#Bagshot Park

[vox-anglosphere]

Duchess-of-Edinburgh

[thepastisalreadywritten]

xxx

[countvonreutern]

On the occasion of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh's 60th birthday, His Serene Highness The Count of Münnich and Reutern extends his warmest congratulations to his cousin. As a beloved cousin and dedicated member of the Royal Family, Her Royal Highness continues to inspire with her tireless commitment to the causes she holds dear, particularly her work on gender equality, a matter she passionately champions. The Duchess has long been a tireless advocate for women’s empowerment, and as she celebrates this milestone, her enthusiasm for this important cause remains as resolute as ever.

Her Royal Highness’s dedication to supporting emerging talent, such as her recent collaboration with photographer Christina Ebenezer, reflects her enduring support for creative and pioneering individuals. May this special birthday be filled with much joy, love and continued success.

The photographs were taken at Bagshot Park in January by Christina Ebenezer.

[theroyalsandi]

British Royal Family - Happy 25th Wedding Anniversary to the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh! (m. 19th June 1999)

A new photograph of the Duke and Duchess has been released to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary tomorrow, Wednesday June 19. It was taken by photographer Chris Jelf in the gardens of their Bagshot Park home on June 10. | June 18, 2024

[theroyalweekly]

Ahead of The Duchess of Edinburgh’s 60th birthday on Monday, a new picture has been released.

The photograph was taken at Bagshot Park in January by Christina Ebenezer. -- The Royal Family

[catherinetheprincessofwales]

British Royal Family | Ahead of The Duchess of Edinburgh's 60th birthday on Monday, a new picture has been released. The photograph was taken at Bagshot Park in January by Christina Ebenezer. The Duchess of Edinburgh was interested in Ebenezer's creative style of photography and wanted to support a rising female photographer.

As The Duchess looks ahead to turning 60, Her Royal Highness has a renewed sense of excitement and commitment to her work around gender equality and looks forward to further embracing and championing this issue in the years to come.

[charlotte-of-wales]

New photographs of the Duchess of Edinburgh have been released ahead of her 60th birthday on Monday. The pictures were taken at Bagshot Park in January by Christina Ebenezer - Sophie was keen in supporting a rising female photographer | January 18, 2025

[royalchildreneurope]

The Duchess of Edinburgh poses for official portraits to celebrate her 60th birthday on January 20th 2025, at Bagshot Park in Bagshot, Surrey, England -January 18th 2025.

📷 : Christina Ebenezer/The Royal Family.

[celticcrossanon]

If not, then why does Charles want Andrew out of Royal Lodge but not Edward out of Bagshot Park?

Some background info…

Royal Lodge has more of a family history than Bagshot Park does. The Royal Lodge was where Her Late Majesty grew up and was The Queen Mother’s Windsor residence, before she passed away (at which point Andrew leased the home). Charles probably has fond memories of the home and wants to “keep it in the family”, so to speak — his own family (aka Harry or William and their families). Bagshot Park, meanwhile, was a residence used by the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (Victoria’s son) and then leased to the Army until 1996 when Edward and Sophie took over tenancy; it doesn’t have the same prestige, if you will, of the Royal Lodge to the family.

It’s been said that the reports of how big Bagshot Park is and its 120 rooms is greatly overestimated from the Army days. To me that suggests that most of the 120 rooms are very small and perhaps not quite practical for a family. At any rate, Edward and Sophie did significant renovations to Bagshot Park that made the rooms bigger, which also reduced the number of rooms on the property.

Also, Royal Lodge is said to be falling apart and there’s an enormous repair bill coming to fix everything. Charles could be focusing on Royal Lodge because of the enormous repair costs, which Andrew was supposed to be on top of as part of his lease and seems to not be addressing.

And finally, let’s not forget that Andrew is no longer a working member of the royal family, nor even a senior royal. Edward and Sophie are. It doesn’t make sense for Andrew to keep such a large property under peppercorn rent, and he likely can’t afford the market rate of rent (and upkeep expenses to maintain the lease) for a place like Royal Lodge. Forcing Andrew to downsize from the Royal Lodge is also a practical and economical reason in terms of lessening the burden on the Duchy of Lancaster.

Hi Nonny,

Thank you for all this extra information. 🩷 It does make things clearer and sets the 'evict Prince Andrew' narrative in context.

[duchessofvastergotland]

"Today I think of my great-grandmother Crown Princess Margareta. She was born Margaret of Connaught at Bagshot Park in 1882 and married the Swedish King to be, Gustaf Adolf. Even though her life was all too short, she had a great impact on our country with her openness and liberal values."

- Crown Princess Victoria during her visit to the United Kingdom.

Margaret wearing the Cameo tiara which Victoria wore to her wedding:

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

The DM's Excerpts - Charles III: New King, New Court

Robert Hardman (who also wrote Queen of Our Times, published 2022) has written a new book about the British Royal Family. The Daily Mail is serializing parts of the book over four days, from 12 - 15 January 2024. Here are the links. If anyone has any others, feel free to share them in the comments.

If you don't want to give the DM clicks, I've included highlights below. (My browser doesn't recognize archive.vn or archive.ph as a valid domain so I can't create or access those links.)

TL;DR--

The day the Queen died, 12 Jan 2024

Secret summits over making Charles regent in Queen's last years, 13 Jan 2024

How the royals have dealt with a torrent of allegations from Harry and Meghan, 14 Jan 2024

Harmdan's intimate portrait of a woman who dances at Abba concerts, jabs the King with her handbag and 'knows when to wink at a bishop,' 15 Jan 2024

Excerpt #1, 12 Jan 2024

Highlights:

The last time most of her staff saw The Queen was at the pre-dinner cocktails the evening of September 6th. She was happy, chatty, and in a good mood. (September 6th was the Boris Johnson-Liz Truss transition.)

It was sheer luck that Anne and Peter were at Balmoral during this time. Anne was passing through for work, Peter was preparing for a shooting party he was going to host over the weekend (which ended up cancelled). Also Sarah Chatto was nearby.

On September 7th, The Queen planned to attend the Privy Council meeting as it involved new Cabinet officials being installed. She eventually cancelled on medical advice. This was the first signal to many that she wasn't doing well.

Charles and Camilla were on the western side of Scotland for a series of engagements September 7 - September 8. The morning of September 8, Anne called Charles to come to Balmoral at once. On the helicopter to Balmoral, everyone was reviewing the Operation London Bridge papers. They arrived at Birkhall around 10:30am and traveled to Balmoral in a borrowed car.

William was called around breakfast time and informed of the situation, including that was on his way to Balmoral. Charles himself called William (and Andrew, Edward, and Harry) that they should also come. After Charles's calls, Kensington Palace began coordinating with Royal Lodge (Andrew's office*) and Bagshot Park (Edward's office*) on travel to Scotland. William and KP did not reach out to the Sussexes because betrayal, and they felt the responsibility should have been on the Sussexes to make contact. (*Not really their offices, but it's the easiest way to keep them separate so you know who I'm talking about.)

Everyone was disturbed by Harry's inclusion of these events, especially the "Meghan's not coming/she's my wife/Kate's not coming either/that's all you had to say" bit, in his memoir. Harry's recollection of how he was notified of The Queen's death isn't true - he claims no one was talking to him but actually Charles and the palace had been trying to reach him repeatedly. The calls weren't going through because he was in the air. (Interesting that he'd check the BBC first as opposed to calling back after seeing a dozen of missed calls...or not springing for the wifi package...)

Liz Truss, the new PM, was in a G7 conference call on September 8th when she was notified of the situation in Scotland. She bowed out of the call early and quickly. The G7 leaders knew what was happening.

Charles was rather close to Balmoral when he received the call that The Queen had passed. William, Andrew, Edward, and Sophie were on the way to Balmoral from the Aberdeen airport. Charles called them himself to let them know.

The Archbishop of Canterbury was in France on a personal holiday. He and his wife began preparing to return home after seeing the palace's first statement about The Queen's health. They drove home overnight so Welby could make an address in the morning.

Excerpt #2, 13 Jan 2024

Highlights:

The Queen had been quite ill in her final year. She knew and was aware her time was ending that summer.

A regency would have been created had she lived as long as The Queen Mother because everyone was fearful of a health condition flaring up in public.

Planning for Charles's accession and coronation began in 2015. Sir Alderton, his private secretary, created a "training video" of the accession/transition then that Charles, Camilla, and William watched in the evening of September 8th during their private dinner at Birkhall, while Princess Anne hosted the rest of the family at Balmoral. If Harry wasn't such a dick (my word, not Hardman's), he'd have been part of the Birkhall dinner but he wasn't and there were very serious concerns he would write about it in Spare.

The announcement of The Queen's death was delayed because family members hadn't been informed yet. (I think it was Harry they were waiting on, per the events in the first article.)

The royals were very touched by the outpouring of public affection for The Queen, themselves, and their family. Camilla was struck by how supportive the crowd was of her. Anne was touched by the tractors, horses, and the crowds that lined the roads in Scotland. It was a six hour drive, and she and Tim had had snacks in their car but they both felt it would have been rude to everyone that came to see the procession and pay their respects to be seen eating.

Camilla sobbed through Charles's first speech.

The Privy Council were concerned that the political upheaval in the government would cause problems for the accession, transition, and royal mourning.

It was William's idea for him, Kate, and the Sussexes to do the Windsor walkabout together. He organized it in two hours. No one found it easy or enjoyable.

Excerpt #3, 14 Jan 2024

Highlights:

The Queen felt she had to say 'yes' when Harry contacted her about naming his daughter Lilibet and she was very angry with him for it. (Reading between the lines, it sounds like the decision was presented by the Sussexes as "fait accompli" and The Queen took offense.)

The Sussexes tried to force the palace to go along with their version (that they had asked The Queen for permission) but the palace refused to play. They also tried to intimidate the press with legal action if anyone didn't report "their" version of events, even going so far as threatening the BBC with a lawsuit.

Everyone at the palace rolled their eyes about the Sussexes getting the RFK "Ripple of Hope Award." They felt that the "legacy" the Sussexes were being rewarded for was laughable, especially when compared to Charles's work.

The Caribbean gets its news through the US media. (I believe this confirms the theory that Sussex PR influenced the Caribbean's coverage of the Royal Family)

William saw Harry's comments in the Netflix documentary that they're expected to marry someone who fits the mold as an attack on Kate and he's been furious since. He feels betrayed by Harry having discussed their relationship so freely, thinks it's an intrusion of privacy.

Neither William nor Kate have read Spare but they are aware of what's being said and their staffs have briefed them.

Harry's version of events when The Queen Mother died is totally made up. (In Spare, Harry says he was alone, it was springtime just before Easter, and he took the call himself, but actually he was in Switzerland skiing with Charles and William and all three were told together by an aide.)

It's very suspicious that Spare largely skips May 2018 - March 2020. The palace thinks it'll be covered in the second version or Meghan's memoir.

The door is open for Harry and Meghan to return but they'll have to make the first steps since Charles has given up.

Anne's seat the coronation in front of Harry was a last-minute change so she could leave more quickly after the service in the procssion. She was concerned about keeping her hat on since it was "decent-sized" but she was told to keep it on.

Excerpt #4, 15 Jan 2024 - TBD

Highlights

It's been a difficult transition to Queen for Camilla, but everyone believes she handled it well. Her family finds it surreal.

Camilla doesn't mind being second fiddle to Charles.

She still has her Wiltshire home, Ray Mill, which she bought after divorcing Andrew PB. She still visits and stays there to this day.

Everyone walks a bit on eggshells around Charles because he's a bit temperamental, but Camilla steadies him.

Camilla likes her rooms hot. Charles like his rooms cold and windows open.

Charles skips lunch. Camilla does not.

Camilla keeps Charles running on time when he gets chatty.

Camilla is hands-on with her charities and patronage.

I find her sister is overstaying her welcome. After her starring role in the coronation documentary and now her interviews with Hardman for the book, it's too much and feels like she's trying too hard.

Other stories by Hardman from his book:

Foreign Office officials 'ditched buses for dignitaries' at coronation after backlash at the Queen's funeral, 13 Jan 2024

Brigadier who helped carry Queen's coffin was at a wedding in Corfu, 13 Jan 2024

Queen's funeral rehearsal was a comedy of errors as even the band went AWOL, 13 Jan 2024

Prince Andrew could be 'far more damaging outside the loop,' 14 Jan 2024

The DM's other royal reporters - Martin Robinson, Rebecca English, Natasha Livingstone - are publishing "recaps" of Hardman's excerpts. Some of Rebecca English's stories are augmented by her own sources. Here are a few:

Insiders revewal how the Queen was so upset by Harry and Meghan's Lilibet decision that she told aides 'the only thing I own is my name. And now they've taken that': The royal row taht troubled Her Majesty in twilight of her reign, 15 Jan 2024

'For William, this was the lwoest of the low,' 15 Jan 2024

Camilla was given the affection nickname 'Lorraine' before seh became Queen, 14 Jan 2024

Harry and Meghan likely caused Queen 'distress' in her final years over naming of baby Lilibet, 15 Jan 2024

The Queen's final years were overshadowed by Harry and Meghan's hunger for publicity, 15 Jan 2024

Also, these are reminding me of some things Harry and Meghan (Harry mostly) have claimed and Hardman's articles are debunking them. I need to do a bit of research to check if the dates on what I'm remembering line up with the timeline Hardman is presenting. I'll do a separate post on that since this is already quite long.

[ginandoldlace]

The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn photographed in the uniform of Colonel of the Scots Guards, an appointment he held from 1883 to 1904.

The Prince Arthur was born on this day in 1850 at Buckingham Palace to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

As the third son and seventh child, Prince Arthur had the freedom to enjoy a long military career. The Duke served in the British Army for over 40 years and saw service in multiple parts of the British Empire, serving with the Royal Engineers, the Royal Regiment of Artillery and the Rifle Brigade.

During his lifetime, he also served as the Governor General of Canada and as Commander in Chief of the British Army in Ireland and during the Second World War, Prince Arthur maintained his affiliation with the British Army by motivating troops.

The Duke died at Bagshot Park. His funeral service was held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. He was buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore.

He was the last surviving son of Queen Victoria.

[victorysp]

Sophie The Duchess of Edinburgh visited the Bagshot Women's Institute today to celebrate their centenary at Windlesham Golf Club. The Duchess lives just up the road in Bagshot Park with Prince Edward, so is a regular visitor at the Institute, and is also a member. April 28, 2023

📷 express.co.uk

[theroyalsandi]

British Royal Family - Happy 25th Wedding Anniversary to the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh! (m. 19th June 1999)

Buckingham Palace releases another new official portrait to mark the 25th Wedding Anniversary of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. It was taken by photographer Chris Jelf in the gardens of their Bagshot Park home on June 10. | June 19, 2024

"We are so grateful for the many kind and lovely messages we have received on our Silver Wedding Anniversary. Wishing everyone who is celebrating their own anniversaries a special day too."  - Edward & Sophie

[theroyalweekly]

NEW: The King has appointed the Duke of Edinburgh to the Order of the Thistle, as four new images are released to mark his 60th birthday tomorrow.

The King’s brother is pictured with his dogs at his home at Bagshot Park.

📸 Chris Jelf -- Cameron Walker

[emmashouldbewriting]

The discussion about Louise’s ponies and whether Charles should pay for the expenses vs Edward and Sophie reminds me of another conversation others were having on Tumblr.

There was speculation that Edward and Sophie don’t have the money to maintain and sustain a dukedom, should they get Duke of Edinburgh from Charles. Yes, they got money from The Queen and Philip, but it may not be enough in the long-term picture to keep up with the appearances expected of a duke, even if those expectations are already outdated.

The thinking on this side of royal-watching is that Edward declined the title because James may not be able to afford it when the time comes, and how embarrassing for the royal family that their most senior title was given up. Yes, Edinburgh is the Wessexes’ wedding gift from The Queen and Philip, but it’s also a gift with strings that may not be financially feasible anymore. And rather than to say so, they’re hanging Charles out to dry by blaming Edward not getting the duchy on him.

So what if the Wessexes are counting on Charles to fund Louise’s ponies and riding expenses because they don’t have the money themselves to pay for it? If that is the case, then it makes the theory that Edward declined the Dukedom on financial grounds more likely to me.

(Edward still should get the duchy no matter what. Revert it back to the crown on his death instead of passing it to James and the problem these royal watchers say exists is handled.)

Oh, that's a good point. Add in the mumblings about Andrew's income this week and how worried he is about not being able to maintain Royal Lodge, and you might have a point. (He got his lease with the proviso he must maintain the property from his own £.) Without his allowance from Charles, he doesn't think he can afford it.

Your theory has a lot of merit. The Wessexes don't own Bagshot Park, so I assume the terms of their lease are similar. It's so much money to maintain these large, old houses, and could easily eat up a lot of their inheritance from TQ&PP. And Bagshot is huge. Even in my books the houses/gardens owned by the duke/earl whatever are sometimes split to be open to the public/weddings etc to increase revenue.

It does rather feel like Charles wants minor royals out of large royal properties, though. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but perhaps going forward it's better to give the lesser royals (so Charlotte/Louis of the next generation) smaller, more financially feasible estates that they can own outright and pass down to their children.