The Duke and Duchess of Sussex just announced on Instagram that they are stepping back from the Royal Family and, beginning this year, will split their time between England and North America. Per their statement, they still intend to support their patronages, but their charitable foundation sounds like it will be separate, and they will be working towards becoming “financially independent.”
Apparently they chose the nuclear option.
*Updated portion at the end of the post.
[Note: This post went live two hours before the Sussexes’ announcement about their 2020 plans. You can catch up on that here.]
British tabloid The Sun is reporting that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are seriously considering a more permanent move to Canada after the success of their six-week break. According to sources on background described as “friends,” the couple might leave the UK while still carrying out royal duties and maintaining staff based at Buckingham Palace. On the table is the possibility that they will drop their HRHs.
Yesterday it was announced that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would carry out an engagement today at Canada House. The press release shared advised that the couple planned on thanking the High Commissioner for Canada’s “warmth and hospitality” during their roughly six-week stay, as well as viewing a new art exhibit on display and meeting with staff who work on UK-Canada partnerships.
Continue reading “Harry & Meghan Return to Royal Work at Canada House”
Happy Monday, everyone! We’re due to see Meghan for the first time in 2020 tomorrow, so today we’re going to take a look back on her 2019. Before I write these posts, I like to look back on what I wrote the previous year and I was semi-surprised to see that I concluded my 2018 recap for Meghan with a warning that the hardest bit was still to come. I think we’ve seen that play out over the last 12 months, and it’s been at times frustrating and difficult to watch.
It’s that time of year again – after the din of Christmas and New Years falls away, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge host friends and family at Anmer Hall the first weekend in January ahead of Kate’s birthday. We know this because, like clockwork, the Cambridges and members of their party are photographed walking to church on Sunday, so we usually have a good sense of who’s attended.
Last week I named the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge the Royal Family’s MVPs of 2019, so it stands to reason this was a big year for Kate. Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that I think there’s been a Cambridge renaissance this year in the court of public opinion, but no, in the sense that I don’t think either they or Kensington Palace did anything drastically different. But what 2019 proved to be is the first year Kate was as a full-time working royal without interludes away due to pregnancy and maternity leave, so it was a significant one by that alone.
Happy (almost) New Year, everyone. I didn’t write one of these posts last year, but I did in 2017, and I think they’re worth doing as we level-set before 2020. Royal watching is fun for history and fashion lovers (and maybe gossip lovers?), but it’s very easy to get bogged down in the minutia and lose the forest through the trees. The last three years have been eventful for the British Royal Family, but I think it’s worth recognizing that so many of the micro-dramas we’re watching play out are dictated by a macro- one: we’re in the last years of Elizabeth II’s reign and the family is positioning itself, organically and otherwise, for what will likely prove one of the most momentous occasions in its history.
And I say that, yes, with full knowledge that kings and queens have lost their heads, civil wars have been fought, and England has occasionally conquered the better part of France.
Aaand, we’re back at it. To note, this will be my last historical post before the New Year due to travel, but we’ll reconvene the second week of January. (In the meantime, of course, if you follow the modern stuff , there will the traditional end-of-year wrap-ups next week.) Anyway. The Princes in the Tower. Henry VII. Rebellions. Before we start, if you missed the last post on evidence for the Princes’ potential survival, you can catch up here. I recommend making sure that you’ve read it since I’ve written the below on the assumption you’re clear on those events.
Continue reading “Part Seventeen: Lambert Simnel & the Battle of Stoke Field”
Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is having a happy and relaxing holiday. As we speak, I am typing this next to my sleeping Cavalier King Charles, a roaring fire, and a very festive Christmas tree 🙂 With presents opened and an interlude before dinner, it seems like a good time to check in with the Royal Family. As many of you have no doubt seen, this was a big year over at Sandringham: Prince George and Princess Charlotte joined the Christmas Day walkabout.
Continue reading “George & Charlotte Make Their Christmas Debut”
Ok! Part Sixteen! If you missed the most recent post in our Richard III series, then you can catch up here. Today we’re going to discuss evidence that the “Princes in the Tower” may well have survived. I feel fairly confident that the evidence for why they didn’t has been well-covered, and frankly the most glaring piece of it is that they disappeared during Richard III’s reign, so…let’s just go ahead and wade into the murkier territory.
Continue reading “Part Sixteen: Francis Lovell, Colchester & Gipping Hall”
