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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Happy New Year 2014!

Eurohistory ends the year with nearly 100 more subscribers than where we started back in January. We also we published 5 books, 6 magazines, organized 2 conferences and I traveled to Europe five times (57 days in Europe in a year, fantastic!).

I hope that with lots of work, a good effort and the support of our ever-growing list of readers and clients, 2014 will be even better as I plan at least 6 trips to Europe, hope to publish 6 or 7 books and 6 magazines, organize two conferences and maybe even a tour of royal Europe for Eurohistory subscribers.

I wish you All much health and happiness in the New Year!


Best wishes to all, Arturo Beéche


The last sunset of 2013 from my neck of the woods!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

King Michael of Romania's Christmas Message 2013

Christmas Message given by King Michael of Romania to his people...

http://www.familiaregala.ro/news/3928/120/Mesajul-video-al-Majestatii-Sale-Regele-Mihai-I-pentru-Craciun-si-Anul-Nou/


Christmas Message of His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden

The 2013 Christmas Message given by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

http://www.kungahuset.se/kungafamiljen/aktuellahandelser/aktuellt2013oktoberdecember/hmkonungensjultal2013.5.4ea495e313c19c119aadeef.html


King Willem-Alexander's Christmas Message 2013

The Christmas Message of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands to his subjects.

http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/foto-en-video/Kersttoespraak-2013-19313


King Philippe of the Belgians' Christmas Message

His Majesty King Philippe's first Christmas Message to his subjects.

http://monarchie.be/en/


King Juan Carlos of Spain's Christmas Message 2013!

His Spanish Majesty, king don Juan Carlos of Spain, spoke to the Spanish nation today.

One hopes that 2014 brings the Spanish Royal Family better times indeed!

http://www.casareal.es/ES/Actividades/Paginas/actividades_actividades_detalle.aspx?data=11760


The Queen's Christmas Message 2013!

I once knew someone who spent a year in a plaster cast recovering from an operation on his back. He read a lot, and thought a lot, and felt miserable.

Later, he realised this time of forced retreat from the world had helped him to understand the world more clearly.

We all need to get the balance right between action and reflection. With so many distractions, it is easy to forget to pause and take stock. Be it through contemplation, prayer, or even keeping a diary, many have found the practice of quiet personal reflection surprisingly rewarding, even discovering greater spiritual depth to their lives.

Reflection can take many forms. When families and friends come together at Christmas, it’s often a time for happy memories and reminiscing. Our thoughts are with those we have loved who are no longer with us. We also remember those who through doing their duty cannot be at home for Christmas, such as workers in essential or emergency services.

And especially at this time of year we think of the men and women serving overseas in our armed forces. We are forever grateful to all those who put themselves at risk to keep us safe.

Service and duty are not just the guiding principles of yesteryear; they have an enduring value which spans the generations.

I myself had cause to reflect this year, at Westminster Abbey, on my own pledge of service made in that great church on Coronation Day sixty years earlier.

The anniversary reminded me of the remarkable changes that have occurred since the Coronation, many of them for the better; and of the things that have remained constant, such as the importance of family, friendship and good neighbourliness.

But reflection is not just about looking back. I and many others are looking forward to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year.

The baton relay left London in October and is now the other side of the world, on its way across seventy nations and territories before arriving in Scotland next summer. Its journey is a reminder that the Commonwealth can offer us a fresh view of life.

My son Charles summed this up at the recent meeting in Sri Lanka. He spoke of the Commonwealth’s “family ties” that are a source of encouragement to many. Like any family there can be differences of opinion. But however strongly they’re expressed they are held within the common bond of friendship and shared experiences.

Here at home my own family is a little larger this Christmas.

As so many of you will know, the arrival of a baby gives everyone the chance to contemplate the future with renewed happiness and hope. For the new parents, life will never be quite the same again!

As with all who are christened, George was baptised into a joyful faith of Christian duty and service. After the christening, we gathered for the traditional photograph.

It was a happy occasion, bringing together four generations.

In the year ahead, I hope you will have time to pause for moments of quiet reflection. As the man in the plaster cast discovered, the results can sometimes be surprising.

For Christians, as for all people of faith, reflection, meditation and prayer help us to renew ourselves in God’s love, as we strive daily to become better people. The Christmas message shows us that this love is for everyone. There is no one beyond its reach.

On the first Christmas, in the fields above Bethlehem, as they sat in the cold of night watching their resting sheep, the local shepherds must have had no shortage of time for reflection. Suddenly all this was to change. These humble shepherds were the first to hear and ponder the wondrous news of the birth of Christ - the first noel - the joy of which we celebrate today.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas. 

Watch...



Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all our faithful readers, book buyers and supporters...without your interest, we would not be here!


Thursday, December 12, 2013

Waldeck-Pyrmont: Recovery of the Hereditary Prince Ongoing

Hereditary Prince Carl-Anton continues to recover from the very serious injuries he suffered earlier this year.

During a swim, the young man fractured a vertebra after hitting a rock head on on the River Main. The injuries he suffered have, for now and the time being, destined him to the permanent use of a wheelchair.

A student at the time of the accident, Carl-Anton was born in 1991. He is the firstborn of three sons of Fürst Wittekind and of his wife Cecilie (née Countess von Goeß-Saurau).

The Fürst of Waldeck-Pyrmont was born in 1936, the child of then Hereditary Prince Josias and of his wife Altburg, née Oldenburg. The princely couple had four daughters as well. Josias succeeded his father as Head of House in 1946 and served in this position until his own death in 1967.

Josias was the son of Fürst Friedrich, who married Princess Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe. He was the brother of many famous royal ladies, among them Queen Mother Emma of the Netherlands and the Duchess of Albany, great-grandmother of Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha.

An ardent supporter of National Socialism, Josias served in the SS and was an Obregrüppenführer. It is not an exaggeration to point to the fact that he was infamous. In the Buchenwald Trials, Josias was convicted to life in prison, but he was released due to health reasons after serving three years. His victims were not shown such mercy, unfortunately.

Unlike his father, Fürst Wittekind has shied away from a political role in the post-WWII German Federal Republic. He is a kindly gentleman who is much liked by those who know him and has extended his hospitality to many of us royalty watchers who visit his fantastic residence, Schloß Arolsen.

In 1988 he married Countess Cecilie, who is twenty years his junior. Carl-Anton arrived three years later, much to the delight of his hopeful parents. A two more sons, Josias and Johannes, were born in 1993. The five Waldeck-Pyrmonts have formed a united and cohesive family known for their zest for life and a happy disposition. Surely, the challenges posed by Carl-Anton's accident have caused them much concern. The family's 2014 Christmas card shows Carl-Anton on a wheelchair surrounded by his younger brothers, all smiling toward the future. How inspirational!


Fürst Wittekind of Waldeck-Pyrmont
(b. 1936)

Fürst Wittekind, Fürstin Cecilie and their three sons in less challenging times.

Fürst Josias of Waldeck-Pyrmont
(1896-1967)


Fürst Friedrich of Waldeck-Pyrmont
(1865-1946)

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Saxe-Coburg & Gotha: an expected pregnancy

Hereditary Princess Kelly of Saxe-Coburg & Coburg is expecting her first child.

The delivery date is sometime in the late Spring 2014.


Saturday, December 7, 2013

THE COBURGS OF EUROPE – Yet another positive review

Imagine this...you are thousands of miles away from home, family and work...awaken in a cold European city, turn your laptop on and find yet another positive review of your life's work...

That is exactly what happened to me this morning when I read another review of my latest book, THE COBURG OF EUROPE:

"By Leslie on December 6, 2013
Mr. Beeche has achieved a lifelong dream with the publication of this outstanding book. It is loaded with information on how the Coburgs populated and influenced European history. It is also a good source of personal bits of information on them. Mr. Beeche's friendship with many Coburg family members, especially Prince Andreas, gives the book a special and personal touch. The family trees, which are so necessary in a book like this, are invaluable. The amount of research and knowledge contained in this book makes it the definitive European royal history book, especially since almost all the royal families of Europe are descended from the Coburgs. The photographs are amazing. Rarely a page goes by without at least one photograph and many are rare. Especially interesting are the informal family snapshots. The royals become "real people" with smiling faces and informal poses, just like any other family. Buy this book. You won't be sorry."

Thursday, December 5, 2013

The Coburgs of Europe – Book Signing at Hoogstraten in The Hague!

Hoogstraten Booksellers in The Hague will be hosting Arturo Beéche on Saturday, December 7, from 2:00-5:00pm for a signing of copies of his latest book, THE COBURGS OF EUROPE!

Do come join us to what promises to be a very exciting and interesting informal gathering at Europe best royalty bookstore!




http://www.hoogstraten.nl/theshop/index.php

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

EUROHISTORY – Issue XCV Begins Printing Today!

The latest installment of EUROHISTORY began printing early this morning. Inside, readers will find the following articles and features:

1. A Rarity – Three Direct Heirs and A Living Sovereign, by Katrina Warne.

2. Who's in the Photograph – A Gathering of Coburgs, by Ilana D. Miller.

3. Books Reviews.

4. A Day Full of Joy – The Wedding of Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Parma and Viktória Cevernyák, by Netty Leistra.

5. The Marriage of Prince Arthur of Connaught and the Duchess of Fife, by Marlene A. Eilers Koenig.

6. Paul and Alexandra – A Tragically Short Marriage, by Coryne Hall.

7. Royal News




Thursday, November 28, 2013

The Coburgs of Europe: A Thorough Review

A nice, thorough review of my latest book, by Coryne Hall,

“The Coburgs of Europe. The Rise and Fall of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s European Family,” by Arturo E. Beéche. (Eurohistory.com). 376 pages, over 500 photographs.

The Coburgs were described by Bismarck as ‘the stud farm of Europe” and reading this enthralling book will show you exactly why. Beginning with the 1777 marriage of Duke Franz Friedrich Anton and Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorff, Arturo Beéche takes readers on a fascinating journey showing just how their descendants extended into the European monarchies in the wake of the Napoleonic wars, thus changing the course of history.

To form an idea of the sheer scope covered it is worth remembering that by the end of the nineteenth century the descendants of Franz Friedrich Anton and Augusta occupied the thrones of Great Britain, Belgium, Portugal, Bulgaria and the ducal throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; and they provided consorts for Prussia, Mexico, Austria, Saxony, Hohenzollern, Romania, Hesse and by Rhine and Hohenlohe-Langenburg. By the twentieth century they had reached Sweden, Italy and Luxembourg as well. To cover all this in one volume is an impressive achievement. 

The mainstay of the family was Duchess Augusta. Forced to approach the hated Napoleon in support of her eldest son, she wrote: …’the happiness of my children is well worth the sacrifice and I will do it quite willingly.’ She lived up to this rule, determined that her family of nine children would achieve political greatness. In 1796 her daughter Juliane married Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich. Although the marriage was unhappy, it enabled Juliane’s brother, the dashing Prince Leopold, to join the Russian army. In London in 1816 he married the Prince Regent’s daughter Princess Charlotte of Wales. After his wife’s death in childbirth Leopold went on to become the first King of the Belgians, thus founding the Belgian branch of the Coburgs. As the uncle of the young Queen Victoria he became one of the most important and influential members of this extraordinary family.

One of the most spectacular marriages was that of Augusta’s son Ferdinand and the Hungarian heiress Antonia von Kohary, which brought the immense riches of the Koharys into the family. This inheritance made the Coburgs the third largest landowners in Hungary until just after the First World War. Their descendants, raised as Catholics, became the Saxe-Coburg-Kohary line. One son married Queen Maria II of Portugal; a grandson, Ferdinand, later became Tsar of Bulgaria. It was one of Antonia’s discontented relatives who supposedly pronounced a curse on the Coburgs. Whether you believe this story or not, thirteen princes descended from Duchess Augusta’s family predeceased their own fathers. 

It is fascinating to note that haemophilia may have made its first appearance in the sons of Augusta’s eldest daughter Sophie and her husband the Count of Mensdorff-Pouilly, long before the disease appeared in the family of Queen Victoria. The union of Duchess Augusta’s two grandchildren Victoria and Albert is of course the most famous Coburg marriage and during Victoria’s reign the family’s influence reached its zenith. In 1917, to erase the family’s German roots, George V renamed the royal house, thereby cutting British links with the house of Coburg. Despite the family motto ‘venture nothing; keep everything’, the Coburgs began to lose some of the thrones they had so famously achieved. Many of the Vienna branch of the family in particular found they were struggling for survival as they lost much of their former wealth and position. Dispossession and dispersion of assets became the lot of several members of the family as war took its toll. As just one instance of the havoc war can bring, the current Head of House Prince Andreas was brought up in America and had to relearn his native German language when he returned to Coburg as a young man.

An unusual addition is a chapter on ‘The Women of Coburg’, which focuses on twelve Coburg princesses who married monarchs, Crown Princes or heads of mediatised dynasties. This refreshing idea allows the author to investigate how the Coburg net spread even wider and how various European monarchies link back to the Coburgs through the female line, which is normally ignored in favour of male line descent. 

This book is a sheer joy to read- a fascinating tale of power, influence, scandal, regicide and even suicide, with a narrative that moves along at a cracking pace. As for the photographs – well, where to start? There are over 500 pictures in this book, many of them lent by descendants of the Coburg family and never seen before, encompassing almost every European royal family. These wonderful shots of people at weddings, christenings and family gatherings are supplemented by pictures of the palaces all over Europe that Coburg descendants occupied. The result is simply breathtaking.

Throughout the book the enthusiasm of the author for his subject shines through. The Coburgs of Europe is as much a tribute to the passion and knowledge of Arturo Beéche as it is to the remarkable Coburg family itself.
This is a fascinating trip through the courts of Europe that no student of royal history can afford to miss.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0985460334


Saturday, November 23, 2013

New Facebook Group: Join – King Christian IX and His Descendants!

Join us:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/433691610066254/



Denmark: 150 Anniversary of the House of Glucksborg

On 15 November the House of Glucksborg celebrated the 150th anniversary of its accession to the Danish throne.

On 15 November 1863, the former Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderbug-Glücksburg, who by then had been created Prince of Denmark, succeeded his distant kinsman King Frederik VII (1808-1863), who left no descendants from any of his three marriages.

In 1828 he married his cousin Princess Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark (1808-1891), but the marriage ended in scandal and divorce three six years later. There were no children from this union. Seven years later Frederik married secondly, his new wife being Duchess Caroline Marianne of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1821-1876). This second union also ended in divorce seven years later. Two years later he married thirdly, this time his bride being a lowly seamstress by the name of Louisa Christina Rasmussen (1815-1874), whom he created countess Danner. By then it was apparent that Frederik VII, who had succeeded his father King Christian VIII early in 1848, was not going to produce an heir.

Prince Christian of Glücksburg was the candidate chosen, among a few others, to succeed the the King or his uncle Prince Ferdinand (1792-1863), in case he succeeded the wayward Frederik VII. As Ferdinand died in Spring 1863, his death cleared the way for Christian to become Frederik VII's direct successor.

Prince Christian had married the former Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel, whose own mother, Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark, was the closest female relation of King Frederik VII. With her Christian fathered six children: Frederik, Alexandra, Vilhelm, Dagmar, Thyra and Valdemar. This couple and their healthy brood were destined to become Denmark's new royal family upon the death of King Frederik VII.

The story of Christian and Louise's offspring is not unknown by many of our readers. King Christian IX's began in 1863 and lasted until his passing in 1906. He was succeeded by his eldest son, King Frederik VIII, who ruled until 1912, when he died in Hamburg while out for a stroll.

The other five siblings had equally interesting lives. Alexandra married the Prince of Wales in 1863 and in 1901 became Queen Consort. Her husband, Edward VII, ruled for nine years, Alexandra surviving him until 1925. Vilhelm became King George I of the Hellenes in 1863. He married Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna in 1867 and reigned over Greece until his assassination in 1913, just days before celebrating his Golden Anniversary on the Greek throne. Queen Olga survived him until 1926. Dagmar was engaged to Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich, eldest son of Tsar Alexander II. He, however, died of spinal meningitis in 1865. Both families urged Dagmar and the new Russian heir, Alexander Alexandrovich, to find it within themselves to like each other enough to commit to marriage. They did and with time became a devoted couple. He succeeded in 1881 upon the assassination of his father and reigned until his early death in 1894. Alexander III was only forty-nine years old when he died of nephritis. Dagmar, who by then was better known as Marie Feodorovna survived her husband, as well as the nightmare of the Russian Revolution, and died peacefully at Hvidøre, the seaside villa she had called home since arriving in Denmark after escaping the bolsheviks.

The two youngest children of Christian IX and Louise led quieter lives. Thyra, who got herself in trouble as a young woman, managed to save her reputation by discretely dealing with her unplanned pregnancy and later making a great dynastic marriage to Crown Prince Ernst August of Hannover, also known as the Duke of Cumberland. The couple lived quietly between his estate in Gmünden, in the Austrian Alps, and their home in Vienna, where the Cumberlands were treated as reigning royalty by their friend Emperor Franz Joseph. Ernst August died in 1923, Thyra survived him by a decade. Of their six children only three left descendants.

Prince Valdemar (1858-1939), the family's benjamin, married Princess Marie d'Orléans, a niece of the Count of Paris, France's royal claimant. Although the couple had five children, Valdemar also had a long-lasting relationship with his own nephew, Prince George of Greece, from whom he was inseparable. Their liaison was an open secret within the family and everyone simply dealt with it. It was what it was. They were cautious and discrete, their wives put up a stiff upper lip; their children were close to each other; life went on. Marie died in 1909. Valdemar survived his wife by three decades.

Christian IX and Louise, their children and their descendants deserve a dynastic biography in English, similar to my work on the Coburgs!

Four Danish kings: Christian IX holding Frederik IX, Frederik VIII and Christian X, the baby's father.

 King Frederik VII

  King Frederik VII

Crown Princess Caroline of Denmark.

Princess Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark.

Countess Danner.



Friday, November 22, 2013

Leuchtenberg: The Dowager Duchess of Leuchtenberg Has Died

MONTEREY – H.S.H. Olga Duchess von Leuchtenberg de Beauharnais passed away Tuesday evening at 9:30 p.m. of complications from a stroke. She was born in Zgurowka, Russia on November 15, 1926. She leaves behind her daughter, Lisa Duchess von Leuchtenberg de Beauharnais Craft; her husband, John Craft and their children, Tasha Dandrea and her husband, Tony, Nicholas Craft, Jonathan Craft and Andrew Craft. She also leaves behind her sister, Galina and her family of Canada and Australia and her cousin, Valentina.

She was the best mother that any one could ever have and adored her grandchildren, daughter, and son- in-law. She will be terribly missed!

A memorial service will be held this Saturday, November 23, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. at the Casa Munras Hotel in Monterey in the Marabella Room. - 

See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/montereyherald/obituary.aspx?n=Olga-Leuchtenberg-de-Beauharnais&pid=168126878#sthash.2rNibe5R.dpuf


Thursday, November 21, 2013

EUROHISTORY: Issue XCV – Volume 16.5

As we prepare to send the next issue of EUROHISTORY to print this coming week, I am able to publish the cover.

Articles inside the latest installment of our royalty journal include, among others:

1. Four Generations of Monarchs

2. Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia

3. The Wedding of Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Parma

4. A Gathering of Coburgs

5. The Marriage of Prince Arthur of Connaught and the Duchess of Fife



Enjoy!



Issue XCV will begin mailing December 2 (USA, Canada, Latin America, Australasia and Asia). All European magazines will mail from either London, The Hague and Coburg by December 9.



Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The Coburgs of Europe – It's here and shipping to pre-sales today!

It's here!

http://erhj.blogspot.com/2013/10/new-book-coburgs-of-europe.html


THE COBURGS OF EUROPE Book Signing at Hoogstraten English Bookstore

Our friends at HOOGSTRATEN ENGLISH BOOKSTORE (http://www.hoogstraten.nl/theshop/index.php) have invited me to do a book signing there on December 7, 2013.

I will be signing copies of my latest book, THE COBURGS OF EUROPE, at HOOGSTRATEN ENGLISH BOOKSTORE on that day from 200pm-500pm.

I am delighted by the invitation and hope to see many of our Dutch EUROHISTORY clients, subscribers and friends!


Thursday, November 14, 2013

Spain: No Proof of Wrongdoing for Infanta Cristina

The Spanish prosecutor involved with the NOOS case announced that there is no proof that HRH the Duchess of Palma de Mallorca, Infanta doña Cristina of Spain, participated in any illicit behavior.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jzVgT2g0gLGV3Wh2NGDB6nL0HigQ?docId=060d640a-dd28-41f1-98c6-4edfaf6c308a




Saturday, November 9, 2013

Saxe-Coburg & Gotha: New Additions to Genealogy

New additions to Coburg genealogy:

Descendants of Hereditary Prince Johann Leopold...

Peter Karl Eduard (born 4-10-1964) divorced Kathrin Kempin on 27-8-2001.

He married secondly at Hamburg-Altona, on 14-6-2002, Johanna Thompson, born in Cuxhaven on 27-7-1977. They have a daughter, Louisa Ava Dawn Prinzessin von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha, born on 12-7-1998.

Malte Georg Albert (born 1966) and his wife Nicola Friederike von Seydlitz-Kurzbach had a son, Albert Nicolas born 20-6-2011.



Thursday, October 31, 2013

SOLD OUT!

The Royal Gatherings lecture to be hosted at Hoogstraten English Bookstore in The Hague is sold out!

Next year, we will jointly host a Royal Gatherings Weekend on November 8-9. Announcements for the 2014 gathering will come sooner rather than later...stay tuned!


Monday, October 28, 2013

The Gotha: Bicentennial of the Battle of Leipzig

On 19 October, members of the Gotha gathered in Saxony to commemorate the bicentennial of the Battle of Leipzig.

Among them were: The Margrave and Margravine of Meißen, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, Prince Michael Benedict and Princess Dagmar of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Archduke Georg of Austria and his wife, Prince Heinrich of Hannover and his wife, Fürst Heinrich XIV and Fürstin Johanna Reuß, Fürst Alexander zu Schaumburg-Lippe, Fürst Alexander zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn and Duke Rudolf and Duchess Alexandra of Croÿ. Also descendants of other military leaders who participate din the battle were present, among them Blüchers and Beauharnais.

(Courtesy of HRH The Margrave of Meißen)

Friday, October 25, 2013

EUROHISTORY: A Royal Gathering at Hoogstraten Booksellers

Eurohistory and Hoogstraten Booksellers (from The Hague) have joined forces to bring the first of what we expect will be many "royal gatherings."

On November 3, Hoogstraten Booksellers will welcome clients to a lecture series, the first of what will become a yearly gathering for their clients and those of Eurohistory who wish to join us there.

The royalty conference series, titled "A ROYAL GATHERING," will invite some of the year's best biographers and authors of royal books to lecture about their areas of research.

This year's event is schedule to begin at 1:30pm – Following is our agenda:

13.00 – Shop opens
13.30 – Welcome
13.45 – Galina Korneva: "Russia & Europe
14.30 – Tea
14.45 – Arturo Beéche: "The Coburgs of Europe"
15.30 – Tea
15.45 – Galina Korneva: "Aunt Miechen" – Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia

16.30 – End

Both authors will be available for book signing after the lectures end.

Next year, the lecture series will move to a hotel near Hoogstraten Booksellers and will expand to two days. The date chosen is November 8-9, 2014. In due course we will make an official announcement so everyone wishing to join us can has a space!





Thursday, October 24, 2013

UK: Four Generations Photo

From the BBC:

The Queen has been pictured with three future kings - the first such image of royal succession for nearly 120 years.
The monarch is shown with her son, the Prince of Wales, grandson, the Duke of Cambridge, and great-grandson, Prince George, to mark the royal christening.
It echoes a 1894 image from the future Edward VIII's christening, showing him with his father, grandfather and great-grandmother - George V, Edward VII and Queen Victoria.
The pictures were taken by Jason Bell.

Continue reading...
©Jason Bell

UK: Prince Charles' Profile in TIME

The gardens sport a coronet of dew under a rare Scottish sun, but Prince Charles remains indoors, doing what the heir to the thrones of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Jamaica and 12 other Commonwealth realms has always done — his duty. He's a champion at enduring windy speeches, toes scrunched in his shoes to keep awake. But this particular duty lies closer to his soul: he's teaching his firstborn to wield a sword. Prince William needs to master the key move of granting knighthoods, laying a blade on the shoulders of recipients, ideally without inflicting injury. So on Sept. 26, Charles interrupts a family visit at his Scottish residence Birkhall with his son, wife Camilla, daughter-in-law Kate and the youngest Windsor, baby George, to stage a dress rehearsal.


Read more: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2155616,00.html#ixzz2ieh48q48



Wednesday, October 23, 2013

UK: Prince George of Cambridge's Baptism (3)

Video of the arrival ...

http://news.sky.com/story/1158714/prince-george-christened-at-st-jamess-palace


UK: Prince George of Cambridge's baptism (2)

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have chosen two hymns, two lessons and two anthems for the christening of their son, Prince George.
The Hymns are Breathe on Me, Breath of God and Be Thou My Vision.
The lessons are from St. Luke ch. 18, verses 15-17, read by Miss Pippa Middleton and St. John ch. 15, verses 1-5, read by Prince Harry.
The anthems are Blessed Jesu! Here we Stand (Richard Popplewell) and The Lord Bless You and Keep You (John Rutter).
Blessed Jesu! Here we Stand was written for Prince William’s baptism on 4th August 1982.
The anthems will be performed by The Choir of Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal.
The Processional Organ Music will be J. S. Bach’s Fantasia in G (BWV 572).
The Recessional Organ Music will be C. M. Widor’s Toccata from Symphony No 5.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, will baptise Prince George. He will be supported by The Dean of The Chapel Royal (The Right Reverend and Right Honourable Richard Chartres) and The Sub-Dean of the Chapel Royal (The Reverend Prebendary William Scott).
Notes to Editors
The Chapel Royal Choir
The Choir of Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal comprises six Gentlemen-in-Ordinary, who are professional singers, and ten Children of the Chapel Royal, boy choristers who hold the Sovereign's choral scholarships at the City of London School, and wear Gold and Scarlet State Coats, still tailored to the Royal Warrant of 1661.
At St James's Palace, the Chapel Royal choir sings on Sundays weekly in the Chapel Royal or The Queen's Chapel facing Marlborough Road, and at other events elsewhere as commanded by The Queen. These include the annual Royal Maundy service, the Remembrance Sunday Parade at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, and, in recent years, the wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey, in addition to the Golden and Diamond Jubilee Services at St Paul's Cathedral.
Choirs of other Chapels Royal under the authority of The Dean of the Chapel Royal, whose Ordinary is The Queen, continue to operate simultaneously at the Tower of London and Hampton Court Palace.
The Queen’s Guard
The St James’s Palace detachment of The Queen’s Guard has turned out today in Colour Court for The Queen’s arrival. The Queen will be received with the Royal Salute.









UK: Press Release from Clarence House

http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/media/press-releases/the-christening-of-prince-george-guests-and-godparents?__utma=1.1543637749.1382529204.1382529204.1382529204.1&__utmb=1.3.10.1382529204&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1382529204.1.1.utmcsr=(direct)|utmccn=(direct)|utmcmd=(none)&__utmv=-&__utmk=218698649