Garter Day 2022 (& Some Random Historical Musings)

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In case you missed it, Garter Day was held at Windsor yesterday – an event so English it makes the Jubilee pageantry seem quaint 🙂 There’s both good and bad to cover (per usual these days), so let’s dive in…but before we do, for the good of the order, let’s quickly review the context for Garter Day since it’s been a [pandemic-induced] minute since this ceremony was held.

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BRF Attends Duke of Edinburgh Memorial at Westminster

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This morning saw the British Royal Family turn out for a service of thanksgiving honoring the late Duke of Edinburgh. Held at Westminster Abbey, the event not only saw a full array of Windsors, but several visiting representatives of Europe’s royal families as well. With the ceremony lasting roughly 40 minutes, Queen Elizabeth then returned to Windsor Castle.

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Part Seventeen: Lambert Simnel & the Battle of Stoke Field

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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.

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Part Sixteen: Francis Lovell, Colchester & Gipping Hall

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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.

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Part Fifteen: Richard III & the Elizabeths

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Better late than never? Let’s hope so. In the late summer and early autumn, there were 14 blog posts dedicated to Richard III, and then…time got away from me. Apologies. But, we’re back at it, and today we’re going to pick up with the fifteenth, covering what Elizabeth Woodville and Elizabeth of York can tell us about Richard III’s reign and the fate of the “Princes in the Tower” – Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York.

As a catch up, the first 11 posts in the series covered Richard’s life from birth until 1483, and then there were two timeline posts that laid out the events of 1483-1485 without commentary. We’re now zooming in on specific people and events, with today’s post starting to really dig into the question of the “Princes.” So, if you want to catch up, here’s a link to the first post in the series, and if you’re good to go, then here’s a link to the timeline of 1484-1485, to which I’ll be referring throughout.

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Bye, Andrew

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Well. Let’s start at the end and work our way back, shall we? A couple of hours ago the Duke of York released a statement that the Queen gave her assent to a request that he be allowed to step down from royal duties for the foreseeable future. This news comes on the heels of several days’ worth of blistering coverage of his recent sit-down interview with the BBC on his former friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

My thought? Good.

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Remembrance Festival 2019

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On Saturday night, the Royal Family congregated at Royal Albert Hall for this year’s Festival of Remembrance, the prelude to Sunday’s formal ceremony. Like Trooping the Colour, it’s an event that nearly always draws the entire family, so high is its significance on the royal calendar.

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Royal Roundup: South Africa, Angola & a Small Parliamentary Crisis

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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.

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Princess Beatrice is Engaged!

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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.

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Meghan Supports Serena Williams at U.S. Open

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Yesterday morning the Duchess of Sussex made a last minute trip to New York to support her friend, Serena, Williams, in the U.S. Open. Royal reporters are noting that she’s due to return to London on Sunday, the Duke of Sussex and Baby Archie stayed home, and, yes, she flew commercial 😉

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