In the future, I would really love it if the House of Windsor didn’t release a bunch of new information after I’ve already scheduled a weekly roundup. But instead of posting updates yesterday I just decided to pull together a separate post for everything that hit Thursday evening and Friday morning. So, without further ado, let’s get into it. First up is the Duchess of Sussex, for whom Kensington Palace release a new coat of arms.

A Coat of Arms has been created for The Duchess of Sussex: https://t.co/mJb3mqZfaZ pic.twitter.com/0EgbiS29Rb

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) May 25, 2018

Per the notice from KP:

Her Royal Highness worked closely with the College of Arms throughout the design process to create a Coat of Arms that was both personal and representative.

The blue background of the shield represents the Pacific Ocean off the California coast, while the two golden rays across the shield are symbolic of the sunshine of The Duchess’s home state. The three quills represent communication and the power of words.

Beneath the shield on the grass sits a collection of golden poppies, California’s state flower, and wintersweet, which grows at Kensington Palace.
It is customary for Supporters of the shield to be assigned to Members of the Royal Family, and for wives of Members of the Royal Family to have one of their husband’s Supporters and one relating to themselves. The Supporter relating to The Duchess of Sussex is a songbird with wings elevated as if flying and an open beak, which with the quill represents the power of communication.

A Coronet has also been assigned to The Duchess of Sussex. It is the Coronet laid down by a Royal Warrant of 1917 for the sons and daughters of the Heir Apparent. It is composed of two crosses patée, four fleurs-de-lys and two strawberry leaves.

The arms of a married woman are shown with those of her husband and the technical term is that they are impaled, meaning placed side by side in the same shield.

KP also released the dates for the Duke of Cambridge’s upcoming tour of the Middle East, which will include the first ever official state visit of a member of the British Royal Family to Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The outline of the itinerary is:

Sunday 24th June: Amman
Monday 25th June: Amman and Jerash, arrival in Tel Aviv
Tuesday 26th June: Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
Wednesday 27th June: Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Jerusalem
Thursday 28th June: Jerusalem

It really is a shame that the Duchess isn’t accompanying him for this tour since she and the Middleton family spent time living in Amman in the ’80s. But holy jet lag, I can’t imagine making that trip in five days and the height of summer isn’t really the ideal time to be visiting! The last time I was in the Middle East was Abu Dhabi in late June and I very nearly melted.

The headline of this trip is of course William in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, but I might be most excited to see him in Amman. Not only did I spend a semester there when I was in school, but the Jordanian Royal Family is an interesting one with their own superstar, Queen Rania. Her sons have been educated in the UK, including one who graduated from Sandhurst last year, the same military academy that William and Harry passed through.

Our final piece of news is for Prince George, who is reportedly learning to ride horses via a Shetland pony on loan from William’s cousin, Zara Tindall. The RF are all mostly avid riders – to this day, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh can be spotted on horseback around Windsor. Per the Mail, George apparently isn’t the only Cambridge getting indoctrinated:

Princess Charlotte has also reportedly got the riding gene with Kate previously telling equestrian triple-gold medallist Natasha Baker that Princess Charlotte could follow in her Aunt Zara’s footsteps all the way to the Olympics.

Recalling their conversation in 2016 Baker said: ‘I asked her how the children were, and she said Charlotte is really enjoying her riding which is great to hear, and I said we may see her here on a line-up in 20 years time.

‘She emphasised that Charlotte has this passion about horses and although she doesn’t echo it, she’ll do her best to champion and encourage it.’

Kate is reportedly allergic to horses.

Oh, and a slight P.S., Kate’s sister, Pippa, was spotted out and about in London. She is due to give birth to her first child this October.