Happy 40th Birthday to HRH The Duchess of Cambridge

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40th Birthday, Catherine Middleton, HM Queen Elizabeth II, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, HRH The Duke of Cambridge, HRH The Prince of Wales, Prince William

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, GCVO (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; January 9, 1982) is a member of the British royal family. Her husband, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, is second in the line of succession to the British throne, making Catherine a likely future queen consort.

Born in Reading, Middleton grew up in Bucklebury, Berkshire. She was educated at St Andrew’s School and Marlborough College before studying art history at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, where she met William in 2001. She held jobs in retail and marketing and pursued charity work before their engagement was announced in November 2010.

They married on April 29, 2011 at Westminster Abbey. The couple’s children—Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis of Cambridge—are third, fourth, and fifth in the line of succession to the British throne, respectively.

Since her marriage, the Duchess has undertaken royal duties and engagements in support of the Queen. She holds patronage within over 20 charitable and military organisations, including Action for Children, SportsAid, and the National Portrait Gallery. She undertakes projects through The Royal Foundation, with her charity work focusing on issues surrounding young children, addiction, and art. To encourage people to open up about their mental health issues, the Duchess envisioned the mental health awareness campaign “Heads Together”, launched with the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex in April 2016.

New picture of four generations of British Royals.

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HRH Prince George of Cambridge, HRH The Duke of Cambridge, HRH The Prince of Wales, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, King George V of the United Kingdom, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Buckingham Palace has released a new four generation picture with HM the Queen, HRH The Prince of Wales, HRH The Duke of Cambridge and HRH Prince George of Cambridge.

This picture is very reminiscent of the famous picture of Queen Victoria holding the future Edward VIII and the future Edward VII and George V in the back. If Queen had been holding George VI (father of the present Queen) these pictures would represent 8 generations of Kings and Queens of the United Kingdom.

Making Pudding with Four Generation of the British Royal Family.

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British Legion, HRH Prince George of Cambridge, HRH The Duke of Cambridge, HRH The Prince of Wales, Pudding, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Together at Christmas

Four generations of The Royal Family have come together to support The Royal British Legion’s “Together at Christmas” initiative. In this picture are HM The Queen, HRH The Prince of Wales, HRH The Duke of Cambridge and HRH Prince George of Cambridge.

The Queen is Patron of the British Legion & the puddings will be the centerpieces of the charity’s Christmas get-togethers.
The pudding making was led by a Legion care home chef Alex Cavaliere & attended by veterans – Colin Hughes, Liam Young, Lisa Evans and Barbara Hurman.

This date in History: August 31, 1997. Death of Diana, Princess of Wales

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8th Earl Spencer, Charles, Charles Prince of Wales, Diana, Diana Princess of Wales, HRH The Duke of Cambridge, HRH The Duke of Sussex, HRH The Prince of Wales, HRH The Princess of Wales, John Spencer, Lady Diana Spencer, Prince Harry, Prince Henry of Wales, Prince William, Prince William of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Diana, Princess of Wales (July 1, 1961 – August 31, 1997). Diana Frances Spencer was born on 1 July 1961, in Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk. She was the fourth of five children of John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer (1924–1992), and Frances Spencer, Viscountess Althorp (née Roche; 1936–2004). The Spencer family has been closely allied with the British royal family for several generations; Diana’s grandmothers had served as ladies-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

The Spencers were hoping for a boy to carry on the family line, and no name was chosen for a week, until they settled on Diana Frances. The name Frances was chosen after her mother. Diana was the name chosen after Lady Diana Spencer (1710-1735) daughter of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland (1675-1722) and his second wife, Anne Spencer, Countess of Sunderland (née Lady Anne Churchill) (1683-1716). This Lady Diana Spencer was a many-times-great-aunt and she was chiefly remembered for the unsuccessful attempt to arrange a marriage between her and Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales (1707-1751) eldest son of King George III of the United Kingdom.

Lady Diana Spencer (1710-1735)

Diana came to prominence in 1981 upon her engagement to Prince Charles, Princes of Wales the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, after a brief courtship. Their wedding took place at St Paul’s Cathedral on July 29, 1981 which made her HRH The Princess of Wales, a role in which she was enthusiastically received by the public.

The couple had two sons, the Prince William (current Duke of Cambridge) and Henry (Harry, current Duke of Sussex), who were then second and third in the line of succession to the British throne. Diana’s marriage to Charles, however, suffered due to their incompatibility and extramarital affairs. The couple separated in 1992, soon after the breakdown of their relationship became public knowledge. The details of their marital difficulties became increasingly publicised, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1996.

(My favorite picture of Diana, Princess of Wales)

As Princess of Wales, Diana undertook royal duties on behalf of the Queen and represented her at functions across the Commonwealth realms. She was celebrated in the media for her unconventional approach to charity work. Her patronages initially centered on children and youth but she later became known for her involvement with AIDS patients and campaign for the removal of landmines.

She also raised awareness and advocated ways to help people affected with cancer and mental illness. As princess, Diana was initially noted for her shyness, but her charisma and friendliness endeared her to the public and helped her reputation survive the acrimonious collapse of her marriage.

Exceptionally photogenic, she was a leader of fashion in the 1980s and 1990s. Media attention and public mourning were extensive after her death in a car crash in a Paris tunnel in 1997 and subsequent televised funeral. Her legacy has had a deep impact on the royal family and British society.

HRH The Earl of Strathearn (Prince William) invested in the Order of the Thistle

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battle of Athelstaneford, Clement Attlee, Edinburgh., HRH The Duke of Cambridge, HRH The Earl of Strathearn, James VII, King George VI of Great Britain, King of Scots, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Order of the Thistle, Robert I, Scotland, St Giles Cathedral, the Bruce, Winston Churchill

http://diamondjubilee.hellomagazine.com/queens-jubilee/news/201207051106/prince-william-thistle-ceremony/1/

HRH The Duke of Cambridge, known as The Earl of Strathearn in Scotland, was invested in the Order of the Thistle today in  St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh. The Order of the Thistle is the second Order in the hierarchy of precedence after the Order of the Garter. 

The Order of the Thistle was created in Scotland by James VII, King of Scots (1685-1688) in 1687. King James claimed he was reviving the order but historians are mixed about the history of the Order. There is a legend that states that Achaius, King of Scots founded the order in 786 after he claims to have seen the cross of St. Andrew in the sky during the battle of Athelstaneford against King Æthelstan of East Anglia. Robert I, the Bruce, King of Scots  (1306–1329) is also said to have revived the Order upon winning Scottish independence from England at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. 

The Sovereign, as the Font of All Honors, historically had the power to choose the Knights of the Order. In the eighteenth century the Sovereign only made the selection of the Knights of the Order upon the advice of the Government of the day. This made the Order of the Thistle and the Order of the Garter subject to political bias. In 1947 King George VI of Great Britain was granted permission by Prime Minister Clement Attlee and the Leader of the Opposition, Winston Churchill, to return the power to select the member of both Orders back to the Sovereign. Ever since then they have been a personal gift of the Sovereign.