Happy 98th birthday to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh!

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Christian IX of Denmark, Happy Birthday, House of Battenberg, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of Greece, Kingdom of the Hellenes, London Protocol 1852, Prince Philip, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Alice of Battenberg, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria, The Duke of Edinburgh

In honor of the 98th birthday of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh I thought I would give some genealogical and biographical information on him.

Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was born in Mon Repos on the Greek island of Corfu on June 10, 1921. He was the only son and fifth and final child of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. Prince Philip had four elder sisters, Margarita (1905-1981), Theodora (1906-1969), Cecilie (1911-1937) and Sophie (1914-2001).

Prince Philip’s Father:

Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (January 20 – 1882 – December 3, 1944) of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was the seventh child and fourth son of King George I of Greece and Olga Constantinovna of Russia. He was a grandson of Christian IX of Denmark and Prince Louise of Hesse-Cassel.

Prince Andrew (left), with his older brothers, the Crown Prince Constantine and Prince Nicholas.

Paternal Grandfather:

George I of the Hellenes was born December 24, 1845 at the Yellow Palace, an 18th-century town house at 18 Amaliegade, right next to the Amalienborg Palace complex in Copenhagen. He was the second son and third child of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel. Until his accession in Greece, he was known as Prince Vilhelm, the namesake of his grandfathers Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Cassel.

King George I of the Hellenes

Paternal Grandmother:

Olga Constantinovna of Russia was born on August 22, 1851 the daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg. Olga’s father was Grand Duke Constantine Nikolayevich of Russia (September 21, 1827 – January 25, 1892) was the second son of Czar Nicholas I of Russia and younger brother of Czar Alexander II. This gives the Duke of Edinburgh strong familial ties to the Imperial Russian royal family.

Grand Duchess Olga, Queen of the Hellenes

Prince Philip’s mother:

Alice of Battenberg was born on February 25, 1885 in the Tapestry Room at Windsor Castle in Berkshire in the presence of her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. She was the eldest child of Prince Louis of Battenberg (after 1917: Louis Alexander Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven) and his wife Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. Her mother was the eldest daughter of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, the Queen’s second daughter.

Princess Alice of Battenberg

Prince and Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark

Royal House

The Duke of Edinburgh is a member of the Royal House of Glücksburg (also spelled Glücksborg), shortened from House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and is a Danish-German branch of the House of Oldenburg, whose members have reigned at various times in Denmark, Norway, Greece and several northern German states.

In 1460, Glücksburg came, as part of the conjoined Danish-German duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, to Count Christian VII of Oldenburg whom, in 1448, the Danes had elected their king as Christian I, the Norwegians likewise taking him as their hereditary king in 1450.

In 1564, Christian I’s great-grandson, King Frederik II, in re-distributing Schleswig and Holstein’s fiefs, allocated Glücksburg to his brother Duke Johann the Younger (1545-1622), along with Sonderburg, in appanage. Johann’s heirs further sub-divided their share and created, among other branches, a line of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg at Beck (an estate near Minden bought by the family in 1605), who remained vassals of Denmark’s kings.

The Danish line of Oldenburg kings died out in 1863 with the death of King Frederik VII of Denmark. Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the fourth son of Duke Friedrich of Glücksburg, was recognized in the London Protocol of 1852 as successor to the childless King Frederick VII of Denmark. He became King of Denmark as Christian IX as king of Denmark on November 15, 1863.

A few months prior to becoming King of Denmark, Christian IX’s second son, Prince Vilhelm, was elected King of the Hellenes on March 30, 1863, succeeding the ousted Wittelsbach Otto of Greece and reigning under the name George I. As stated above, the seventh child and fourth son of King George I of Greece was Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, the father of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Highlights of the life the Duke of Edinburgh:

After being educated in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, he joined the British Royal Navy in 1939, aged 18. In 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth toured the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. During the visit, the Queen and Louis Mountbatten asked Philip to escort the King’s two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, who were Philip’s third cousinsthrough Queen Victoria, and second cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark.

Elizabeth fell in love with Philip and they began to exchange letters when she was thirteen. Eventually, in the summer of 1946, Philip asked the King for his daughter’s hand in marriage. The King granted his request, provided that any formal engagement be delayed until Elizabeth’s twenty-first birthday the following April. By March 1947, Philip had abandoned his Greek and Danish royal titles, had adopted the surname Mountbatten from his mother’s family, and had become a naturalised British subject. However, this was unnecessary as Philip was a descendent of Sofia of Hanover and due to this he already was a British subject.

The day preceding his wedding, King George VI bestowed the style of Royal Highness on Philip and, on the morning of the wedding, November 20, 1947, he was made the Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich of Greenwich in the County of London. Philip and Elizabeth were married in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey, recorded and broadcast by BBC radio to 200 million people around the world. However, in post-war Britain, it was not acceptable for any of the Duke of Edinburgh’s German relations to be invited to the wedding, including Philip’s three surviving sisters, all of whom had married German princes. After their marriage, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh took up residence at Clarence House.

On February 25, 1957, the Queen granted her husband the style and title of a Prince of the United Kingdom by Letters Patent, and it was gazetted that he was to be known as “His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh”.

New name of the Royal House?:

The accession of Elizabeth II to the throne brought up the question of the name of the royal house, as Elizabeth would typically have taken Philip’s last name on marriage. The Duke’s uncle, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, advocated the name House of Mountbatten. Philip suggested House of Edinburgh, after his ducal title. When Queen Mary, Elizabeth’s grandmother, heard of this, she informed the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who himself later advised the Queen to issue a royal proclamation declaring that the royal house was to remain known as the House of Windsor. Prince Philip privately complained, “I am nothing but a bloody amoeba. I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children.”

It’s interesting that the question of the name of the Royal House was raised. The name of the dynasty remains the same during the reign of a Queen Regnant. For example, Queen Mary I 1553-1558, remained a Tudor despite being married to a Habsburg. Queen Anne remained a Stuart despite being married to a Danish prince of the House of Oldenburg. The same with Queen Victoria, the name of the Royal House did not change from Hanover to Saxe-Coburg-Gotha until the accession of her son. King Edward VII, in 1901.

In times past this would not have been an issue and the name of the royal house would automatically change once the Crown passed through the female line to reflect the patrilineal line. I believe that Lord Mountbatten was eager to elevate the status of his family name.

On February 8, 1960, several years after the death of Queen Mary and the resignation of Churchill, the Queen issued an Order in Council declaring that Mountbatten-Windsor would be the surname of her and her husband’s male-line descendants who are not styled as Royal Highness or titled as Prince or Princess. The son of the Duke of Sussex, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, is the first descendant of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh that this order applies to.

Service as Consort to Her Majesty the Queen.

The Duke of Edinburgh has been an excellent support to Her Majesty the queen. However, he has not been without controversy. The prince is no wall flower and often speaks his mind. Sometimes he would make and off-the-cuff remark or joke that would be taken either out of context or was not meant to be offensive but people would at times be offended but what he has said.

The princes has always been a very active man. He played polo until 1971 and then took up the sport of carriage driving. I worked at a historical house and have seen competitive carriage driving myself. I really enjoyed watching that and was happy that the prince took up that sport. Philip was also a skilled yachtsman and pilot.

Philip is patron of some 800 organisations, particularly focused on the environment, industry, sport, and education. His first solo engagement as Duke of Edinburgh was in March 1948, presenting prizes at the boxing finals of the London Federation of Boys’ Clubs at the Royal Albert Hall. He was President of the National Playing Fields Association (now known as Fields in Trust) for 64 years, from 1947 until his grandson Prince William took over the role in 2013.

He served as UK President of the World Wildlife Fund from 1961 to 1982, International President from 1981, and President Emeritus from 1996. In 1952, he became patron of The Industrial Society (since renamed The Work Foundation). He was President of the International Equestrian Federation from 1964 to 1986, and has served as Chancellor of the Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Salford, and Wales.

In 2017, the British Heart Foundation thanked Prince Philip for being its patron for 55 years, during which time, in addition to organising fundraisers, he “supported the creation of nine BHF-funded centres of excellence”. He is an Honorary Fellow of St Edmund’s College, Cambridge.

Prince Philip retired from his royal duties on 2 August 2017, meeting Royal Marines in his final solo public engagement, aged 96. Since 1952 he had completed 22,219 solo engagements. Prime Minister Theresa May thanked him for “a remarkable lifetime of service”. On November 20, 2017, he celebrated his 70th wedding anniversary with the Queen, which made her the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum wedding anniversary.

The Duke of Edinburgh is the longest-lived descendant of both Queen Victoria and King Christian IX of Denmark, he is the longest serving British royal consort and his marriage to HM The Queen is the longest in British royal history.

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Consorts, Happy Birthday, Kingdom of Greece, Prince Philip, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The Duke of Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Happy Birthday HRH The Duke of Edinburgh

Exerts from Wikipedia

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, 10 June 1921) is the husband and consort of Queen Elizabeth II.

Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was born in Mon Repos on the Greek island of Corfu on 10 June 1921, the only son and fifth and final child of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. Philip’s four elder sisters were Margarita, Theodora, Cecilie, and Sophie. He was baptised into the Greek Orthodox Church. His godparents were Queen Olga of Greece (his paternal grandmother) and Alexandros S. Kokotos (the Mayor of Corfu).

A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Philip was born into the Greek and Danish royal families. He was born in Greece, but his family was exiled from the country when he was an infant. After being educated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, he joined the British Royal Navy in 1939, aged 18. From July 1939, he began corresponding with the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth, whom he had first met in 1934. During the Second World War he served with the Mediterranean and Pacific fleets.

After the war, Philip was granted permission by King George VI to marry Elizabeth. Before the official announcement of their engagement in July 1947, he abandoned his Greek and Danish royal titles and became a naturalised British subject, adopting the surname Mountbatten from his maternal grandparents. He married Elizabeth on 20 November 1947. Just before the wedding, he was created Baron Greenwich, Earl of Merionethand Duke of Edinburgh. Philip left active military service when Elizabeth became monarch in 1952, having reached the rank of commander, and was formally made a British prince in 1957.

Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth have four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. He has eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Through a British Order in Council issued in 1960, descendants of Philip and Elizabeth not bearing royal styles and titles can use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, which has also been used by some members of the royal family who do hold titles, such as Prince Andrew, Princess Anne and Prince Edward.

A keen sports enthusiast, Philip helped develop the equestrian event of carriage driving. He is a patron, president or member of over 780 organisations and serves as chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for people aged 14 to 24. He is the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch and the oldest-ever male member of the British royal family. Philip retired from his royal duties on 2 August 2017, at the age of 96, after having completed 22,219 solo engagements since 1952.

Death of King Pavlos of Greece

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Christian IX, Elizabeth II, Frederica of Hanover, Frederick III of Germany, King of the Hellenes, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of Greece, Maximilian of Bavaria, Paul of Grreece, Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh

Pavlos was born at Tatoi Palace in Athens, the third son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. He trained as an army officer at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and later at the Hellenic Military Academy in Kypseli, Athens. Paul was an army officer cadet in the Coldstream Guards and Lieutenant with the Evzones.

From 1917 to 1920, Pavlos lived in exile with his father, Constantine I. From 1923 to 1935, he lived in exile again in England, this time with his brother, George II. He worked briefly in an aircraft factory under an alias, and through Viscount Tredegar.

On January 9, 1938, Pavlos married Princess Frederica of Hanover, his first cousin once removed through Friedrich III, German Emperor and Victoria, Princess Royal, and second cousin through Christian IX of Denmark, at Athens. They had three children:
* Sophia, Queen of Spain (born 1938).
* Constantine II, King of the Hellenes (born 1940).
* Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark (born 1942).

Pavlos returned to Greece in 1946. He succeeded to the throne in 1947, on the death of his childless elder brother, King George II, during the Greek Civil War (between Greek Communists and the non-communist Greek government). In 1947 he was unable to attend the wedding of his first cousin, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh to the future Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as he was suffering from typhoid fever.

By 1949 the Civil War was effectively over, with the Communist insurgents ceasing the majority of their operations, and the task of rebuilding the shattered north of the country began

In the 1950s Greece recovered economically, and diplomatic and trade links were strengthened by Pavlos’ state visits abroad. He became the first Greek Monarch to visit a Turkish Head of State. However, links with Britain became strained over Cyprus, where the majority Greek population favored union with Greece, which Britain, as the colonial power, would not endorse. Eventually, Cyprus became an independent state in 1960.

In December 1959, Prince Maximillian of Bavaria presented King Otto’s coronation regalia to King Pavlos. It had been almost a century since they were last in Greece.

Meanwhile, republican sentiment was growing in Greece. Both Pavlos and Frederica attracted criticism for their interference in politics, frequent foreign travels, and the cost of maintaining the Royal Family. Pavlos responded by economising and donated his private estate at Polidendri to the State.

In 1959, he had an operation for a cataract, and in 1963 an emergency operation for appendicitis. In late February 1964, he underwent a further operation for stomach cancer, and died about a week later, March 6, 1964 in Athens. He was succeeded by his son, Constantine II.

Is Royalty a Controversial and Complicated subject?

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Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Earl of Chester, High Steward of Scotland, King George VI, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Merge with the crown, Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Prince Henry of Wales, Prince of Wales, Prince Philip, Princess Beatrice, Princess Elizabeth of York, Proper usage of titles, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Queen, titles

You would think this was harmless and fun without much controversy… but you’d be wrong!! You wouldn’t know it from reading the comments on this blog because they are 99% very positive. However, I also run my own royal history page on Facebook (link below) and while that page is also pretty civil you will see some squabbling from time to time. If you’re on Facebook you can follow that page if you’d like.

https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanRoyalHistory

I would to mention a few of my observations to why discussing royalty can be controversial.

1. First of all not everyone is following royalty for the same reasons. Plus, some peoples interest in the topic may not be as deep or as intense as others which lead me to this observation. Before I relate what it is I want to say, I imply no judgment at all. It seems there are two groups of people that are interested in royalty. One group, I call royalty watchers, follow royalty like they would follow any celebrity, be they an actor or an actress, singer or musician or sports figure. Often, as I have observed, many of these types of royalty watchers began watching royalty due to the influence of Diana, Princess of Wales. Therefore, there interest may be limited to The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry of Wales, and may be extended to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and other immediate members of the British Royal Family. But there is a limited focus and interest.

2. The other group that are interested in royalty are like myself, they are more of an historian than royalty as celebrity watcher. That means often our knowledge and interest is not just with the British Monarchy (although it may be our favorite) or the current British Royal Family; our interests stretch far back into history and across all monarchies of Europe and even the world. Again, both groups are fine. If you’re interest is not that deep, whatever level you enjoy royalty is fine!

The problem, as I have observed, these two groups often clash.

3. It seems as if they clash over two areas. These two areas are Diana, Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla) and the knowledge and usage of titles and correctly addressing the members of the royal family. I apologize for generalizing the situation so if you don’t fit in these categories I understand. It seems the more historical minded people have no problem accepting the Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla) into the royal family and seeing her one day being queen along side her husband, future King Charles III. The more casual royalty watcher, those that began watching royalty due to the influence of Diana, Princess of Wales, tend to still hold Diana in very high esteem and cannot stand either the Prince of Wales or the Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla) very much. With some there is outright hated. So that can be a controversial topic and an area of conflict.

Another topic that is surprisingly controversial is the usage of titles. Now, I must admit the proper usage of styles and titles is a bit confusing and can take a while to learn, but it can be done. I have found that the more historically minded the royalty watcher they generally do know this information. What I see in the casual royalty enthusiasts can be divided into three categories: a) There are those who do not understand the proper usage of titles or the laws governing how titles are created and inherited and what happens to some of them when the heir to the throne becomes the sovereign or the title becomes extinct. This group is eager to learn about these things. b) The second group may have some knowledge on the subject but they are grossly misinformed and are often wrong. I find this group to be a challenge to deal with because they often do not like to be corrected when they’re wrong and will often stubbornly cling to their misinformation. c) That last group are the very casual royalty watcher who could care less about this topic!

The proper usage of titles and the rules and laws governing them was a big interest of mine so I don’t think I am being too pedantic about this topic considering how much misinformation there is and given the fact that there are people that do want to understand how the system works. Someone has to set an example or all we get is this misinformation! Even keep in mind often the American media and even the British media gets this stuff wrong!!! (even a King got it wrong once)*

Here is a quick run down about how to refer to the members of the royal family. One thing many royalty watchers get upset about is the fact that the press on both sides of the pond still call the wife of Prince William (HRH The Duke of Cambridge) Kate Middleton!! The proper way to refer to the wife of HRH The Duke of Cambridge is, simply, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge. It is not Princess Catherine or Duchess Catherine. You do not call members of royalty by their first name if they have a peerage title. For example, its not proper to say “Prince Charles” he is to be called HRH The Prince of Wales. It is alright to drop the HRH and call him the Prince of Wales.

We do not call the Queen, Queen Elizabeth or just Elizabeth, it is proper to refer to her as Her Majesty, The Queen or simply The Queen. Her husband is not to be called “Prince Philip”, he is to be referred by his title, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Now if members of the royal family are not the sovereign and they do not have a peerage title, you refer to them by their style Prince of Princess, their first name and the territorial designation they would inherit from their father. For example, Prince Harry is officially, HRH Prince Henry of Wales because he is the son of the Prince of Wales. The Duke of Cambridge was HRH Prince William of Wales until he received his peerage title.

Princess Beatrice is HRH Princess Beatrice of York because her father is HRH The Duke of York. The Queen, incidentally, was born HRH Princess Elizabeth of York for at the time of her birth her father, future King George VI, was HRH The Duke of York.

For those Princes or Princess without a peerage title to be able to use the predicate “The” in front of their name is reserved only for the sons and daughters of the sovereign. For example, if tomorrow the Prince of Wales were to ascend the throne as king, HRH Prince Henry of Wales would then become HRH The Prince Henry. He would be known as that until he is given a peerage title. Also, if the Prince of Wales were to be king tomorrow, the Duke of Cambridge would automatically inherit the titles Duke of Cornwall in the Peerage of England and the titles Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, and High Stewardship of Scotland, which are the Heir Apparent’s titles in the Peerage of Scotland. The titles Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester are not hereditary and would merge with the crown when the current Prince of Wales becomes king. King Charles III would then be able to re-create his son Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester whenever he sees fit. Until then he known by his double peerage titles while in England, HRH The Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge.

That is only the tip of the iceberg. I am sure I will type more about this in the future. Suffice it to say whenever the question of titles and its rules and regulations come up there is often some misinformation which leads to debate and conflict. I don’t claim to be the font of all knowledge on this topic for I am still learning myself. I know a few royal authors that know quite a bit more than I.

Even sometimes the sovereign himself doesn’t know the rules! * In 1947, Prince Phillip of Greece and Denmark renounced his Greek and Danish titles to become a British subject (something he already was, but that is another story) in order to marry the heiress presumptive to the throne, HRH Princess Elizabeth of York. He became Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten (taking the Anglicized name of the Princely House of Battenberg that his mother was from). The day before the wedding King George VI endowed Philip with the style His Royal Highness and the titles, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich. However, this did not create him a Prince of the United Kingdom as many, including the King, thought! Despite renouncing his Greek and Danish titles (not legally recognized in Britain anyway) HRH The Duke of Edinburgh was not a Prince! But that didn’t stop the press from continuing to refer to him as Prince Philip. I have a book on the royal family from 1951, a year HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh became queen, and it refers incorrectly to the Duke of Edinburgh as “Prince Philip.”

Some say King George VI did this intentionally and that is the point of debate. However, the matter was left unsettled for ten years. Various dignitaries of State suggested titles for the Duke of Edinburgh. They ranged from Prince Consort, the title Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria held, to the unusual, Prince of the Commonwealth or  Prince of the Realm. The Duke of Edinburgh himself did not want any elevation of his titles. In the end The Queen, issued Letters Patent on February 22, 1957 giving her husband the style and titular dignity of a Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He has henceforth been known as His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with the capitalized definite article “The”normally restricted to the children of the Sovereign.

I guess it can get complicated and no wonder titles can be quite the controversial subject!!!

The Queen & Baroness Thatcher

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Baroness Thatcher, Buckingham Palace, Elizabeth II, King Baudouin of Belgium, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain, Winston Churchill

This was the message the Queen sent when Margaret Thatcher passed away…

The Queen was sad to hear the news of the death of Baroness Thatcher. Her Majesty will be sending a private message of sympathy to the family.”

This was an interesting statement. Instead of issuing public condolences the queen was moved enough to send private condolences to the family. Also, it is well-known that the queen doesn’t attend funerals unless they are members of her close family. She has only attended the funeral of one other of her Prime Ministers, Winston Churchill, in 1965. She has gone to only one royal funeral that I can think of, and that was the funeral of King Baudouin of Belgium in 1993.  Today’s attendance by HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at the funeral of Baroness Thatcher was a rare and special occasion.

The relationship between the sovereign and his or her Prime Minister is a special and private relationship. In that relationship the monarch is free to participate in their constitutional duty to advise, warn and counsel their Prime Minister. Given that the relationship is private there has been much speculation about the relationship between Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher, the United Kingdom’s first female Prime Minister. As a Conservative Thatcher was a staunch royalist, but because they had such different personalities there were rumors that the two of them often clashed. Those remain rumors and never have been confirmed or denied. It does seem that the queen did have a deep respect for Mrs. Thatcher. Very shortly after Mrs. Thatcher left office in 1990 the queen bestowed upon her the Order of the Garter and the Order of Merit.  Her majesty does not often grant awards swiftly in her capacity as the font of all honors. Her awarding these symbols of chivalry does signal that her majesty did indeed have a deep respect for Baroness Thatcher.

One last minor rant from me before I end this topic. There are some people who just do not understand the British political system. When Thatcher was in power, and even after her death, she was often called the first female ruler of either England or the United Kingdom. That is not accurate. She was the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom but prior to that England, Scotland and the United Kingdom were ruled by a Queen (a woman) long before the office of Prime Minister had been created.

HRH The Duke of Cambridge

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Today’s featured Royal is HRH The Duke of Cambridge.

HRH Prince William Arthur Philip Louis was born June 21, 1982 to HRH the Prince of Wales and and the late Diana, Princess of Wales. I remember watching and waiting for his birth from the day it was announced that the Princess of Wales was pregnant. Guessing and wondering about the names of future royals is part of the fun of watching royals for those of us that engage in that activity. When it was announced that it was a boy I pondered would they call him George, Charles, Edward? Would they pick something new like Louis which had been the first name of Charles’s great-uncle and much loved “honorary grandfather” Lord Louis Mountbatten? I was very pleasantly surprised to hear that they chose William as his first name since it is also my first name.

I have watched with a keen eye to how the future King William V of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland grew up. He broke tradition by attending Eaton College instead of Gordonstoun where his father and grandfather and other royals have attended. After his gap year he attended University of St Andrews where he studied geography. While at St. Andrews he met his future wife Kate Middleton. After graduating college he joined the military which is a general training ground for the majority of British princes. He entered the British Armed Forces after graduating from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in January 2006 and was a commissioned lieutenant. William desired to enter active duty but because of his position as second in line to the throne this was not a realistic option. Despite that let down William trained with both the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. Initially he was only going to do a three year stint in the military but in 2009 expressed a desire to continue his military service. He transferred to the Royal Ar Force and began training as a search and rescue helicopter pilot.

William lost his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 when he was just 15. The affect of his mothers death at such a young age can be devastating. I myself lost my father when I was 17 and then my mother when I was 22. How much this has adversely affected him we may never know. I do see, however, the positive affects she has had on him. While doing charitable work is a hallmark of being royal, William seems to have inherited his mother’s personal charm and being at ease with other people. To his credit the Prince of Wales also has these qualities. He has a warm and friendly demeanor which has made him approachable and personable. His mother tried to the best of her ability to give them as normal of an upbringing as she was able to and to a large extent this has helped in becoming a royal with the common touch.

I have had my concerns about William. Being royal means one does have to walk a fine line between being too distant to where one is viewed as being cold and aloof, or too warm and friendly to where there is no difference between them and other people. There needs to be some mystique with royalty. I think William strikes a healthy balance between the two. When William was younger I had my concerns that maybe he wasn’t happy being a royal. There were times I think he just wanted to be an ordinary person. That left me a little fearful for the future of the monarchy. However, those fears have passed because I see William as someone who now accepts his role and thrives in what he is called to do. I see him as a young Prince trying to have a meaningful life while trying to make the difference in the lives of others.

On May 29 2011 Prince William married his long time girlfriend Kate or Catherine Middelton at West Minster Abbey. The couple began dating in 2003 and split up briefly in 2003. Although both Pince William’s mother and Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother were all technically commoners they did come from families that were titled members of the aristocracy. Kate, However, does not come from the aristocracy. I personally have no problem with this and feel Kate will be an exemplary queen in due time. The morning of his wedding the Queen bestowed Prince William with titles of the nobility creating him Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus. Officially he is known as HRH The Duke of Cambridge and his wife is HRH The Duchess of Cambridge. The last time the title Duke of Cambridge was created was in 1801 for Prince Adolphus 10th child and 7th son of King George III. Prince Adolphus passed the title to his son, Prince George, but he died in 1904 without legitimate issue and the title merged with the crown. Prince William is however a descendant of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge via his great-great grandmother Queen Mary (1868-1953) wife of King George V (1865-1936) who was his granddaughter.

It is more than likely that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will not inherit the throne for decades. Her Majesty the Queen has been blessed with good health and the genes of her mother who lived to be 101. Prince Philip is still going strong at aged 91 and the Prince of Wales, aged 63, is also in fine health. He has been blessed with good genes. In that time I hope the Duke and Duchess enjoy as much of a private life together as they can. Although in the coming years his royal duties will undoubtedly increase I still think he has time before he wears the crown. It will be interesting to see how they monarchy has changed by then and how the reign of King William V will change the monarchy itself. I think the future of the monarchy is in well and capable hands.

HRH The Princess Royal

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2012 Olympics, Buckingham Palace, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Mark Philips, Prince Philip, Princess Anne, Princess Royal, Queen Elizabeth II, The Duke of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Zarah Philips

Thursdays featured royal is….

HRH Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise was born on August 15, 1950 and is the second child and only daughter of HM Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. She was born in the reign of her grandfather, King George VI, and At the time of her birth, she was third in line to the throne after her mother and elder brother, Prince Charles. When her mother became queen in 1952 Anne became second in line to the throne. Since Britain is and was still operating on male preferred primogeniture Anne has moved down the line of succession with the birth of her brothers and nieces and nephews. Currently she is 10th in line to the throne.

Anne is one of the hardest working royals. Dedicated to her work in charity Princess Anne is the patron of over 200 charities and carries out over 500 engagements per year on behalf of the monarchy. She dresses frugally and does not seek or bathe in the limelight. Her steady work ethic and the charities she supports benefit greatly from her style. For her hard work and dedication lead to Her Majesty the queen honoring her daughter with the title, Princess Royal, in 1987. The title of “Princess Royal” is a gift from the monarch to their eldest daughter and is not an hereditary title. The titles was first bestowed on Princess Mary of England and Scotland the eldest daughter of King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria in 1642. Queen Henrietta Maria was the daughter of King Henri IV of France and Navarre and Marie de’ Medici and she wanted to emulate the title “Madame Royale” which was a title borne by the eldest daughter of the king of France. Princess Anne is the seventh daughter to carry the title.

Princess Anne has been married twice. Her fist marriage occurred on November 14th, 1973 to Mark Phillips, then a Lieutenant in the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards. The couple had two children, Peter Philips born in 1977 and Zara Philips born in 1981. The couple shared an interest in the equestrian sports. Anne Was a member of the British Equestrian team in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Her daughter Zara will be a member of this years British Equestrian team in London. Mark and Anne separated in 1989 and divorced in 1992. Her second marriage was to Timothy Laurence a Commander in the Royal Navy. The couple married in the church of Scotland due to the fact they they recognize and allow divorce people to remarry in the church. Although it is customary for untitled men to receive and earldom when marrying into the royal family both husbands of the Princess Royal have refused this offer.

One of the things I admire about the Princess Royal is that she has a reputation for speaking her mind. Sometimes this has gotten her into a little bit of trouble with the press. Being able to speaks ones mind and be honest is a good quality to have in life. I admire her maturity and her dedication to work and the charities she supports. I am learning that the charities that are supported by members of the royal family are greatly benefited by their patronage and in turn the people that need the charities are helped. I wish the Princess Royal a long life and I continue to support and applaud her hard work. She is an excellent role model for the importance and success of the monarchy.

Update on the Duke of Edinburgh

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Elizabeth II, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh

Buckingham Palace has announced that The Duke of Edinburgh has “improved considerably” since being admitted to hospital on Monday suffering from a bladder infection and that his spirits are good but shall remain in the hospital for a few more days.