Happy Six Months!

I don't mean to jinx it, but so far so good.

Of course, I had to write today, because is a rather special day. Today, the most darling little girl on the whole planet, and my second favourite baby (sorry, but when she starts making faces like this, I'll reconsider) Princess Charlotte turns six months old!

View image | gettyimages.com

I've grown quite fond of Charlotte in the six months that she's been around. I still don't love her as much as I love George, that's true, but in fairness, she hasn't been on a tour of another country yet, which means she hasn't quite had the chance to be photographed looking grumpy that George has.

Unfortunately, owing to my badly timed blog hiatus, I missed covering a few important moments in Charlotte's first six months, so I'm going to quickly go through them to bring you up to speed about the life of the first Princess born so high up in the line of succession to the British throne since Princess Anne.

Here Charlotte having her first official picture taken. She looks a bit confused, but also quite pleased with herself.

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

Here she is at her christening, crying in her mother's arms and waving her fat fists around. She's excused because she's a baby, and also adorable.

View image | gettyimages.com

And here is George, wondering what would happen if he released the latch and sent his sister's pram rolling down the drive.

View image | gettyimages.com

And here he is again, telling the Queen about his diabolical plan, because if anyone can understand how frustrating it is to have the your sister steal all the attention, it's Princess Margaret's older sister.

View image | gettyimages.com

And here is Charlotte again, with her whole family after the christening. The women's dresses are very pretty, Prince Philip looks incredible for someone his age, and Prince Harry is noticeably absent, but the real star of the day is the baby (no, not you George)...

...who probably fell asleep as soon as the whole thing was over, and didn't remember any of it the next day.

Happy half-birthday, Charlotte. I'll always love you

N

Word Count for November (including yesterday's post): 873

Follow Me, Please

I know that I've been gone for an abysmally long time, but in my defence, I've been very busy (read not busy at all) doing important things (read watching the newest season of Downton Abbey, which, by the way, is absolutely brilliant. Frankly, the show hasn't been this good since Matthew was alive, and I'm going to be quite sad when it's over).

In the six months that I was gone, a lot of things happened to me: I started college to study Economics and English Literature, I took part in a few extra-curricular activities, I gained a reputation as a stalker, I came up with some pretty excellent Tudor analogies, Princess Charlotte grew up a whole lot, and I gave a bunch of exams which I have probably failed, I don't know. And, which is what I really wanted to write about today, I made an Instagram account.

Now, the immediate reason I joined Instagram was so that I could follow Michelle Dockery, who is not on Twitter or any form of social media, other than Instagram, for some reason. It was worth creating a whole new social profile just to follow one popular actress, though, because a few days after I joined, she posted this:

Reunited. @thatdanstevens I've missed this face #bafta #LastDaysOfDownton #matthewandmary

A photo posted by Michelle Dockery (@theladydockers) on Aug 12, 2015 at 6:04am PDT

Which just made me so deliriously happy, because I've missed that face too.

Along the way, I started using Instagram less to see what the cast of Downton Abbey was up to, and more to see what people who I knew were up to. Well, 'knew' is perhaps a bit of an overstatement - these were people that I went to college with, but never had the courage to speak to. Most of them used Facebook sparingly, and weren't even on Twitter, so Instagram was the only way I could really follow them online.

I never posted anything. For the longest time, my profile revealed absolutely nothing about myself, because I was afraid of accidentally double-tapping something as I scrolled through someone's pictures from 2013. But when one of my friends pointed out that I wasn't in a position to berate stalkers because I had an Instagram account solely for stalking, I figured it was time to start posting pictures.

And so I do. Occasionally. You can follow me @hrh_nikita for pictures of the letters and postcards that Kensington Palace so kindly sends me every time I write for someone's birthday or Christmas. Also, next year (2016, that is) I am going to attempt the Hundred Book Challenge once again, except this time, I'll be posting pictures of the books that I read on Instagram, which allows me longer descriptions than Twitter.

Also, if you are on Instagram, and I know your name but don't follow you - please don't make your account private. I rely on public accounts for information, and it would break my heart if I couldn't see pictures of where you went for dinner last night,

Posts on my blog have been few and far in between this year, so I'll try and see if I can fill it up a bit this month. I'll definitely write tomorrow, which is a rather special day, and I might write a few more times while I'm on holiday, so come back for that. And please be kind. I haven't written in absolutely ages, and I've completely forgotten how.

Here's a picture of the Cambridge family to tide you over until the next post.

View image | gettyimages.com

Adorable. Just the best.

N 

Charlotte, Charlotte, Charlotte

They named their daughter Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

The name, of course, is a tribute to her paternal grandparents Prince Charles and the late Princess of Wales, and her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth. Which is all very well when you belong to a regular family, but coming from William and Kate, I'm a little disappointed. The Royal Family thrives because of its thousand year history, and in that time there have been countless strong women who have ruled and fought battles and generally been awesome - Charlotte could have been named for any of them. Instead, she was named for members of her immediate family. Two of whom are still alive.

Also, George and Charlotte (as in 'The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children George and Charlotte') just reminds me of King George III and his wife, Queen Charlotte.

Nevertheless, Charlotte is the name that they have chosen to give her, and so Charlotte is the name that I must accept and grow to love. Charlotte. Charlotte, Charlotte, Charlotte.

Anyway, Charlotte and her family are in Norfolk, where they will be staying at Anmer Hall and out of the public eye for the rest of the summer. Apparently, the Cambridges are enjoying "nice private family time". Private though it may be, I doubt that life with an infant and a toddler like Prince George is very "nice" - William and Kate probably haven't slept in days,

I've already written them a letter with congratulations and best wishes, and now I have nothing to do until the release of Charlotte's first official picture, which is when I'll change the desktop background on all my devices to include her.

It's not weird. It's not weird at all.

~

I'm going on vacation next week, so a few good friends of mine have agreed to guest blog for me. Their posts are about the things that they like to write about - I only asked that they mention some thing, some where that is in some way related to royalty. Any kind of royalty. Their posts will be up every Saturday, so keep coming back for that.

Charlotte, Charlotte, Charlotte.

N

May 2, 2015

He hasn't even been born yet, and I already hate the new Royal Baby.

For one, he (or she, but for convenience and to back my own bet that the baby will be a little Prince, I'm going to keep saying 'he') is so late, that not only do I not share a birthday with the Royal Baby, I don't even share a birth month with him anymore.

I've complained about this many times before. In fact, just this morning, I started to write a blog post about how late the Royal Baby was and how it's inconveniencing everyone. It was set to be posted today.

And then, like the entitled little brother of the future King that he is, the Royal Baby chose to be born today. 

But Kate is in the hospital, and if all goes well, Royal Baby #2 will be born today, and no matter how many sleepless nights he caused me, I am so excited. 

I'll keep you updated.

Update: Just to clarify, I don't actually hate the Royal Baby. I could never hate anyone who could potentially look as cute as George looks right now. 

Update: The fastest news source is obviously Twitter. There are a score of reporters and photographers who are actually outside Lindo Wing, and even more Royal watchers, who, although they are sitting at home, are filled with delightful facts about past Royal births and possible baby names.

Of course, if you are even remotely interested in the Royal Baby, you absolutely must follow Kensington Palace on Twitter. They were the first to tweet when George was born, and also when he was named George, so you can be sure that they'll do it this time around too.

Update: In the last two hours, there have been twenty-five thousand tweets about #RoyalBaby. Five of them were from me.

Update: I was wrong. It's a girl.

IT'S A GIRL!!

I'm so exhausted that I can't even be sufficiently excited about this.

Congratulations to William and Kate and George.

I'm so relieved that everything went well, and that both mother and daughter are healthy. Congratulations to the Cambridges! #RoyalBaby

— Nikita (@NikitaWhoWrites) May 2, 2015

Update: The baby was born at 8:24 am, and weighs 8 pounds and 3 ounces. She is fourth in line to the throne, after her grandfather, her father, and big brother George.

And she already has a Wikipedia page, bless her. She's not even half an hour old.

Update: 

(I've been wanting to use this Harry Potter reference from the minute I found out that Kate was in labour, but it all happened so quickly that I didn't get a chance.)

Update: Oh. William's leaving.

At least, I think he is. To get George.

Update: He is.

We've been told he's gone to get George, but that he also might not get him if he's not at his best for the media.

Update: IT'S GEORGE!

HE'S HERE!

AND HE'S WAVING!

Prince George arrives at hospital to meet his new baby sister http://t.co/wz34a1POJu

— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 2, 2015

HIS HAIR IS SO CUTE.

WILLIAM JUST GAVE HIM A KISS, WHAT A GOOD BOY GEORGE IS.

SO WELL BEHAVED.

WE ALL LOVE GEORGE.

Well, I do, anyway. No matter how many younger sisters he has.

Update: George has gone home, apparently. It's a wonder no one saw him leave (or did he use a back entrance?)

Either way, there is talk that William and Kate and Baby Cambridge will be leaving the hospital today, but closer to 7 pm. Sky News seems to be an excellence source for videos, so if my live stream fails again, like it does every time some thing important is happening with the Cambridges, I'll have to rely on that.

Update: Excellent news. The Cambridges minus George are going to be leaving the hospital even earlier than predicted (in around ten minutes from now) and I've managed to get a live stream going! So far it's just those Lindo Wing doors that I once loved but have now grown to hate, but I can see people moving around inside.

Update: Someone just came out! It's not them - some sort of aide. This suspense is killing me.

Update: My hands are shaking. I've refreshed my Twitter feed nearly fifty times in the last minute. Come on!

Update: She's here! It's the new Princess!

And she is the most precious little thing. 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge depart the Lindo Wing with their daughter http://t.co/N0qfsBJiKl pic.twitter.com/IFHwevNe8e

— HuffPost UK (@HuffPostUK) May 2, 2015

Update: They went back in, and then came back out and now they've all gone home.

Watch: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave the Lindo Wing with their new baby daughter http://t.co/skCgjzpZbF

— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 2, 2015

And I'm exhausted. It's been a long twelve hours.

Now to sleep. And when I wake up tomorrow, William and Kate will probably announce their daughter's name, and then I can write them a letter saying congratulations and then they'll retire to their Palace and this will all finally be over.

Happy Birthday, Princess of Cambridge. I'll see you at your Christening.

N

Note: This is breaking news, so to speak, so obviously I do not have all the information at once. This post will be updated as and when I learn something new.

Royal Babies Rule! (Well, They Will Someday)

Last week, we saw some truly horrific things happen around the world (If you don't already know what I'm talking about, good for you, ignorance really is bliss.).

But since it's almost Christmas, and I'm in a really good mood, I'm going to risk the chance of going to the darkest place in hell, and completely skim over all terrorist attacks and only talk about royal babies.

Lots and lots of royal news this month, after a relatively dry spell. To begin with, two royal babies were born - TWO.

The twin children of Prince Albert II of Monaco and his wife, Princess Charlene, were born on the 10th of December. The daughter, Princess Gabriella, was born two minutes before her younger brother, Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco, but because Monaco still follows the principle of male primogeniture, poor Gabriella is only second in line to the throne. As consolation, perhaps, she was given the title of Countess of Carladès, but it's not as though she's going to appreciate that much when she's told that the reason she won't be Queen is because she's a girl.

But that's a few years in the future. For now, both Jacques and Gabriella are probably sleeping in their cradles, not really bothered about anything at all, let alone the prospect of ruling a country. The babies will be introduced to the Monegasque public on the 7th of January, which has been declared a public holiday... for some reason? Was the day Prince George was born a public holiday? Well, either way, there are some adorable pictures to look forward too.

Speaking of adorable pictures: In the spirit of Christmas, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge released three new pictures of this charmer:

The latest photos of Prince George for you! Our little Prince is pictured sitting on the steps of Kensington Palace. pic.twitter.com/kWkj9aAtTz
— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) December 13, 2014

He's growing up too fast, faster than I can handle. Very soon, he won't be making grumpy faces at the camera any more, and then what?

But thankfully, I'll always have this picture of George to remember him by.

Not to be outdone, the Swedish Royal Family brought in their own cute child in a knitted jumper. And they made it into a video, just to give themselves an edge in this competition between royal babies.

I give you, Princess Estelle of Sweden.



I was introduced to Princess Estelle through Order of Splendor, and I instantly adored her, She had the most sass that I have ever seen in a child, let alone a royal baby. In fact, I'm almost sorry that George came along, because that meant I paid less attention to her. But then I'm also not sorry, because Prince George.

A similar situation is going to be created next year, when Baby Cambridge No. 2 is born, and I shift my attention from George to him/her. These royals really need to stop having children in such quick succession.

Which leads me to the last piece of royal news. Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Chris O'Neill have announced that they are expecting their second child. Their first child, Leonore, will turn 1 this coming February, so that will make it two children in two years for Madeleine and Chris. Which is only a little bit better than the Cambridges - if Prince George had been born in February, they would have been two for two too (Alliteration).

~

That's all for this post. I'll have more news on each of these royal babies as they are born/presented to the public/grow up, and until then I'll continue to type away about something or the other.

Happy Christmas, and best wishes this festive season if you don't celebrate Christmas. Don't forget to write to your favourite royal!

N

UPDATE: Literally minutes after I published this post (And I don't use the word literally lightly), I saw on Twitter that the first photos of Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella had been released. Take a look.

First PICS of Monaco's twins! Albert & Charlene with babies Jacques & Gabriella http://t.co/UnMA25dUeJ via @Femail pic.twitter.com/I0vEZNtfH5
— British Royals (@britishroyals) December 23, 2014

Adorable!

You're Not Normal!

Last week's royal hullabaloo was over the fact that the paparazzi have been taking unsolicited pictures of Prince George as he plays in the park with his nanny (And pairing said pictures with hilarious headlines like "Prince George has a ball". Because he's playing with a ball). Now, I'm not going to encourage you to view these pictures by posting a link, because they were taken without William and Kate's consent, but I will give you a bit of friendly advice: If you want to read funny things about Prince George, that may be slightly mean, but are written with love, Suri's Burn Book is one of my favourites. Also Buzzfeed.

Anyway, back to the photographs issue. Apparently, some photographers are stalking little George, to the extent that they know his daily routine and regular hangout spots. Now if that is really happening, then it's very wrong. He's a baby. He doesn't realise what's happening, so he's not fair game. So, if that's happening, it's perfectly normal for the Cambridges threatening to take legal action.

But if there's no actual stalking - if it's just people who happen to be in Hyde Park, taking pictures of that famous baby which they recognise from all the papers - then I personally feel that William and Kate are being a bit silly. And that's not just because I like looking at pictures of Prince George playing in the grass.

This is just an extension of Prince William's constant whinging about wanting to be normal. And though I love William and Kate just as much, or maybe more, than the next person, their constant I-just-want-to-lead-a-normal-life-ing is often quite annoying.

As Darren McGrady said: 

@MPearon They Royal Family AREN'T normal. We BOW and CURTSEY to them. They can't and DON'T have on and off buttons
— The Royal Chef (@DarrenMcGrady) October 2, 2014

If I've said it once before, I've said it a hundred times - the only reason the royals are so fascinating to us common folk is because they're part of a family that, for a thousand years, has been more privileged and more powerful than anyone else. Also because even though Kate Cambridge's clothes sometimes cost north of £1,000, she's always wearing a new outfit. Normal people can't afford to do that.

A lot of people criticise the Duke and Duchess of Camridge for being "lazy", and for not carrying out as many engagements as, say, the Earl and Countess of Wessex or the Princess Royal, and for randomly going off on holidays to Mustique. But I don't think that they are affecting the Royal Family as much by doing that as they are by going around and proclaiming themselves to be, just normal. Because if I want a normal person to look up to, I know plenty. I only know one Duchess of Cambridge.

~

All week long I've been watching behind the scenes and interviews with the cast and crew of The White Queen, for some reason, and I've grown very fond of Edward IV. This is because, and only because, of sheer brilliance on the part of the casting directors. I've always personally thought of King Edward as a bit idiotic and shortsighted, even. Great military leader and tactician he may have been, but he married a power hungry and selfish... well, you know, and his entire dynasty was in shambles within two years of his death. And yet I am willing to overlook those things, which may or may not have anything to do with the fact that Max Irons, who plays him, looks like this:

This is great news from the perspective of another Yorkist ruler....

God save Richard, England’s royal king! #TheHollowCrown pic.twitter.com/CzSaiDMOyJ
— BBC Two (@BBCTwo) October 1, 2014

RICHARD III !!!

Because you cannot hate Benedict Cumberbatch on a horse. No matter how many nephews he murders (Remember, this picture was released by the BBC ahead of the next season of The Hollow Crown. The show is based on William Shakespeare's plays, so you can be sure that Richard/Benedict had something to do with the death of the Princes in the Tower).

~

Anyway, do you remember my attempts at book reviewing a few months ago - I reviewed a few books from Philippa Gregory's The Cousins' War series? Well, it's coming back! Next week, I'm going to review Alison Weir's The Captive Queen, about Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the week after that I'm going to write about Anya Seton's Katherine, about Katherine Swynford.

If I ever finish it, that is.

N

I Still Love You, Prince George

If you haven't read about this on Twitter already, you are a twit:

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting their second child
— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) September 8, 2014

Understandably, I am very, very, VERY excited. Unfortunately, I have already used up my quota of exclamation marks for the day rest of my life on Facebook, and Twitter, and individually messaging my friends, so there shall be none in this post.

ROYAL BABY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I was wrong. Turns out I have an infinite quota of exclamation marks as far as royal babies are concerned.

Okay. Now that that is out of my system, here are some facts:
1. The reason we all know about Kate's pregnancy was because she was supposed to go to Oxford today (I wrote a about that. If you still care after all this baby excitement, you can read it by clicking on this sentence), but she had to cancel because, once again, she is suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum, that form of morning sickness that betrayed her the previous time as well.
2. This is the second baby for William and Kate. A "spare" to the throne, so to speak. Although, if all goes badly (which is, if Prince George dies without issue, or if this new baby turns out to be evil and steals the throne from George's children along the lines of Richard III), he/she might be King/Queen. Although, I probably won't be alive to see it, so it doesn't bother me.
3. #RoyalBaby and #DuchessOfCambridge are already trending on Twitter. At the time of my typing this, it has been about four minutes since the news broke.
4. The Duchess of Cambridge was supposed to make her first solo visit overseas this month, to Malta. She probably won't go now. The people of Malta must be pretty annoyed. And yet overjoyed, because royal baby!
5. The difference in ages between Prince George and the new baby will be similar to the difference between the ages of Kate and Pippa Middleton (who celebrated her birthday two days ago).

And speaking of Prince George, let's come to what this post is actually about; Will I still love Prince George when there is a new baby?

Obviously, yes. Look at that face:

And yet, poor Prince George. Here is a baby at the pinnacle of cuteness, ignorantly learning how to walk and play ball, unaware that #RoyalBaby, which for the last two years has been mainly associated with him, is trending on Twitter, this time NOT associated with him, but with his prospective younger sibling.

Prince George being adorable on the cover of Woman's Day

Hopefully, them both being older siblings themselves, William and Kate will understand George's importance as an heir, directly in line to the throne, and give him his due attention and media coverage. Though, I don't think George would care.

Well, of course he wouldn't care, he's a baby! For fun, he bangs wooden spoons against Tupperware boxes and sings!

George's favourite game is banging a wooden spoon against a Tupperware box and singing loudly!
— Joanne (@royaltykate) September 2, 2014

The one who I'm really feeling sorry for over here is me. And every other royal watcher, I think. We haven't had enough time to enjoy JUST Prince George's cuteness. But I'm determined to shower that baby, who I don't know and who has no effect on my life whatsoever, with as much attention as I can for the next seven or so months (Read: I will relentlessly favourite every single tweet on my feed that has the words 'Prince' or 'George' in it). And then I will have to divide it between him and his younger brother/sister.

Another person who I feel a twinge of sympathy for is Prince Harry. It's all very fun to read the jokes about him being pushed to 5th in line to the throne, which I'm sure he doesn't mind either, but this baby announcement is coming at quite an unfortunate time for him. In just two days, the Invictus Games are going to start. These Games are Harry's baby - he's worked so hard at organising and promoting and just generally getting this event to happen, and now no one is going to care. Even though they can't really do anything about the royal baby (there will be no pictures, and, honestly, nothing will be different), it's bigger news than the Invictus Games. Big enough to steal the spotlight completely. Also, it's his birthday next week. The big 3-0. Not that it matters, not when his brother and sister-in-law are going to have a baby!

But, despite my sympathies for Harry and George (and me), ROYAL BABY! I hope it's a girl.

(I'm never going to be able to focus on my own life, ever ever again.)

Click here to read the complete Press Release, as issued by Clarence House.

N

Prince George: This Came In The Mail

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I don't really know what to do with it now. If you have any suggestions, please tell me.

N

Prince George : Baby In Action (Also a little bit about me)

No posts about Prince George for the last two days.. I was planning to do a thing where I asked people to write a little bit about George, but then I realised that because I spend so much time following this little Prince vicariously through my Twitter feed, I have hardly any friends IRL, and couldn't find anyone to write something.

I was also a little bit busy with Royal Central. If you don't know, Martin, the Editor-In-Chief, is leaving at the end of this week, so I've been writing a little bit more than I normally do, to pick up the slack and also leave him with a favourable last impression of me. And with that, and college, I really have very few hours left in the day. I mostly while those away watching Horrible Histories online - it's fast becoming one of my favourite things to watch. And I like to sing the songs to myself.

But never fear. Here is a post to kick off the weekend (for those of you who, like me, have to work on Saturdays too) or just to have a nice Saturday night. Or any day, really, because these are adorable.

Here is a collection of my favourite Prince George videos:

And this little one of baby Prince William, just because I love watching it:

There's just something about watching George in action. In pictures, he comes across as a very together young man, who know that he's being photographed and just doesn't care (or maybe that's just my perception) but in videos, he is was he is: just a little baby.

Who will someday be the head of 16 Commonwealth Nations! Well, still a baby.

Happy watching!

N

Prince George : Other People Have Birthdays Too

What the title says. But, to make things simple, mostly for me, this post is only going to be about people who are famous like Prince George, people who are born in the same week as Prince George (though possibly many, many years before) and people who currently reside within the same country as Prince George (so, British) and/or have blue blood, like Prince George.

George!

Right-o.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall

The Duchess of Cornwall was born on the 17th of July, 1947. That makes her 67 years old, and very probably she will be the oldest Queen Consort at the time of her ascension. Well, if she becomes Queen Consort, that is, and not Princess Consort like some are saying she might.

Happy Birthday to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Yep, that's really her as a young woman! #royal pic.twitter.com/Muoo44xgci
— Happy and Glorious (@HappynGlorious) July 17, 2014

Benedict Cumberbatch

Both #HappyBirthdayBenedictCumberbatch and #HappyBirthdayJaredPadalecki are more popular on Twitter than #HappyBirthdayPrinceGeorge.
— Nikita (@JustAsSaneAsMe) July 20, 2014

I was a little bit upset because #HappyBirthdayBenedictCumberbatch was a more popular tag than #HappyBirthdayPrinceGeorge. I mean, it is George's first birthday, and BC has already had 38 of those. Also, it's not fair if Tumblr fangirls take over Twitter too.
But I am getting a Sherlock marathon this weekend as a result of this whole deal, so it's not too bad. Speaking of Sherlock:

Prince Felix of Denmark

This poor guy celebrated his 12th birthday on the 22nd, and hardly anyone noticed because he's only 8th in line to a not so universally well known throne.
And, unlike little George, he probably woke up, excited for knowing that it was his birthday

Happy birthday, Prince Felix. Best wishes.

Happy birthday to Prince Felix of Denmark who turned 12 today! A new image was released by the royal court: pic.twitter.com/eDIZ0LzFKD
— Royaltyspeaking (@Royal_talk) July 22, 2014

Daniel Radcliffe

It's actually Daniel Radcliffe's birthday today. Here he is sorting celebrities into houses at Hogwarts. He put The Queen into Ravenclaw; most apt considering the whole tradition of the Monarch and the Tower of London Ravens.

Dame Helen Mirren

And speaking of The Queen, Dame Helen Mirren celebrates her birthday on Saturday. Fun fact: Dame Helen has played both Queen Elizabeth I and II.

J. K Rowling / Harry Potter

July 31st. Obviously!

Anyway, I'll have a post about it next Sunday, also to commemorate 7 years since Deathly Hallows releasing.

And, of course,

Prince George of Cambridge

A photo taken 1 year ago today by John Stillwell, the photographer who took #PrinceGeorge's 1-year birthday photos. pic.twitter.com/ZTRaV66egi
— BritishMonarchyHeir (@British_Heir) July 23, 2014

George!

N

Prince George : Birthdays and Other Happy Days

Happy Birthday Prince George!

And as the whole world, whether a part of the British Commonwealth or not, celebrates the birthday of this little baby, who is probably drooling on The Queen as I write this, here is a look at his long 365 happy days on Earth, in one picture.

In case you're wondering about the new picture in the top left corner, and you're probably not because they are EVERYWHERE, it is one of two adorable pictures of the beautiful family at a butterfly show at the Museum of Natural History in London. Here's a better look. 

On the occasion of the little Prince's birthday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge issued a statement thanking everyone for their good wishes.

"We would like to take this opportunity on George's first birthday to thank everyone over the last year, wherever we have met them, both and home and overseas, for their warm and generous good wishes to George and our family."

So, basically the royal equivalent of "And to you, if you have stuck with Harry until the very end".

A bit of a short post today, but I'm very excited, I can hardly type. 

PRINCE GEORGE!!!!

N

Images: John Stillwell

Prince George : Only A Few Hours To Go

Depending on what part of the world you stay in, there is either an entire day, or ONLY A FEW HOURS TO GO UNTIL PRINCE GEORGE'S BIRTHDAY! AAHHHH!!!!

Although, if you're actually Prince George, a) you can't read this because you're one, and b) your face probably looks more along the lines of this:

But we still love you.

I don't think I've been as excited about any of my own birthdays ever as I am about this first one of George's. If you are as excited as me, here are some things that you can do to either distract yourself (but not TOO much) or to convert that excitement into something worthwhile.

Write Prince George a letter 

It's very easy to write a letter to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (on behalf of Prince George). Their address is:

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Kensington Palace

London W8 4PU

England

According to the Official Website of the British Monarchy, when writing to a member of the Royal Family, "the formal opening is 'Sir' or 'Madam'. Other people prefer to open their letter with 'Your Majesty' or 'Your Royal Highness' and end it with 'Yours sincerely'." It would do you well to follow these guidelines, because, after all, this is royalty we're talking about (Although, who would know it from the way in which we all - me included - refer to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as William and Kate, offhand, like we're talking about our cousins or someone.).

This advice maybe (definitely) comes a bit late, because there is no way a letter written now will reach the birthday boy by tomorrow. But it will reach them eventually, and I'm sure the Duke and Duchess won't mind. And someone will probably send you a very nice reply, which you can frame or stick in your scrapbook.

I sent my letter out about two weeks ago. This is the first time I've written to the Royal Family, so I spent about two days just researching how to write it and choosing the most appropriate stationary. My friends will tell about the struggle I had with the post office closing at 11 am, and then having to wake up early and run to get the letter posted before college started. Anyway, the letter is probably London bound as we speak (Or in London, I don't know). Fingers crossed that I get a reply. 

Read What Would Kate Do?

What Would Kate Do?, run by the brilliant Christine is fast becoming one of my favourite blogs on the Internet. Of course, the top position still goes to Order of Splendor, which has a special place in my heart for introducing me to dear Estelle and other royal babies other than Prince George, and also for having a reader's vote for their favourite tiaras. But I read What Would Kate Do? whenever I can, and right now there are the most fantastic set of posts about little George's first birthday. #HappyBirthdayCheeks

What Would Kate Do? Click this sentence to find out.

Make a blog about Prince George

And if you can, make it better than this one.

In all seriousness, though, there is quite a shortage of people on the Internet writing about Prince George. Not if you move in the right (by which I mean, royal) circles, but if you don't, the Internet is made up mainly of people who talk about current major political or social events, or just fangirls, who either write about fictional fandoms or celebrities who are not royals. All of this, of course, might not be true, because I'm basing it on an empirical basis, with no concrete evidence whatsoever, but it can never hurt to post MORE about Prince George on the Internet than there already is. He is the most adorable baby in the world.

Either start your own blog, which is fairly simple, write a post on an existing blog, which is even simpler, or better still, write for an already established website. Royal Central, for instance, is looking for guest bloggers at the moment. They're a good team to work with; and I don't just say this because I'm a part of it.

But if you just can't take the excitement any longer, here is a sweet video I discovered the other week and that I just haven't been able to stop watching.

I love the Horrible Histories books, but I didn't know that they had been made into a TV series. And now that I do, I just can't stop watching it. In fact, I've played it so many times, that my brother has learnt all the Kings and Queens of England just by listening to this song over and over again.

And although this might only seem like four minutes of distraction, I can guarantee that just by clicking the links and watching the videos in the Suggested Videos column, you will be entertained for at least a couple of hours. Even more, probably. [DISCLAIMER: DO NOT WATCH IF YOU HAVE AN EXAM OR AN ASSIGNMENT DUE TOMORROW.]

Actually, don't do anything if you have an exam or assignment due tomorrow. Other than prepare for it.

ONLY 7 HOURS TO GO IN BRITISH TIME!!!

N

Images: AFP/Getty Images 

Prince George : Everybody's Favourite Prince

Around this time last year, I was constantly refreshing the Google search for the Duchess of Cambridge on my phone, to see whether she'd had that baby yet. And then, one night (Well, late afternoon in the UK, but an obscene hour of the night here because of time zones), Prince George was born.

On every day of this week, there will be posts documenting Prince George's first year, links to blogs and websites that cover it better than I do, and just a lot of assorted things, all related to everybody's favourite little Prince (which I can say quite confidently, because there hasn't been a boy other than George born into any Royal Family in a long time) and his first birthday celebrations.

An early happy birthday, Your Highness! It's great to see that you can finally walk by yourself.

Someday, this baby will be the greatest King of England that the world has ever seen.
Well, the greatest King George, anyway. It might be hard to compete with some of those Anglo-Saxon rulers.

Much love,

N

Images: John Stillwell

June

A lot of important happenings in the world of royalty, well, happened last week, and I missed them all because I am a lazy writer. So I am going to go over them really quickly in what will be a much delayed and very short blog post, accompanied by a load of tweets. Go!

1. Royal Baby
Princess Amalia, daughter of Prince Felix and Princess Claire of Luxembourg, was born on the 15th of June. Amalia is third in line of succession, because her uncle and aunt, Guillaume and Stephanie, do not have any children yet, and so is technically as close to her country's throne as Prince George, but for some reason doesn't even have a Wikipedia page yet. Even Princess Leonore of Sweden had a Wikipedia by the time she was a week old. But, like with Leonore, whenever I Google Princess Amalia, I just get pictures of Catharina-Amalia, the Princess of Orange. (With Leonore, it would be Infanta Leonor the NEW Princess of Asturias. New! I'm coming to that).
But little Amalia is ridiculously cute. Look.

Prince Félix of Luxembourg, princess Claire, with their (yesterday born) daughter, princess Amalia. pic.twitter.com/4P9mCUxhFf
— ♔ Rick Evers (@Rick_Evers) June 16, 2014

#RoyalBaby Princess #Claire of #Luxembourg left hospital with baby #Amalia today - after giving birth Sunday morning! pic.twitter.com/J1n3SOmEaM
— Kjell Arne Totland (@TV2KjellArne) June 17, 2014

Another ridiculously cute royal baby is...

2. GEORGE!
On Father's Day (again, the 15th of July) HRH George of Cambridge graced the world with his presence at the annual polo match played between Princes William and Harry for charity. No one expected him to be there, so on Sunday night, I was scrolling through my Twitter feed looking for pictures of Prince Harry in jodhpurs when I saw young George, making faces at the camera. I fell off my chair.

Too adorable! Prince George at the polo today. See gallery via http://t.co/6FZHrNGfAx pic.twitter.com/HjXSFqzonf
— British Royals (@britishroyals) June 15, 2014

Prince George a little confused as to what a polo stick is for-v sweet. pic.twitter.com/bEGfQCgJoU
— Emily Andrews (@byEmilyAndrews) June 15, 2014

And he can walk now! I am content. (For the next few weeks, that is, until I start wishing for a birthday picture of George.)

3. Spanish Abdication

The biggest thing last week was when King Juan Carlos of Spain abdicated in favour of his son, who is now King Felipe VI. His wife is not Queen Letizia, and his daughter Infanta Leonor, is not the Princess of Asturias! She's only eight!
This is the third abdication in the last year. It was all very grand, and ceremonial, and maybe made up for Spain's early exit from the World Cup, but I've had more than my fill of abdications. (It's not as though they're as cute as royal babies. I can never get enough of royal babies.) What I am hoping for is a wedding. I haven't seen a royal wedding in a while. Prince Harry?

Spanish abdication. Not as good as the Belgian or the Dutch (But Leonor and Sofia are AWESOME!)

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain at Madrid's Palacio Real with the Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofia. pic.twitter.com/FEmLQeWp3g
— Joe Little (@MajestyMagazine) June 19, 2014

How cute are these little Spanish princesses? http://t.co/fxx6i7W2vL pic.twitter.com/QbjzdwP0tA
— HELLO! Canada (@HelloCanada) June 18, 2014

You can read the full coverage on Order of Splendor.

4. Happy Birthday Prince William

Prince William turned 32 on Saturday. Not as momentous as George's first birthday next month, and doesn't hold a candle next to an actual abdication, but a happy moment nevertheless. So many future Kings (and Kings outright) have not made it to the age of 32 in the past, and now William has.

It's Prince William's birthday! Here are 5 ways he's changed in the past year... http://t.co/1QFICMTdUi pic.twitter.com/U4hBwbiXUB
— HELLO! (@hellomag) June 21, 2014

Prince William is 32 tomorrow. I remember pouring his orange juice before he went riding on Smokey his Shetland pony pic.twitter.com/MK4p9cmWT9
— The Royal Chef (@DarrenMcGrady) June 20, 2014

Happy Birthday Your Highness!

~

Book review next week, unless someone dies or Prince Harry gets engaged.

N

UPDATE: I said it and it happened. Not Prince Harry, oh no, but Prince Carl Philip of Sweden just announced (June 27th) his engagement to long time girlfriend Sofia Hellqvist (Hellquest? Hellqvuist? I don't know). Royal wedding!!!

Princess Leonore's Baptism (Alternatively: Stop Talking About TFIOS!)

I don't know why I am typing this, because literally everyone in the whole world knows, but this weekend the movie adaptation of John Green's best selling and much acclaimed novel The Fault In Our Stars (TFIOS, or as I sometimes call it, The Fault) came into theaters in the USA. Across the month, it will release all over the rest of the world, and everyone will cry so much that the world will flood and we will all die and it won't even be because of global warming or a Mayan apocalypse or anything. Which is all fine, but please: STOP TALKING ABOUT TFIOS.

If you were ever looking for a sure fire way to get everyone to hate you, this is it: Vaguely insult the one book or movie which is taking all of the Internet by storm. But, contrary to what you might think, I do not hate the book or John Green. In fact, I quite like and respect John. He seems like a really nice guy, his family is awesome (I'm still waiting for that first sight of Alice Green) and I watch more of his videos on the Vlogbrothers' channel than Hank's, who tends to talk about science-y stuff that goes straight over my head. To condense, if I met John Green in person, I would fangirl, which is the second highest compliment that I am capable of paying.

I also don't hate TFIOS, but this excitement for it is Harry Potter level excitement. Nothing but actual Harry Potter deserves Harry Potter level excitement. And I know that John agrees with this, because when he had to chose between his own book and the Harry Potter series, he chose Harry Potter. Like I said, I have nothing but respect for John Green.

~

The more exciting thing, for me, because royal baby, this weekend was Princess Leonore's baptism. Princess Leonore is the daughter of Sweden's Princess Madeleine and her husband Chris O'Neill, who are also celebrating their first wedding anniversary today. Leonore (Lilian Maria) was born earlier this year in New York, and baptised today at Drottningholm Palace (I may have spelt that wrong).

Also at the ceremony was Leonore's cousin, and one of my favourite royal babies, Princess Estelle. She's growing up really fast, and it's amazing to see, because I remember when she was born. I looked at pictures of her baptism online as well.

And speaking of royal babies and cousins, Prince George's cousin, Mia Grace Tindall, is a little bit older than Princess Leonore, and probably will be christened. Maybe she already has been, just in a private ceremony, but I would love to see at least one picture of Mia since that Hello! Magazine feature, and a christening seems like an appropriate situation. Not that I intend to compare royal christenings or royal babies. I love them all just the same.

That's a lie. I love Prince George the most.

N

Images: The Facebook page of Princess Madeleine of Sweden

Editors

It's been over two weeks, and I still haven't completely gotten over the Cambridge Tour. Here, look at Prince George:

~

In my grandparents' community of senior citizens, there was a short story writing contest, of sorts, where the best one wins some prize. My grandfather really wanted to participate in it, so last week he handed me a sheaf of paper on which he'd handwritten his story, and he said to me "Type that out, and while you're at it, edit it for me."

This is a fairly common arrangement between us. My grandfather isn't very adept at using a computer, but I am (Well, I can type fast, anyway), and so whenever he has something that needs to be printed he writes it out and gives it to me, and then I type and print it for him, and in return, my grandmother gives me cupcakes. 

This short story was no different, except as I was transcribing it, I kept reading it and occasionally, I'd come across a sentence that I felt could be made better just by removing an adjective, or changing the voice. Now if this was a letter to the bank or something, as my grandfather's papers normally are, I would have overlooked it and continued typing. But this was a short story, and he had said "Edit it for me." And so I made whatever changes I wanted.

And I felt so bad about it! Even though I was maintaining the story line and changing no more than a word or two here and there, I couldn't help but think that this was my grandfather's story and I had no right to change any of it. But I did, anyway. And then I printed it out, and he handed it in. 

I write a lot. Most of it is private, and no one reads it, and some of it, like this blog, is unfiltered, and I just write whatever comes into my head. But sometimes I have to write something serious, like an essay for a competition, or an article for Royal Central (Are you reading what I write for them? You should! Link.), and then I have to deal with someone editing it. Either a bonafide editor, or my teacher, or my parents, or just someone who believes that they can write better than me. And I hate it, because when I write something it is, in my head, the best possible way in which the thing can be told, and when someone makes a change, I just bristle with indignation at how dense they are being.

But that's not the point of writing, is it? It's all very well when you're writing in a journal which no one reads (This, of course, is only aplicable if you aren't a public figure. If you are, then other people might read even your most private thoughts. Like with Queen Victoria. Her journals are going on exhibit at Windsor Castle. Check it out if you live nearby or are going to be visiting.), but when you write something expecting it to be published, you're writing for other people.

Editors are these other people. They read your work, and judge it, just like any regular reader would do, except they give you constructive criticism to try and make it better. I don't know what the point of this whole post is, because I don't really hate editors. Well, not in the way that I hate.. say, dentists, anyway.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that [fill in an inspirational/rubbish/whatever you think I'd say message here].

N

PS. I'm going on holiday from tomorrow, so there will be no post next Sunday. Or the Sunday after that.

How does it matter? No one reads this stuff anyway.

Images: Getty/Samir Hussein

The Cambriges Down Under : The Best and the Best (Happy Anniversary!)

The Cambridge tour is over. As is my life. Time to sink into that phase of withdrawal that I experience every time I get to see a lot of Prince George, and then none at all for a long, long time.

Bye Bye, Baby

I miss that baby already.

Today's post is a collection of my five favourite moments from the Cambridge Tour (Not all of them involve Prince George).

FIVE

When William and Kate went to Uluru, and it was all very romantic.

FOUR

When William and Kate raced each other in sailing boats, and Kate beat William twice.

THREE

Every time that George got on or off a plane and made a grumpy face.

TWO

When baby George met bilby George and it was the cutest thing I have ever seen.

ONE

This.

Oh dear. How am I ever going to get over this?

~

Today is the third wedding anniversary of George's parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Happy Anniversary to their Royal Highnesses! May they never grow asunder, because I ship them, and I really do not think I would be able to stand it if even one more of my ships sink. Especially not one as big and important as the Cambridges.

N

The coverage of the Cambridge tour on my blog can be viewed by clicking on the label 'The Cambridges Down Under'.

Images: Tim Rooke/REX/James Whatling/Splash News/Woolf/Crown/Reuters/Getty Images