Oookay, I had been planning on breaking this up into at least two different posts, but this past weekend got away from me, so a one long roundup will have to suffice. Hey, at least we got some history up, no? Let’s start with the Africa tour and then we’ll segue on over to Balmoral and London.
Continue reading “Royal Roundup: South Africa, Angola & a Small Parliamentary Crisis”
Happy Saturday! For those following along in this series, today we’re going to delve into Richard’s claim to the throne, specifically focusing on William, Lord Hastings’s execution in June 1483 and the legitimacy of Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. If you missed Part Twelve, you can catch up here, and it might be useful to have read this timeline of 1483 as I’ll be referencing events from it.
Continue reading “Part Thirteen: William Hastings & Eleanor Butler”
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in Birkenhead today to christen a new polar research ship the RSS Sir David Attenborough. Fun fact: the public was given the chance to vote on the ship’s name and they chose “Boaty McBoatface,” which is magnificent, but unfortunately vetoed by the government. That particular moniker was instead bequeathed on a small submarine housed on the ship.
Continue reading “William & Kate Christen New Polar Research Ship in Birkenhead”
Let’s start with the surprise news today: Princess Beatrice is engaged! The eldest daughter of the Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York became engaged to her boyfriend, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi earlier this month while the two were spending a weekend in Positano. At this time, a wedding date hasn’t been set, save that it will occur in 2020.
Today’s earlier engagement with Archbishop Tutu marked the splitting point for this particular tour – the Duchess of Sussex will carry out a few more appearances in Cape Town today and tomorrow, while the Duke is going on to Botswana, Angola, and Malawi. The family will reunite next week for a final two days of engagements in Johannesburg before flying home.
Archie Mountbatten-Windsor made his first tour appearance in South Africa today when he joined his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, for a meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his daughter, Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe.
Continue reading “Archie Makes His Tour Debut to Meet the Tutus”
The third and final joint engagement of the day saw the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend a reception at the British High Commission this evening. Before we get to it, a quick housekeeping item from the afternoon – Meghan’s dress was for Bo-Kaap was ID’d as STAUD. I’ve updated the last post accordingly in case you missed it 🙂
Continue reading “Harry & Meghan Attend Reception at British High Commission”
The Sussexes’ second joint appearance on Day Two took them to the historic Bo-Kaap neighborhood, the site of South Africa’s oldest mosque, Auwal Mosque. Prior to British occupation, Muslim slaves weren’t allowed to worship, so the mosque now serves two purposes – an active site of worship and a symbol of the freedom to do so.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex started off Day Two of their African tour with a visit to South Africa’s Monwabisi Beach. The couple met with the organization Waves For Change, which facilitates hundreds of local youth coming to the beach to surf on a weekly basis and provides mental health and mentoring support.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s second engagement of the day took them back into Cape Town for a tour of the District 6 museum, which commemorates the impact of apartheid. The museum was founded in 1994, marking the location where 60,000 families were turned out of their homes after the neighborhood was declared for “whites only.” Now the museum’s floor shows the sites of bulldozed houses and the inscription of personal letters found from former inhabitants.
