Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have given us quite the whirlwind romance since they went public with their relationship this time last year via a strongly-worded press release from Kensington Palace. As soon as she was photographed shopping in London by the end of the year, good money was that she was “the one.” By late spring, engagement rumors had reached fever pitch, helped along by their frequent treks between Toronto and London, not to mention a lengthy vacation in Botswana in August.
Royal wedding fever is definitely in the air thanks to the looming engagement of Prince Harry and the Queen’s 70th anniversary with the Duke of Edinburgh. Today we’re going to take a look back at the first of the Queen’s children’s weddings: Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips. Nearly eight years before the Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer in St. Paul’s Cathedral and launched the wedding of the century, London was taken up with the very British romance of the Queen’s only daughter.
Continue reading “Royal Wedding ’70s-Style: Princess Anne & Mark Phillips”
Today the Duchess of Cambridge carried out the engagement originally scheduled for September 4, which was delayed due to the announcement that she and the Duke were expecting their third child together. It marks the third solo engagement Kate has undertaken on behalf of her patronages during her pregnancy, not counting the gala she attended last week for the Anna Freud Centre.
Continue reading “Kate Makes Up Her Engagement at Hornsey Road Children’s Centre [UPDATED]”
Once upon a time, Queen Elizabeth II was known as Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh. As bizarre as it sounds, it only recently occurred to me that the Queen would have been known by the feminine version of her husband’s title in the years between their marriage and her accession. You hear about her as Princess Elizabeth and you hear about her as queen, but you rarely, if ever, hear her referred to as the Duchess of Edinburgh, even in past tense to reflect the years 1947-1952.
And yet, those years are illuminating. They represent a five-year span in which the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were living as adults, but before they were weighed down by the responsibilities of the crown. If ever there was a time that provided some insight into who Elizabeth and Philip are as people, it is likely this one – when they could choose to live as they wished.
So, the Paradise Papers. In case you missed it, these are 13.4 million confidential documents leaked to a German newspaper last week, which contain sensitive financial information for a number of high-profile people regarding offshore investments they’ve made. Unfortunately for the British Royal Family, they’ve been wrapped up in the narrative and speculative conversations about their finances rarely stem from or lead to good things.
Continue reading “Royal Roundup: Paradise Papers & Prince Philip’s Retirement”
We open, once again, in a 1930s flashback, only this time it’s May 1937 and George VI is about to be crowned king against his will thanks to David’s (aka Edward VIII) abdication. He summons 11-year-old Elizabeth to his apartments because he wants her to read the lines of the Archbishop of Canterbury as he practices his lines. She can’t pronounce “inviolable” and he translates: “It means to make a promise you can never break – a very serious promise indeed.”
Then there’s him trying on the crown itself, which he says is heavy – about five lbs to be exact, not to mention the symbolic weight. As far as scenes go, it’s a bit heavy-handed, but there’s a broader point the writers are driving at and they are apparently not going to let the denser of their audience miss it.
I’m a bit late to the party with covering the Festival of Remembrance last night and today’s ceremony, but I’m going to pull them both together here. It’s been interesting to watch this year’s commemoration unfold, because, for the first time in years, the Queen declined to lay a wreath on Remembrance Sunday and opted to stand next to her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, from a balcony of the Foreign Office. Instead, the Prince of Wales laid two for her. Meanwhile, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry skipped last night’s event at Royal Albert Hall to attend rugby matches, while the Duchess of Cambridge turned up with the rest of the Royal Family on her own. And finally, there are now headlines that Harry broke military rules by not shaving his beard for the ceremony.
A lot to unpack, but it’s always fun to cover these annual events, particularly when they feature the entire BRF coming together.
Continue reading “The BRF Turns Out for Remembrance Ceremonies”
Ten months have passed since George VI’s funeral and it’s December 1952. The episode opens as it closes, with Philip in an airplane being taught to fly by Margaret’s secret boyfriend, Peter Townsend. But this episode actually has very little to do with anyone except Elizabeth and Winston Churchill, though they share roughly the same amount of screen time with the other characters. It’s the Great Smog and behind closed doors it’s the first almost battle royale of Elizabeth’s reign.
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall arrived in India yesterday for a quick trip at the tail end of a tour that also included stops in Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia. It was just last year that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge completed a high-profile visit to India, but the timing of Charles and Camilla’s presence aligned with the Queen’s announcement that 2017 would be celebrated as a “year of culture” for the UK and India.
Continue reading “Charles & Camilla in India + Harry Opening the Field of Remembrance”
I have to say, the photos from the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in Malaysia might be some of the best tour photos I’ve ever seen. Everything is just perfect – the colors, scenery, fashion and even some monkeys. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge might need to step up their tour game – this is the threshold I now want cleared when they visit Norway and Sweden next year.
