happy couple!

If you’re still feeling down this week, only thing you need to do is watch this video and I promise your heart will grow ten sizes. It’s the Royals plus Harry Potter, which equals not only the most British thing from the island, but also the most adorable setup. Trust me. Prince William knows “Expelliarmus!” unaided–what could possibly be better than that???

                                Courtesy Google Image Search (lame, I know)

Give these kids an honorary Oscar already! Including one for the baby.

Tomorrow is the abdication of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and the investiture of King Willem Alexander I–it is an exciting week! Thank goodness for Internet. Seriously.

 

 

The Duchess of Cambridge Visits The Willows Primary School

I’m in the Starbucks that’s literally 30 seconds down the hill from my apartment; I don’t yet have Internet in my apartment, hence taking advantage of the free AT&T here. There is a man yelling on his cell phone across the room, but I guess you can’t win ‘em all.

It’s an inconvenient week not to have Internet and an inconvenient week to be so busy: The Duchess had two events already and will have two more before the week is over! There was a Scouts event at Windsor Castle on Sunday and then a visit to The Willows Primary School today, where she met with children of substance-addicted parents.

I just love her:

The school is on the Wythenshawe estate in Manchester, which is the equivalent of a low-income housing area in the states. Just hours after the Duchess’s upcoming visit was announced a month ago, the school’s playground went up in arson’s flames (several pubescent boys were later charged). It’s nice to see her here; as I read in a commentary today, the Duchess could very well keep going to the National Portrait Gallery and the ballet and no one would bat an eye–but to focus a lens on drug addiction is an important statement and the cause deserves her–and our–attention.

This is a quote from The Telegraph and it almost brought tears to my eyes when I read it (again, it’s been an emotional past week!):

The Duchess was also given a large A3 book the children had written titled: “What do princesses do?”

As she flicked through the children’s ideas of what she did, she said: “Eat bananas? Yes I certainly do that. Dancing, yes that too. Eat sweets. Yes I like all those!”

She is going to make one heck of an amazing mother!

I can’t wait to see where she shows up next this week. Thanks everyone for your patience and understanding!

Happy 87th Birthday to Her Majesty, The Queen!

Today Her Majesty, The Queen turned 87; it has been quite a year for her, with her Diamond Jubilee and The Olympics in the summer of 2012, and the pregnancy of The Duchess of Cambridge announced in December. This year will see the 60th anniversary of her coronation (June 2nd, 1953) and the birth of the next heir to the throne (July!).

It has been a wild and crazy several weeks. I can’t use the Boston Marathon as an excuse for not posting, since I was remiss in updates even before then, but it was certainly emotional last week. Another way I look at it: With all of the sadness and anxiety going around, is it any wonder I want to write about famous people who wear tiaras and fancy outfits? I don’t think I’m the only one who could use some levity right now.

Speaking of levity, Prince Harry is back in action! He awarded the London Marathon winners with medals this morning.

Courtesy Hello! Online

Kenyan Priscah Jeptoo won the women’s race; Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede won the men’s race. They are pictured above with Prince Harry and Richard Branson, founder of Virgin and a sponsor of the marathon. Branson’s company pledged £2 for every finisher of the London Marathon to the One Fund, which supports victims of the bombings in Boston.

Internet is spotty in my new apartment; I won’t make any promises about posting in the upcoming weeks, but thanks for putting up with me!

Happy Birthday, Your Majesty!

Royal Matriarch Featured on Wikipedia

When Wikipedia features members of any Royal Family, past or present, or affiliated Royal subjects, I go a bit bonkers. Every time I’ll take a screenshot, but even in my excitement I don’t take the time to post about King Æthelred, Windsor Castle, or Prince Albert (alas!), to name a few from recent memory. Today, however, regime change begins at home and here she is, Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine.

This woman is, if you forgive the expression, kind of a big deal. To start, she is one of the 42 grandchildren of the illustrious Queen Victoria; Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s consort, is in turn the junior Victoria’s grandson. Most recognized for the prior distinction, she is also the mother of Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India and Prince Charles’ beloved great uncle.

Family tragedy blots much of Princess Victoria’s life: Her mother, the ill-fated Princess Alice, died from diphtheria on the death anniversary of Prince Albert, Princess Alice’s father; PrincessVictoria was just 15 . During the Russian revolution two of Princess Victoria’s sisters, the Grand Duchess Elizabeth and the Empress Alexandra, were murdered. Marriage into the German Royal Family did not bode well for her during the years of World War, and she was often separated from her children. Princess Victoria lived her later years in Kensington Palace and died in 1950, well-remembered by her grandson, then just The Duke of Edinburgh.

It is because of her tragic family life that Princess Victoria holds clout today: In 1993 Prince Philip’s DNA confirmed that all five daughters of the last Russian Imperial Family perished at the hands of Bolsheviks in 1917; this evidence put to rest the tale of Grand Duchess Anastasia (and other impostors) surviving the revolution. The discovery solved a decades-long mystery and was only possible through his grandmother, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, who gave him proximity to the female blood line of his great aunt, Empress Alexandra.

There’s much more to Princess Victoria’s story than I’ve mentioned, so take a look at the Wikipedia page and see for yourself!

In other news, The Duke of Rothesay and The Earl and Countess of Strathearn are making the Scottish rounds this morning; stay tuned for an update later today, probably after work. The Countess is wearing red!

The Earl and Countess of Strathearn Visit Scotland

My life has been crazy since starting work, but I love what I do. Today’s stress and craziness increased my delight, however, when I saw the first glimpse of our lovely couple in Glasgow, Scotland. As you all well know, they are known as The Earl and Countess of Strathearn while in Scotland.

               Courtesy Hello! Online

The Earl and Countess visited the Glasgow Emirates Arena (where some of the Commonwealth Games will be held in 2014), had lunch at the City Hall Civic Chambers, visited a homeless shelter, and stopped by a sports program for kids that is part of the Royal Foundation charity. This is part of a two-day trip to Scotland; I’m afraid I don’t know where they will end up tomorrow, but I do know that they will join the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay (that’s Prince Charles and The Duchess of Cornwall) at some point. 

At one point during a walkabout the Countess cooed over a baby while “revealing” that she and her husband do not know if their baby will be a boy or a girl, nor have they decided on names. This is most likely untrue–I have a good feeling that they know the sex, at least–but this way they have a line to say instead of slipping up to give away the secret. 

In a similar vein, the Earl leaned in to give a four-year-old a quick kiss on the cheek after she presented him with flowers–and His Royal Highness was rejected!

                                            Courtesy Hello! Online

The Royals: They’re Just Like Us – Even they have their romantic moves spurned!

In other news, there was a small furor about The Duchess of Cambridge’s name being trademarked, which made some (silly) people wonder if she would be starting her own clothing line. Obviously the Duchess is not going to follow Victoria Beckham to fashion shows; however, her charity may want to distribute hats, shirts, and other clothing items with her name and crest on them. This is the closest our Duchess will get with her own fashion line!

Hopefully see you all tomorrow for day two of the Scotland extravaganza! 

The The Queen and Prince Philip Tube it with The Duchess of Cambridge

This happened today:

(Courtesy Hello! Online)

My delight in this photo nearly gave me an aneurism. Both Her Majesty and the Duchess appeared to coordinate with jeweled/embellished necklines on their coats. The three Royals visited Baker Street Tube Station to celebrate 150 years of the London Underground. The Duchess revealed that she misses riding the Tube, now that her face is instantly recognizable to millions of people. I don’t blame her, riding the Tube is an unparalleled experience!

Speaking of aneurisms, the hosts of this event gifted the Duchess with this pin:

(Courtesy Hello! Online)

I can’t even talk about this without sounding foolish, it’s just so cute or inordinately excited–and she was a good sport to wear it and I sure hope she puts it on while she’s walking barefoot around the house, making William cook her dinner. While I despise the most prominent “b” word, “Baby on Board” is such a sweet slogan and it was appropriate given their train journey this morning. This beats “Mind the Gap” any day. I want a pin like that for myself, even if I’ll never have a literal baby on board.

Child Bereavement UK Visit

The morning dawned sunny in Buckinghamshire where The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge paid a visit to one of their core charities, Child Bereavement UK. The organization provides aid and support to parents and families who have lost children. There is a heartbreaking symmetry concerning William’s involvement with Child Bereavement: Having lost a parent at a young age he now serves a charity that helps bereaved parents. He has mentioned his mother to this group before and it must be a difficult–but I hope rewarding–experience.

In lighter news, everyone looked happy and healthy! I have to confess, photos only show the Duchess with her cute coat on and I desperately tried to find an image of the dress she wore underneath (“black Topshop with Peter Pan collar”)–to no avail.

 This was the first of several join engagements that the Duke and Duchess will attend in the upcoming weeks. It is such a relief to see the Duchess on these trips–it gives me hope that she is doing well! Please note that I refrain from using the dreaded “bump” term and I hope you all will follow suit.

Well, that’s about all I have time for at the moment–I’m on a lunch break at work! Some of you will be disheartened to know that it seems Prince Harry is seriously seeing another lovely blonde… keep dreaming, though, ladies, she doesn’t have a ring yet!

At some point I do hope to discuss Queen Beatrix’s forthcoming resignation–it’s on my agenda, fear not! Not that any of you are actually afraid…

Update: I’m at home now and, instead of continuing to shop online, which leads me to dangerous territory, I’m going to show you a picture of the Duchess’s dress from earlier today (there weren’t too many, which is a good thing, it means everyone was more focused on the families and the children at the charity).

(Courtesy Hello! Online)

A classic LBD (with that white collar) and she still looks amazing, radiant.

Speaking of being amazing, my friend Toni sent me this image on my birthday:

I’ve been trying to give an adequate description of this, but I keep using caps lock, which is not exactly professional. This is going on my wall at work. In fact, most every meme that Toni sends me is going on my wall at work–perhaps I’ll have to insert a gallery here, for all of you to see. Thank you, Toni!