Christenings and Weddings and Jubliees Oh My!! ~ Royalty thread #3

[Fergus]

175 years ago today: HRH Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent becomes queen upon the death of her uncle, HM King William IV.

Rule, Britannia!

[maatTheViking]

I honestly prefer when the press include a name with the title, I can't keep all the Dukes and Duchesses apart when I read. I do seem to recall the Kate/Cathrine is the Duchess of Cambridge .

I don't get the need to critize her, but then again I just look because I am curious. I like most of her outfits, I don't like the little facinator hats or how she perches them, but it is not like I am an expert. I am sure she likes them like that, so go for it. It is not like it is an personal insult that she wears them a way I find odd .

[Fergus]

IMHO, I think the little hats perched up front are quite charming, sort of something HM Queen Alexandra would have pulled off, very late Victorian-into-early Edwardianesque.

Catherine probably wants a style in contrast to the other royal ladies, something, dare I say, more youthful. Camilla's chips-and-dip platters, HMQ's upside down buckets, and Sophie's turkey feather explosions work for them, but I must admit that I totally dig Catherine's jaunty little chapeaus.

[skatesindreams]

^^^
Catherine honors the "tradition" of wearing hats; while making a look that's all her own.
That's the definition of "style".

[danceronice]

http://gma.yahoo.com/tiara-british-d...opstories.html

Long-lost tiara returned to the Duchess of Argyll.

[Jenny]

I prefer "Catherine," "Kate" is too diminutive.

AFAIK, she was known as Kate her whole life until she got engaged - I can't imagine she'd be offended by it now. I'm sure her family and friends still call her that. I can imagine that it's taken some getting used to being called Catherine and realizing she was being addressed!

It's also somewhat a term of affection - I think it most cases it is used in a positive way.

It's because people really dislike the titles of Duchess and Countess. People are only comfortable with familiar royal titles-- ones they've read about in fairy tales since they were a baby. When Kate becomes Princess of Wales, she'll be called Princess. If Camilla becomes Queen, she'll be called Queen.

But people are uncomfortable with titles like Duchess and Countess because those words are so unfamiliar to them while their former names are much more familiar.

This makes sense, especially in countries that do not have royalty and are less familiar with the conventions. Prince Harry rolls off the tongue, as does Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth. Using titles only - the Duchess of Cambridge - seems so formal and non-conversational, which is not the style of most of the press covering her.

There's also copywriting to think of - Diana became Di because it was easier to typeset headlines and design cover stories, not to mention the public's affection for her and wish to give her a familiar name.

At least Kate is an established name that she has used personally most of her life, as opposed to something made up by the press.

[Reuven]

Are you also one of the people who insisted that Kimmie Meissner should be called Kimberly now that she is no longer a child, despite her preference for being Kimmie?

Nah, just a personal preference because I think the name Catherine is a very pretty name, and I'm a fan of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

[Alixana]

Yes. It is "too long" and only "school girls" have hair that long and she "fiddles with it" and if she does not cut it off ASAP, she should always be wearing it in an up-do because "grown-ups" wear up-dos all the time.

I hate it when women are told they have to have some demure short hair cut due to their age. Give me a break. Women should have the length of hair they like and that looks good on them no matter their age. And if I had Kate's hair, I wouldn't be cutting it off!

I have short hair because I have crappy hair. I'd love to have hair long enough to "fiddle with" and "get too windblown"!

[Jenny]

Somewhat bittersweet news on the eve of William's 30th birthday - tomorrow he inherits his share of his mother's estate - $15.5 million!

[skatesindreams]

This article has some interesting details about the current daily life of William and Catherine:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...rn-prince.html

[Jenny]

What a fabulous article - a must read for Kate and William fans - thanks so much for sharing!

Favourite bits:

the Cambridges insist their staff address them by their Christian names,

Interesting in the context of our discussion these last few pages!

Britishisms:

The Meyricks divide their time between their Hampshire pile and North Wales.

with the Queen still in rude health

And another reason William seems so down to earth, other than I'm sure his mother's influence:

Being at Eton helped. After all, he was not the only King there,’ said a fellow former pupil. ‘No one lacked confidence in telling him he was a jerk if he ever tried to pull rank – not that he did.’

[IceAlisa]

Thanks, interesting read.

[ChelleC]

This article has some interesting details about the current daily life of William and Catherine:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...rn-prince.html

Very interesting read, thank you for posting.

[AragornElessar]

Hey, keyboards are cheap these days.

As true as that is, the baby sweater I'm knitting for my local Neo Natal Unit was right on top of it and would have suffered a direct hit. Considering this is attempt number four, and if the yarn had ended up stained, so...Yeah.

Still one of the funniest things I've ever read about the nitwits that constantly nitpick Kate.

http://gma.yahoo.com/tiara-british-d...opstories.html

Long-lost tiara returned to the Duchess of Argyll.

How the Hell did this happen? As the article stated, the disappearance of Her Grace's jewelry was well reported on when it happened. As soon as someone saw that Tiara, you'd think the bells would have started ringing as to just whom that bag belonged to.

As this is the branch of Scottish Nobility my Family's directly descended from, distantly related, but still related, it's nice to know the Tiara and other pieces turned up. At least this much of the Family Heritage has been recovered.

Found this article today...

Express ~ Camilla Joins Memorial Crusade

The Duchess, who is patron of the War Memorials Trust, was lending her support to efforts to mark all of Britain’s monuments in the run-up to the 2014 centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.

Thieves targeting memorials, historic buildings, schools, churches and cemeteries are stealing metal worth £700million every year. But authorities believe they can dramatically cut the illegal trade by using forensic marking, which can withstand burning, sand blasting and long-term exposure.

Frances Moreton, director of the War Memorials Trust, said: “The more the criminals become aware that there is a chance that the metal on the memorials is marked, the greater the chance they will leave them alone.

I think anyone who defaces a War Memorial is among the lowest of the low. If this helps to stop them, then fantastic!! What an amazing idea though, huh?

[Gazpacho]

AFAIK, she was known as Kate her whole life until she got engaged - I can't imagine she'd be offended by it now. I'm sure her family and friends still call her that. I can imagine that it's taken some getting used to being called Catherine and realizing she was being addressed!

Actually, it appears she was known as Catherine throughout most of grade school and only became Kate toward the end of high school and beginning of college. Quotes in her high school yearbook suggest she was mainly known as Catherine for at least part of high school. At St. Andrews when she met William, however, she was known as Kate.

A couple of my friends went through preferred name changes after high school. One of them went from Katherine to Kat, another from Patricia to Trish. A guy went from Frank (his middle name) to John (his first name) after being called by his middle name his whole life. In all three instances, these people introduced themselves to college classmates by their new preferred names.

Among my high school classmates, we still refer to them by the names we knew them as, and I certainly think of them with those names. I've known Katherine, Patricia, and Frank since kindergarten! Although I know they now have different preferred names, it's so weird to call them that, just like it's weird to call the married females by their married names.

[AragornElessar]

It's officially June 21st here, so...

Happy Birthday to HRH Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge!!!!

Wonder what Kate and Harry have come up w/for the Party?

[Lorac]

It's officially June 21st here, so...

Happy Birthday to HRH Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge!!!!

Wonder what Kate and Harry have come up w/for the Party?

It was reported on the news this morning that William would be taking a break from his RAF duties today to have a private celebration. It didn't specify if that was just with family or if friends would be invited as well.

Happy Birthday to him - I hope he has a great day.

[Lorac]

Found this article today...

Express ~ Camilla Joins Memorial Crusade



I think anyone who defaces a War Memorial is among the lowest of the low. If this helps to stop them, then fantastic!! What an amazing idea though, huh?

It has unforunately become a huge issue here in the UK with scrap metal bringing easy money to the thieves. There are many scrap metal merchants who turn a blind eye to where the metal is coming from. Many churches have had their roofs stolen so many times that they are no longer replacing them with metal. And manhole covers, drain covers and train tracks/sidings are also being stolen with amazing regularity.

But the war memorials thieves are pretty low IMHO so kudos for Camilla to help head this initiative.

[Fergus]

Royal Ascot, Day 4: "Our Val" gets a carriage ride! And methinks her hat flew off in the wind!

I don't have time to watch the Day 4 carriage ride video before my meeting, but here it is: Royal Ascot, Day 4.

If anyone sees Our Val's chapeau take flight, please let us know when in the video it occurs!

[Lorac]

Royal Ascot, Day 4: "Our Val" gets a carriage ride! And methinks her hat flew off in the wind!

I don't have time to watch the Day 4 carriage ride video before my meeting, but here it is: Royal Ascot, Day 4.


If anyone sees Our Val's chapeau take flight, please let us know when in the video it occurs!

I watched the carriage ride live and no she did not lose her hat. All the women - including the Queen - had to hang onto their hats as it was very windy but none went flying.

And congrats to HM - she finally had a winner at the meet today when Estimate won the Queens Vase by several lengths. And to cap it all the Duke of Edinburgh was presenting the cup (he was already slated to do that prior to HM winning ) - lovely smile from HM when he did so It's the first time that has ever happened.

ETA: Apparently the Queen usually makes the presentation to the winner of this race but as she had a runner in it this year Prince Philip was drafted in instead.