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

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

Bye Bye, Baby

I miss that baby already.

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

FIVE

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

FOUR

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

THREE

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

TWO

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

ONE

This.

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

~

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

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

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

The Cambridges Down Under : The Prince And The Bilby

Happy Easter! to everyone who celebrates Easter. Here are the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attending an Easter service at St. Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney, today morning.

It's a bit hard to keep track of all the things that happen during the week, speaking from the perspective of the royal tour, and especially so when the week ends the way that this week did; with Prince George meeting a bilby.

This is a bilby.

This is Prince George.

This is what ensued when the two of them met. I don't even care what happened during the rest of the week (but you might, so there are links closer to the end of this post).

Like my friend said to me this morning when I sent her a message about Prince George that read "Prince George is going to the zoo. PRINCE GEORGE is going to the ZOO. PRINCE GEORGE IS GOING TO THE ZOO." followed by 17 exclamation marks: I don't know how I manage to remain sane, what with Prince George on tour and all.

After meeting his namesake bilby, Prince George went home with his nanny. His parents stayed at the zoo and fed kangaroos and met with koalas, but I didn't stick around to watch that. Today, more than anything, proved that this visit isn't William and Kate on tour, and Prince George with them. It's Prince George on tour and everyone else with him.

Later, the Cambridges and their entourage left Sydney for Canberra, and George was pictured being carried off a plane. Unlike his last sojourn in a plane, George actually looked quite happy. And adorable, but that seems to be a given with George.

If the press is to be believed (and they are, because who else is there?) today was the last official sighting of Prince George in this tour. That's a bit disappointing, because now that I've seen George, and how big George has gotten and how much George wriggles around in his mother's arms, I want to see more. In fairness, the Duke and Duchess have shown us a lot more of their son than I had bargained for, and that is very sporting of them.

Besides, the amount I've seen of George in these last two weeks is enough to last me a year, at least.

The Royal Tour ends on Friday, with an Anzac Day Parade which I've covered on Royal Central. There will be a final post on this blog the following Sunday, which will probably be boring because of the lack of Prince George. After that, posts will resume their irregularity.

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SOME THINGS.

Even though it's a little late into the tour, here are a few more links :

If you've missed actually tracking the tour, you can watch the highlights on ITN's Royal Family Channel. Also, Clarence House has daily blogs, with images and tweets, which you can go back and read. Click on the day/city to read it:

Day 1, Wellington

Day 3, Wellington [Tuesdays were holidays]

Day 4, Blenheim

Day 5, Auckland

Day 6, Waikato

Day 7, Dunedin and Queenstown

Day 8, Christchurch

Day 10, Wellington and then Sydney

Day 11, Blue Mountains

Day 12, Sydney

Day 13, Brisbane

Day 14, Sydney

Another blog that I have personally been following is What Would Kate Do, which is absolutely wonderful. And she has the most adorable nickname for George - Cheeks!

Lastly, on a non-royal note, I was part of a collaboration week on the blog of a dear friend of mine. You can read my contribution by clicking on this sentence. Also read the rest of the blog, because that's a nice (maybe) thing to do.

Images: Getty Images/James Whatling/Splash News

The Cambridges Down Under : The Baby Has Landed

The baby is in Australia!
(It's amazing how I don't even need to say the name of the baby anymore, because everyone automatically knows which baby I'm talking about)

Before I start to talk about that baby (PRINCE GEORGE, you really should know that by now), let me wrap up my, well, coverage of sorts, of the New Zealand leg of the tour so that I can move on to Australia.

On Monday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Christchurch, where they laid roses on the Royal New Zealand Air Force Memorial, opened a botanical garden, played cricket against each other to publicise the 2015 World Cup, and met with sets of twins. It was alright, but there was no George, so it was quite boring. Kate's hair looked nice.

Tuesday was a holiday for them, but mainly for everyone else who couldn't finish their actual work because they were too busy watching the royals tour. I slept till 9 that day, and then I watched 4 straight hours of Modern Family.

The tour resumed on Wednesday, when the Duke and Duchess were back in Wellington - only this time, they were actually out and about in Wellington, and not just at Government House. There was wreath laying, walkabouts, and then they went to a police training academy, where they played with police puppies.

Wednesday was filled with cute things.

And after that, GEORGE!

Before leaving New Zealand, Kate told a member of the crowd the following:

This is George, leaving New Zealand, clearly upset at having been awoken from his sleep, and thoroughly unimpressed with the fact that people have been forsaking paying jobs and standing outside for hours just to see him. Little wonder, then, that he is my favourite baby.

This is George arriving in Sydney and being forced to shake hands with someone less important than him. Still unimpressed. But so cute.

In fact, only one thing seemed to impress George all day - this wombat given to him by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove, when he attended tea at Admiralty House with his parents (George, not Sir Peter).

Look at the look on his face!

And William and Kate went to Sydney Opera House, but I really don't care about any of that. Here, watch the video:

Tomorrow, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit the Blue Mountains, but I won't cover that until Sunday. Come back on Sunday.

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Images: Reuters/Getty Images

The Cambridges Down Under : Boat Race!

This tour is so much FUN!

As a relatively new royal watcher, this Cambridge Tour is the biggest foreign royal event that I have ever seen. As a person who tends to latch onto mild interests and become obsessive, I have been spending nearly every waking moment looking at pictures and such. As a combination of the two Cambridge Tour has practically taken over my life. All my friends think that I'm crazy because I'm getting up at some odd hour in the morning and would rather stay at home and watch a spluttering live-stream than go out with them, and maybe I am. But look at that face. That is a face for which I would let the whole world think I'm crazy.

That is Prince George of Cambridge. You probably recognise him from every post on this blog (since last July). He is pictured with his mother, and a part of his father's face, on a play date with children from Plunket House in New Zealand. George's play date is the highlight of this tour so far; nothing else even holds a candle to it. Everyone has seen a lot of William and Kate before. No one has seen much of George.

Look at this video of George.

He is the cutest baby in the world. I can't wait to see more of him.

After that one visit, during which he received a giant stuffed bear as a present, George retired to the Cambridge's secret hideout along with his nanny, leaving his parents to carry out the rest of the tour.

The rest of the tour was standard.

William and Catherine in Wellington

William and Catherine in Blenheim

William and Catherine in Auckland

William and Catherine in Waikato

William and Catherine in Dunedin

And again in Dunedin

William and Catherine in Queenstown

And again in Queenstown

There were some walkabouts, an unveiling, some rugby coaching, some wine tasting, a boat ride and a boat race. William and Kate looked like they were having fun, and just as everyone was starting to pool together their money to bet on the fact that Kate was pregnant again, she downed a glass of wine, forcing all those people to invest in something wiser.
I'm glad. This means that I get to enjoy Prince George all by himself for a little longer.

My favourite part of the New Zealand leg of the tour so far (except, of course, for all the sightings of Prince George) was definitely the time when William and Kate raced against each other in a yacht race at Auckland Harbour. They raced twice, and [SPOILERS] Kate beat William both times. Apparently they have a very competitive relationship. Any way, it as nice to see Kate just be normal for a few hours, celebrating victory over her husband like a regular person would.

Watch:

The Cambridge's leave New Zealand for Australia on Wednesday. More Prince George sightings then.

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

The Cambridges Down Under : Because Prince George

It's been a sparse couple of months on this blog because I've had projects and exams, but now posts will resume as normal (Every Sunday, and occasionally during the week if I feel like), because I'm on holiday, and...

THE CAMBRIDGES ARE ON TOUR!!!!

If you didn't already know, go sit in a corner.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and their son Prince George, are currently in New Zealand on a three week long visit Down Under on behalf of Her Majesty. They landed in Wellington today, and on the 16th they will be making the short hop to Australia where they will stay until the 25th. This tour is massive - about the same scale as the couple's first one to Canada and America, but even bigger, because Prince George.

I am so excited about this that I can't even. And neither can anyone else, by the looks of it. Australia and New Zealand, of course, is in full swing, as is anyone who cares about the British Royal Family in the slightest. All eyes are on little George, who seems unperturbed by all the attention. Here he is being carried off a plane by his mother at Wellington Airport.

Look at that face!

Adorable!

Of course, this isn't the public's first sighting of Prince George since his christening. Last Saturday, Kensington Palace released a picture of George and his parents and Lupo in their home, apparently because it was Mothering Sunday, but probably because the Cambridges were going on tour and they wanted people to recognise George. That picture has since become the desktop background for every device that I own. Because Prince George.

He's becoming so big. And those cheeks! I really can't understand why people are so obsessed with cheekbones when there are pictures of Prince George looking like this. He is the best baby in the world.

And so begins the first of a four (or maybe five) part series about Prince George, and also about his parents and the British Realms of Australia and New Zealand, but mostly about Prince George and his cheeks.

Next post on Sunday, with more George.

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A little bit after signing off.

As is obvious by the fact that there was nothing on this blog about the Royal Visit until well over 24 hours after it actually happened, all of the posts for The Cambridges Down Under will be purely personal opinions, and not really a source for facts. However, whatever few facts that there are will probably be correct, having been researched beforehand, so you can assume them to be accurate.

If you do wish to follow the Cambridges movements in detail, I have compiled a list of links to websites and Twitter accounts worth following.

FOLLOW THE CAMBRIDGES

Your best bet for timely information is the people who are actually in New Zealand at the moment. and attending all the events. [So follow Catherine @Princegeorgesmum and William @William_Wales] [These are not real accounts, do not follow them]

Practically every British newspaper has sent their Chief Reporter or Royal Correspondent to be a part of the Royal Rota, and practically all of these folks have a Twitter account. 

• Rebecca English (for the Daily Mail) - @RE_DailyMail
• Paul Harrison - @SkyNewsRoyal
• Mark Stewarts (Royal Photographer) - @RegalEyes
• Gordon Rayner (for the Daily Telegraph) - @gordonrayner
• Richard Palmer (for the Daily Express) - @RoyalReporter
• Victoria Murphy (for the Daily Mirror) - @QueenVicMirror
• Emily Andrews (for The Sun) - @byEmilyAndrews
• Max Foster (for CNN) - @MaxFosterCNN
• Victoria Arbiter (A personal favourite of mine) - @victoriaarbiter

For the official Twitter accounts, Clarence House seems to the be one tweeting most about the Royal Visit, so @ClarenceHouse, and also follow the Twitter account of New Zeealand's Governor-General, Sir Jerry Mateparae, for an incredibly detailed coverage, @GovGeneralNZ.

Websites will offer a more detailed description of each day's events, but not until much after the event has happened. But they have pictures. Of Prince George. 

This is the official website of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge: www.dukeandduchessofcambridge.org/

For a less serious, more fun coverage, it looks like there are going to be daily royal tour journals on Gawker (gawker.com/tag/duchess-of-cambridge), which are great to read and laugh at in between two serious articles. 

Also, Royal Central has an entire section dedicated purely to The Cambridges Down Under. You can visit it either by going to their website or by clicking on this sentence. Royal Central will also constantly tweet about the engagements, so follow their Twitter @RoyalCentral.

That's a lot of links. I'll add more if I can think of them.

Images : Jason Bell/Camera Press/Mark Large/ Press Associations