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