Category: British Royal Family

Charles III – The Coronation (2023)

History

UK

Charles III – The Coronation (2023)


Charles immediately became king as soon as Queen Elizabeth II passed away on 8 September 2022.

His coronation took place yesterday, 6 May 2023.  His lover, now his wife, Camilla was also elevated into being a queen rather than the more standard queen consort.

The enactment of the coronation was exemplary.  The archaic ceremonial proceeding worked really well.

The British make traditional looks and feel normal.  The pomps and circumstances are a welcome part of the whole shebang.

The coronation is a very Christian affair, represented by many Christian denominations such as the Anglican, the Catholics, the Greek Orthodox, and the Presbyterian.

Charles promised to serve not to be served! I will hold him to that!

Charles is the Head of the State, the Head of the Church of England, and the Head of the Armed Forces.

 

 

HM Queen Elizabeth II Has Passed

British Royalty

RIP Queen Elizabeth II

6 February 1952 –
8 September 2022


Queen Elizabeth II
BBC Photo


Queen Elizabeth died today, 8 September 2022, at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle.

She reigned for 70 years making her the longest reigning monarch in the UK and the second in the world.

A long life well lived!

God save the Queen.

Did you know?

The Royal Standard is never lowered into a half mast even if the reigning monarch has passed away.

Charles is now the king, King Charles III


The Queen’s Funeral.

19 September 2022

  • The Brits are the best in staging pomps and ceremonies and they have made the Queen proud.
  • On her casket, her Crown, scepter which symbolises fairness and justice, and orb which symbolises Christianity around the world, were placed.
  • The funeral is attended by most of the world leaders.
  • Prince George (9) and Princess Charlotte (7) may have been the youngest attendees.
  • The acoustic at the Westminster Abbey is spectacular.  It might have been like angels were singing.
  • The Lord is my shepherd was sung.
  • The single bagpiper was really poignant.
  • This is the first funeral of a monarch at Westminster Abbey since 1760.
  • The flowers for the wreath were collected from Buckingham Palace, Highgrove, and Windsor.
  • The national and commonwealth soldiers, guards, armies, and militaries had their arms/rifles backwards to symbolise mourning.
  • The mall is just a scene to behold.
  • The word to describe this event is MAJESTIC.
  • At Windsor Castle, where the Queen will be interred, there will be a Wand of Office ceremony where the Lord Chamberlain will break a wand which symbolizes the end of a reign and then the start of another reign.
    • The wand breaking was not as dramatic as I thought.  It was already cut in half and just gently pulling it apart.
  • The 64 drummers and pipers did such a good job.
  • People lining up the street from London to Windsor threw flowers at the Queen’s hearse.
  • It has mild early autumn weather.  Brilliant colours especially along the countryside.
  • Who is that eye-catching 7’2″ man walking in front of the hearse?
  • The funeral ceremony started at 10:45 am to 5 pm and apparently there is a close family only ceremony that would not be shown to the public.
  • The Queen was laid to rest at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Elizabeth II

British Royal Family

 

Elizabeth II


In Profile

 

Queen Elizabeth II

  • Name: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary
  • DoB: 21 April 1926 (96)
  • Death: 8 September 2022 (96)
  • PoB: Mayfair, London, UK
  • Spouse: Prince Philip (1921-2021)
  • Issue:
    • Charles (Prince of Wales)
    • Anne (Princess Royale)
    • Andrew (Duke of York)
    • Edward (Earl of Wessex)
  • Designation: Queen of United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth Realms
  • Defender of the Faith (Anglican Christian)

 


Facts & Factoids

  • The Queen was only 25 when she became Queen Regnant (meaning equivalent to a king)
  • She is the Queen of Hearts and Hats. Apparently, the Queen is quite the trendsetter these days. Her choice of hats is incredibly trendy.
  • The Queen’s handbag is from the British brand ‘Launer’.  She had been using the same type of handbag from Launer since the1960s. (Now we know that she keeps marmalade sarnie for later!❤️❤️🤣🤣🤣)
  • 2 – 5 June 2022: A long weekend celebration of The Queen’s 70th reign, the Platinum Jubilee.
  • 6 June 2022: In another 7 days, The Queen would overtake Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand as the second-longest reigning monarch ever.  The first was Louis XIV of France.
    • 13 June 2022: The Queen is now officially the second longest-reigning monarch in the world ever.
  • The Queen has 8 Grandchildren: Mark Phillips, Zara Tindall, Prince William, Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Lady Louise Windsor, & James, Viscount Severn
  • 6 June 2022: The Queen has 12 Great Grandchildren: Savannah Phillips, Isla Phillips, Prince George, Mia Tindall, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, Lena Tindall, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, Lucas Philip Tindall, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi
  • The Queen greeted 15 Prime Ministers in her reign.

The Queen was truly the star of the Jubilee.

The Crown (Netflix Original Drama Review & Summary)

Netflix Drama 2016 – Present

The Crown (Netflix Original Drama Review & Summary)


 

Imperial State Crown

  • Genre: Family, Royal Family, British Royal Family
  • Release Date:  2016, 2017 & 2019
  • Origin: Netflix Original, UK, USA
  • Drama: 3 Series (10 Episodes per series)

Cast

  • Claire Foy (seasons 1–2) and Olivia Colman (season 3) as Queen Elizabeth II
  • Matt Smith (seasons 1–2) and Tobias Menzies (season 3) as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
  • Vanessa Kirby (seasons 1–2) and Helena Bonham Carter (season 3) as Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
  • Eileen Atkins as Queen Mary (season 1)
  • Jeremy Northam as Anthony Eden (seasons 1–2)
  • Victoria Hamilton (seasons 1–2) and Marion Bailey (season 3) as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
  • Ben Miles as Group Captain Peter Townsend (season 1, featured season 2)
  • Greg Wise (seasons 1–2) and Charles Dance (season 3) as Louis, Earl Mountbatten of Burma
  • Jared Harris as King George VI (season 1, featured season 2)
  • John Lithgow as Winston Churchill (season 1, featured seasons 2–3)
  • Alex Jennings as Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (seasons 1–2)
  • Lia Williams (seasons 1–2) and Geraldine Chaplin (season 3) as Wallis, Duchess of Windsor
  • Anton Lesser as Harold Macmillan (season 2)
  • Matthew Goode (season 2) and Ben Daniels (season 3) as Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon
  • Jason Watkins as Harold Wilson (season 3)
  • Erin Doherty as Princess Anne (season 3)
  • Jane Lapotaire as Princess Alice of Battenberg (season 3)
  • Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (season 3)
  • Michael Maloney as Edward Heath (season 3)
  • Emerald Fennell as Camilla Shand (season 3)
  • Andrew Buchan as Andrew Parker Bowles (season 3)

Episode 1

With all the furore surrounding Meghan and Harry, we have decided to start watching The Crown at Netflix.

The first episode was rib-tickling, this was of course before political correctness had run riot.

I sort of knew that Churchill was popular during that time but was amazed to see that his popularity was on par or even more so than the Royal Family.

It was rather hilarious listening to him commenting to his wife that the Royal Family marries Nazi.

Though Matt Smith was quite fanciable in this drama, the real Prince Philip was ten times more so when he was younger.

During their wedding scene, I felt a little tearful, thinking that if the Queen had been watching this scene, she might have felt a bit sad looking at her ailing husband now.  God bless them both.

Claire Foy was spot on as Elizabeth.  She sounded so much like the Queen.

And no wonder, the Queen loved Prince Philip so much, they had a very affectionate and very sexual relationship.

King George VI was ailing he had lung cancer and they had to operate at Buckingham Palace to remove one of his lungs.

Everyone could walk in without worrying about sanitation.

And in the kitchen, we thought a mouse was scuttling on the floor.

King George later was told that his other lung had cancer as well.  He did not want to Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) and the rest of the family told.

The episode ended with the rather barbaric duck shooting party led by the King and the Duke of Edinburgh, while Elizabeth sat on her father’s desk beginning to realise the enormity of her role one day soon.

 

The Markle Sparkle

The New Duke & Duchess of Sussex


The Markle Sparkle

There is only one verdict during the royal wedding yesterday between Prince Harry and Hollywood actress, Meghan Markle, it was a success – a history making.

After  weeks of salacious revelations about the Markles and Meghan, yesterday put a lid to all the controversies.  The lid might be temporary, we shall see.

Remember how Sarah Fergusson was at first the darling of the crowd in 1986?  Did not last long 🙁

Yesterday, the world had seen how Meghan was so poised and dignified.  Meghan sparkled.

Her dress was expensively simple, which suited her well.  The pièce de résistance to her wedding ensemble was the purity and simplicity of the Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau Tiara.  A real show stopper!  It was perfectly nestled into a long train of veil, which cascaded behind her like a silken river.  The veil was embroidered by all the flowers from the 53 commonwealth nations.

She might yet be the real thing, a real duchess.

Well she is officially the Duchess of Sussex, (Countess ) Lady of Dumbarton and (Baroness) Lady of Kilkeel and also being Princess Harry. ‘A list’ guests attending with members of public. Millions around the world watched or listened to a bright, joyous and happy event, sadly rare at present in the world at large. We saw part of the RAF wedding fly by of planes over our garden en route to Windsor on a glorious sunny day.

Congratulations and Best Wishes.