Good Luck With 2014.

It's the last day of 2013, and what a year it's been. There have been ups and downs and a lot more ups, and not just for the royals but for me too. Of course, no one cares about my life, so I'm just going to skip that altogether.
At the end of last year, I wrote about the year that had gone by. Write might not be the most appropriate word, though. I just stuck in a lot of pictures. Anyway, this year, instead of focusing on the past, I'm choosing to focus on the future. Mainly on what the future holds for the British Royal Family.

At the beginning of this year, there were a couple of major milestones and things to look forward to as far the BRF went. The 60th anniversary of the Queen's coronation was approaching and the Duchess of Cambridge was pregnant with the heir to the throne, who would have ruled irrespective of gender. Nothing that big is expected to happen next year, not unless you count Prince George's first birthday as an important milestone. Except, there is someone who can be quite unpredictable.

Prince Harry. As he approaches his 30th birthday, he must be starting to realise that he can't stay unmarried forever.

I really want Prince Harry to get married. I'm not the kind of girl who hankers after royalty, wishing that they were closer to her age but reasoning that an age gap of more than ten years isn't all that much (Lies). I do want to see another royal wedding in England, and I think I'll enjoy it more now that I know who Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are and understand why they would wear such ridiculous fascinators.
I don't want Prince Harry to get married to Cressida Bonas. I don't remember what I said I thought of her the last time that I wrote a post about her, but I don't like Cressida Bonas. It could just be a thing with Prince Harry's girlfriends, because I didn't like Chelsy Davy at first either, but I'm starting to miss her now that Cressida Bonas might become the new royal wife.

Here are Prince Harry and girlfriend leaving a theater in London

That being said, whatever Prince Harry does is fine with me. If he does get married, I get to watch a wedding, and if he doesn't get married, I get to heave a sigh of relief and continue to hope that something breaks the happy couple apart.

Perhaps the most important thing, according to me, that is happening next year is the Cambridges' tour to Australia and New Zealand in April. I love when royals go on tour, because that means that for the few weeks that they are in a foreign country, they make public appearances every single day. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have previously visited North America and South-East Asia, but what makes their visit Down Under so special is that this time they're taking Prince George.

No, that isn't the Cambridges and Prince George. That's the Wales's and Prince William.

There's a lot of excitement about the fact that Prince George is accompanying them. For seasoned royal watchers, the excitement is all because Prince William was about the same age - nine months - when his parents took him on his first foreign visit, also to Australia. I'm excited because it doesn't seem like there are going to be a lot of opportunities for pictures of Prince George leading up to the visit, but once in Australia, I'll be surprised if he doesn't come out in public at least twice. And public appearances mean pictures. I can't wait.

[I've written a post about a section of the itinerary for the visit on Royal Central, so you can click on this sentence to read that. Additionally, there is a link at the bottom which leads to a more comprehensive itinerary.]

Also, in the next few months, TWO babies will be born into the ever growing royal families worldwide.

The first is the son/daughter of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall. This will be the first child for Zara and Mike, the third grandchild for Princess Anne (who is already grandmother to Peter Phillips' daughters Savannah and Isla) and the fourth great-grandchild for Queen Elizabeth (who, besides the two children of Peter Phillips mentioned above, is great-grandmother to Prince George). He/she will be 16th in line to the throne, behind his/her mother and ahead of David Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley. There is no word from the Palace yet on the gender of the child, but I am betting that it will be a boy and that they will call him Augustus.
The second is the daughter of Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Chris O'Neill. Again, the first child for the couple, but second grandchild for the King and Queen, who are already grandparents to Crown Princess Victoria's daughter Estelle.

It is unlikely that either of these children will be given titles upon their birth. Unlike their older cousins, George and Estelle, they will have hardly any claim to the throne, and will lead as normal lives as possible, only mingling with higher-up royalty at weddings and Christmas and that sort of thing. However, despite their lack of proximity to the Crown, Zara and Princess Madeleine are two of my favourite royals, coming second and third, respectively, only to Kate. And it's no secret how much I love Prince George, so I'm certain I'll love their children too. Well, I'll blog about them when they're born, anyway.

That's all with the royal events. There is just one more thing.

In the extremely near future - tomorrow - season 3 of Sherlock airs in the UK. Fangirls on Tumblr are going completely nuts, and understandably so. It's been a two year long hiatus for them. I get restless when Order of Splendor goes on holiday for a week.
The major focus of watchers' interest this season [SPOILERS] is finding out how Sherlock survived a fall off the rooftop. They've been racking their brains for an explanation for months and months, but I honestly don't think it's that important. If there was a question as to whether he was dead or not, their eagerness for answers would be justified, but now that it is very obvious that he is alive, I'm looking forward more to seeing John reacting to Sherlock explaining how he faked his death than to actually listening to Sherlock explain how he faked his death and seeing how much of it tallies with my theory. That being said, I do not have a theory about how Sherlock faked his death.

Something that I don't understand is the disparity between the air dates in different countries. England, obviously, gets to see it first, but then it is a full two and a half weeks before it airs in America, on the 19th, by which time the English will already have seen the final episode. I highly doubt that season 3 is going to end with anything other than a cliffhanger, probably Sherlock announcing his decision to retire from active detective work, and that means that there will be a four day period during which fans on one side of the Atlantic will be pondering this new plot twist, and fans on the other side of the Atlantic will still be trying to figure out how Sherlock didn't die when he jumped off the roof at the end of season 2.

I think it's a little bit odd, but I'm not going to question the folks down at BBC.

~

So, that's all for the year. Hopefully, all of you will keep coming back on Sundays to read the nonsense that I write. Do watch season 3 of Sherlock (unless you haven't seen seasons 1 and 2, in which case watch seasons 1 and 2 first), pray that Prince Harry doesn't get married, and if you live in Australia, go out to see the Cambridges in April. God save the Queen.

Good luck with 2014.

N

Happy Holidays.

I personally don't celebrate Christmas, but it doesn't bother me if someone wishes me a merry Christmas. However, it may bother a few people, and I don't want to be caught with my foot in my mouth (Ha!). So happy whatever it is that you celebrate, dear readers, and because it won't hurt you to do so, please refresh this page after you've finished reading, and read it again. I'm only two hundred views away from five thousand, and I want to reach that milestone before the new year.

You don't actually have to read it again, though.

Here is the Prince of Wales' Christmas card for 2013.

The picture was taken at Ascot in June this year. Why they chose to feature Camilla's granddaughter on their card from 2011, but not the FUTURE KING on this one I will never understand.

The final post for the year will be on Tuesday, the 31st, and in it I will talk about the royals at Sandringham, and discuss the Cambridges' upcoming tour to Australia and New Zealand and other things that I am looking forward to in 2014.

N  

UPDATE:  It's the Queen's Christmas broadcast!

The actual message is fairly boring - all about reflection and contemplation - but it is interspersed with behind the scenes videos from Prince George's christening. That was a lot of fun to watch, especially the moments when Kate actually seemed more like a mother and less like someone whose job is to have nice hair. 

Come back tomorrow.

Best. Week. Ever.

Nelson Mandela died on Thursday, which was a bit of a downer, but otherwise I've had the most marvelous week.

First things first, this:

The Duchess of Cambridge wore a tiara! Oh, happy days!

As someone who loves the Duchess and loves a good tiara, this is the perfect combination. The last time I saw Kate in a tiara was at her wedding, but I was such a novice at royal watching at the time, that I couldn't identify the tiara, and it didn't seem that special to me that she'd worn one. After all, princesses wear tiaras all the time.

Well, not this Princess (Do not ever refer to Catherine as a Princess. She is not a Princess. She is only a Duchess). There has been nary a tiara on her head since that glorious April day two years ago. Which is what makes this tiara appearance so special. It's the first one she's made in a couple of years and it may well be the last one she makes for another couple of years.

Details about the tiara are available on Order of Splendor (Link). If you aren't interested in reading all of that, I shall condense it into one sentence for you. Here: That is the Lotus Flower Tiara, it used to belong to the Queen Mum, and then to Princess Margaret, it is a very pretty looking trinket, and it shines.

Coming to what this post is really about, tiara wearing duchesses aside:

I saw the Catching Fire movie!

I don't know if anyone remembers, but watching the Catching Fire movie was the last on my list of things that I was looking forward to in 2013, and also the only non-royal thing, so obviously quite important to me. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, the movie only released in my city this Friday, instead of the intended two weeks ago, so I was subjected to two weeks of people on Tumblr fangirling without actually being able to join in. Until now.

Because it's been available to watch for so long, there are a vast number of better written reviews and opinions about Catching Fire floating about on the Internet, so whatever I write is too little, too late. But read through it because a view will be added to my tally whether or not you do. Don't let me get views for nothing.

Warning, spoilers.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. AMAZING. Really, REALLY good. A great adaptation, and so much better than the first one. There were shivers running down my spine as I watched it.

Disappointments? Finnick Odair. Well, Sam Claflin as Finnick. I had rather hoped that because they had cast an Englishman as Finnick, he would have a British accent, but he did not. Other than that, Sam Claflin was fine. And I particularly like Lynn Cohen as Mags.
Another disappointment was their failure to mention Haymitch's Games, the Second Quarter Quell. I understand that it would have been difficult for the people making the movie to construct a set for that specific arena, and get 48 children and go to all that trouble just for maybe five minutes of screen time, but I feel that it's important to give the viewers a bit of insight into what Haymitch was like, why he ended up like he did. Haymitch is a pretty important character, right till the end, and it'll be a shame if the people who only watch the movies don't know him at all.

Also, the kiss. The one on the beach at night, which is when Katniss really begins to feel something for Peeta, when she realises that she would be most affected by his death. Much like the first movie, where the multiple kisses from the book were reduced to a single, unmemorable one, this specific kiss is quite a blink-and-you-miss-it moment. As a matter of fact, at the precise point in time that Katniss and Peeta were kissing, I had something in my eye and was blinking like a mad person. Fortunately enough, there is a plethora of .gifs of that very scene that I was able to stare at unblinkingly when I got home. And there were a lot of other kisses throughout the movie, which I saw quite clearly.

Un-disappointments? Everything else. This was probably the best book to movie adaptation that I have ever seen, and one of my favourite movies of all time. Francis Lawrence was an awesome director and whoever wrote the script (Google it) really stuck to the original story. But it was the ending that was especially spectacular. I know how it ends, I know how the entire series ends, and yet I found myself holding my breath. The movie lasted two and a half hours. It felt like minutes. And, most important of all, the screen didn't shake everytime there was running! It's a miracle what a good camera stabiliser can do for a movie.
If you need further testimony of how good it was, know this: as far as the books go, I preferred The Hunger Games to Catching Fire. Having seen this movie, however, I am now seriously reconsidering.

As for the cast, Jena Malone as Johanna Mason was magnificent. As was Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee. And, of course, Elizabeth Banks. I've always liked Effie. I feel like I should also give a special mention to Josh Hutcherson, because he did an incredible job portraying Peeta Mellark, especially Peeta's love for Katniss. The real test of his acting, though, will be Mockingjay, in which he plays a deranged Peeta Mellark.

And Jennifer Lawrence. I'm not even going to get started on Jennifer Lawrence. Jennifer Lawrence is the best thing about the entire movie franchise. Jennifer Lawrence is well worth whatever obscene amount of money she gets paid. God bless Jennifer Lawrence.

Almost the minute I got home, I went onto Tumblr. Most of the fangirls there have seen the movie, three, maybe four times already. And there were a lot of posts about what they noticed in each of these viewings; how the movie deviated from the book in the first instance, the portrayal of the characters in the second instance, small details that they'd overlooked the first two times in the third instance.

But I got Effie's reference to Mahogany, a subtle hint at her most famous dialogue from the first movie. I heard Katniss say that she loves Peeta, right at the end on the hovercraft. I saw Annie Cresta off on one side when Mags volunteered. For some reason, I always knew exactly where to look, and looked just there. I didn't miss a single thing. And I am so proud of myself.

An interesting thing that I read on that website was that the end of Catching Fire, at the moment when Katniss and Johanna walk away from the lightning tree, is the last time we see Peeta as his completely normal self. I didn't realise that when I read about it, because obviously I didn't know what happened next. If you've read the books, you know that he gets captured by the Capitol and tortured until he starts to hate Katniss. If you haven't read the books, I already warned you about spoilers, so you can't hold that against me.

But that post really got me to thinking. Peeta never really was the same after that. Sure, he and Katniss got married (Did they, though?) and had children together, but I don't think he ever really loved her as much as he did the first time. And that's a shame, because he loved her truly. And because I ship them.

N

A Multitude Of Royal Happenings

It's December! That means Christmas at Sandringham and New Year celebrations and a whole lot of other exciting royal events that I get to spend my days watching instead of actually celebrating things with other people. Fun!

Not that much happens in November, but I missed the entire month of royal coverage thanks to a certain baby's Christening, so I'm going to write about it all in this one post. Now would be a good time to close the window and find something better to do with your time.

On the 14th of November, Prince Charles turned 65, officially making him the oldest heir to the British throne ever. He's also been waiting to be King for the longest time, because the only British monarch who's ruled for longer than Queen Elizabeth is Queen Victoria, but her successor, King Edward VII, wasn't born until she had been Queen for three years.

Prince Charles celebrated this milestone in Kerala, were he and the Duchess of Cornwall were visiting at the time. Where he should have gone, however, is Kenya. For one, he would not have been out of place had he started singing about waiting to become King. Secondly, his wait might have ended. Queen Elizabeth (Well, Princess Elizabeth) was in Kenya when she heard about her father's death. The same could have happened with Charles.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending upon your views about the monarchy, Queen Elizabeth is still alive and well. In fact, she visited Southwark with the Duke of Edinburgh last week (read all about it), and also celebrated her 66th wedding anniversary quite recently. Sixty six years. The Queen has been married for longer than her father was alive.

Earlier this week, Prince William hosted a charity event at Kensington Palace to raise money for his charity, Centrepoint. There were performances by Jon Bon Jovi, and Taylor Swift and at some point in the night, Prince William decided to get up on the stage and join in the singing. And this happened.

'Prince William sings with Taylor Swift and Jon Bon Jovi', as the video is titled. Or 'Taylor Swift high-fives the second in line to the British throne, and everybody loses their minds'. Kate and George were nowhere to be seen.

Moving away from the United Kingdom, the Danish Royal Family had a portrait made of them. And it looks like hell. Literally.

See, this is the family on a regular day:

For those of you unfamiliar with the Danish Royal Family.
Top (from left to right): Prince Vincent, Crown Prince Frederik, Princess Josephine, Crown Princess Mary, Prince Joachim, Princess Athena
Bottom: Prince Henrik, Princess Isabella, Prince Christian, Queen Margrethe, Princess Marie, Prince Henrik, Prince Nikolai, Prince Felix

And this is the portrait.

It was painted by Thomas Kluge, and for some reason he was actually paid for doing it. If you look closely, you'll notice that only the Queen and her two direct heirs, the Crown Prince and Prince Christian, are breaking the fourth wall and staring directly into the soul of the viewer. I read somewhere about the significance of this, but I've forgotten. 

I also read that it took the artist four years to paint, which would explain why Christian and Isabella look so much younger than they do now. However, none of Prince Vincent, and Princesses Josephine and Athena were born four years ago, so that must have required the painting to constantly be changed.

And what are Felix and Nikolai playing with in the corner? Is that blood? Going by the theme of the painting, I wouldn't be surprised. 

Comparisons, of course, were made between this and that creepy portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge. Creepy as it may be, at least the painting of the Duchess didn't have a eight year old who was made to look capable of cold-blooded murder. 

 

N

The Royal Christening : Past Royal Christenings

Click.
Part I: The Ceremony
Part II: The Official Photographs
Part III: The Godparents

When Prince George was christened, so long ago that it's ridiculous that I'm still writing about it, there were inevitable comparisons between his christening and that of his parents, and between his christening and that of other royal babies christened in the near past.

I don't think it right to compare it to the christenings of Princesses Estelle and Athena, who were the only babies born in the last two years, because a)Their position relative to the crown varies; Estelle is second in line, George is third in line, and Athena is far enough down the line to not even have the slightest chance of being Queen (tenth), b)Different countries, different traditions, and c)These baby royals aren't related to each other in any way, so there will be absolutely no resemblance. Which is why this post will cover only the christenings of Prince George's parents, even though one of them was born a commoner (The title is a bit misleading, yes).

Catherine Elizabeth Middleton
June 20th, 1982

A random fun fact is that Catherine (Kate. Call her what you want) was christened one day before Prince William was born. At the time she was christened, she was five and a half months old, a full two and half months older than three-month old Prince George at the time of his christening. But, like baby George, she had a massive head, almost as big as her mother's (Prince George also has a massive head, but there aren't any pictures of him here because there are quite enough in the previous posts). Although, I suppose that's because she's almost twice his age.

I guess Prince George looks like her.

Prince William Arthur Philip Louis
August 4, 1982

Prince William, in this picture, was not even three months old. Or even two months old. Must be a royal baby thing, to be christened as early as possible.
Anyway, his christening took place in the Music Room in Buckingham Palace, as opposed to his future wife's which just took place at her local chapel. It was all very traditional and boring and the Queen Mother was there, here is a picture of Prince William stealing the show at his brother's christening.

I guess Prince George looks like him, too.

Actually, Prince George doesn't look like anyone. He's a baby. He looks like a baby. People should stop trying to figure out which of his parents he looks more like and just leave the family be.

And, with that sentiment, I conclude my four part christening special. I hope that no one who read it completely despised it. If you did, I'm sorry. Go read something on Royal Central instead. It's a really good website. Unless it's me you have a problem with, in which case don't. I write for Royal Central too.

No post next Sunday.

N

The Royal Christening : The Godparents

Click here and here for parts 1 and 2 respectively.

Seven godparents were chosen for Prince George by his parents, and, in news that shocked everyone, neither Prince Harry nor Pippa Middleton were one of them. As consolation, they were both allowed to read a passage from the Bible at the christening service and appear in the official photographs afterwards. Also, they got cake (The top tier of the one from The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's wedding, two years ago).

Here is the complete list of godparents. They, along with their spouses, were the only guests at the christening apart from immediate family.

Zara Tindall
Age: 32
Known As: The Queen's oldest granddaughter and Prince William's cousin

I was so pleased when I heard that Zara was to be Prince George's godmother. Zara Phillips is one of my favourite members of the royal family, and my favourite potential godparent after Jecca Craig. And even though she has said that she doesn't want to lead a royal lifestyle, I can't help but think that she feels a little resentful about William and Kate overshadowing her all the time. At her wedding, just a few months after their own. When she announced her pregnancy, only for Prince George to be born a couple of weeks later and unknowingly steal all of the attention. Even at the 2012 Olympics, people did focus a lot more on Kate than they did on Zara, and Zara won a silver medal. Kate just looked pretty and hugged her husband.

I don't know whether the Duke and Duchess made her godmother because they feel that way too, and want to make it up to her, but it is a lovely gesture. Prince William and Zara Phillips were very close growing up, and hopefully, now that Zara is godmother, their children will be close too.

Julia Samuel
Age: 52
Known As: An old friend of Princess Diana

I don't know anything about Mrs. Samuel except that she was a good friend of Prince William's mother, and that she's married to a Mr. Michael Samuel, which I read on the guest list.

Most probably, Prince William's choosing her as godmother to his son was a way of remembering his mother on yet another special occasion. Why he didn't choose a member of the Spencer family, I don't know. Either way, he's making sure that Prince George knows who Princess Diana was, and never forgets her. [On a side note, I wonder if Catherine will ever become Princess of Wales, or whether she'll just be the Duchess of Cornwall, and if so, will Prince George's wife be Princess of Wales, or will there never be a Princess of Wales as long as Diana's memory lives on? If you have any idea, tweet it at me, or if you know someone who knows a lot about royalty, ask them, and then tweet it at me. I am suddenly very curious. Twitter: @JustAsSaneAsMe]

Oliver Baker
Age: 31
Known As: A friend of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Oliver Baker went to the University of St. Andrews with William Wales and Kate Middleton. He was friends with them both, and, like William, also met his wife Mel at university. According to the Daily Mail, Oliver stayed in the same farmhouse as William during his last year at St. Andrews, and Mel and Kate shared a flat in Chelsea before they got married. And now Oliver is Prince George's godfather.

Emilia Jardine-Paterson
Age: 31
Known As: A friend of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Emilia d'Erlanger, as she is better known, was a friend of the Duchess of Cambridge when she was in Marlborough College and still just Kate Middleton. She apparently introduced the Duke and Duchess, and helped design the interiors of Kensington Palace. She got married to David Jardine-Paterson in 2009, and it was to her wedding that Kate wore this fascinator that I like so much.

Hugh Grosvenor
Age: 22
Known As: Earl Grosvenor

Hugh, Earl Grosvenor, is the only son of the Duke of Westminster, and therefore the heir to a LOT of money. And quite a lot of land too. Hugh's family and Prince William's family are quite well connected, so that's a fair reason to make him a godparent. Prince Charles is Hugh's godfather, and Hugh's mother, Natalia, is Prince William's godmother. Also, Hugh's sister is married to a van Cutsem, and the aunt of Grace Van Cutsem, who was the grumpy flower girl at the royal wedding.

Or maybe William and Kate are buying into all the terrible articles about the collapse of the monarchy after Queen Elizabeth, and getting George a rich godparent with the idea that he should enjoy a lavish lifestyle even after the monarchy falls.

He looks like a child.

William van Cutsem
Age: 34
Known As: A member of the van Cutsem family

William(van Cutsem)'s father, Hugh van Cutsem, was a close friend of Prince Charles, and William (van Cutsem) was a childhood friend of William (Prince of the United Kingdom). The van Cutsem family is quite rich and well connected, and they move about in the same social circles as Princes William and Harry.

It was William(van Cutsem)'s eldest brother Edward who married Lady Tamara Grosvenor, and his elder brother Hugh is Grace van Cutsem's father. These family trees are only just becoming clear to me.

Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton
Age: 52
Known As: Private Secretary of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry

Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton began his career as Equerry to the Queen Mother, and rose quickly until, in 2005, he was appointed as Private Secretary to Princes William and Harry, and also the Duchess of Cambridge when she married into the family in 2011. Last month, he resigned from the post, but agreed to consult the Duke and Duchess once a week.

His son, William Lowther-Pinkerton was a page boy at the royal wedding.

There are a lot of people in the royal circles called William. Also Hugh. Weird.

Sunday will be the last post in this series, in which I talk about my favourite royal christenings, after which posts will resume as normal.

Or maybe not.

N

Images : Daily Mail/Vanity Fair

The Royal Christening : The Official Photographs

If you don't know what is going on, I'm covering Prince George's christening right here on my blog in four installments. In case you missed the previous installment (Which isn't that great of a loss, honestly), you can click here to view it.

Today's installment is going to cover the official photographs taken of the christening. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge chose Jason Bell as the official photographer for the occasion, and he took lots and lots of pictures. Of everything. The Duke and Duchess then proceeded to look through all of them, choose five to release to the press and put the rest into Prince George's baby book. Which must be as thick as my hardbound copy of the Order of the Phoenix by now. Especially if they stick newspaper clippings in it.
Here are the photographs released to the press, which are also the only ones that you can see. Unless you know the Cambridges. Or steal Prince George's baby book.

1.

I have a strong suspicion that this first photograph is doctored in some way. Because how, otherwise, does a baby go from looking like this (Prince George: "If you come any closer, I'll pinch you!")

to looking like this

? He looks less like a gurgling baby who has very little control over his motor skills, and more like a young child who knows what is happening and understands the importance of it, and is cheering.
Come to think of it, that is sort of how I looked when I saw that the official pictures had been released.

Also, the Duchess looks a bit like a wax statue, but otherwise it's a lovely picture. I like it a lot. So much, in fact, that I've made it my new desktop background.

2.

This photograph of the Queen and her three heirs has great historical significance, because it isn't often that a monarch lives long enough to see their great-grandchild who will someday sit on their throne. The last time it happened was when Queen Victoria attended the christening of Prince Edward who would later be King Edward VIII for a few months. Before Victoria's time it was unheard of for four generations of Monarchs to be alive at the same time and now, what with modern medicine and everything, I highly doubt that any of Princes Charles, William or George are going to die younger than 60 (Prince Charles has already crossed that landmark). So, if you're reading this right now, you aren't ever going to get to see anything like this again. Forget Halley's Comet; this is the event of a lifetime.

But, despite the importance of it, there were only two things anyone on the Internet could talk about. One, bad heir puns (Because heir is spelled like hair, and there are lot of heirs but there's not a lot of hair and...Oh, you get the point). Two, WHAT IS THAT HANDBAG DOING THERE!?!?!?!?

The handbag comes back.

3.

Another lovely photograph, this time of the whole family. I am most impressed by Prince Philip, age 92, who is still on his feet, and Prince George, age 0.4, who actually looks his age in this picture.

The handbag from the previous picture is still there in this one (bottom left) and it's going to be there in the next one too. That handbag is the Queen's signature accessory. It is to Her Majesty what nude LK Bennett pumps are to the Duchess of Cambridge. And she's not going to give it to just anyone. And she's the Queen. She can do what she wants, without having to justify it.

4.

One more photograph, this time of both sides of the family. I read in some places about the significance of this picture, in the way that Prince William's family are standing/sitting on Catherine's side, and Catherine's family are standing on Prince William's side, and how that shows how tight-knit the whole family is, and how the royals have accepted the Middletons and that's just silly. Not about accepting the Middletons - it's very possible that the royals have done that - but about the way they've been positioned for a picture somehow indicating how they are as a family. I think it's just the press trying to make a mountain out of, well, not even a molehill. More like a mound of earth that just happens to be there.

Pippa is there, and she looks very pretty, and apparently she bought Prince George a silver mould of his hands and feet as a Christening present, but the person I really want to talk about here is James Middleton. I don't know whether he grew that beard specifically because he knew that he'd be photographed with royals at the Christening, or just because he couldn't be bothered to shave, but he looks remarkably like a King from the early 1900s - either King Edward VII or King George V.

5.

This photograph was released on Sunday, a couple of days after the others, and it is my favourite of them all. Prince George looks like a baby, and yet he's happy and so adorable, the Duchess looks beautiful, not at all like she's made out of wax, and because you can't see Prince William's hair (Or lack of it, rather), he actually looks quite handsome.

This picture reminds me, in a way, of one of Princess Estelle's first pictures (click here to view it). Of course, it wouldn't be the first instance of similarity between a British photograph and a Swedish one. Princess Madeleine's engagement photo was compared to that of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's.

But it doesn't matter, does it? As long as everyone's happy and pretty and rich, it doesn't matter.

If I haven't completely freaked you out, come back next Wednesday, when I will type about Prince George's seven grandparents and tell you who my favourite is.

(Spoiler: It's Zara Phillips.)

N

Images : Jason Bell/Camera Press/E! online  

The Royal Christening : The Ceremony

Time to cover this week's christening!

Prince George's christening was my favourite of all the royal events that I have witnessed in my three years of royal watching, and that includes, to the best of my memory, multiple weddings (two Swedish, two Grand Ducal, one in Monaco, Zara Phillips' and that of George's parents), a few Jubilees, a couple of ascensions to the throne, and the christening of Princesses Estelle and Athena. Why was it my favourite? Because Prince George. I mean, just look at that baby.

Don't you just want to eat his face?

I tried to cram as much as I could about the christening into this one post, I really did, but it was just too much, which is why I'm going to have 4 segments dedicated solely to Prince George's christening, spread across two weeks. I think there is a subscribe button on my blog somewhere to the right, so click on that if you want to. Otherwise, posts on Sundays and Wednesdays.

Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge was christened on Thursday at St. James' Palace. It was a small ceremony, even by commoner standards, because the only people in attendance were the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's immediate family, Prince George's godparents and their spouses. What really surprised me was the complete lack of royal aunts, uncles and cousins. I understand them maybe not wanting to call the York sisters for another event which had hats in its dress code, but the Queen's children, at least, should have been invited. 

Prince George wore a replica of the original christening gown made for Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, Princess Victoria in 1841. It is NOT a dress. I repeat, NOT A DRESS. Either this gown or the original have been worn at past royal christenings in the UK, including that of George's father and grandfather.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby (Who has a Twitter account. How modern) baptized the Prince, which was not something the public were allowed to see, but I was reading the tweets of someone watching a live stream the whole while - my Internet chose the most miserable time to fail - and the ceremony got over surprisingly quickly. It must hardly have been more than half an hour.

There are only two decent videos on YouTube, so you've already seen both of them already, but here's Prince George arriving for his christening (don't miss Kate's little curtsy at the end).

And here he is being carried to Clarence House for a reception and pictures afterwards.

Of course, the next day, the front page of every newspaper across the country was covered with pictures of Prince George and headlines calling him names that he couldn't read. Good names.

Everyone's favourite baby is getting big

The next three posts will cover the official photos, the godparents, and past royal christenings. Stick around for that.

Or don't.

N

I Go Off On A Rant About Prince William

I didn't post last week. Exams.

Despite that, I was not too busy to spend a lot of time on various Royal Confession pages on Tumblr. Now, I love the royal family to bits, but there are only so much Kate-hate confessions you can read before you start wondering whether they aren't so wrong after all. (Of course, I agreed with some of the confessions right away. Like Jecca Craig for godmother? Yes, please.)

So I thought I'd write a post filled with my own royal confessions. It was originally meant to be me ranting about the things about royalty that bothered me after I'd read them on the confessions pages, but it took me so long to actually get around to writing that I forgot everything bad that I'd thought about the royals and began to feel animosity towards the confession pages. But I didn't have anything else to write about, so the subject stayed. Except, instead of me ranting, it's mostly me defending.

Except Prince William. He may be future King, but I don't defend him.

Duke of Windsor

When Edward VIII abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson, the Duke of York became King and he was under a lot of pressure as a wartime ruler, and he smoked heavily, and that lead to his early demise. A lot of people at the time blamed Edward for sending his brother to the grave by forcing him into becoming King, a job that he didn't want.
But it wasn't a job that Edward wanted either, was it? All he wanted was to marry his girlfriend (Not mistress, mind you), which he wasn't allowed to do. Besides, Bertie was probably adequately trained to take over as King, seeing as their father was the Duke of York too. King George V only became King because his elder brother Albert died of pneumonia, so he was just as well prepared as Bertie. And he ruled for 26 years and through a war to boot. So it wasn't Edward's fault.

Duchesses of Cornwall and Cambridge

While the majority of hate on the confession pages was directed towards Kate, a fair share was directed towards Camilla as well, and almost all this hate was due to the fact that neither Kate nor Camilla are anything like Diana was. And I just thought it so unfair.
It isn't right to compare Kate and Camilla to Diana. All three entered the royal family under extremely different circumstances; Diana was the young, innocent virgin who was going to marry the Prince of Wales. Camilla, on the other hand, was the woman who ruined Diana's life and was now taking her place, and Kate was just the new Diana. Everything she did would be compared to the late Princess, and great things were expected from her as the new 'People's Princess'.
Princess Diana was a wonderful woman. She was compassionate and charitable and she brought up her children well. She did a lot for the royal family, and for England, but both Camilla and Kate aren't bad either. They do embark upon charity work, and they dress well (Well, Kate dresses well), and both of them support their husbands without overshadowing them, without making them feel less important, and that's something that is valued in a royal spouse. And, honestly, Kate is one of my favourite people in the world. I respect her for not using having had a baby as an excuse to stay at home, and for putting on a brave face despite all the terrible things that paparazzi have done (including that topless photo scandal), and for allegedly saying about William, "He's lucky to be going out with me". 
They aren't ruining the monarchy, they aren't 'lazy'. And they aren't anything like Diana, but that's fine. 

Prince William

Prince William constantly expresses his desire to lead a normal life. It's common knowledge that he doesn't like his position as a royal and heir to the throne, and would give it all up if he could. But does William really know what it's like to be regular? Sure, the royals have problems like the media, and the lack of privacy (caused by the media), and the rigid protocol (so that the media won't have anything to write about). Basically, all the royals' problems boil down to the media. What doesn't bother them, however, are bills, and the economy, and good grades, and getting a job, and buying a house; all the things that bother regular people. And it's never bothered them. I wonder if William knows what it's like. And if he realises that if he was regular, he wouldn't have been able to quit work just because his son was born and he wanted to look after him.
Except for a few rare cases, when you're born into a certain class of society you stay in that class for the rest of your life. And if that's how it is, isn't it better to be born into a privileged class, where your biggest worry is whether a photographer took a picture of you leaving some posh nightclub, than to be, say, below the poverty line?
And being a royal doesn't consign you to a life of being stalked by cameramen. Just look at the royals from other countries. Frederik and Mary and Willem-Alexander and Maxima and all their children lead fairly normal lives. They go to school, and public places, and participate in regular events, and they don't really feel the effects of being a royal. Granted, the British press is more ruthless than anywhere else in the world, but it can't be all that bad.
Also, the monarchy is Britain's greatest tourist attraction. So much of their money just comes from the fact that people from all over the world flock to see their royalty. This summer, I spent over 2,000 pounds on staying in London and sightseeing and buying merchandise just because I'm fascinated by the royals. Multiple that by the millions of tourists who come in every year, and it's no wonder the Duchess of Cambridge can afford dresses that cost 7,000 pounds. And the reason the people come is because the royal life is so exciting compared to their own, with palaces, and servants, and balls (I think). They live this exiting life vicariously through members of the royal family, so I don't think they'd pay quite as much to see a bunch of regular people. If I wanted to see a regular family, I wouldn't travel halfway around the world or spend hours on end on the Internet. I'd shut down my computer and look at my own family. They're quite normal. Or I'd look at Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive. They are perfectly normal, thank you very much.
The point is, no one wants to see the royals as regular people. It's boring.

With Prince William, it's a simple case of the grass being greener on the other side, isn't it? Except, this time, the grass really isn't greener.

~

That's all the royal... things I can think of at the moment.

Because I have classes on Saturday, I don't usually have enough time to also write something for my blog, so from now on, I'm going to be posting on Sundays instead.

I wish enough people read my blog to actually care.

N

I Have A Problem With Actresses

No royal has died/been born/gotten married this week. Pity.

Let's talk (Rather, let me type because I'm bored, and you read because evidently, you're bored as well) about actresses. Specifically, actresses who act in movie adaptation of books. Even more specifically, Shailene Woodley.

If you know who John Green is, you probably know that this best selling novel, The Fault in Our Stars, is being made into a movie, starring Ansel Elgort and, of course, Shailene Woodley. If you follow John Green on Twitter and Instagram like I do, you'll have a fair idea of what is going on on that set, based solely on the sheer number of pictures that John Green posts all the time. If you actually read his tweets/captions, you'll realise that John Green loves his female lead. But I don't. 

I don't like Shailene Woodley. This is a slightly controversial thing to say on the Internet, I know, but hardly anyone reads my blog anyway, and since I choose to remain anonymous, it doesn't matter. I don't like her as Hazel Grace, and I don't like her as Tris Prior. And I especially don't like the fact that she's playing both Hazel and Tris, and both times alongside Ansel, who plays her boyfriend in one and her brother in the other. Surely there are enough up and coming young actors that they don't need to keep using the same set every time, let alone in two such highly anticipated, crazy-fandom possessing movies that are releasing around the same time. It's terrible!

But this isn't the first time I've had a problem with an actress. List:

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen

The first time I saw Jennifer Lawrence was two years ago, when she was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Winter's Bone. I remember seeing her on the red carpet, and not really caring or remembering. It really was quite a forgettable appearance. I'm quite glad she didn't win that year, and won this year instead. This year was just all fabulousness.

Anyway, when she was cast as Katniss, I remember thinking things like "But she's really boring", "But she doesn't seem like the sort of person who'll do a good job" and "BUT SHE'S A BLONDE!"

I was wrong, on all fronts. Jennifer Lawrence is funny, and pretty, and a great actor, and she does the best interviews, and she won an Oscar, and she's only 23, and I love her.

Lily Collins as Clary Fray

Lily Collins has irked me ever since she wore a real tiara in Mirror Mirror, one that had once been worn by Princess Grace of Monaco, and pranced about in it for a whole song. It made me want to scream. As did her being cast as Clary.

But she was so perfect for the role. I cannot imagine anyone else playing the role now. Also, she really got into character by dating Jamie Campbell Bower IRL. 

Emma Watson as Hermione Granger

As if!

(Also, I was less than six years old when she was cast. I don't think I knew how to read, much less object to a casting decision.)

And that is what's going to happen with Shailene as well. I'm going to get massively upset for a little while, go and watch both the Divergent and the TFIOS movie, and come back saying that she is the greatest person ever to grace the silver screen. 

I've just realised that all these actresses are the same age, give or take a little. Don't know what that means, or whether it does mean anything at all. 

If you want a bit of a laugh at a royal's expense, here is a picture of the Duchess of Cambridge getting her shoe stuck in a grate.

N

Unfortunately, Boggarts Don't Exist

"In this post, I promise that there shall be no mention of the royals, even though they were at Balmoral this week, where William and Kate attended a service and Prince Philip met Prince George for the first time and probably taught him how to swear (Philip taught George, not the other way around)!
But no. Not a word."

This was the beginning of what was meant to be this week's post. I typed that out on Monday or Tuesday. Trust the royals to make me go back on my word.

William and Kate have been granted a new conjugal coat of arms, which basically means that their individual coats of arms have been combined to signify marriage, two years and one child after their wedding. That is a picture, and if anyone is interested, the Daily Mail has broken it down and analysed it. Link.

I don't have anything to say. I don't understand why coats of arms are needed. I looks good though. Maybe Prince William can make it the lock-screen background of his iPhone. I wonder if he's upgraded it to iOS 7 yet.

Which brings me to the topic of today's post, but before that, Prince George's christening, October 23. Keep your day open. I'll be tweeting about it most of the time, so you can follow me @JustAsSaneAsMe.

Right. iOS 7. I don't like it. It's stupid, and childish, and everything is different, but for some reason, people love it. Everyone who I see who has an iPhone has iOS 7. But I can't stand it. And I know why that is.

Because it has changed.

Of all the things in the world that annoy me, and a lot of things do annoy me, change annoys me the most. I absolutely detest it. When something changes, whether for the better or for the worse, I either refuse to accept it or go off into a huge tirade. I don't know why that is. Here is a longer list of things that annoy me:
1. Change.
2. Crowds.
3. Falling sick.
4. Slow learners, like that girl in my French class who just cannot, cannot say 'Je m'appelle' but who probably won't take offence at this post because she doesn't know my name or that I exist, let alone that I have a blog in which I call her annoying.
5. My brother.

I've been reading Insurgent lately, where fear landscapes play an important role, and it made me think about how much importance fictional characters give to fear, and overcoming it (Another prominent example being Harry Potter and Boggarts). People in real life don't have many fears, and if they do, they aren't often faced with them. I don't know what my greatest fear is; death, probably. But a lot of people get annoyed by things, and they come into contact with these annoying things quite often. And sometimes it can be worse to find something annoying than to find it scary, especially if the thing in question is a person. It would be a lot less rude to tell a person that you find them frightening than to tell them that you think that they're annoying.

Boggarts need to evolve so that they take the form of the thing that annoys a person the most, rather than the thing that frightens them. And there shouldn't be a spell; the only way to get rid of this Boggart should be by sitting through a pre-determined amount of time of that girl trying and failing to say 'Je m'appelle' over and over again., until it doesn't annoy you anymore. Or until you shoot the Boggart out of frustration.

Unfortunately, Boggarts don't exist.

I'm just going to make that the post title and stop writing. The word Boggart has lost all meaning to me.

N

There Has Been A Royal Wedding!

Prince Felix and Claire Lademacher have literally just gotten married.

I haven't seen anything of William and Kate lately, so I actually had a post planned for this week that wasn't about royalty in any way. But then Luxembourg decided to have a royal wedding, so that plan was put off indefinitely.
I knew Prince Felix was going to get married. I knew it last year, when he got engaged. I mentioned the fact that he got engaged somewhere on my blog. I just didn't know that he was getting married today.

Civil Wedding

Kissing at the civil wedding

Religious Wedding

Kissing at the religious wedding

The dress

The bride, of course, wore Elie Saab, which is no surprise seeing as Elie Saab is to the Grand Ducal Family as Alexander McQueen is to the Duchess of Cambridge. Their favourite, if you don't get that royal analogy.

So, Claire Lademacher is now Princess Claire of Luxembourg (not to be confused with Princess Claire of Belgium as Google did when I was looking for wedding pictures), and Prince Felix is no longer an eligible Prince, so strike him off your list, girls, and keep a close eye on Harry.

I will too.

N

Dungbombs rule.

A quick round-up of royal news before I get to what this post is actually about.

This Thursday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the Tusk Conservation Awards, but before doing that Prince William quit his job!

That's right. He resigned from the Armed Forces to become a full-time royal, which means that he will be undertaking more duties on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen, making more appearances at public events and becoming the patron of more charities. He'll also be able to spend more time looking after Prince George, so that Kate can go out to undertake duties on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen, and so on and so forth.
This will be interesting to watch, because Prince William has often been accused of being a 'lazy' royal, because he doesn't carry out as many engagements as, say, the Countess of Wessex, even though he's closer to the Crown and not all that much younger than Sophie.

After ceasing to be a part of the RAF, Prince William went to the Tusk Conservation Awards with his wife, Princess William (more commonly called Duchess Catherine or just Kate), their first evening away from Baby George. She wore this sparkly thing.

Now there is nothing wrong with this dress. It's pretty, and it probably cost more than my car, so that's fine. But I've always preferred day time Kate to red carpet Kate, and even of her red carpet appearances, this isn't my favourite. Show off how much baby weight you've lost, Kate!
Oh, and she wore those Jimmy Choo's. How I detest those Jimmy Choo's.

This week Prince William mentioned that fact that he owns an iPhone twice. Once to say that he listens to the sound of crickets on his iPhone to relax, and again when he asked to be excused for constantly checking his iPhone for updates on how Prince George was doing (He didn't say iPhone at the second instance, but we all know). I always assumed that the royals, at least the more modern ones, owned phones, but to the best of my knowledge they've never admitted to it. William mentioning it twice makes me wonder if it has been newly acquired and he can't help but show it off. ("Oh, yes, I just had a son, and someday he's going to be the ruler of sixteen nations, but did you hear? I bought an iPhone.")(That's not what Prince William sounds like)(I wouldn't know, I've never met Prince William)

Also, finally, Prince Harry turns 29 tomorrow, so tweet at him wishing him a happy birthday!
I wish Prince Harry had a Twitter.

In really big news this week, Warner Brothers has announced a movie adaptation of the Harry Potter spin-off 'Fantastic Beasts &Where To Find Them'. J. K. Rowling is going to make her screen-writing debut with this movie, and Harry Potter fans are going to line up for tickets weeks in advance because it's been SO long since anything new has come out and they're beginning to suffer from withdrawal symptoms.

I've read the book. I bought it at the height of my Harry Potter obsession, and read it from cover to cover. And I can list at least three flaws in this endeavour to make it a movie.

1. Fantastic Beasts has no story. I saw the One Direction movie this week with my friends, and that had no story either. It was just a glorified advertisement for the band and their concerts. And even though I do like One Direction themselves (No judging!), I wouldn't advise people to watch the movie. The opposite, in fact. And that's what is going to happen with Fantastic Beasts. It's going to make money by playing on people's fancies, and then just not be very good.

2. The best part about Fantastic Beasts is Harry and Ron's little notes in the corner of every page (including 'Glumbumble' and a picture of a troll captioned 'My name is Gregory Goyle and I smell'). And Dan and Rupert aren't coming back for this, so I don't know how they're going to do that. Even if they did come back, I don't know how they would have done that.

3. Harry Potter fans will be disappointed if it doesn't live up to their expectations. I know I will. The books got progressively better, and so did the movies, but there is no way that this will trump Deathly Hallows : Part 2. And I've already been disappointed enough (I'm looking at you, Casual Vacancy).

I think I'll just watch it when it comes on TV.

UPDATE : As I'm typing this, my Twitter feed is filling up with news about Princes William and Harry and thirty year old Pippa Middleton at some society wedding, but I can't find any pictures yet, so I'll cover it next week.

N

Baby Tiaras

On Tuesday morning, I woke up with a splitting toothache. I made a mental note to visit the dentist the next day because I was sort of busy on Tuesday, with college and exams, but mostly because I really hate dentists. My tooth hurt like the devil, but I ignored it all day, wanting to stay as far away from the dentist for as long as possible. The next morning I woke up and had my breakfast, and it wasn't until I was eating my third slice of toast that I realised that I no longer had a toothache. Just to make sure, I banged at it with the end of my brush to check for any pain, and when there wasn't, I just went about my day as usual. That tooth hasn't bothered me since.

Let that be a lesson to everyone. Don't go to a dentist unless it's absolutely necessary, and even then put it off for as long as you can. No good can ever come out of visiting a dentist.

~

Now the big news this week, obviously, is that Princess Madeleine of Sweden, who you may remember from my post about her wedding not three months ago, is pregnant with her first child with her title-less husband, Chris O'Neill.

That was quick.

This possibly untitled baby is going to be born in the March of 2014, and I am going to have a quick roundup of all the royal babies born or conceived in this year so far.

Sacha Casiraghi (21st March, 2013)

Pictured here with his mother, Tatiana Santo Domingo. Sacha's father, Andrea Casiraghi, will be the ruler of Monaco if Prince Albert dies without a legitimate heir, but because Sacha was born illegitimately as well, I'm not sure whether he will ever be able to rule. Nevertheless, he is a royal baby, which is more than can be said about the thousands of babies born every.... hour? Minute? Second?

Baby Tindall (Due January 2014)

This is one baby that will definitely be untitled, and definitely not be King, but will have Queen Elizabeth as his/her great-grandmother anyway. Good luck, kid. 

I also, for some strange reason, hope that this child is a boy and is named Augustus. I don't know why I wish that way, but if you read about Gus Tindall in the papers a few months from now, remember; you heard it here first.

Prince George (22nd July, 2013)

I've written enough about this baby as is. I'll leave him alone for now.

Baby Elmaleh (Due Late 2013)

Like Queen Elizabeth with great-grandchildren, this baby will be Princess Caroline's second grandchild born this year. Unlike her brother, Charlotte Casiraghi intends to get married to her fiance, French actor Gad Elmaleh, before thier child is born, in the autumn, so there's a royal wedding to look forward to. Sort of. 

Maud Elizabeth Daphne Marina (15th August, 2013)

I'm not sure what this child's surname is, because her grandparents are the Prince and Princess of Kent, so they don't have a surname, but their rank in the royal family isn't high enough to warrant their granddaughter a title. Her parents are Lord and Lady Frederick Windsor, but there isn't a Windsor in sight in her name, so I'm not sure at all. That's the thing with babies. It's hard to be sure with them.

Baby O'Neill/Prince(ss) of Sweden (Due March 2014)

I'm just amazed at how quickly these two decided to have children. It took Kate and William two years after getting married, and their child would be directly in line to the throne. This baby very possibly won't even have a title. But if he/she is anything like his/her cousin Estelle, this is going to be fun.

A girl would be best, in my opinion. I mean, someone needs to continue to wear Madeleine's tiaras (Imagine that. A baby sized Modern Fringe) after she can't any longer.

~

Last week, I asked you to give my vote for the GGBI and Poltimore Tiaras a thumb-up. Unfortunately, Order of Splendor went on vacation before it announced the two tiaras that had been added to the Readers' Ultimate Choice, so I don't know whether my choices won. Thank you anyway, if you voted for me. 

Yesterday was Pippa Middleton's birthday, and she turned 30. By the time her sister was that age, she had gotten married in the wedding of the decade and was carrying the future King of England. Congratulations Pippa!

Also, next week the Duchess of Cambridge is going to be making another appearance without Prince George, at the Tusk Conservation Awards, so I will be commenting on that. If I don't forget, that is.

N