As many of you may know, today is the 75th anniversary of D-Day, when Allied forces launched the largest combined land, air, and naval operation in history to liberate German-occupied France. The epicenter of today’s commemorations went on in Normandy itself, but additional services and ceremonies were held throughout the United States, Canada, and of course, the United Kingdom.
Continue reading “The Royal Family Commemorates the 75th Anniversary of D-Day”
Monday kicked off a three-day state visit from the United States, and while meetings and public engagements will be ongoing today and tomorrow, most of the big ticket (read: royal) items happened on Day One.
There’s been some ongoing conversation online as to which members of the Royal Family supported the Queen during this particular visit, and so I think it’s worth noting that generally there is one family member – and their spouse if they’re married – that acts as the host, while other family members will attend certain engagements, and then a good group of them joins the state banquet held at Buckingham Palace.
The Royal Foundation, led by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, launched a new 24/7 textline to support people in crisis. The service, Give Us a Shout, was quietly rolled out earlier this year on a trial basis and has reportedly already served 60,000 people. It’s also based on volunteers, of which it has amassed 1,000, with William calling for another 3,000 in the video share by the organization this morning.
Twenty-four hours later after the birth of Baby Boy Sussex and the House of Windsor was back at it. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge today carried out an engagement in London (that I completely forgot about, tbh) to launch The King’s Cup Regatta, while the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall arrived in Berlin and the Duke of Edinburgh made a rare appearance alongside the Queen.
Continue reading “William & Kate Launch The King’s Cup Regatta (+ a Quick Roundup of Everyone Else)”
As you may know by now, I love it when members of the British Royal Family pair up with family members other than their spouse for joint engagements. I particularly like it when members of the family are supporting the Queen and the Prince of Wales, both of whom carry the lion’s share of public engagements (alongside the Princess Royal, of course). And given the ongoing speculation as to just how close Charles is to his sons, particularly the Duke of Cambridge, it’s nice to see all three men out together.
Continue reading “Charles, William & Harry Make Rare Joint Appearance”
Happy Commonwealth Day. Last year we used this occasion to note the marked improvement from 2017’s celebration, which was marred by #skigate (a thing only I call it). But it’s just as remarkable to look back at last year and see how far we’ve come once again. Yes, the Cambridges still showed up, but while 2018 saw Kate pregnant with Prince Louis and Meghan still a royal fiancée, this year we have Kate fully back in action and a mother of three, and Meghan a duchess and about a month out from the birth of her first child. What can I say? I love a good annual event – the passage of time is so much easier to track.
Today the Queen hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace in honor of the 50th anniversary of Prince Charles’s investiture as Prince of Wales. Charles was named PoW by his mother at the age of nine in 1958, but not formally invested with the title until the age of 20 in 1969. By his side for the anniversary were his two sons and daughters-in-law, the Dukes and Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex, as well as his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, and his sister, the Princess Royal.
2018 was a banner year for the British Royal Family between two weddings, a baby and the Commonwealth’s succession secure in the Prince of Wales. It was not, however, a year in which there was much angst over engagement numbers. By now we well know that the Queen’s four children will carry their weight, while the Queen is ramping down her duties, her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, is retired, and her grandaughters-in-law found themselves pregnant and/or not yet full-time royals.
Continue reading “2018’s Engagement Numbers & What They Tell Us”
Ohhh, where to begin with the royal Christmas this year? The meat of it – beyond the photos and the Duchesses’ fashion – is really the reported angst behind the scenes between the Cambridges and Sussexes, so really there is no coverage of this year’s holiday without delving into this a bit.
The Queen hosted a lavish dinner at Buckingham Palace this evening in honor of the Prince of Wales’s 70th birthday. The event was quite the hot ticket…if you own a tiara. It was also a private one, so unfortunately the above photo released by Clarence House is the only formal image we’re going to receive from the evening.
Continue reading “Charles’s Birthday Bash”
