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!

Welcome To New York

Everyone's favourite Duke and Duchess (because, let's face it: the Duke of Edinburgh's wife is The Queen; no one knows that Prince Charles is also the Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay; the Duke of York isn't married anymore, and even though Sarah Ferguson hold the title of Duchess, no one calls them the Duke and Duchess of York anymore; and the Dukes of Gloucester and Kent are way too far down in the line of succession to be anyone's favourite) William and Catherine are in New York City!

Minus their baby boy George, which is always a disappointment.

William and Kate arrived yesterday, and they're leaving tomorrow, so it isn't a very long visit, but they've got quite a packed itinerary (see here) and I think they're meeting the Obama's at some point.

They are staying at The Carlyle Hotel. Now, I have no idea where that is, but if you live anywhere near by, or even a subway ride away, you should go and just stand in the lobby, waiting for William and Kate to pass by when they go to the pool or something. 

Unlike nearly two years ago when she was expecting George, Kate looks a lot more obviously pregnant now.

Look:

Photo: The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge arrive at The Carlyle Hotel in NYC. pic.twitter.com/rbEQQIxOIb
— ET Canada (@ETCanada) December 7, 2014 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, arrive in New York City http://t.co/nTEsd62O7D #CBSEveNews pic.twitter.com/pyNZJspe9w
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) December 8, 2014 

I have a fair bit more to write about this Royal visit to New York, but, seeing as how I'm currently quite bogged down with projects and assignments and procrastinating, I'm going to have to put it off until next week.

There will be more pictures,

N 

Random Book Review: The Captive Queen

Every time I've sat down to write this review, I've thought about how long it's been since I read The Captive Queen, and how little of the story I remember, and abandoned my post half-way. But then I realised that none of the 'book reviews' I've written in the past have been book reviews at all. I've just read a book, written down whatever I was thinking at the time, gone off onto a tangent about the Wars of the Roses, and published that for all and sundry to read.

I must confess that when I read The Captive Queen, I knew next to nothing about Eleanor of Aquitaine. A few months earlier, I had read Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park, in which Eleanor Douglas admits to being named after Eleanor of Aquitaine. And, believe it or not, that was the first time I ever read Eleanor's full title. Up until that point, she had just been King Henry II's 'Queen Eleanor' to me. 

But that's the whole point of reading, isn't it? Why would anyone ever read anything if they knew everything that there was to be known? After I read The Captive Queen, I read more about Eleanor, and now I do know who she is. And she fast became one of favourite Queens, too (Which is more than I can say about Elizabeth Woodville, that conniving Lancastrian widow who managed to fulfill her dynastic ambitions even though no one liked her). Here's why.

When the story begins, Eleanor is still married to her first husband, King Louis VII of France. She had been one of the most sought after brides in Europe, which is evident by the fact that, by virtue of his marriage to her, Louis has possession of Aquitaine, one of the largest French duchies of the time. But Louis and Eleanor [I'm writing about the King and Queen of France and I can only think about Louis from One Direction and his girlfriend Eleanor] don't have any sons - and besides, Eleanor doesn't really love Louis any way. So she annuls their marriage, giving her inability to produce a male heir as the reason, and then promptly marries Henry Plantagenet. 

Henry becomes the new Duke of Aquitaine, then he becomes the King of England, and the two have a lot of sons together... And then their sons grow up. And that's when the trouble begins.

King Henry has his eldest son, also Henry, crowned the 'Young King' in Westminster, the only time in English history that an heir was crowned while the present King was still on the throne. And I think we know why it was never done again - having been crowned, the Young King wants more power and authority than his father was willing to let him have. He leads a revolt against his father, the King, supported by his younger brothers and his mother. 

When Henry gets wind of the fact that his wife is helping their sons to rebel against him, he locks her in a tower at Sarum (And you thought things like that only happened in fairy tales!) and takes a mistress, Rosamund Clifford, while Eleanor sits in the tower, regretting her life choices. 

And then, one by one, the rebellious sons start dying. When the Young King dies, Henry briefly lets Eleanor out of her prison so that they can grieve together, and then again when Geoffrey dies and then again when their daughter, Eleanor, gets married to the King of Castile. At long last, King Henry dies too, Richard becomes King and Eleanor is let out of her tower. Hurray!

Eleanor of Aquitaine lived until she was 82, a surprisingly long time when you consider the fact that there were virtually no medical facilities at the time. She died during the reign of her last son, and second to become King, John, as a nun in Fontevrault Abbey - a less than fitting end for woman who had been Queen of both England and France and ruler of Aquitaine and Poitiers in her own right.

I have a feeling her life would have turned out very differently if she had lived today. 

~

This was the first time that, after reading a historical novel, I learnt absolutely nothing about the life in court. Usually, there the protagonist is a woman who is pottering around her palace, plotting with her women of the bedchamber, going into confinement to give birth, ordering gowns for coronations. Nothing of that sort happened in The Captive Queen (or maybe it did, and I just wasn't paying attention). It was too fast paced to allow for n. Maybe Eleanor compared the English food to what she was used to having in France, but apart from that it was just historical event after historical event after historical event. The Anarchy, Thomas Beckett's murder, Princes going to war against Kings, sons going to war against their father - it's a little wonder, really, that the Angevins are said to be descended from the Devil.  

Alison Weir has also written a non-fiction account of Eleanor of Aquitaine's life, but I am never going to read that. I have a feeling that it'll be like studying.

~

The Captive Queen can be purchased on Amazon (click here), or Flipkart (here) if you live in India.

N

This Is Basically An Advertisement

It's been a boring couple of weeks, royal-ly speaking. No one has died, no one has gotten engaged (Well, no one royal anyway. I'll get back to this), the Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant, but we've known about that for a while now, so it isn't really news.

It has been confirmed, though, that the royal baby is due in April, which is the same month as I was born in, so hopefully, HOPEFULLY, Baby Cambridge No. 2 will share a birthday with me. *fingers crossed*

During this drought of royal news, I have been keeping myself otherwise occupied. You'd think that means that I actually did something useful with my life for once, like studied or cleaned up the disarray that is my desk, but no. I wrote a blog series about the lives of Georgian Queens (Also, I watched all 100 episodes of the Lizzie Bennett Diaries).

So, the wives of Georgian Kings. It's something that I'm actually quite proud of, and I'm pretty sure that's the only reason I was granted the title of Senior Reporter, so go and check that out, if you want. Links:

Sophia Dorothea of Celle, the consort (well....) of King George I.

Caroline of Ansbach, Queen to King George II.

Caroline of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen to King George III. Incidentally, while I was writing this, I realised that I'd been spelling Mecklenburg-Strelitz wrong all this while. M-E-C-K-L-E-N-B-U-R-G S-T-R-E-L-I-T-Z.

Caroline of Brunswick, the mother of King George IV's daughter.

Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, Queen to King William IV. I still don't know how to spell Saxe-Meiningen. I have to constantly copy and paste it from Wikipedia.

~

In other news, Benedict Cumberbatch is engaged to Sophie I've-never-heard-of-her-before Hunter (Based on the time-stamp, it may seem odd that I know this, but I'm not actually writing this on the date that it says, I'm writing it much later). I was most upset about this, as my friends will testify, but not so much because he was actually engaged, but more so because I didn't even know that he had a girlfriend. I didn't think celebrities could do that - have a relationship without every single person on the Internet knowing. Because if they can, it means that Prince Harry could get engaged tomorrow, without so much as a sign.

I don't think I'd be able to survive that.

~

I really don't have anything to do until the next royal baby arrives, but I do have a stack of books that I have yet to sink my teeth into. I've completely abandoned the 100 Book Challenge - there is no way I'm going to be able to read sixty books in the next two months - but I don't see why I can't make it to at least 52 books.

And when I read books, I type some nonsense about them on my blog. So on Sunday (the next post, because you really don't know when I'm typing this), after much delay, I will post my review of The Captive Queen, and then the Red Queen after that. I've also got Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies, so if I ever tear myself away from YouTube and read, I'll review those as well.

It could be a while.

N

Random Book Review : Katherine

This post is riddled with spoilers, so stop right here if you have an issue with that.

Over the past three weeks, I've been reading Katherine on the train to and from college. I used to get a lot of weird glances from middle aged women who would look at the words "love story" on the cover and immediately think of the most obscene things. Contrary to what they may think, this is not a completely salacious story (Although, it is also not entirely child appropriate either. There are some themes which may be a bit grown up, such as adultery, and the thing that adultery involves, so I would recommend that you not read this until you are older than... 13? Use your discretion). It is good, historical fiction, which I am now going to massacre in this thing that I call a book review.

Katherine is an old book, about an even older time. I'm not entirely sure if I came up with that myself or if I paraphrased it from Philippa Gregory's foreword (probably the latter), but it holds true. Set in the 14th century, during the reign of Kings Edward III and Richard II, the book revolves around Katherine Swynford, long time mistress of the Duke of Lancaster, John of Gaunt. Katherine and John's children were the Beauforts, the ancestors of King Henry VII. 

The story goes like such: Katherine meets the Duke of Lancaster while she is a part of the retinue of the Duchess of Lancaster, Blanche. When Blanche dies, the Duke's servant poisons Katherine's husband, Hugh Swynford, so that she can enter into a relationship with the Duke without it being adulterous (there is no historical evidence of this, but it seems to be the generally accepted sequence of events). Unfortunately, the Duke is already betrothed to Constanza of Castile, who he plans to use to get the thrones of Castile and Leon for himself. But the pair start a relationship anyway, and they have four children together. When Constanza dies, John and Katherine get married, their children are legitimized, and everyone is happy until John's own death some three years later. Well, as happy as they can be while tyrannical King Richard is seizing lands and killing nobles. 

~

One of the main subplots of the story revolves around Blanche Swynford, Katherine's eldest daughter from her first marriage. Blanche was in the Savoy Palace when it burned down during the Peasant's Revolt of 1381, and it was presumed by everyone that she was dead. Katherine was, obviously, mightily upset. She thought that her daughter had been killed as a punishment for her (Katherine's) adultery, and so she severed all ties with the Duke, and went off on a pilgrimage to Walsingham.

The entire time that this was happening, I kept expecting that, as a reward for her suffering and penance, Katherine would be reunited with her daughter, and go back to the Duke, and that everything would go back to the way it was. Which it didn't. And I resigned myself to the fact, because, after all, this is a story based in history, and if Blanche Swynford died in the Savoy that day, Blanche Swynford died in the Savoy that day. I even Googled her, and though there's not a lot of information about Blanche Swynford, after a lot of reading, I was able to put her death down to sometime between 1375 and 1385, which fits with the story's timeline.

So imagine my surprise when Blanche Swynford returned! Many, many years after she was presumed dead at the Savoy, after John and Katherine's wedding, she shows up their palace dressed as a nun, and the book ends with mother and daughter being reunited at last. A most satisfactory conclusion to a story that already ended happily, I must say, although I really doubt its veracity.

~

I apologise for ruining so much of the plot, if you brazenly ignored the first sentence of this post. Although, I supposed there is a tiny chance that, even though you thought you didn't want to read the book initially, you want to now. 

And I would strongly recommend that you do read Katherine. It can get a bit dry at times, especially when Katherine and the Duke of Lancaster are apart, and on a couple of occasions, the characters take it upon themselves to speak in French, so do keep some sort of translator handy.

But if you enjoy historical fiction, here is one about the Plantagenet dynasty at its finest. Anya Seton's writing is both extremely well researched, and also very true to the its historical setting. And, like every good bit of historical fiction, Katherine made me want to go online and read everything that I could about that period in history. 

From the book, I learned (1) who Alice Perrers was, (2) that Geoffrey Chaucer was married to Katherine Swynford's sister Philippa, and (3) that the Beauforts were named after Beaufort Castle (I had always wondered where they got their name from). Also some other things, that I can't think of off the top of my head. 

And I think that is the mark of good historical fiction - though it may not be completely historically accurate itself (come on, do you really think Blanche Swynford jumped into the Thames from the top floor of a flaming tower?), it intrigues you and it makes you learn. Somehow. 

~

Also, do you remember Sunaina, my friend who gave me The White Queen for my birthday? Again, big thanks to her for spotting Katherine in a pile of books and thinking that I might like it. She has a really keen eye for good reads; you can check out some of her book reviews here.

N

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

Prince William and His iPhone

Obviously, the biggest news of last week was the Scottish Referendum. Scotland voted "NO", which means that they won't become an independent nation, and they'll still be a part of the United Kingdom, and the Union Jack will be the same, and the Queen will still be the Queen of Scotland as well, and everything will just go back to the way it was.

So what was the point of getting Bob Hale on the One Show?

Another thing that happened last week was that Prince Harry, future fifth in line to the throne, turned 30. Happy 30 years and one week birthday, Your Highness!

To mark the occasion, The Mirror put together a list of thirty of his best quotes over the years. I personally found it rather touching, especially the parts where Harry speaks about his mother's death. Click on this sentence to read it.

Speaking of Prince Harry and that particular article from The Mirror, The Invictus Games is another thing that happened. Harry was the one who spearheaded the entire event, and it was a spectacular success. I didn't watch it, of course, because I don't like to watch sports, but I did read about it and see the pictures on Twitter. Some are of the opinion that the Games are the finest thing that Harry will ever achieve. Perhaps, but I think that Harry will be able to do a lot more for his country. More than William anyway. I want to draw a comparison to erstwhile royals, but the only ones I can think of is the Black Prince (Edward, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King Edward III) and the Duke of Lancaster (John of Gaunt, the third son of the same King), and that is just an awful comparison, because Edward died young, and his son Richard (King Richard II) was just an awful King, and the Cousins War and everything.

No. I'll just stop at saying that Prince Harry will be a good son, a good brother, a good uncle and a good Prince. (Though never a King. Sorry, Harry)

Anyway, I digress. Apart from Prince Harry, Princes Charles and William were also at the Invictus Games (but not Kate, because she's feeling poorly, and not George, because he's a baby. But here are some sweet pictures of him in the park with his nanny). This is a photograph taken of them:

Look at what Prince William is holding!

His iPhone!

If you have been a loyal reader of my blog (Haha, as if!), you might remember a post I wrote almost exactly a year ago, about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first engagement since Prince George's birth, in which I commented on Prince William owning an iPhone. And here is a picture of the famed gadget. I see William hasn't stopped letting people know he has an iPhone. 

Prince William has an iPhone! (But I don't)(Well, I'm also not in line to the throne of England)

iPhone owning Prince William was also in Malta this weekend in place of wife, Catherine. I felt a little bad for him; he knew that the people were expecting a pretty Duchess, not a balding Duke, and so he kept apologising for being there. Well, better him than no one, people of Malta!

He also promised to come back with Catherine and George someday. And the new baby, I would think! Or has everyone but me forgotten about him/her?

Oh, and by the way, as far as baby gender and names go, my bet is on a boy called James. So, if you read an announcement in March or April or May saying that the Duchess of Cambridge has been safely delivered of a boy, and then another one a few days later saying something something Prince James of Cambridge, remember, you saw it here first.

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!

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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!

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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!!!!

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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!!!

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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,

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Images: John Stillwell

Random Book Review : The White Princess

As promised, this is a book review.

*insert here some sort of opening sequence that indicates that this is a book review, the sort that would be there if this were a YouTube video*

So, a couple of weeks ago, I read the sequel (of sorts) to the previous two books that I had reviewed; Philippa Gregory's The White Princess. Now, the book is based on the life of Elizabeth of York, the eldest child of King Edward IV and my least favourite Queen, Elizabeth Woodville, who would have been Queen in her own right if it was 2014. But it was really 1485, so Elizabeth became Queen only when she married Henry Tudor.

At the beginning of the story, all of the York clan, with the exception of Cecily, who I love, were quick to accuse Henry of being a usurper, marching into England with a less than concrete claim and taking the throne for himself, previous descendants of Edward III be damned. To them (now dead for over 500 years) I say "Way to throw stones from inside your glass house!"

Because Edward IV (father of the books protagonist Elizabeth of York) was a usurper too. He seized the throne from the Lancastrian rulers, with a claim perhaps a bit less tenuous than the new king Henry's, but still just a claim. And when he was declared King, did he kill the old King honourably, on the battle field? No, he did not. He murdered the poor Henry VI as he slept in the Tower (of London).

As you can tell, I am not a fan of the House of York. My favourites were the Hanoverians. Or maybe the Angevins. I can't choose.

Anyway, despite being narrated from the point of view and with the aim to tell the story of Queen Elizabeth (wife of Henry, not wife of Edward), the story dealt with what might have happened to her two brothers - the notorious mystery of the Princes in the Tower.

The fact, simply, are as follows: When Edward IV died, his twelve year-old son became King Edward V. As the new King marched to London from Wales, he was stopped by his uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who took him to the Tower of London, and kept him locked in there "for his safety", along with his younger brother (and first in line to the throne), Richard of Shrewsbury. After a while, it was declared that Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville's marriage had been a sham, and that their children were illegitimate, and Richard seized the throne himself, completely ignoring Edward of Warwick in the process (Poor guy. He was overlooked at all the times when he shouldn't have been, and paid attention to when he didn't want it, something that led to his execution. I feel a little bit sorry for him). One fine day, Edward V and his brother Richard disappeared from the Tower, never to be seen again.

And no one knew what happened to them. No one knows to this day.

Every royal historian and random person who just picked up a book on the subject and started to read has their own theory about what happened to the Princes in the Tower (The name is a bit of a misnomer, because they weren't both Princes. One of them was a King, which is the whole reason why anyone was in the Tower in the first place). Were they killed? Did they escape? Did they just die of illness, which would not have been so implausible considering that this was the 15th century and medicine hadn't advanced very much? The most famous theory, Shakespeare's, was conveyed through his play, Richard III, in which it is said that Richard killed his two nephews to cement his status as King. But in The White Princess, not both boys are dead. Not yet.

During the reign of Henry VII, an imposter named Perkin Warbeck claimed to be the younger son of Edward IV. He fought long and hard to defend his claim, but in the end he was executed. It was never known whether Warbeck was truly Richard of Shrewsbury, but Philippa Gregory certainly seems to think so. In The White Queen, she writes about Elizabeth Woodville placing a curse on the man who killed her sons, saying that his son will die young, and his grandson, and ultimately his line will end in women.

That's the Tudors. Henry VII's eldest son Arthur died when he was 15,as did his grandson Edward VI, also dead at 15, and ultimately the Tudor dynasty came to an end with Queen Elizabeth - a woman. While there is no record of such a curse being placed on anyone (and if there was a record, it would probably be complete hokum), the fact that Ms. Gregory writes about it, and tailors it perfectly to match the actual fate of a dynasty, means that she believes that King Henry VII killed the boy(s), to get rid of any rival claimant once and for all.

Even though it is based a trifle on speculation, The White Princess is a lovely read. Old Elizabeth Woodville, by then the Dowager Queen, dies at some point in the middle, much to the relief of both Henry VII and myself, and I found it hilarious to imagine the future Henry VIII as a sulky and vain little boy, stuffing himself as feasts and standing on the table and singing.

Not actually Henry.

Give it a read. But don't give it a read until you have read the previous books in the series about the House of York. I mean, you can, but it's best read in chronological order.

Just, do what you want.

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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.

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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.

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Images: The Facebook page of Princess Madeleine of Sweden

A Big Week For Royalty

I've been back from holiday for a while now, but when I was supposed to be writing this post yesterday, I was doing a lot of BuzzFeed quizzes instead. It was useful. I learnt that if ever a movie was made about my life, I (the main character) would be played by Emma Watson, and that if I lived in Panem, I would be a part of District 1, which is great, because then if I ever got selected in a reaping, I'd have a higher chance of survival, what with being a Career tribute and having sponsors all.

But I'm glad I didn't post yesterday, because I read some news today, which just made this the biggest week for European royalty that I have seen in a long time.

First things first: Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco are expecting their first child. Princess Charlene, of course, wore that wedding dress that I thought was the best of all ever worn by royal brides. Charlene is also one of my favourite women to marry into a royal family (My all time favourite is Kate Cambridge, obviously), because she seems like a strong woman, who stays passionate about her causes despite royal protocol's attempts to subdue her. I have no opinion about Prince Albert.

Everyone is making a big deal about how this baby is going to be a grandson for the late Princess Grace, but I think they're forgetting that Princess Grace already has a grandson. More than one, in fact, as well two great-grandsons. It must be weird for Albert to be having a child after his nephew and niece.

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene's baby will be first in line to the throne of Monaco, which is, in my opinion, great news for the principality. Because while the Casiraghis are great fun, I'm sure, they don't really seem like ruling material.

And most importantly, one more royal baby!

Speaking of royal children who are first in line to the throne, Infanta Leonor of Spain (not to be mistaken for Princess Leonore, who is from an entirely different country) is going to be the new Princess of Asturias, because her grandfather, King Juan Carlos, has abdicated. Juan Carlos' son, Prince Felipe, is expected to rule next, as Felipe VI. His wife, Princess Letizia, will be Queen Letizia. Obviously.

This is the third abdication in the past year. Previously, Queen Beatrix (the Netherlands) and King Albert (Belgium), abdicated in favour of their sons, who coincidentally, will both be succeeded by daughters, as will Felipe. The world, or the monarchy any way, is getting a lot more influenced by women, and if history has proven anything, it's that women are better rulers. I may be just a little biased.

Also, abdication seems to be the new sit-on-the-throne-even-though-you-aren't-mentally-or-physically-fit-to-rule. Could Queen Elizabeth be next?

[Probably not. She, of all monarchs, would never abdicate, because, as anyone who has seen The King's Speech knows, an abdication was what caused her father so much grief and an early death. Never.]

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Images: Reuters