This is a blog created for and by MYROYALS & HOLLYWOOD FASHION. We post pictures, the latest information, and cool facts about royal families around the world.
The Duchess of Cambridge makes her Palace garden party debut
The Duchess of Cambridge continues her winning streak with the press and public alike as she attends her first Palace garden party last weekend.
The duchess’ charming was overflowing, and so was his thrifty but glamorous fashion sense. She gave a second chance to the £1,200 Emilia Wickstead dress she wore during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee lunch in Windsor two weeks ago.
The duchess joined the Princess Royal, Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Philip, the Queen, and other members of the Royal Family, together with some 8,000 guests for tea within the Buckingham Palace grounds. The Duke of Cambridge was nowhere to be seen however because he was at the RAF Valley in Anglesey, where he works as a search and rescue pilot.
The event was this year’s second Palace garden party, and the duchess’ first since becoming a part of the Royal Family.
The duchess wears the Emilia Wickstead dress she wore at the Queen's Jubilee Lunch at Windsor Castle
The duchess throws some chit-chat with some of the guests
The Duchess of Cambridge was a huge hit in this event
The Duchess of Cambridge attends her first Palace garden party without Prince William, who was at work with the RAF
More than 800 guests attend the Palace garden party
The Duchess of Cornwall joins the Duchess of Cambridge
Queen Elizabeth II joins the crowd during the garden party a few days before the Jubilee celebrations kick off
Members of the Royal Family attend the tea party. From L to R, the Duke of Gloucester, Duchess of Cambridge, Duchess of Cornwall, Princess Royal, Prince of Wales
A large number of crow wait in anticipation of the coming of the Royal Family
The Queen and Prince Philip
The Queen surveys her guests
The Duchess of Cambridge takes time to greet guests
Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco hosted the annual marquee Formula One race. Together with the couple were the prince’s nephew, Pierre and Andrea Casiraghi and the Countess of Wessex, who was Princess Charlene’s close friend.
From a jellybean queen, to a monarch made from money, artists from all over the country has been showing their love for Queen Elizabeth II by creating unique and wonderful portraits of Her Majesty, taking up the tools of their trade and giving their most creative to offer a tribute to the lady whom all Britons love.
The portraits ranged from the tiniest (the Queen’s portrait engraved in a golden pin head) to the most outlandish (a portrait made of cupcake, lily, pints of beer and cury, slices of toast… and more!)
I felt like I needed a blog post that wasn't titled "Lily at such and such months". However, I admit I do have an agenda of recording her 15 month stats on here for my own memory-preserving purposes. :)
So... I thought I'd start off this post with some things I'm loving this month:
1. Having multiple books to read! I NEVER have several books lined up but thanks to a Book Club invite (thanks Betsy!), a Mother's Day present (thanks Clint!), a few discounted books, and one best seller I keep hearing about and saw cheap at Sam's...I'm set for the first part of the summer! Speaking of books, the new(ish) Goodwill book store in the Mahan publix shopping center will write down books you want that they dont have in the store, and call you if and when they get that book in. I forgot I had expressed by interest in Lauren Conrad's new book Sweet Little Lies (her books are my guiltiest of pleasures!). Today I get a call from the nice boy at Goodwill telling me that got a copy of Sweet Little Lies and it is $3.99. There was a moment of shame when I had to tell the person on the phone that I went out and paid $20 for that book new. Lesson learned- be patient and wait for the Goodwill bookstore to call, it could save you $16- DOH!
2. Evening Wagon Rides- definitely one of the best parts of my day! I saw pictures of my friend Ashleigh-Anne's collapsable wagon from Sam's club a few months ago, and I've been on a mission to get a wagon ever since. I ended up pricing wagons at a bunch of stores, and finding that $56 at Sam's was as good as it gets. (And since Craigs list was a bust). Anyway, I look forward to Lily yelling "wee wee!" as we go around the block. I enjoy watching Lily lean back on pillows like a true Lady of Leisure and wave to all the neighborhood cats and dogs. And I'm hoping these walks will serve a double purpose of keeping my pregnancy weight gain under control this time- because clearly I have an appetite for at least 2 these days!
3. Being pregnant. Here's the belly at 24 weeks. Minus the heel/foot pain which is new this pregnancy, I'm feeling great and anxiously awaiting my little guy or girl! We have a baby boy name in mind (Bennett Christopher), and still nothing for a girl...hoping to settle on something soon. Having a boy name is making me biased to wanting a boy at the moment...and I'm hoping for the perfect girl name to balance that back out. Although I'm currently staring at 4 giant bins of girl clothes in my living room (because i have no clue where to store them!) and that is kinda balancing out the desire for a girl.... I'm definitely hoping to get to use these adorable little girl outfits again!
4. Clint's work travel being over until after the new baby arrives! I guess that was really something I didn't love about May...Clint spent a week in Orlando and a week in Miami for work...but now that those 2 weeks are over, I am looking forward to his summer travel hiatus- which we are assuming they will stretch out through September for us, with the baby coming in early September. Having Clint gone makes me truly appreciate how helpful he is with Lily and how amazing he is at chores.
Haha I know it looks like Clint is texting and ignoring Lily, but I still like this picture. (we'll just assume Clint is uploading a picture of LK to facebook for a quick second- that is entirely possible!) Lily was happy to see her daddy after his two trips!
5. The new season of The Bachelorette. While I'm not a huge Emily Maynard fan, I need some mind numbing tv in my life after a long day! Bachelorette= perfect! And it fills that void where my Monday nights were once filled with my favorite new show Smash. And now that American Idol is over...its kind of a TV lull for me. Thank you ABC for keeping the cheesy reality tv coming!
And now to my Lily Kate milestone agenda. My sweet girl is 15 1/2 months now, but we just had her 15 month shots and check-up today. I enjoy recording her milestones so I can go back and see how much she has grown and changed.
As of today...
* Lily weighs 22 lbs 14 oz. (49th percentile...same as its been)
* Lily is 30.5 inches long (49th percentile...same as its been)
* New habit: sucking on a pacifier. So weird, she has never liked one until this month when she got a fever and starting cutting three teeth at once. She looks like such a little baby to me with a paci, because im just not used to it. But I guess cutting a tooth in 3 out of 4 corners of your mouth could leave you needing some relief! Poor nuggie! :/
* Words: Lily's favorite is "wee wee!" (when swinging, riding her rocking horse, riding in her wagon, etc), bye bye, baba (for bottle/sippy cup), dada, mama, yah, dis (for this, when pointing to something), and our favorite is peeas (for please, when she wants more food)
*Signs: more, milk, please, book, hat, car, hi, bye, and if you include song motions...wheels on the bus and Itsy Bitsy Spider
* Lily's favorite songs are: The Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, If Youre Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands Together, Take the Keys and Lock Her Up, and the Barney Theme song.
* Lily's favorite books are still anything with a Lift-the-Flap feature. Sigh.These get old when I really want to read my favorites like "Brown Bear Brown Bear", "Goodnight Moon", "Guess How Much I Love You", and some mom-specific ones like "My Mom Loves Me." Instead...we do a lot of "Where's Spot?","Where is Baby's Mommy?", "Where is Baby's Belly Button?", and "Ears, Nose, and Toes"- all Lift-the-flap books. Lily has taken a liking to her "nugget books" (little tiny books) lately, so thats cute...she loves to flip the pages and make her focusing noise, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh." I guess they just fit so nice in her little hands.
*Things Lily loves: wandering around in big open spaces, wagon rides, stroller rides, the mall play area, park swings and tunnels (not really a slide fan), being flipped upside down, tickle attacks, her rocking horse and princess car, giving wet sloppy kisses, being a terror in restaurants, snuggling, eating fruit, smoothies, bathtime, playing with her potty, and playing out back with her pinwheel flowers. I recently found a good solution to Pugsley peeing on these flowers as his favorite target: the giant flower pot that once sat on our neglected deck!
As the nation prepares for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, let's take a look back at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrated in 1897
While all of Britain are getting ready for the great festivities that will highlight Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, let us take a look back at Queen Victoria’s own Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 1897.
A Grand Celebration of Nations
Queen Victoria actually planned for a quieter, more restraint Jubilee event. But Joseph Chamberlain, secretary of State for the Colonies, thought everyone in the empire wanted to celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime celebration. And so, it went that way. Queen Victoria agreed and plans were laid to celebrate the grandest of all the festivities the British Empire had ever witnessed.
The accession anniversary of June 20, 1897 fell on a Sunday and was marked with special services around the country, with the Queen attending St George's Chapel, Windsor.
The day was declared a bank holiday in India as well as in Britain and Ireland. Among the many civic works erected, there were memorial fountains in the Seychelles as well as Manchester and municipal clock-towers in Penang, Malaysia, and Christchurch, New Zealand, as well as in Maidenhead and Chester.
Victoria was at the head of an empire that where the sun never set, with more than a quarter of the world's population under her rule.
The following day, she returned to London to receive foreign envoys. There was also a Torchlight Military Tattoo in the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
The official celebration of the Diamond Jubilee took place on Tuesday June 22 1897.
In the morning, the Queen transmitted a telegram across the world with the personal message: "From my heart I thank my beloved people. May God bless them."
Before the age of television, the only way to watch the festivities was to head to London and thousands of people flocked to the streets to catch a glimpse of Victoria's grand procession. Sailors in boaters pulled gun carriages on ropes while guards in bearskin hats and tunics lined the roads.
The highlight of the day itself - a generally bright day in an appalling year for British weather - was a procession along six miles of London streets of the extended Royal Family and the leaders of the self-governing dominions and Indian states. Among many others, the Indian Lancers in their turbans, the Jamaican Artillery and New Zealand Mounted Troops had travelled to take part in the parade, joined by the traditional Sovereign's Escort of the 2nd Life Guards.
The Queen-Empress was all garbed in her usual black silk dress, with a black bonnet decorated with white ostrich feathers and diamonds. She rode through the streets of London in a carriage to St Paul's Cathedral for a service, across London Bridge, through south London and back past Parliament to Buckingham Palace. The parade was witnessed by hundreds of thousands of spectators, huddled beneath bunting and banners - one of which declared Victoria "Queen of earthly Queens".
The experience was so touching, writing in her journal that night: "No-one ever, I believe, has met with such an ovation as was given to me, passing through those six miles of streets... The crowds were quite indescribable and their enthusiasm truly marvellous and deeply touching.
"The cheering was quite deafening and every face seemed to be filled with (real) joy."
There was one mishap during the procession when the elderly Gold Stick, Lord Howe - tasked with protecting the sovereign - fainted, although he did remount to be greeted by cheers from the crowd, according to Debrett's look back at the commemoration.
Vanity Fair, published on June 24 1897, declared that the Jubilee Day had strengthened the bonds of the British Empire thanks to the welcome visiting premiers and troops were given.
"For in Her Majesty, as she sat in her magnificent carriage, amid all the splendour of her court, the glistening of gold, the shining of sabres and the pomp of cavalry, in her quiet simple dress, all of us recognised a grand example of humility, of patience, of long suffering - in a word, womanliness."
In the evening on the official Jubilee Day, there was a grand dinner party at Buckingham Palace where the Queen's table was decorated with a 9ft high display of 60,000 orchids from every part of the then Empire, crafted into the shape of a crown. There were also royal engagements all week long including a State Ball at the Palace and a mass Naval review at Spithead in Hampshire attended by the then Prince of Wales and involving 165 ships. Jubilee hymns were commissioned and society garden parties hosted by various Countesses, while a reception and ball was held by the Corporation of the City of London at the Guildhall.
The celebrations had been the subject of tense negotiations between the officials of the Royal Household who said they were anxious to avoid "the expenses incurred to the Privy Purse" of the Golden Jubilee. In the end, the costs were split.
A Celebration of Generosity
But the heart of the celebration was actually generosity. The spirit of Victorian philanthropy was kept alive. Alexandra, Princess of Wales, held the biggest banquet in the world and feed some 400,000 of London's poor. She staged a series of vast Diamond Jubilee Feasts where everyone was welcome no matter what their background or what state their clothes were in. More than 700 tons of food was needed and 10,000 waiters with the meals sponsored by millionaire Sir Thomas Lipton. Diners ate roast ribs of beef and veal and ham pies, followed by dates, oranges and a drink of English ale or ginger beer and then pipes and tobacco.
The parties went on into the evening, with a chain of beacons lit across Britain; a series of civic festivities in the newly-created Jubilee cities of Nottingham, Bradford and Hull; fireworks displays; and the son et lumiere illumination of St Paul's for the first time. By order of the government, and to much disgust from the Temperance Movement, pubs remained open until 02:30.
It is not recorded whether Victoria - who was known as Drina within royal circles - enjoyed the following day as much, which included a meeting with 10,000 schoolchildren on a rainy Constitution Hill followed by a civic reception in Slough.
A Proud Empire
All the celebrations were very much focused on the empire, its success, its expansiveness and its seeming invincibility. Historian and writer Juliet Gardiner says: "The year could be seen as the apogee of British power... once the Boer War started it was clear that we were a bit friendless in Europe."
There were of course dissenters. James Connolly, the Edinburgh-born Irish nationalist, called the Jubilee a "feast of flunkeyism" and wrote: "Join your voice with ours in protesting against the base assumption that we owe to this empire any other debt than that of hatred of all its plundering institutions."
But in mainland Great Britain - and in many of the colonies, such opinions were rare. Gardiner adds: "Queen Victoria was held in great reverence by the nation. People simply couldn't imagine life without her on the throne. Before her reign, the monarchy had been pretty unpopular overall. She could be said to have re-established the people's support for the monarchy."
Queen Victoria's reign lasted until 1901, longer than anyone else in British history. At her death, Great Britain was at the zenith of her greatness as the world's biggest and most powerful country.
(Texts in this article were originally taken from BBCand Telegraph. Due credits is given them)
In celebration of Queen Elizabeth II, thousands of members of the Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force paraded and performed a flypast, much to the Queen's, and the audience's, amazement.
Queen Elizabeth II marks her 60th year on the throne this year, but the height of celebrations won’t kick until June 2, with highlights during the grandest of all the flotilla parades the Thames will ever witness on June 3. June 4 and 5 are bank holidays, so it is expected that public celebrations will continue until these days. For your complete guide during the Jubilee festivities, check out the schedule below so you don’t miss the fun and excitement and the whole nation—and maybe even the world—celebrates the spectacular reign of the Queen whom everybody loves.
Saturday, June 2 – Epsom Derby
The Queen will join Day 2 of the Epsom Derby. Organizers expect a surge of audience to this horseracing event. From last year’s 135,000, it’s expected to draw a little over 200,000 crowds. Her Majesty will also visit the paddock to address eager trainers and jockeys before she proceeds to the Red Arrows display and the photo exhibits.
Sunday, June 3 – River Thames Pageant and Big Jubilee Lunch
Route of the River Parade
The River Thames Pageant is expected to highlight the weekend events, with 1,000 boats to escort the Queen’s own lavishly decorated royal barge, Gloriana, while treading the Thames.
Expect to see a sea of red, white, and blue to wash over the streets and along the riverbank. Church bells, foghorns, fireworks, and music will join forces to shout the jubilation over Her Majesty’s 60 glorious years as queen.
More than 5,000 police and 7,000 private stewards will work together to check more than 30,000 people. Bridges and riverside roads are to be closed, although Lambeth, Westminster and Blackfriars bridges will be open to public.
Heavy traffic is expected, so the public is advised to leave their cars at home and ride public transports, instead.
At Battersea Park, festival a festival for the family will take place along the route, while big screens will be placed along the River Thames route and at two ticket-only festivals in Hyde Park and Battersea Park.
For the Big Jubilee Lunch, everyone is encouraged to bring their own packed lunched and share them with neighbors and friends during street parties and picnics to bring the community together.
June 4 – Jubilee Picnic, BBC Concert, and Jubilee Beacons
Buckingham Palace will glow at the height of the Diamond Jubilee festivities
BBC, with singer Gary Barlow, will organize a special concert at Buckingham Palace to be attended by Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, and other members of the Royal Family. Meanwhile, a select guests shall be chosen by ballot to attend the Jubilee Picnic in the Buckingham Palace Gardens.
The concert will begin 7:30 pm, featuring some of Britain’s most popular performers including Shirley Bassey, Alfie Boe, Jools Holland, Jessie J, Tom Jones, Elton John, and Paul McCartney. After the concer ends at around 10:22 pm, more than 4,000 beacons will be lit through UK and the around the world to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee.
June 5 – Service, Carriage Procession, Balcony Appearance
Route of the carriage procession
The final day of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations will be solemn, marked by a national service of thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral. This will be followed by two receptions, at Mansion House and Guildhall, a lunch at Westminster Hall to be attended by Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, and a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace, with a balcony appearance and a fly-past. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will be riding the 1902 State Landau.
Armed forces will line the procession route and the King's Troop will fire a 60-gun salute during the procession.
After reaching Buckingham Palace, the Royal Family will appear on the balcony and watch an RAF flypast. Then, in the forecourt, The Queen's Guard will perform a Feu de Joie - a cascade of rifle fire interspersed by the National Anthem.
Thousands of spectators are expected to flock the Mall while ticket-holders having prime viewing spots at the Queen Victoria memorial outside Buckingham Palace will have fun seeing the best that the Diamond Jubilee celebrations have to offer.
.JPG.h380.JPG)
.JPG)
