New British Princess!

 

New baby girl born to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge today! 

 

The child is named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, born on 2 May 2015 in the Lindo Wing, St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington.  

From BBC.com: 

The fourth in line to the throne will be known as Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge.  She was born on Saturday in the Lindo Wing of London's St Mary's Hospital weighing 8lbs 3oz (3.7kg).  

The Queen and other senior royals were told of the baby's name before the announcement was made public.  The BBC's royal correspondent Peter Hunt said that a Kensington Palace official, when asked about the couple's choice of name, said: "We'll let the names speak for themselves."

Charlotte, the feminine form of Charles, has a long royal pedigree and became popular in the 18th Century when it was the name of George III's queen. The King bought Buckingham House in 1761 for his wife Queen Charlotte to use as a family home close to St James's Palace - it became known as the Queen's House and is now Buckingham Palace.

Charles is the name of two former kings and of the Prince of Wales, the princess's grandfather.
Charlotte also has more recent connections for the royal couple.

On the duchess's side, it is the middle name of her sister Pippa Middleton and on the duke's it is the name of his cousin Charlotte Spencer, Earl Spencer's youngest daughter. The earl tweeted: "Perfect names. My 2-year old Charlotte Diana will be thrilled at cousinly name-sharing."

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, Charlotte is the 21st most popular girl's name in England and Wales with 2,242 babies being given it in 2013. Elizabeth is 39th in the list but Diana is not in the top 100. 

The duke and duchess and their daughter have been at home in Kensington Palace since leaving hospital on Saturday evening. It is understood they will remain there for the time being before travelling to their country home, Anmer Hall, on the Queen's Sandringham estate, in Norfolk.

Happy birthday Elizabeth!

Today is HM Queen Elizabeth II's 89th birthday.

Queen Elizabeth's 60th Wedding Anniversary

 In 1947, a 21-year old Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain married a naval officer, Prince Philip of Greece. They are cousins, related through Queen Victoria, where Philip's grandmother, Princess Victoria of Battenberg, was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Princess Victoria was also the sister to two famous Russian royals, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Grand Duchess Elizaveta.

 
 Prince Philip of Greece with his fiancé, Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain, in 1947. They had met each other 8 years earlier, in 1939, when Elizabeth was 13 and Philip was 18, and from then on they started a correspondence for the next 8 years, until their engagement.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh celebrated 60 years together in 2007. For the occasion, they recreated their famous engagement photograph. The Queen is wearing the same pearl necklaces, pearl earrings and sapphire and diamond brooch that she wore in the 1947 photograph.

This year the Queen and Duke celebrate their 68th anniversary, an amazing feat indeed.

Britain's Royals

An old picture Princess Anne, the Princess Royal (at title usually conferred upon the eldest daughter of a British king) wearing a beautiful naturalistic tiara, depicting cattails and flowers.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.

Princess Katherine, Prince George (looking sweetly at the family dog), and Prince William, 2014.

Kate and William on a visit they made to the US.

The Duchess with Prince George in September 2014.

The one photo of the Duchess wearing the diamond lotus leaf tiara of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother's. The Queen has a large store of jewels in the vaults under Buckingham Palace that haven't been worn in decades, but perhaps that will change when Catherine and William take the throne. It was always a mystery why Princess Diana, as the Crown Princess of Great Britain, had only two tiaras at her disposal: one borrowed from her family, and one which was a wedding gift from the Queen.

Prince Harry in Lesotho

 From the Sentebale blog: Sentebale is a charity founded by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. They help the most vulnerable children in Lesotho get the support they need to lead healthy and productive lives.  Sentebale works with local grassroots organisations to help these children – the victims of extreme poverty and Lesotho’s HIV/AIDS epidemic.

On 5th December, Prince Harry made a private visit to Lesotho to see the progress of Sentebale's programmes that provide support to vulnerable children in Lesotho. 

 Prince Harry swings young boy in photo taken by a blind 3 year old at Phelisanong Children’s Home. 'Wow, what a welcome we got! There were forty over-energetic children using us as climbing frames, water fights, and a lot of laughs. The boy flying is Lerato, a 3 year old who was abandoned at birth. The photo was taken by 3 year old Karabo who is blind. She heard the clicks, went to the camera and with a little bit of help on direction, shot this great photo.' Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Prince Harry wears Christmas hats with orphans from Mants’ase Children’s Home. 'Festive cheer! Despite it being 32 degrees, someone gave out Christmas hats and inevitably one found its way onto my head. All the children, orphaned for one reason or another, absolutely loved the hats and balloons. We even managed to squeeze a hat onto Prince Seeiso’s head! Again, so nice to see the place so well looked after.' Chris Jackson/Getty Images

 Thumbs up with Prince Harry and the Head Teacher, Me Mamonuku Mokfilikoane of Thuso Centre. 'The playground and ramps in this photo were made by 30 members of the British Army. Blood, sweat and tears went into the project over two weeks. The whole place looks incredible, the children are all smiles. Thanks lads.' Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Prince Harry plays with babies who are on a programme for malnourishment at Touching Tiny Lives. 'After seeing the herd boys, we were invited back to Touching Tiny Lives in the town of Mokhotlong. There were 12 malnourished babies under the age of five that we were fortunate enough to play with for an hour. I will never forget their faces when we walked in. They only ever see and interact with women, so it took a while till they accepted us into their play pen! An enormous hail storm then hit us and two of the children had their faces pressed up against the window for about 15 minutes. These two in the picture were definitely my favourites.' Chris Jackson/Getty Images 

Photograph by Prince Harry

 Prince Harry's Pictures: Speaking of the opportunity to document the visit himself, Prince Harry said: 'I have always enjoyed photography and the challenges that come with trying to capture the perfect shot, although privately I don't take many photos. The best photos I have are in my head - I have some very special memories, mostly from Africa. But on this visit, I had the time and opportunity to be on the other side of the camera and take some photos in the stunning country of Lesotho for my charity Sentebale.' ©HRH Prince Henry of Wales.

Royals

Ok, I've got some random pics of royals where I cannot find a category to put them into, so they're all getting posted here. Enjoy!

A royal portrait, with, from left to right, Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, Queen Silvia and King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, and Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden.

From left to right, Hereditary Prince Guillaume and Princess Stephanie of Luxembourg, Prince Daniel and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Queen Mathilde and King Philippe of Belgium, and Crown Prince Haakon of Norway.

The Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, at a court ball, wearing a diamond and ruby parure that belonged, in part, to Queen Marie Antoinette of France.

The Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, wearing diamond stars in the hair that she was known for.

The Empress Marie Louise, consort to Napoleon I of France, in an 1812 portrait by Robert Lefevre.

Queen Letizia and King Felipe of Spain, then Crown Prince and Princess, at the abdication of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

Queen Victoria of Great Britain, wearing the large sapphire and diamond brooch, that was a wedding gift from Prince Albert, on two pearl necklaces.

Pregnant Duchess of Cambridge makes public appearance

HRH the Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant with her second child. She has had more of the acute morning sickness that plagued her when she was pregnant with Prince George, and has been out of the public eye since August.

Is it just me, or are you really hoping for a little Princess to be born?

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh visit the set of Game of Thrones

In some ways, it is very strange to make an 88 year old great-grandmother visit sets of TV shows. Plus, she probably doesn't watch very much TV, since she's so busy visiting people all day, and if she does watch TV, it probably wouldn't be Game of Thrones. I will say I do not envy Queen Elizabeth II; it has to get tiring to do the same stuff over and over again.

And I guess Elizabeth disappointed everyone by not sitting on the throne. She's 88, for cripes sake, she doesn't want to sit on the sword throne! (I've never seen Game of Thrones, but my twin sister tells me it is DIVINE.)

The House of Windsor-Mountbatten

The future King Charles III and Queen Camilla at the abdication of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

Prince Charles with Sarah, Duchess of York, in the late 80's.

A note written by Prince Harry of Wales, during a 2013 visit to Arlington National Cemetery.

Princess Margaret in the 1960's, wearing the diamond tiara that the Duchess of Cambridge wore at her wedding.

Princess Michael of Kent (Marie-Christine) wearing a diamond daisy demi-parure, and the diamond and pearl tiara of Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent.

The State Dining Room in Buckingham Palace.

The White Drawing Room in Buckingham Palace.

Another view of the White Drawing Room.

Sophie, Countess of Wessex

 Princess Edward, the Countess of Wessex, doesn't feature much on this blog, but there isn't any reason for it. She seems to stay out of the limelight, or she at least isn't as present in the spotlight as some of the crown princesses. I can assume that it's because she's married to a fourth child, and like so many other monarchies, the younger siblings don't get quite as much attention (we sadly remember Prince Friso of the Netherlands).

Prince Edward and Sophie at the abdication of Queen Beatrix.

Sophie really looks remarkably similar to Princess Diana. She is so beautiful, and still so youthful. So far, Edward is the only of Queen Elizabeth's married children to not have gotten divorced.

Sophie looking amazing in a floor length dress, tiara, and diamond necklace.

Sophie looking radiant in a black and white outfit.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex at the abdication of Queen Beatrix.

Queen Empress Victoria

The coronation of Queen Victoria

Winterhalter's "First of May," painting of a young Queen Victoria in a diamond spike tiara, with her firstborn child, and Prince Albert looks on from the back.

A miniature portrait of the young Queen Victoria, wearing a diamond and sapphire tiara.

A painting of Queen Victoria when she was a young girl.

The Empress Frederik William of Prussia, who was one of Queen Victoria's daughters, and an aunt to Empress Alexandra and Grand Duchess Elisabeth of Russia.

Queen Victoria in one of her many black dresses after Albert died.

Victoria in her full coronation regalia. She is holding the royal scepter and is wearing the Imperial State Crown.

Queen Victoria wearing the George IV Diadem.

Another miniature of Victoria, wearing the George IV Diadem.

Victoria again in the George IV diadem. It was said that King George the IV had the diadem made for himself, but he ended up never wearing it. Interestingly, a man has never worn this. Also, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother never wore this diadem.

A card celebrating Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.

Queen Victoria in her very old age. She is wearing a multitude of jewels, including one the tiny diamond crowns she wore in lieu of heavier state crowns.

Queen Victoria as a young child, with her mother, the Duchess of Kent.

Another painting of Queen Victoria in the George IV diadem.

A beautiful painting of the wedding of the young Queen Victoria to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.