#William Aston Hall

[ghiessa]

undefined

Mambo n.5

[hockeyshmockey]

Lance Stroll- Biggest Champion

summary: a moment between the oldest wolff and lance after some scary moments in Qatar. lance stroll x wolff reader

warnings: talk about the medical issues in qatar!

wc: 1.1k

“Papa,” you said worriedly as you say next to Toto in the Mercedes garage in Qatar. Since you had begun seeing Lance, throughout this season, the set up usually was you watching your boyfriend and friends race from the Mercedes garage and stepping out to see Lance pre and post race. Unless Chloe was in town where the two of you could be found giggling in the Aston garage, this seemed to work for the two of you.

That day in Qatar had been otherworldly hot. Lance had not been having the greatest weekend, taking ice baths every hour it seemed like and spending a lot of time in his drivers room trying to work through his frustrations. You had joined him some of the time, offering him silent comfort which seemed to be what he needed with all the pressure sitting on his shoulders.

As you and Toto stared at the screens showing several onboards and now sharing Logan’s voluntary retirement, your worry crept up for not only Lance, but your friends as well. A hand fell on your shoulder, squeezing to offer support as Lewis joined your little group. Carmen was standing off to the side with George’s trainer, chewing on her nail as she shared similar worries about her boy in the drivers seat.

“I really can’t believe this,” Lewis shook his head as Logan was wheeled into the Williams garage. “This is so dangerous. The FIA can't let this happen again.”

The group all watched as more and more drivers chimed in over the radios about not feeling well. Alonso pretty much asking his team to throw water over him on his last pit, which they couldn’t do. After another round of Max crossing the line first, finally some relief hit as the groups shoulders lifted knowing their final driver and friends would be getting out of the cars soon.

Watching the other team onboards which your father kept on a separate screen for your benefit, you winced as you watched Alex have to be assisted out of his car. Switching over to Lances, you watched as he sat in his car for a minute before trying to haul himself out. You felt slight relief as he made it from the car, leaning over by the tire for a second. But that relief was short lived.

As you saw him stumble, you gasped, hand covering your mouth as your father frowned, the two of you watching as Lance’s knees buckled and sent him fumbling into the door of the ambulance. Toto put a hand on your back as you both watched medical personnel approach the driver, before the feed was cut.

“Go,” Toto nodded as you looked on helplessly, taking no time before hightailing it from the Mercedes garage to the Aston Martin one down the row.

“Is he ok?” You asked breathlessly as you saw Lawrence and Lance's Engineer standing together with matching frowns.

“He had some trouble with the heat,” Lawrence said as he put a hand on your shoulder in sympathy. “He didn’t look too good getting out of the car but they took him right to the medical center.”

“Will they let us in?” You immediately asked.

“I’ve got to wait for Fernando,” Lawrence sighed, looking over at Ben and Henry. “I think they’ll let Henry in, you want to go with him and work that charm? Check on our boy?”

“I’m on it,” you smiled weakly as Henry nodded, leading you out of the garage to where he grabbed an Aston golf cart and drove you over to the medical center. Considering the state of the drivers, the usually calm area was a mad house with other team members, drivers, and some partners as well.

You followed Henry’s lead as he walked up to one of the track workers. The two spoke for a moment, Henry gesturing over his shoulder to you. As the worker saw you wringing your hands and the clear worry on your face, her own expression softened and she nodded before pointing down the hall.

You hurried after Henry, keeping up with his long strides as the two of you approached a curtained off area. Henry peeked his head in before pulling back the sheets, showing your boyfriend sitting on the bed in no shirt and just his fire proof bottoms.

“Hey mate,” Henry said as he approached the bed, clapping Lances shoulder as the boy smiled up at him tiredly. “Boss man couldn’t get away but wanted us to make sure to come check on ya.”

“I’m alright,” Lance said, his words slightly slurred with exhaustion as he looked past Henry towards you. He reached out a hand, you immediately rushing over to grab it in both of yours. “Just exhausted. They’ve got me on some fluids right now.”

“Some good rest and food will get you right,” Henry squeezed his shoulder before looking back at you. “We’ll I’ll leave you and report back to Lawrence. You both should be able to get back to the garage but if not give me a shout, I’ll come get you.”

“Thank you Henry,” you said softly as he smiled at the both of you before heading back out the way he came. You took a long second now that you were alone to let your eyes take in all of Lance’s face- skin sweaty, eyes tired.

“I really am ok,” he murmured, cupping your cheek as he saw the unshed tears on your lash line. You nuzzled in to his touch, letting out a sigh as you felt some of the weight on your shoulders lift just having him in front of you.

“I’m glad, it was scary out there,” you rasped out, looking at him once more. “A few other guys apparently passed out in the mc post race.”

“God this should’ve never happened,” Lance shook his head. Any further talking was put on pause as a nurse shuffled in, taking stock of Lances IV drip and telling him he would still be here for another hour or so for observation.

“I know I wasn’t at my best this weekend,” Lance admitted thickly. “And I’ve got some apologies to make. But being in the car, feeling like I could’ve gone off at any moment. All I could think about was getting back to you. And telling you how much I adore you, and that I don’t say it enough, but I’m really thankful for you and everything you do for me.”

“Oh schatz,” you said as you leaned in teary eyed again, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. “You’re doing your best. Your frustration is something everyone understands, we just need to find better ways for you to express it. There is nothing I would change about you. I love you and I love being your biggest champion. There’s no getting rid of me.”

“I love you,” he smiled tiredly, pursing his lips with a pout till you rolled your eyes and leaned down to press a kiss to his lips.

[world-of-wales]

HAPPY 12TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY TO THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES!

HRH Prince William Arthur Philip Louis and Miss. Catherine Elizabeth Middleton married in a religious ceremony on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London.

Will and Cat were married by the Archbishop of Canterbury, while the Dean of Windsor conducted the ceremony and the Bishop of London gave the address.

Catherine wore a dress by Surah Burton of Alexander McQueen. The Royal School of Needlework's hand-made lace applique for the bodice and skirt incorporated the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock. She was lent the Cartier Scroll Tiara by her grandmother-in-law and gifted a pair of diamond earrings featuring acorns from Robinson Pelham by her parents for the special day. The bridal bouquet featured myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, sweet William, ivy, and hyacinth.

William doned on the red tunic of the Colonel of the Irish Guards uniform with a forage cap bearing the Irish Guards insignia and motto, "Quis Separabit?. He wore the Order of the Garter Star and Blue Riband to which his RAF Wings & Golden Jubilee Medal were fastened.

Upon their wedding they were conferred upon the titles of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Earl & Countess of Strathearn and Baron and Lady Carrickfergus by Queen Elizabeth II.

Following the ceremony in true fairytale fashion, the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge travelled in the 1902 State Landau in a horse-drawn carriage procession to Buckingham Palace. They appeared on the Palace Balcony for a RAF Flypast and shared TWO KISSES to the delight of the crowd gathered below and my 11 year old self's.

The official wedding photos of the couple with their families and wedding party were taken by Hugo Burnand in the throne room of Buckingham Palace.

A Reception for the couple and their guests was hosted at Buckingham Palace by The Queen while the then Prince of Wales hosted a further private dinner. The couple'a guests had two wedding cakes to choose from - a multi-tiered traditional fruit cake crafted by Fiona Cairns & William's favourite chocolate biscuit cake.

William and Catherine drove to Clarence House following the lunchtime reception in a blue, two seat Aston Martin DB6 Volante which was originally a 21st birthday gift to the then Prince of Wales by the Queen.

William and Catherine have three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The family of five they divide time between their official residence at Kensington Palace in London and their two private residences Amner Hall in Norfolk & Adelaide Cottage in Windsor.

They became The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay after King Charles III's accession to the throne and were made The Prince and Princess of Wales by him on 9 September 2022.

As well as undertaking royal duties in support of The King, both in the UK and overseas, The Prince and Princess devote their time to supporting a number of charitable causes and organisations with some of their key areas of interest being Early Childhood Development, Mental Health, Conservation, Arts, Sports etc.

[houseofbrat]

As I said at the beginning, I am not too invested with they royal watch, I do like Kate and Princess Anne, so I pay more attention to them, but I’m not a religious follower. But, when I started paying attention to all the drama that KP, the PR caused for Kate, I started paying a little more attention.

Is it me or do you all also find odd and are also seeing that the press and some fans are making Prince William the biggest victim in all this? Like, I see many people saying how much he is suffering, how difficult is for him to have not only his father but also his wife with that horrible disease! Or how he is poor dad taking care of the three children alone (when we also have learnt that even their grandmother is with them for Easter) . Don’t get me wrong, I think many are speaking in the perspective of him also losing his mother at a young age, and having sympathy, I mean, I have sympathy for him too in some way.

But I don’t see as many people ‘worried’ about the Wales’ children as they are for W, for example. I know those children are well and they have many people who are supporting them now, but still, I have more sympathy for them right now and for Kate than any other person. I don’t know, it’s very odd for me, are people like that all the time with him? I don’t know, their PR is also odd, one day he is damn worried, the next he is apparently the glue on their house, one day he is vulnerable, the next he is the strongest man on earth. I see many inconsistencies with some fans and press. I don’t know, Chemo isn’t a path of roses, it’s really hard, and people seriously believe that W is the one having it more difficult? 😬

You're not wrong in your thinking.

There are two main things going on:

All the reporters who are on the royal beat have story quotas to fulfill, so they will pump out non-stories using whatever the main current storyline is. The current storyline is that The Wales family's life is a tragedy regarding Kate. Therefore, we should all feel sorry for William, even when he uses a helicopter to attend a Aston Villa football game more than a hundred miles away from Anmer Hall in Norfolk. Add in a lack of other royal stories happening because King Charles is out of the public eye, yet the tabs don't consider Ed, Sophie, or Anne story-worthy material.

The UK tabs also have a simplistic take when framing members of the BRF, i.e. good person vs bad person. This is why QEII was always written about favorably, even when she made blunders that damaged the monarchy, e.g. Diana, Andrew, etc. It's also why Charles was written about in negative tones, even though he has always fulfilled his duties and done his job, unlike both his sons. The UK media as a whole doesn't do nuance very well.

[easthavenhq]

EAST HAVEN'S 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY EVENT: THE WIND STORM

With the 1 year anniversary of East Haven's opening, we have decided to have an event that centers around a wind storm that is blowing it's way through town, inciting chaos where ever it goes. The event will start on January 5th at 12pm (noon) and end on January 15th at 12am (midnight). No new starters should be posted after January 10th.

You were placed into groups that are listed below. You will be expected to write with at least one character in that group that you normally do not write with. You are still free to do other threads with others in the group, but are required to at least one.

Participation for this event will be mandatory. Acceptances and checks will be held as usual. Reminder: Injuries need to be in by January 3rd*. You can find the form here. Details of this will be posted on the 5th.

Characters and locations are listed under the cut and will be updated with acceptances & unfollows. Please use the tag easthavenevent007.

East Haven Memorial - Maple Hills

Stevie Wagner - Kayla Johnny Wagner - K Sunny Hussan - Jennie River Jackson - Star Sarah Ruiz - El Gale Peterson - Nadine Callum Jackson - Madison Alec Kincade - Justin Aubrey Miller - Lital Wesley Levitt - K

City Hall - Downtown

Nate Clairmont - Kayla Brody Evans - Jackie Aarin Duskin - K Chantel Bedford - Katelyn Ann-Marie Seigert - Jennie Maggie Sommers - Kayla Mallory Sinclair - K Verity Wagner - Mat Max Diax - Star Isabella Castro - JimJam Andrew Jackson - Nadine

Willow Springs Apartments - Downtown

Ashi Hussan - Kayla Emre Ediz - K Orion Blakely - Justin Jude Sanchez-Khalid - Star Amerie Chen - Mat Dana Allen-Lopez - K Apollo Williams - Desi Riley Day - Marie Celine Ediz - Gigi Beyza Senkan - Kayla

Heywood University - Downtown

Liliana Santos-Blake - Nadine Cami Quintana-Lopez - Marie Cristian Hernandez - Dix Asher Spring - Kae Wyatt Wheeler - K Prue Cassidy - Kayla Marcus Reyes - K Alex Fontenelle - Madison Frederick Sullivan - Star Genevieve Hernandez - Beki

Fire Department - Downtown

Connor Bowen - K Penelope Ruiz - Nadine Benjamin Jackson - Justin Harlow Hanlon - S Eddie Castro - Kayla Ari Seong-Paterson - Katelyn Keely Seigert - Desi Brady Levitt - Jennie Roman Rhodes - G Javier Rivera - Dix Renee Thompson - K

Mount Aston Lodge - Mount Aston

Josiah Huddington - Katelyn Neena Wagner - Gigi Dilara Baysal - K Malik Farouk - Jackie Travis Jackson - Kayla Samuel Bradford - S Cameron Hatcher - Dix Mason Paterson - K Josh Pryce - Nadine Diego Castro - Star

Gas n Go - Sutherland Park

Shane Marshall - Jay Alice Cheung - K Bridget Levitt - Kayla James Morrison - Sam Quentin Levitt - Nadine Hunter Renner - Star Bee Bowen - El Estella Harris - Lital Julieta Alvarez - K Alliannah Vaughn - Katelyn

Animal House Shelter - Maple Hills

Evren Osman - Katelyn Morgan Fontenelle - K Alaric Farrow - S Lance Browne - Justin Roberta Rhodes - Kayla Gavin Gunther - Jackie Chanse Ainsworth - Kae Chloe Austin - Madison Mateo Torres - K Isla Ricci - Mat

South Pines - Primrose Heights

Abraham Wilson - K Julian Heywood - Nadine Luciana Medina - Kayla Owen Bentley - Star Ricky Thompson - Jennie Luna Morales - Lital Simon Heywood - Marie Matt Wheeler - Kayla Valentina Delgado - K Rohan Belton-Stone - Justin

Old Maple Way - Maple Hills

Dean Walker - Dix Nicole Peterson - Kayla Haven Sinclair - Katelyn Oliver Hensley - JimJam Aster Moon - G Hazal Senkan - K Kanyon Webb - Jackie Aindreis Blythe - Marie Yasmin Ansari - K Sydney Heywood - Gigi Demir Ediz - Lisa

Tequila Cowboy - Sutherland Park

Donovan Morgan - Star Marcel Vaughn - Mat Amayah Fontenelle - Nadine Abel Morgan - K Teagan Weatherford - Katelyn Jaslene Clairmont - K Maverick Bennett - Dix Sofia Carmichael - Kayla Romeo Clark - Jackie Graham Winters - JimJam

Maple Hills Mall - Maple Hills

Parker Campbell - K Xia Huang-Clark - Kayla Viktor Pierce - Dix Lenny Clairmont - K Nancy Lee - Kayla Nora Sinclair - Beki Tyler Day - Star Summer Cassidy - El Ali Webster - Sam Daniel Kwon - Nadine Harrison Lee - Jennie

Moose Lodge Rentals - Primrose Heights

Nick Wagner - Kayla Eli Browne - K Vivek Virani - Jackie Charlie Davis - Star Waverly Erickson - Em Cael Montgomery - Nadine Adem Sahir - Madison Jeremy Lieberman - Kayla Jo Spring - Marie Logan Walker - K

*We did change this so we could have time to talk to and plan these injuries.

[alsolowkeynostalgic]

Scavenger Hunt #32: Show off your Bond merch

damn, that's ... a lot. if you want to play where's waldo, here's a full list:

all the Bond DVDs including the cursed one

a DVD of Casino Royale signed by Daniel Craig

all the Fleming novels (two French integrals from the 80s + a few battered 1960s original French editions + a early 2000s reprint of Casino Royale), Carte Blanche, Forever And A Day and With A Mind To Kill (signed by Horowitz)

Intelligent Fitness by Simon Waterson (Craig's PT for the Bond films)

2 making-of books for No Time To Die

11 soundtracks

7 comic books

a numbered print of a 007 x Greg Williams photograph from the set of Casino Royale

9 promotional metal plaques, printed in the 1990s

2 photo prints (Dr No and The Living Daylights)

2 cinema-sized posters (TWINE and NTTD) and a smaller poster (NTTD)

3 t-shirts: YOLT, Octopussy, Moonraker

tickets to Skyfall and to the world premiere of NTTD at the Royal Albert Hall

a Sunspel navy polo shirt (as worn by Craig in Casino Royale)

an Aston Martin DB5 keyring

a replica of Vesper's love knot necklace from Casino Royale

a (fake) 007 Omega with the Spectre and NTTD nato straps

this took about two hours to organize!

not pictured: my NTTD screen-accurate Jed North bodybuilding shorts, tickets to the Spectre world premiere in Paris and a massive pile of posters (Casino, Spectre and Skyfall mostly)

[f1]

Frank Williams Academy launched in memory of legendary F1 team boss

Claire Williams has launched a new charitable initiative – The Frank Williams Academy – run by the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) in memory of her father, one of Formula 1’s most successful Team Principals. Sir Frank Williams, F1’s long-serving team boss who ran two teams during a career that spanned five decades and saw him win seven drivers’ titles and nine constructors’ championships, died in 2021. READ MORE: Playing the long game – How new boss James Vowles is plotting Williams’ return to form He spent most of his F1 career in a wheelchair as a tetraplegic after sustaining a spinal cord injury in a car crash in 1986. As Sir Frank reduced his workload, his daughter Claire took over as the family representative and was Deputy Team Principal in charge of the day-to-day running of the operation before the family sold the team to Dorilton Capital in 2021. Claire was keen to continue Sir Frank’s incredible legacy and on Wednesday, at Hoare Memorial Hall in London’s Westminster and in the presence of the SIA’s patron HRH The Princess Royal, the Frank Williams Academy was launched. Frank and Claire Williams pictured during their time running the Grove team “My father lived the most extraordinary life, not least as one of the most successful Team Principals in the history of the sport and doing so from a wheelchair as a tetraplegic for the greater part of it,” said Claire. “His tenacity in the face of this adversity was just one of the many things that made him such an inspiration to many while he was alive. “Following his death, I wanted to do something to continue that legacy, and the Frank Williams Academy couldn’t be a more fitting tribute. The work that the Academy will do will provide potentially life changing care for spinal cord injured people, just as the SIA did for my dad. With that support, the bounds of possibility are endless.” READ MORE: Sargeant picks out what he is enjoying the most about F1 so far – and the main area he needs to improve Williams Racing supported the launch, with board members Matthew Savage and James Matthews plus Team Principal James Vowles present. The Academy’s logo will run on the team’s FW45 driven by Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant at next weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. “We’re delighted to support the launch of the Frank Williams Academy,” said Savage. “To honour Sir Frank's life by providing fundamental education, care and support to change the lives of people affected by spinal cord injuries is truly special. Everyone at Williams Racing is looking forward to helping the Academy flourish.” While Dorilton Capital now run the team, the famous Williams name remains The Academy aims to raise £1.5m to launch and establish the Academy during its early years, with funding set to be used to help educate and train those affected by spinal cord injuries and healthcare professionals to ensure safe, appropriate care is provided. The SIA has been Williams’ Official Charity since 2015, with Claire being appointed Vice President of the organisation a year later. READ MORE: From Brawn GP’s fairytale to Aston Martin’s super start – The biggest year-on-year performance jumps in F1 history “Inspired by Sir Frank’s success and motivated by the challenges he faced, the vision is to completely transform the availability of specialist expertise in health and care so that anyone anywhere has the best chance of a fulfilled life after injury,” added Nik Harley, the SIA’s CEO. “Sir Frank was the living example of such a life. We’re so grateful to his daughter, our amazing Vice President, Claire Williams and to Williams Racing for backing this.” You can make a donation to the Frank Williams Academy here. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[causeiwanttoandican]

The Times

Prince William’s close friends on what makes him tick — and why he’s not trapped

March 20 2021, 6:00pm

As the world devours the Harry and Meghan interview, what’s going on with the brother who was left behind? He’s embracing his destiny, William’s close friends tell the Sunday Times royal correspondent, Roya Nikkhah

Next month Prince William will celebrate his tenth wedding anniversary — the day he became a duke and embarked on the most formative decade of his life. Back then, the tentative 28-year-old newlywed was not ready to devote himself entirely to royal duties. A decade on, he is in a very different position.

The job of being the heir to the heir to the throne, of finding a balance between life and duty, is difficult at the best of times. These are not the best of times. In their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey this month the Duke and Duchess of Sussex accused the royal family and the institution around it of racism and callous disregard for a suicidal newcomer, among many other damning charges. Harry the spare also declared that William was trapped within “the system … My brother can’t leave that system, but I have.”

In the immediate aftermath of the interview William was “reeling”, a source close to the duke says. “His head is all over the place on it.” Four days after the Sussexes had their say, he hit back during an engagement with the Duchess of Cambridge at a school in east London. Asked about accusations of racism, William retorted with restrained fury: “We’re very much not a racist family.” He also confirmed that he hadn’t spoken to Harry yet, “but will do”. By the weekend it emerged they had “been in contact”.

William is thought to have been less than thrilled a few days later when that conversation made global headlines after the American presenter Gayle King, a close friend of the Sussexes, revealed live on air that it had not been an easy chat: “I did actually call them to see how they were feeling,” she told viewers. “Harry has talked to his brother and he had talked to his father too. The word I was given was that those conversations were not productive.” The intervention prompted a senior royal source to say that “none of the households will be giving a running commentary on private conversations”.

A close friend of both brothers says Harry’s “trapped” comment was “way off the mark”, insisting that William does not see it that way. “He has a path set for him and he’s completely accepting of his role. He is very much his grandmother’s grandson in that respect of duty and service.”

When the Queen turned 90 nearly five years ago William admitted “the challenge” that “occupies a lot of thinking space” is how to “modernise and develop” the royal family, and make it “relevant in the next 20 years’ time”. Twenty years now seems like a very long time. In the hours and days after the Oprah broadcast, William was at the heart of all discussions with the Queen and the Prince of Wales about how to respond to the Sussexes. He was keen that the issue of race should be acknowledged in the Queen’s statement as an area of particular concern that “will be addressed”.

William has always railed against being a “ribbon-cutter royal” and the issues he champions — mental health, battling racism in football, homelessness and his ramped-up eco-warrior role — are a window into where the future King William V will take the House of Windsor. A friend says: “He’s a small-c conservative. He values tradition and the need to go around the country, but he realises he can make a difference beyond traditional royal duties.”

Today royal popularity is, to put it mildly, in a state of flux, but William’s strategy has been working. Post-Oprah, he ranks just below the Queen at the top of a YouGov poll of royals. Not so long ago such a position looked like a long shot, when the “workshy Wills” and “reluctant royal” tags plagued him and he was clocking up fewer days of royal work than his nonagenarian grandparents. Pictures of him hitting the ski slopes and clubs of Swiss resort Verbier in March 2017, missing a Commonwealth service that even the Duke of York flew back for, didn’t help.

After the lasting PR gold dust of the Cambridges’ 2011 wedding and the births of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, it was the first public nosedive for William, who was still working as an air ambulance pilot. “That pissed him off,” a friend says. “He was leaving home at 5.30am, getting home after dark and saving lives in between, but people were still being critical of his commitment to his [other] job.” William was based at Cambridge airport with East Anglian Air Ambulance for two years, where he was on call for “some very sad, dark moments”, often working “on very traumatic jobs involving children”. He later acknowledged that “after I had my own children … the relation between the job and the personal life was what really took me over the edge, and I started feeling things that I have never felt before”. But it was a job he loved, because of “working in a team … that’s something that my other job doesn’t necessarily do. You are more out there on your own.”

A former royal aide says: “Immediately after their wedding he had a very clear idea of the pace at which he wanted to take things.” William was adamant he wouldn’t curtail his day jobs, first as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot in Anglesey and then with the air ambulance. “If you’re not careful, duty can weigh you down an awful lot at an early age,” he said, insisting he didn’t “lie awake waiting or hoping” to be king. He delayed full-time royal duties until the autumn of 2017, when, acknowledging the Cambridges’ future required more time at “monarchy HQ”, they moved from Norfolk to London and George started school.

He’d had to fight his corner for the air ambulance role. A source close to William reveals “there were lots of raised eyebrows in the Palace when he wanted to do that. While the Queen and his father backed him, some senior courtiers questioned whether it was becoming of a future king to be doing a middle-class role, hanging out with ordinary people. They thought he wouldn’t stick it out, he’d find it boring, or was doing it out of stubbornness to put off royal duties. He was pretty bloody-minded about it, and determined that other people’s expectations in the media or the system shouldn’t get in the way of his own values.” In the wake of Harry and Meghan’s interview much has been speculated about the extent to which royal life is dictated by Palace officials, but it is clear that William has managed to forge his own path. Who knows how high those senior courtiers’ eyebrows rose in 2019, when William spent three weeks shadowing the spooks of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ to learn how they combat terrorism. He insisted on being called “Will” and lunching in the canteen every day.

Those closest to the duke say his resistance to the idea of full-time royal duties stemmed not only from a desire to achieve something for himself but also from a fear of the impact on his family life. Miguel Head worked alongside the prince for ten years until 2018, as William, Kate and Harry’s communications secretary and later as William’s private secretary. “In his role everyone’s going to tell you you’re marvellous,” Head says. “The RAF and air ambulance jobs were about knowing what his abilities were, what he was good at in his own right. Without that he’d still be hankering for something that was his own.” After children came along he says William developed a “visceral determination to give them a life of consistency and privacy that were missing for large parts of his own childhood”.

Another close aide says the plan enabling the Cambridges to have a few years of “normal” married life, away from the full-time glare of the royal spotlight, paid dividends: “For years, the battles around privacy and paparazzi intrusion were all-consuming. He wanted to know, could we build them a credible plan allowing them a family life while slowly increasing the profile of official life? It took years to get there, but the success of that plan allowed him to be confident and content in his role. He’s not worried about his kids’ privacy any more and he has been able to be the kind of dad he wants to be.”

“Marriage maketh the man,” a friend says. “Catherine’s groundedness has been the critical anchor. And where his relationship with the media was once all fury and frustration, he now understands using the power of modern media, so the public feel they’re getting enough access.”

The children’s birthdays are marked with photographs — often taken by the Duchess of Cambridge — and there has been a noticeable increase in their public appearances of late. While not “officially” staged, William was happy to let George and Charlotte be photographed at their first Aston Villa match with Mum and Dad in 2019. Pandemic set pieces have shown the family clapping for the NHS on the steps of Anmer Hall, their Norfolk home, and, before Christmas, their first red-carpet appearance together for an evening at the panto with key workers and their children.

As they celebrate their anniversary on April 29, friends who joined the Cambridges on their wedding day tell me the partnership’s equal footing is key to its success. “They’ve got a solid relationship and she gives him confidence,” one says. “There is no jealousy, no friction, they are happy for each other’s successes.” In private William talks as passionately about Kate’s work as his own campaigns, and takes pride in her growing confidence on the public stage.

William has said his grandmother’s approach to being head of state is to take “more of a passive role. She’s above politics and is very much away from it.” He doesn’t plan to meddle in party politics, but he was not happy about the unenviable position the government put the Queen in with the 2019 proroguing of parliament, which was later ruled to be unlawful and forced an apology from Boris Johnson to the monarch. Constitutionally the Queen had no alternative other than to act on the advice of her government, but in William’s reign there will be “more private, robust challenging of advice”. His last three private secretaries — Christian Jones, Simon Case, now the cabinet secretary, and Head — had all worked in government departments, helping William to keep his finger on the political pulse. The new incumbent, the Whitehall heavyweight Jean-Christophe Gray, who served as David Cameron’s spokesman, continues in that vein.

The former Conservative leader Lord Hague of Richmond was last year appointed as chairman of the Royal Foundation to develop William’s work on mental health, the environment and a raft of new support programmes for key workers. “People internationally and nationally respect his credibility and knowledge on these issues,” Hague says. “He’s very persuasive. You only see that behind the scenes. He knows what he wants and he goes out to get it.”

Charlie Mayhew, chief executive of the conservation charity Tusk, has known William since he was 20. In 2005 Tusk and Centrepoint, the homelessness charity championed by Princess Diana, were the first patronages William took on. “In those early years I kept having to pinch myself to remember how young he was,” Mayhew says. “He was much more mature than his age and very aware of his destiny coming down the track. He had a sincerity, but never without wicked humour. His teasing is merciless.”

William knows some people see his passion for conservation as a posh man’s part-time hobby, but Mayhew says the duke’s “genuine and huge knowledge” undermines that view. “He’ll call and WhatsApp to flag up something that I haven’t even seen in the conservation space. He can be impatient to get things done.” Last year William launched the Earthshot prize, a £50 million Nobel-style environmental award to galvanise solutions to global problems over the next decade. He believes “conservation and the environment … shouldn’t be a luxury, it’s a necessity”, Mayhew says. “That’s the drum he wants to beat. He’s got a megaphone and wants to use it in the most constructive way. He speaks for that next generation and I think they can relate to it.”

A turning point for William was his 2015 official visit to China, one of the world’s largest consumers of ivory, where he met President Xi and condemned the illegal wildlife trade as a “vicious form of criminality”. Unlike his father, who has refused to visit the People’s Republic over its human rights record and treatment of Tibet, William’s view was that despite the UK’s fractious relationship with China, “we’ve got to engage”.

“It was very political, raising the illegal wildlife trade in China. I’m sure the diplomats were having all sort of nightmares in advance,” says Mayhew, who joined the duke in China. “But he was gathering greater confidence that he had the ability to be a mouthpiece for the issue.” Mayhew reveals that while William was visiting Japan before China, he still hadn’t secured a meeting with Xi. “But when the Chinese saw all the high-level meetings he was having in Japan, they changed their minds and Xi made time for him.” Later that year, as Xi began a UK state visit, William appeared on Chinese television condemning the ivory trade. Two years later China banned the trade.

In 2018 he spent months prepping for his most high-stakes overseas visit yet, to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories that summer. Navigating the diplomatic tightrope walk between Jerusalem and the West Bank, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Ramallah. As he travelled back to Jerusalem, he changed his speech for a reception with young Israelis and Palestinians to strengthen his solidarity with the latter: “My message tonight is that you have not been forgotten … The United Kingdom stands with you.” It was a bold move, but both sides hailed his visit a success and the officials breathed a sigh of relief. To the delight of the travelling press pack, William’s engagements on the final day were brought forward, allowing the diplomat duke and president of the Football Association to land back in the UK in time to watch England’s World Cup tie.

Ask him if he’s a peacemaker and William will laugh, saying Kate is the mediator. But according to a source close to William and Harry, his bridge-building skills were deployed in the lead-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018, when tensions in the Kensington Palace household, then still shared by the brothers, were running high: “Every time there was a drama, or a member of staff on the verge of quitting, William would personally try and sort it out.”

As the brothers clashed more over the substance and style of their work, and the family hierarchy that William is a stickler for but Harry is less keen on, a split was inevitable. When they finally divided their households in March 2019, it had been a long time coming. But he never thought that a year later his brother would up sticks for America.

The pair went for a long walk to clear the air after the “Sandringham summit” when the Megxit deal was hammered out, but did not part shores as friends. What upset William the most was Harry and Meghan’s surprise launch of their “Sussex Royal” website before the summit, which featured their blueprint wish list of a part-time, commercial royal future. Later, when the Queen decreed they could no longer use “royal” in their future ventures, their website hit back with this bold statement: “While there is not any jurisdiction by The Monarchy … over the use of the word ‘Royal’ overseas, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use ‘Sussex Royal’ … or … ‘Royal’ …” Both “the content and that it’s still online is staggering”, a senior royal source says. “That was it for William, he felt they’d blindsided the Queen in such an insulting and disrespectful way,” says a source close to him, who reveals it was still at the forefront of William’s mind at the Commonwealth Day service one year ago. It was the Sussexes’ final engagement as working royals, and the froideur between them and the rest of the family was unmistakable.

It is a year since the Sussexes left for California and William misses Harry. “Once he got over the anger of how things happened, he was left with the absence of his brother,” an aide says. “They shared everything about their lives, an office, a foundation, meetings together most days and there was a lot of fun along the way. He’ll miss it for ever.” A close friend says William “definitely feels the pressure now it’s all on him — his future looks different because of his brother’s choices, it’s not easy.” Another friend says: “It’s still raw. He’s very upset by what’s happened, though absolutely intent that he and Harry’s relationship will heal in time.”

After lobbing bombs in his Oprah interview, Harry said: “I love William to bits … We’ve been through hell together … we have a shared experience … The relationship is space at the moment, and time heals all things, hopefully.” Harry would be wise not to set his stopwatch.

The first test will come this summer, when the brothers could be reunited for a series of family engagements including the Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday and the Queen’s birthday parade in June. In July they are scheduled to unveil a statue of their mother at Kensington Palace, marking what would have been Diana’s 60th birthday, an emotionally charged occasion with the world watching.

While a chasm has opened up between the brothers, William has grown closer to the Queen and Prince Charles. He has helped them to navigate their way through Megxit, Prince Andrew’s removal from public life following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and, now, the Oprah controversy. “That has changed the way the Queen sees him and values his input,” a courtier says. William also feels his relationship with his grandmother has “massively improved” in recent years and their views are “more aligned than ever”.

Friends say there has also been a “renaissance” in William and Charles’s relationship. “As the years passed there were strains imposed by the system — money, work, competition, Diana,” one says. “Part of William’s evolution is that as he has become closer to his father, he sees their similarities. At William’s wedding there was a gag in one of the speeches that he was more like his father than he’d ever admit, which made a lot of us laugh. As their respective destinies get closer, it weighs more heavily on them and strengthens the bond. The rift with Harry has also brought them closer.”

William is said to hate “flummery”, though the role of future king comes with plenty of bowing and scraping. But in 2017, for the first time publicly, he didn’t get his way. As a new parent worried about rising teenage suicide rates, he had spent a year convening a Cyberbullying Taskforce with big cheeses from tech and social media giants including Facebook, Snapchat, Apple, Google and Twitter. He wanted them to adopt industry-wide guidelines creating safer online spaces for children. According to William the meetings at Kensington Palace got “fruity” and the tech giants didn’t come close to the change he wanted. He was furious.

Tessy Ojo, chief executive of the Diana Award youth charity, sat on the taskforce. “He was deeply disappointed,” she says. “He didn’t come into it as ‘the duke’, he gave emotional pleas as a father.” William has since publicly condemned social media giants for their “false choice of profits over values” and privately offered support to the family of Molly Russell, who took her life at 14 after viewing images of self-harm online. Ojo believes it is William’s “lived experience of the fragility of life that guides the work he does”.

It also shapes the way he and Kate are raising their family. William has said he is determined that the grandchildren Diana never knew should “know who she was and that she existed”. He “constantly” talks to his children “about Granny Diana” at bedtime, so that they know “there are two grandmothers in their lives”. Earlier this month on Mother’s Day, Kensington Palace’s social media feeds published George, Charlotte and Louis’s cards paying tribute to “Granny Diana”, revealing it is an annual ritual for the Cambridge children. After a difficult few weeks for William, a line in Charlotte’s card provided poignant insight into how he is feeling: “Papa is missing you.”

He is on course to be a more modern monarch than any before him, but William is still a creature of habit at heart. He has the same tight circle of friends from his schooldays, one of whom says that, with William, “it’s all about trust and loyalty”. He plays five-a-side football in his Villa socks when he can, goes to the Chelsea Harbour Club gym he went to as a child with his mother and has a “smart casual” public uniform of chinos, jacket, blue shirt and no tie.

“William’s not trying to be down with the kids,” a friend says. “He never wants to be painted as irrelevant or dull, though he’s allergic to being compared to celebrities. The public doesn’t always get to see his funny side, but otherwise he’s the same in private as in public. He once said, ‘I’ll be in the public eye all my life. I can’t hide who I am because I’ll be found out.’ ”

In 2019, during a visit to a youth homelessness charity supporting LGBT people, William was asked how he would feel if one of his children was gay. “Absolutely fine,” he replied. “I fully support whatever decision they make, but it does worry me from a parent’s point of view how many barriers, hateful words, persecution and discrimination might come.” Such a personal exchange was a radical departure from royal engagement small talk. But William, the first in his family to be photographed for the cover of a gay magazine, had personally put the issue on the agenda.

As president of Bafta he gave the academy a diplomatic dressing down in his speech at last year’s ceremony, expressing his “frustration” over the lack of diversity: “In 2020, and not for the first time in the last few years, we find ourselves talking again about the need to do more to ensure diversity in the sector and in the awards process — that simply cannot be right in this day and age.” The 2021 nominees announced this month suggest his words hit home.

William “thinks the public look to him to keep royal work looking modern”, a confidante says. “The Queen and Prince of Wales are providing continuity and stability. He’s carving out his own relationship with diverse communities. He sees it all as a way of doing things now that will help a smooth transition when the time comes.”

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, as a former frontline worker himself, William has led the royal charge supporting key workers. “Now, more than ever, he knows what his role in public life is, and he sees the value in it,” a close aide says. Chatting to NHS workers in January, William said: “Something that I noticed from my brief spell flying the air ambulance … is that when you see so much death and so much bereavement, it does impact how you see the world … as a … darker, blacker place.” Soon after the first lockdown was announced, the Cambridges’ Royal Foundation launched Our Frontline, a round-the-clock mental health and bereavement service for key workers.

Miguel Head says the future King William will continue to campaign on his big issues: “I can’t see him backing away from causes he’s passionate about. And while he’s not someone who loves ceremony, he knows the importance of it. When he gets the top job he won’t do away with it all. He’s mindful the monarchy represents something timeless that’s above all of us, and many people like the magic and theatre of it.”

Roya Nikkhah

Roya is royal correspondent at The Sunday Times. Over more than a decade she has covered royal events for the BBC, interviewed the Prince of Wales and Prince Harry and presented the films Prince William, Monarch in the Making and Meghan and Harry: The Baby Years.

[checkeredflaggirl]

F1 drivers as songs in my playlist

Songs taken from some of my playlist. Not that deep fairly mainstream.

Psst psst they are clickable

Team Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton

Machine Gun Kelly - Hollywood Whore “I'm askin', when did pride and passion get mistaken for handouts and ass-kissing?”

Valterri Bottas

Halsey - Now or Never “Know I need you 'round with me But nobody waitin' 'round with me Been through the ups Yeah the ups and the downs with me”

Team Red Bull

Max Verstappen

Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine? “I go crazy 'cause here isn't where I wanna be And satisfaction feels like a distant memory And I can't help myself All I wanna ever say is, "Are you mine?" Well, are you mine?”

Sergio Perez

Cage the Elephant - Night Running “We're on a night run Boy you better hold your tongue Talking like you coming from kingdom come Rhythm and reeling The feeling I'm riding The sound to the ceiling”

Team Mclaren

Daniel Ricciardo

Weathers - Happy Pills “I take my pills and I'm happy all the time I'm happy all the time I'm happy all the time”

Lando Norris

Lykke Li - Rich Kids Blues “I got the rich kids blues And they got nothing to do with you I got the rich kids blues And I'm not sure that I'm pulling through”

Team Ferrari

Carlos Sainz

Modern Talking - Cheri Cheri Lady “I get up and get down Oh, my world turns around Who is right? Who is wrong? I don't know I've got pain in my heart Got a love in my soul Easy come but I think easy go I need you so All those times I'm not so strong”

Charles Leclerc

Year s & Years - Shine “It's shaking the sky And I'm following lightning I'll recover if you keep me alive Don't leave me behind Can you see me? I'm shining And it's you that I've been waiting to find”

Team Alpine

Esteban Ocon

Foster the People - Coming of Age “You know I try to live without regrets I'm always moving forward and not looking back But I tend to leave a trail of dead, while I'm moving ahead So I'm stepping away Cause I got nothing to say”

Fernando Alonso

The Weeknd - False Alarm “Six inch long, 'bout three inch wide (She loves) Dolla, dolla bill is her only type (She loves) You love her but you'll never be (She loves) The one, the one Diamonds and the rings are her fantasy (She loves) She chase hearts with the Hennessy (She loves) You love her, but you'll never be (She loves) Enough, enough”

Team Alpha Tauri

Pierre Gasly

The Neighbourhood - Dust “All the lucky ones kept fucking it up Threatened our lives but it wasn't enough Didn't wanna sit down, couldn't listen to nobody So everybody went out of control”

Yuki Tsunoda

Jungle - Lucky I Got What I Want “I steal living Tell me I'm wrong Will I be forgiven If I wanna walk like you Swing it back when I want”

Team Aston Martin

Lance Stroll

Charlie Puth - My Gospel “I'd stroll into a bank and put a ski mask on And walk out with a million bucks Then I'd burn it in a pile out on your front lawn Just to prove it didn't mean that much I'd sell everything I own, take a pile of cash Walk into the casino, bet it all on black Then blow all of my winnings on a limousine To make out with you in the back, hey”

Sebastian Vettel

Hall & Oates - Family Man “He said, leave me alone, I'm a family man And my bark is much worse than my bite He said, leave me alone, I'm a family man If you push me too far I just might”

Team Alfa Romeo

Kimi Raikkonen

Depeche Mode - Strangelove “But when you think I've had enough From your sea of love I'll take more than another river full Yes, and I'll make it all worthwhile I'll make your heart smile”

Antonio Giovanazzi

Journey - Don’t Stop Believin’ “Workin' hard to get my fill Everybody wants a thrill Payin' anything to roll the dice Just one more time Some will win Some will lose Some were born to sing the blues Oh, the movie never ends It goes on and on, and on, and on”

Team Haas

Mick Schumacher

Panic at the Disco! - Vegas Lights “In the Vegas lights Where villains spend the weekend The deep end We're swimming with the sharks until we drown”

Nikita Mazepin

Lykke Li - Sex, Money, Feelings Die - “Baby don’t you cry, sex, money, feelings die, ladies on my right, sex, money, feelings die”

Team Williams

George Russell

A-Ha - The Sun Always Shines On TV “All my powers waste away I fear the crazed and lonely looks The mirror's sending me These Days Touch me How can it be Believe me The sun always shines on T.V”

Nicholas Latifi

Holding out for a Hero - Bonnie Tyler “Where have all the good men gone and where are all the Gods? Where's the street wise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed? Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what need I need a hero”

[sagehaleyofficial]

HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK (8.11-8.17.21):

NEW MUSIC:

- Machine Gun Kelly revealed the title of his upcoming new album, Born With Horns. The singer was seen getting a new tattoo alongside Blink-182's Travis Barker bearing the phrase in an Instagram post, with the pair later dropping the single “Papercuts.” - Ice Nine Kills dropped another music video from the upcoming new album The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood. The song is titled “Assault and Batteries,” inspired by the movie Child’s Play. - Hawthorne Heights dropped the title track of their upcoming new album The Rain Just Follows Me, out October 22. The song follows the release of their previous single “Constant Dread.” - Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes released the latest track from their upcoming new album Sticky titled “Go Get a Tattoo.” The song features the vocal talents of pop artist Lynks. - Halsey revealed the full track listing of their upcoming new album If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power. Produced by Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the album is set to be released on August 27. - Thrice released another track from their upcoming new album Horizons/East titled “Robot Soft Exorcism.” The new album is out digitally on September 17, with a physical release on October 8, via Epitaph. - Chase Atlantic released a visual accompaniment to their track “Ohmami.” The track is the first music the band have released since their full-length Beauty in Death at the start of the year. - Dragged Under released a new collab with Underoath’s Spencer Chamberlain titled “Brainwash Broadcast.” The band released their debut album The World is in Your Way last year via Mascot Records. - Black Veil Brides released a new video for their latest single “Torch.” Their upcoming album The Phantom Tomorrow is set for release on October 29 via Sumerian Records. - Crown the Empire released a new track called “In Another Life” featuring Courtney LaPlante of Spiritbox. The song is the first new music from the band since last year's acoustic release 07102010. - This Wild Life revealed the details of their new full-length album Ever Blossom, their first since setting out once more as an independent band. The announcement comes with their new single “If It's Cool With You I'm Cool With Being Through.” - Normandie shared an acoustic version of their track “Hostage” from their most recent album. It's the latest in a long line of acoustic versions that the band have been releasing as of late. - Anxious revealed that they have signed a record deal with Run for Cover Records, as well as released a new single titled “Call From You.” The track follows on from a two-track EP called New Shapes that they released earlier this year. - Real Friends shared a new cover of the Smashing Pumpkins' 1995 hit “Tonight, Tonight.” The band also recently released reimagined versions of their tracks “Nervous Wreck” and “Storyteller.” - Mayday Parade shared a new song titled “Bad at Love.” The song follows on from their previous single “Kids of Summer,” which serves as an ode to their Vans Warped Tour days.

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

- Neck Deep announced a pair of warm-up shows ahead of their main stage appearance at Reading & Leeds festival later this month. The band are set to perform at Wrexham's William Aston Hall on August 24 and in Chester at The Live Rooms on August 25. - Architects revealed that they have rescheduled their upcoming tour of the UK/Europe to later in 2022. The tour will now kick off on May 2 in Leeds and end on May 20 in Frankfurt. - Bring Me the Horizon frontman Oli Sykes joined Yungblud onstage during his show at London's O2 Kentish Town Forum last week. The performance marked the pair’s live debut of their collab song “Obey.” - As It Is announced two warm-up shows ahead of their appearance at Slam Dunk Festival next month. The band will play Brighton's Patterns venue on September 1 and Swansea's Sin City on September 2. - Reading & Leeds Festival announced that Spiritbox, Gallows and Cleopatrick will no longer be playing. In addition, the festival added Dinosaur Pile-Up, Holding Absence and Loathe to the lineup. - Yungblud delivered a cover of David Bowie's classic track “Heroes” at Great Britain’s Olympic homecoming concert. It was the second time this year that the singer has covered Bowie, taking on “Life On Mars” at a recent celebration concert. - Palaye Royale are set to play a free acoustic show in Los Angeles this coming Saturday at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Wilcox Avenue. The band will also be playing at The Wiltern on October 1, with support from De’Wayne and Mothica. - Foo Fighters announced that they will be making a return to the United Kingdom next summer. The band will play three shows in June and one London show in July with multiple guests. - All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth joined Blackbear onstage at his show last night in Texas for a performance of their smash hit “Monsters.” They also performed the song last week at Sad Summer Fest in Anaheim, California.

OTHER NEWS:

- Mindless Self Indulgence's James Euringer, aka Jimmy Urine, is being sued for alleged sexual assault of a minor, according to reports. Rolling Stone reported that a lawsuit was filed in New York City last Monday. - The nominees for the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards were revealed, with Evanescence and Foo Fighters nominated for Best Rock. The nominees for Best Alternative include Twenty One Pilots, Machine Gun Kelly and WILLOW. ___ Check in next Tuesday for more “Posi Talk with Sage Haley"!

[auroraluciferi]

if anyone in this time of deep concern of his health is interested about what a worthless piece of shit Prince Philip is, here is a very brief list of 90 racist, sexist, and incredibly ignorant things the man has said in the last century:

1. "Ghastly." Prince Philip's opinion of Beijing, during a 1986 tour of China.

2. "Ghastly." Prince Philip's opinion of Stoke-on-Trent, as offered to the city's Labour MP Joan Walley at Buckingham Palace in 1997.

3. "Deaf? If you're near there, no wonder you are deaf." Said to a group of deaf children standing near a Caribbean steel drum band in 2000.

4. "If you stay here much longer, you will go home with slitty eyes." To 21-year-old British student Simon Kerby during a visit to China in 1986.

5. "You managed not to get eaten then?" To a British student who had trekked in Papua New Guinea, during an official visit in 1998.

6. "You can't have been here that long – you haven't got a pot belly." To a British tourist during a tour of Budapest in Hungary. 1993.

7. "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?" Asked of a Scottish driving instructor in 1995.

8. "Damn fool question!" To BBC journalist Caroline Wyatt at a banquet at the Elysée Palace after she asked Queen Elizabeth if she was enjoying her stay in Paris in 2006.

9. "It looks as though it was put in by an Indian." The Prince's verdict of a fuse box during a tour of a Scottish factory in August 1999. He later clarified his comment: "I meant to say cowboys. "I just got my cowboys and Indians mixed up."

10. "People usually say that after a fire it is water damage that is the worst. We are still drying out Windsor Castle." To survivors of the Lockerbie bombings in 1993.

11. "We don't come here for our health. We can think of other ways of enjoying ourselves." During a trip to Canada in 1976.

12. "A few years ago, everybody was saying we must have more leisure, everyone's working too much. Now that everybody's got more leisure time they are complaining they are unemployed. People don't seem to make up their minds what they want." A man of the people shares insight into the recession that gripped Britain in 1981.

13. "British women can't cook." Winning the hearts of the Scottish Women's Institute in 1961.

14. "It was part of the fortunes of war. We didn't have counsellors rushing around every time somebody let off a gun, asking 'Are you all right - are you sure you don't have a ghastly problem?' You just got on with it!" On the issue of stress counselling for servicemen in a TV documentary marking the 50th Anniversary of V-J Day in 1995.

15. "What do you gargle with – pebbles?" To Tom Jones, after the Royal Variety Performance, 1969. He added the following day: "It is very difficult at all to see how it is possible to become immensely valuable by singing what I think are the most hideous songs."

16. "It's a vast waste of space." Philip entertained guests in 2000 at the reception of a new £18m British Embassy in Berlin, which the Queen had just opened.

17. "There's a lot of your family in tonight." After glancing at business chief Atul Patel's name badge during a 2009 Buckingham Palace reception for 400 influential British Indians to meet the Royal couple.

18. "If it has four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it." Said to a World Wildlife Fund meeting in 1986.

19. "You ARE a woman, aren't you?" To a woman in Kenya in 1984, after accepting a gift.

20. "Do you know they have eating dogs for the anorexic now?" To a wheelchair-bound Susan Edwards, and her guide dog Natalie in 2002.

21. "Get me a beer. I don't care what kind it is, just get me a beer!" On being offered the finest Italian wines by PM Giuliano Amato at a dinner in Rome in 2000.

22. "I would like to go to Russia very much – although the bastards murdered half my family." In 1967, asked if he would like to visit the Soviet Union.

23. "If a cricketer, for instance, suddenly decided to go into a school and batter a lot of people to death with a cricket bat, which he could do very easily, I mean, are you going to ban cricket bats?" In a Radio 4 interview shortly after the Dunblane shootings in 1996. He said to the interviewer off-air afterwards: "That will really set the cat among the pigeons, won't it?"

24. "Oh, it's you that owns that ghastly car is it? We often see it when driving to Windsor Castle." To neighbour Elton John after hearing he had sold his Watford FC-themed Aston Martin in 2001.

25. "The problem with London is the tourists. They cause the congestion. If we could just stop the tourism, we could stop the congestion." At the opening of City Hall in 2002.

26. "A pissometer?" The Prince sees the renames the piezometer water gauge demonstrated by Australian farmer Steve Filelti in 2000.

27. "Don't feed your rabbits pawpaw fruit – it acts as a contraceptive. Then again, it might not work on rabbits." Giving advice to a Caribbean rabbit breeder in Anguilla in 1994.

28. "You must be out of your minds." To Solomon Islanders, on being told that their population growth was 5 per cent a year, in 1982.

29. "Young people are the same as they always were. They are just as ignorant." At the 50th anniversary of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme.

30. "Your country is one of the most notorious centres of trading in endangered species." Accepting a conservation award in Thailand in 1991.

31. "Aren't most of you descended from pirates?" In the Cayman Islands, 1994.

32. "You bloody silly fool!" To an elderly car park attendant who made the mistake of not recognising him at Cambridge University in 1997.

33. "Oh! You are the people ruining the rivers and the environment." To three young employees of a Scottish fish farm at Holyrood Palace in 1999.

34. "If you travel as much as we do you appreciate the improvements in aircraft design of less noise and more comfort – provided you don't travel in something called economy class, which sounds ghastly." To the Aircraft Research Association in 2002.

35. "The French don't know how to cook breakfast." After a breakfast of bacon, eggs, smoked salmon, kedgeree, croissants and pain au chocolat – from Gallic chef Regis Crépy – in 2002.

36. "And what exotic part of the world do you come from?" Asked in 1999 of Tory politician Lord Taylor of Warwick, whose parents are Jamaican. He replied: "Birmingham."

37. "Oh no, I might catch some ghastly disease." On a visit to Australia in 1992, when asked if he wanted to stroke a koala bear.

38. "It doesn't look like much work goes on at this University." Overheard at Bristol University's engineering facility. It had been closed so that he and the Queen could officially open it in 2005.

39. "I wish he'd turn the microphone off!" The Prince expresses his opinion of Elton John's performance at the 73rd Royal Variety Show, 2001.

40. "Do you still throw spears at each other?" Prince Philip shocks Aboriginal leader William Brin at the Aboriginal Cultural Park in Queensland, 2002.

41. "Where's the Southern Comfort?" On being presented with a hamper of southern goods by the American ambassador in London in 1999.

42. "Were you here in the bad old days? ... That's why you can't read and write then!" To parents during a visit to Fir Vale Comprehensive School in Sheffield, which had suffered poor academic reputation.

43. "Ah you're the one who wrote the letter. So you can write then? Ha, ha! Well done." Meeting 14-year old George Barlow, whose invited to the Queen to visit Romford, Essex, in 2003.

44. "So who's on drugs here?... HE looks as if he's on drugs." To a 14-year-old member of a Bangladeshi youth club in 2002.

45. "You could do with losing a little bit of weight." To hopeful astronaut, 13-year-old Andrew Adams.

46. "You have mosquitoes. I have the Press." To the matron of a hospital in the Caribbean in 1966.

47. "The man who invented the red carpet needed his head examined." While hosts made effort to greet a state visit to Brazil, 1968.

48. "During the Blitz a lot of shops had their windows blown in and sometimes they put up notices saying, 'More open than usual.' I now declare this place more open than usual." Unveiling a plaque at the University of Hertfordshire's new Hatfield campus in November 2003.

49 . Philip: "Who are you?"

Simon Kelner: "I'm the editor-in-chief of The Independent, Sir."

Philip: "What are you doing here?"

Kelner: "You invited me."

Philip: "Well, you didn't have to come!"

An exchange at a press reception to mark the Golden Jubilee in 2002.

50. "No, I would probably end up spitting it out over everybody." Prince Philip declines the offer of some fish from Rick Stein's seafood deli in 2000.

51. "Any bloody fool can lay a wreath at the thingamy." Discussing his role in an interview with Jeremy Paxman.

52. "Holidays are curious things, aren't they? You send children to school to get them out of your hair. Then they come back and make life difficult for parents. That is why holidays are set so they are just about the limit of your endurance." At the opening of a school in 2000.

53. "People think there's a rigid class system here, but dukes have even been known to marry chorus girls. Some have even married Americans." In 2000.

54. "Can you tell the difference between them?" On being told by President Obama that he'd had breakfast with the leaders of the UK, China and Russia.

55. "I don't know how they are going to integrate in places like Glasgow and Sheffield." After meeting students from Brunei coming to Britain to study in 1998.

56. "Do people trip over you?" Meeting a wheelchair-bound nursing-home resident in 2002.

57. "That's a nice tie... Do you have any knickers in that material?" Discussing the tartan designed for the Papal visit with then-Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie last year.

58. "I have never been noticeably reticent about talking on subjects about which I know nothing." Addressing a group of industrialists in 1961.

59. "It's not a very big one, but at least it's dead and it took an awful lot of killing!" Speaking about a crocodile he shot in Gambia in 1957.

60. "Well, you didn't design your beard too well, did you? You really must try better with your beard." To a young fashion designer at a Buckingham Palace in 2009.

61. "So you're responsible for the kind of crap Channel Four produces!" Speaking to then chairman of the channel, Michael Bishop, in 1962.

62. "Dontopedalogy is the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot in it, a science which I have practiced for a good many years." Address to the General Dental Council, quoted in Time in 1960.

63. "Tolerance is the one essential ingredient ... You can take it from me that the Queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance." Advice for a successful marriage in 1997.

64. "I never see any home cooking – all I get is fancy stuff." Commiserating about the standard of Buckingham Palace cuisine in 1962.

65. "I suppose I would get in a lot of trouble if I were to melt them down." On being shown Nottingham Forest FC's trophy collection in 1999.

66. "It makes you all look like Dracula's daughters!" To pupils at Queen Anne's School in Reading, who wear blood-red uniforms, in 1998.

67. "I don't think a prostitute is more moral than a wife, but they are doing the same thing." Dismissing claims that those who sell slaughtered meat have greater moral authority than those who participate in blood sports, in 1988.

68. "Ah, so this is feminist corner then." Joining a group of female Labour MPs, who were wearing name badges reading "Ms", at a Buckingham Palace drinks party in 2000.

69. "Cats kill far more birds than men. Why don't you have a slogan: 'Kill a cat and save a bird?'" On being told of a project to protect turtle doves in Anguilla in 1965.

70. "All money nowadays seems to be produced with a natural homing instinct for the Treasury." Bemoaning the rate of British tax in 1963.

71. "It is my invariable custom to say something flattering to begin with so that I shall be excused if by any chance I put my foot in it later on." Full marks for honesty, from a speech in 1956.

72. "Why don't you go and live in a hostel to save cash?" Asked of a penniless student.

73. "In education, if in nothing else, the Scotsman knows what is best for him. Indeed, only a Scotsman can really survive a Scottish education." Said when he was made Chancellor of Edinburgh University in November 1953.

74. "If it doesn't fart or eat hay, she isn't interested." Of his daughter, Princess Anne.

75. "They're not mating are they?" Spotting two robots bumping in to one another at the Science Museum in 2000.

76. "I must be in the only person in Britain glad to see the back of that plane." Philip did not approve of the noise Concorde made while flying over the Buckingham Palace.

77. "The only active sport, which I follow, is polo – and most of the work's done by the pony!" 1965

78. "It looks like a tart's bedroom." On seeing plans for the Duke and then Duchess of York's house at Sunninghill Park.

79. "Reichskanzler." Prince Philip used Hitler's title to address German chancellor Helmut Kohl during a speech in Hanover in 1997.

80. "We go into the red next year... I shall probably have to give up polo." Comment on US television in 1969 about the Royal Family's finances.

81. "Bugger the table plan, give me my dinner!" Showing his impatience to be fed at a dinner party in 2004.

82. "I thought it was against the law these days for a woman to solicit." Said to a woman solicitor.

83. "You're just a silly little Whitehall twit: you don't trust me and I don't trust you." Said to Sir Rennie Maudslay, Keeper of the Privy Purse, in the 1970s.

84. "What about Tom Jones? He's made a million and he's a bloody awful singer." Response to a comment at a small-business lunch about how difficult it is in Britain to get rich.

85. "This could only happen in a technical college." On getting stuck in a lift between two floors at the Heriot Watt University, 1958.

86. "I'd much rather have stayed in the Navy, frankly." When asked what he felt about his life in 1992.

87. "It looks like the kind of thing my daughter would bring back from her school art lessons" On being shown "primitive" Ethiopian art in 1965.

88. "You're not wearing mink knickers, are you?" Philip charms fashion writer Serena French at a World Wildlife Fund gathering in 1993.

89. "My son...er...owns them." On being asked on a Canadian tour whether he knew the Scilly Isles.

90. "Well, that's more than you know about anything else then." Speaking, a touch condescendingly, to Michael Buerk, after being told by the BBC newsreader that he did know about the Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Awards in 2004.

[formula-what]

Team Principal Crash Course

I know someone’s probably done one of these, and I’m sure they are much prettier than mine. I’m going through a divorce with PowerPoint rn

But I’ve always wanted to do one of these!!! Also I needed an excuse to not sleep / do any actual productive work

This is for @landobviously and any new people to f1, although I’m not sure this is actually very helpful

Mercedes: Toto Wolff

Team principal and CEO

low key hot, has the floofiest hair.

His name is actually Torger Christian Wolff which I love even more than Toto.

Austria business man who personally owns 30% of Mercedes stock?? He originally owned shares for Williams but has sold them all :(

I think he’s pretty much unproblematic? But I’m a Mercedes Hoe so probably biased.

He’s married to Susie Wolff who used to be a racing driver. She did DTM, Formula Renault + F3 and was also a development/test driver for Williams (becoming the second woman to ever take part in an f1 weekend, 22 years after the first) She is now the team principle of a Formula-E team, Venturi Racing which is co-founded by Leonardo DiCaprio??

RedBull : Christian Horner

This is the fucker they interview All. Of. The. Fricking. Time.

Someone will breathe and they be like “let’s go to the pit lane to get Christians thoughts on this”

But he’s pretty funny and all of the other guys tend to shy away from the cameras so I’m not that pissed about it but like, sky Sports love him.

Has donkeys named after Max and Daniel

He fell in love with Sebastian Vettel and is still low key pissed that he abandoned them. Also his daughters favourite driver is Seb

Has major beef with Cyril (Renault team principal)

Married a Spice Girl, some of the RedBull boys go with him sometimes to her concerts and they wear her merch

Okay usually I would go Ferrari next, but they’re a midfielder now so..

McLaren: Zak Brown

Gets treated like team principal but is actually CEO

American, says duuuude a lot

Used to be a professional driver and I think he was actually good?? But idk

I hated him at first but honestly he seems pretty chill?

Gives the biggest bear hugs

Andreas Seidl

Is actually Team Principal

Falls under the radar

Just kinda hangs around looking judgy all the time

When he does speak I can never understand a word he says

Renault: Cyril Abiteboul

The Frenchiest French guy to ever French

Sacked Hulk for Ocon (who’s French) although that’s completely unfair of me since Hulk has entered 179 gps and yet has never gotten a podium (which is a record by the way!!!)

Will find beef in anything, and then yell at you for it. Or give you evil eyes from across the room

Cyril fuckers do not deserve rights you know who you are

Got scammed by Daniel Ricciardo

Hates Christian Horner

Brought Alonso back??

Doesn’t deserve to have any junior drivers

Renault Lotus used to be a pretty popular engine supplier in f1 but aftee this year they will be the only ones on the grid using it. Yeah this isn’t about Cyril at all but it makes him yell which makes me laugh so

Racing Point: Lawrence Stroll

Part owner of Racing Point, and invested £182m in Aston Martin?? Hence the name change next year

Pretty sure he owns a private island, put I have zero proof

Bought the team when it’s owner went to jail for fraud and the team went into debt. But for whatever reason they couldn’t actually buy the shares so instead they just had to rename it and pretend they’re a new constructor. Midway through the season.

Daddy Stroll but NOT because of his looks. He’s just rich as fuck and promoted his kid Lance Stroll into one of the seats (who is actually a pretty good driver and doesn’t deserve any hate at all)

Otmar Szafnauer

Team Principal

Low key thought he was the one that went to jail so... yeah I know nothing about this guy

apparently he is litterally in the Hall Of Fame

Ferrari: Mattia Binotto

Fun fact, he actually used to run a circus I’m kidding.

he runs one now though

Looks like an older and more permanently confused Chal Lelerc

Last year was his first season as a team principal and boy can you tell

Is the parent that says he doesn’t have favourites but then always takes the youngest’s side and thinks that they’re an angel child that can never do anything wrong

Alpha Tauri: Franz Tost

Looks so soft

I know nothing about him, but I’m pretty sure he’s in love with Seb

Ummm I don’t think he’s problematic? But it’s red bull so who knows

Has the exact same vibes as beans and sausages on toast and I will not expand on that it’s probably because of the name tbh

Haas: Guenther Steiner

Is the 🤬 emoji personified, every second word that comes out of his mouth is a swear

“We look like a bunch of fucking wankers”

I’m not exaggerating when I say I’m scared of him

Literally the most terrifying man alive

Will yell ALL THE TIME about literally ANYTHING

Keeps putting KMag and Romain together even though they spend more time crashing into each other than actually racing?? And yet is equally surprised everytime???

“We’ve got two fucking idiots driving for us” and have done for FOUR YEARS. Haas have only been a team for five years, and they’ve only ever had one other driver

But I love them both

Fell for whatever the fuck Rich Energy was

Alfa Romeo: Frédéric Vasseur

Team Principal and CEO

I’ve never seen this man in my life

Used to be team Principle of Renault???2016-2017??? Whaaaa????

Williams: Sir Frank Williams

Founder and team principal

Old as fuck

a big name in motor sport

Used to be a long distance runner, now has a wheel chair because he got into a car accident on the way to a fun run :(

Literally built Williams from the ground up (and they used to be very good I swear)

Claire Williams

Deputy team Principal (but actually does all of the stuff)

the only important woman

Doesn’t deserve any of the hate she gets (and she gets a lot)

She’s trying her best okay

The ‘this is fine’ meme personified

[isitgintimeyet]

Road To The Aisles

Previous

AO3

So, eventually, here it is, the final chapter of this story. Thanks you all so much for taking the time to read this story and for all you likes, reblogs and comments. It means so much to me. 

Special thanks to @mo-nighean-rouge, @wickedgoodbooks, @happytoobserve for all their support with this too

Warning: it’s their wedding night - will be nsfw under the cut

Chapter 25: A Happily Ever After?

“And what would humans be without love?"

RARE, said Death.

― Terry Pratchett, Sourcery

It was that time of the day, that brief lull in the wedding proceedings. The wedding breakfast had been consumed (creamy wild mushroom soup, the tastiest Scottish salmon fillet, and a classic cranachan to follow), speeches had been made (the usual mix of teasing ribaldry and genuine heartfelt sentiments), toasts had been given. The wine had been flowing freely, just enough to relax everyone, but with no-one yet drunk. The marquee was full of chatter as different social groups began to mingle and the band unpacked their equipment ready for the evening festivities.

Claire sat back in her chair and sipped her gin and tonic (strictly clear liquids only today to prevent stains on her dress).  She gazed around, watching the comings and goings, the interactions of her and Jamie’s friends and family. One one side of the room, Geillis was holding court at a table, her hands gesticulating wildly, relating some hysterical anecdote judging by her audience’s reaction.

At another table, Mrs. Crook was feeding William stewed apple. After a bit of an unsettled start to the reception, William had quickly grown accustomed to the numerous unfamiliar faces and now seemed to be wallowing in all the attention, clapping his hands joyfully at every new effort to entertain him, even, most unusually,  managing to distract him from his food.

In the corner across the room, Murtagh was giving Wee Jamie a piggyback whilst being chased by Brian with Maggie in his arms. And straight ahead was the unmistakable broad back and shoulders of Jamie... her husband. He was in conversation with John, but, somehow sensing her eyes upon him, he turned around. Their eyes met, each full of promise. A promise not just for tonight but for their future life together. Claire felt a tingle up her spine. Even across a room full of people, their connection was physical, alive, electric.

His gaze intensified, his eyes darkening as Claire felt her cheeks warm under his scrutiny. Then, clearly mindful of the effect he was having on her, Jamie flashed a bright, knowing grin and blew her a kiss before turning back to his conversation with John.

Claire briefly closed her eyes, breathing deeply. The scrape of a chair next to her forced her eyes open. Isobel perched next to her, greeting her with a broad smile.

“It’s been a wonderful day so far.”

Claire returned the smile. “Yes, it’s been just perfect. And thank you for looking after William during the ceremony.”

“My pleasure. I wasn’t actually sure he was going to behave, he was none too keen on leaving his dad’s side at first. But how cute is his little tartan outfit?”

“I know. Jamie had it made specially. Such a thoughtful thing to do.”

“I’m sure that’s not the only thoughtful thing he’s done for today. I bet he has a —“

The ringtone from Isobel’s phone interrupted the conversation. She glanced at the screen before declining the call. Without a word necessary, it was clear to Claire who the caller had been.

“Was that —?”

Isobel nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologise.”

��She keeps wanting updates. It’s like she’s torturing herself. I’ve sent her a picture of William and one message saying the ceremony is over. I’m hoping this all gives her enough closure to move on. Anyway, enjoy the rest of the day, Claire, you both deserve it. And don’t worry about William when Jamie—“

“Ahem.”

Neither of them had noticed Jamie creeping up behind them. Both jumped slightly at his staged cough. He kissed Isobel gently on the cheek before holding his hand out to Claire.

“Isobel, mind if I steal ma bride away? I think the band are about ready fer the first dance.”

Isobel smiled and shook her head as Claire took her husband’s hand and let him lead her onto the dance floor.

The lights dimmed as the band struck up the opening chords of ‘Fly me to The Moon’. Jamie and Claire made their way to the centre of the floor to enthusiastic applause from all their guests. Jamie grinned, made a bow and, with a dramatic flourish, pulled Claire into him.

With her head on his chest, he rested his cheek against her curls and closed his eyes, savouring the sensations around him; the softness of her hand against his palm, the scent of her delicate perfume, the lyrics of their favourite song, the gentle sway of his wife’s body in time to the music.

“You are all I long for, all I worship and adore,” Jamie whispered softly. “In other words, please be true. In other words, I love you.”

Claire raised her head and smiled. “Love you too.”

As the song drew to a close, Jamie led Claire over to an empty table.

“I’ve a wee bit of a surprise, tonight, Sassenach. We willna be staying here this evening. A friend of Da’s owns the Loch Ness County House hotel and we’ve a suite there this evening. We’ll be back here tomorrow after breakfast, in time tae head back tae Glasgow.”

“But, what about —“ Claire began.

“Dinna fash,Sassenach. Everything’s sorted. Isobel is staying here tonight to take care of William and Geillis has packed yer overnight bag. It’s ready in the hall fer ye. And Da has taken care of transport. He’s called in a favour and we will be travelling there in style — a friend’s Aston Martin no less. What do ye think? I wanted our first night tae be special, no’ jes’ in ma bedroom at Lallybroch next tae ma airfix models and old rugby kit. Ye dinna mind, do ye?”

Claire wrapped her arms around Jamie’s neck and kissed him gently on his nose.

“Not at all. Our first night would be special wherever we are, but that sounds just about perfect.”

“Well then, Mrs Fraser, let’s go and enjoy the rest of our reception, before our own private celebration.”

******************

Claire gazed appreciatively around the hotel room as Jamie carried their overnight bags and placed them on a large blanket box at the foot of the enormous four poster bed. The room was definitely luxurious, in a suitably understated way. No rose petals on the bed, thankfully, or towels moulded into swans, but a platter of handmade chocolates and a bottle of champagne on ice next to two lead crystal champagne flutes.

She sighed happily and sat on the edge of the bed, bouncing gently on the mattress.

“Such a comfortable bed. I’ll have a fantastic night’s sleep in this.”

Jamie eyed her indignantly. “I dinna plan on sleeping, Sassenach.”

He moved closer, standing in front of her and took her hands in his. “When I first saw ye, in the kirk, ye took ma breath away. I couldna believe how beautiful ye looked in that dress… all day long, every time I saw ye. And now, all I want tae do is see ye out of it. I want ye naked next tae me.”

Claire eased herself off the bed and patted Jamie’s chest. “And there’s nothing I want more. Give me a moment.”

She leant past him and opened her bag. A cascade of tissue paper and a note lay on top. She read, in bold letters ‘TAKE THIS INTO THE BATHROOM, NOW … MRS FRASER.”

Ignoring Jamie’s quizzical stare, she gathered up the gift and paused briefly.

“Can you unhook me please?”

Jamie came up behind her and fumbled with the delicate hook and eye at the top of the zip. He eventually succeeded in unfastening it and then slowly drew the zip down Claire’s spine to her waist. His hands snaked their way underneath the fabric, fingertips lightly caressing her skin, trailing a path to her abdomen. She closed her eyes and gave a slight moan before pulling away.

“Pour the champagne, then, Jamie.I won’t be long.”

“Ye wee tease,” Jamie called after her. “D’ye ken what ye’re doing tae me?”

The bathroom, Claire noted, was as luxurious as the bedroom with a large whirlpool bath and a shower made for two (even those with Viking proportions). She put those thoughts aside as she ripped into the parcel.

Inside was another note from Geillis:

‘I ken the underwear you’re wearing now is pretty enough, but, as I told you before,  you need something special for tonight. So have a wonderful night.

Your husband can thank me later.

Love you, G’

Inside was a short kimono. Claire held it up, admiring the bronze shimmering hue of the (very) sheer fabric. Nestled in the tissue paper beneath it was a matching bra and thong. She quickly shimmied out of her dress and pretty but practical white strapless bra and seamless panties and donned the new attire.

Staring at her reflection in the full length mirror, she twirled quickly around, watching the fabric shimmer under the lights. She had never worn anything quite like this before. The plunge, underwired bra was completely sheer with pale peach scalloped embroidery trims and tiny satin bows. Her nipples, already erect with anticipation, were clearly visible through the flimsy fabric. The thong, in the same sheer fabric, left her bottom exposed, with the short kimono barely covering her rear. She gave a final quick twirl to her reflection before opening the door into the bedroom.

Jamie lay on the bed in his white shirt and kilt. He quickly sat up as Claire sashayed to his side.

He swallowed hard. “My god, that… that… incredible.”

Claire smiled coyly. “You like it, then?”

“Are ye kidding? Ye look amazing… sexy…” He reached out and ran a fingertip gently around one nipple, then the other. “I feel a bit overdressed.”

He made to stand up but Claire placed her hands on his chest, forcing him to lie down. She climbed on to the bed and straddled him, her knees on either side of his hips. Leaning forward, her fingers fumbled for the buttons on his shirt, a small sound of satisfaction escaping her lips with each successful unbuttoning. Finally, she pulled the shirt open. Raking her fingernails down his chest, through the ruddy hairs, she watched, fascinated, as his nipples puckered and skin pebbled at the sensation.

Jamie groaned and raised his head, his mouth demanding access to her breasts. Instantly, she complied, moving up his body. He greedily drew a nipple into his mouth, rolling his tongue around the hard bud, relishing the shivers running through Claire’s body.

Claire gave a whimper of dissatisfaction as he pulled away, the air cold against the now sodden fabric of her bra.

“My bra’s all wet now,” she pouted, looking down at her chest.

“Hmm, now tell me, Sassenach, is that the only place ye’re wet?” One hand traced a path from her breast down her abdomen, resting lightly on the small triangle of fabric. “I think I need tae see.”

His hands moved to grip her bottom firmly, urging her further up his body. Claire hesitated for a moment.

“Are you sure?”

Jamie grinned up at her. “Oh aye, Mrs Fraser.”

With a bit of careful manoeuvring, Claire shuffled up the bed until her knees rested on the pillow, either side of his head. She leant forward slightly, resting her forearms on the ornate headboard. Jamie’s breath was warm against her thighs. His hands caressed her bottom, drawing intricate, random patterns over her skin.

The tiny sliver of fabric was no barrier as Jamie’s mouth began its exploration. Instinctively, Claire shuddered at the exquisite sensation and closed her eyes. Her breath grew ragged as his tongue stroked along her wetness before flicking the small nub. A bolt of pleasure coursed through her body, her muscles contracting as his  lips began to suck, his tongue continuing its rhythmic assault on her core.

She slumped heavily against the headboard, now incapable of supporting herself, her body focusing solely on Jamie and the urgent climb towards release.

“Sassenach, open yer eyes. Look at me…” The low rumble of his voice created entirely new sensations on her sensitive flesh. “I want ye tae watch.”

She forced her eyes open and looked down to see his piercing blue eyes, watching her face intently. She watched transfixed as his tongue resumed its sensuous movements, swirling around her warm moistness. His face buried between her thighs was the most erotic sight she had ever seen.

Sensing her climax was near, Jamie increased the intensity. Claire moaned, throwing her head back.

“No, watch!” There was a sense of urgency in his muffled voice as, from behind, his fingers joined his lips and tongue in the pleasuring of her very core.

Claire felt her orgasm spread from deep in her belly, possessing every inch of her body. With a guttural cry of release, she came hard and fast.

Suddenly boneless, she fell to the side, one leg lying across Jamie’s chest. Still  panting, she reached across and stroked her husband's cheek, her moisture glistening on his lips.

“Oh my god, thank you,” she whispered.

He turned to face her and drew her close to him.

“I love seeing ye like that, the uncontrollable, wild ecstasy on yer face. I canna tell ye what it does tae me.”

Claire’s hand moved from his cheek, down his chest to rest against his groin. His excitement was clear through the fabric of his kilt.

“You don’t need to tell me what it does to you... it’s pretty obvious.”  She slowly stroked his erection.

Jamie grinned as he started to get up from the bed. “Let me take ma kilt off then.”

Claire shook her head. “No, don’t take it off. I want you to leave it on… please.”

“Well, then, just as well I’m a true Scot isn’t it? But,” he ran his fingers along the edge of her thong. “I think we need tae get rid of this wee thing afore we start on round two.”

“And, Sassenach, d’ye think we could mebbe try that again wi’ the camera?” He added hopefully.

Claire flung her arms around Jamie. “Oh, Jamie! How much do I love you?

***************

Jamie stood on the decking and watched the waves breaking on the clean, white sand. The location of this, their honeymoon hideaway, was perfect, the sunny weather was perfect, the promise of five nights, just the two of them, was perfect.

“Sassenach,” Jamie called in through the open patio doors. “What are ye up tae? Yer coffee’s here and it’s getting cold… as is yer husband.”

Claire wandered onto the deck and wound her arms around Jamie’s waist. “Jamie, I’m sorry. I know we’ve done the shopping already, but we need to head into the village, to the pharmacist.”

“Are ye ok? I’ve some paracetamol in ma bag.”

“I’m fine. I’ve done a stupid thing though. I can’t believe I’ve done it… and on our honeymoon.” Claire buried her head against Jamie’s back.

Jamie turned and wrapped his arms around his wife. “It canna be so bad. What is it?”

“I’ve left my pills at home. We’ll have to go and get some condoms.”

Jamie was silent for a moment.

“Sorry.” Claire apologised once more.

“Or mebbe we dinna bother with the pharmacist.”

“But a honeymoon with no sex? Is that what you really want?”

Jamie put his hands on Claire’s cheeks and stared intently at her face, searching for a glimmer of understanding.

“Nah, I think there’ll be plenty of sex. That isna what I’m saying.”

“Then—“ Claire’s expression changed as she realised what he was asking her. “You mean—“

“Aye, Sassenach, let’s make a baby.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve only ever been surer about one thing in ma life, and that’s turning out pretty well, Mrs. Fraser. So what say ye? D’ye think it’s a good idea or are ye no’ ready? I willna be upset if ye want tae wait a while.”

Claire pulled Jamie’s head down to hers and kissed him firmly on the mouth. “Yes, James Fraser. Let’s make a baby.”

[princesscatherinemiddleton]

Prince George’s Godparents

1. Oliver Baker

Married: Yes, to Melissa Nicholson

Children: At least one son

Oliver Baker (and Mel Nicholson) attended the University of St Andrews at the same time as William and Catherine. He is often assumed to be the couples’ closest friend from university. William and Catherine attended his wedding (in St Andrews) in 2010 and Oliver and Mel attended the royal wedding the following year. It is believed Catherine became godmother to (one of ?) the Baker’s son in 2014 and the Bakers joined the Cambridges and Middletons at church in 2016. He is photographed with Catherine on Day 1 of the Cheltenham Horse Racing Championships in 2007.

2. Emilia Jardine-Paterson (née d’Erlanger)

Married: Yes, to David Jardine-Paterson

Children: Yes (Leo, Alexander, and Lucia)

Emilia d’Erlanger first met Catherine at Marlborough College after Catherine changed schools when she was 14, where both girls were on the hockey team together. (Her husband David was at Eton College with William). Emilia was known to William and Harry, having gone of a cruise with them and Prince Charles during her teenage years and having spent time at Highgrove when growing up. It is said that she hosted a house party attended by both William and Catherine when the now-royals were 17. Emilia joined Catherine on a trip to Ibiza during her 2007 break up from William. The Cambridges were at Emilia’s wedding in 2010 and Emilia was at the Cambridge’s wedding the following year. She is an interior designer and co-owns d’Erlanger and Sloan with Anna Sloan.

3. Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster

Married: No, dating Harriet Tomlinson

Children: No

Hugh Grosvenor, known as Earl Grosvenor when he became godfather to Prince George, is only 29 and is believed to be the world’s richest person under 30. The Grosvenor family is close to the Royal family and William and Harry grew up in the same social circle as Hugh. Hugh Grosvenor attended the royal wedding in 2011. Hugh inherited his father’s titles after his father’s death in 2016; William and Catherine attended his funeral that year.

4. Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton

Married: Yes, to Susannah Richards

Children: Yes, four, including William “Billy”

Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton served as Equerry to the Queen Mother before being promoted to Captain. He worked for the SAS and served, in the army, abroad. In 2001, he co-founded Objective Travel Safety. He became Private Secretary to Prince William and Prince Harry in 2005, later also becoming Private Secretary to the Duchess of Cambridge. Jamie retired in 2013. His son, William, was a page boy at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011. He is photographed with Prince Harry.

5. Julia Samuel (née Guinness)

Married: Yes, to Michael Samuel

Children: Yes, four

Julia Samuel is a psychotherapist specialising in grief and she co-founded Child Bereavement UK in 1994. She worked as a bereavement counsellor at St Mary’s Hospital, where the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to her three children. She was a close friend of the late Princess of Wales and later became close to William, who is Patron of Child Bereavement UK. She attended the royal wedding in 2011. The Cambridges’ visited Child Bereavement UK in early 2013. She is photographed with Prince William.

6. Zara Tindall (née Phillips)

Married: Yes, to Michael “Mike” Tindall

Children: Yes - Mia Grace and Lena Elizabeth

Zara Tindall is the only daughter of The Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips and the oldest granddaughter of HM Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. She is the elder cousin of William. Zara is a champion equestrian and has competed in the Olympics, winning a silver medal in 2012. She has become particularly close to Catherine over the years; George and Mia, and Louis and Lena were born in close proximity to each other. Both couples also married within months of each other in 2011. She is photographed here, alongside the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and her husband, at Royal Ascot in 2017.

7. William van Cutsem

Married: Yes, to Rosanna “Rosie” Ruck Keene

Children: No

William van Cutsem is the youngest child of Hugh van Cutsem and Emilie Quarles van Ufford. Hugh was close friends with Prince Charles and the van Cutsem children grew up on the Queen’s Sandringham estate (in Amner Hall!). William and William have been friends since childhood. William attended the royal wedding in 2011 and William and Catherine attended William’s wedding in 2013. At this wedding, the Duke served as an usher. He is photographed here with Prince William at an Aston Villa vs Sunderland match.

[transaurus]

every time i see a post about the statue that was pushed into the docks I have an ‘oh right that’s his name’ moment and then forget his name immediately. because the name of a slave trader and owner is not information i want stored in my head.

i do remember important names. 

i remember Cherry Groce and Cynthia Jarrett and Leon Patterson and Joy Gardner and Oluwashijibomi Lapite and Brian Douglas and Alton Manning and Christopher Alder and Rocky Bennett and Roger Sylvester and Derek Bennett and Ricky Bishop and Michael Powell and Azelle Rodney and Jean Charles de Menezes and Mark Nunes and Habib Ullah and Sean Rigg and Seni Lewis and Jimmy Mubenga and Smiley Culture and Kingsley Burrell and Demetre Fraser and Mark Duggan and Jacob Michael and Anthony Grainger and Julian Cole and Leon Briggs and Faruk Ali and Aston McLean and Adrian Thompson and Adrian McDonald and Sheku Bayoh and Daniel Adewole and Jermaine Baker and Sarah Reed and Mzee Mohammed Daley and Edson da Costa and Shane Bryant and Darren Cumberbatch and Rashan Charles and Nuno Cardoso and Kevin Clarke and Trevor Smith and Belly Mujinga and Abigaïl Bennett. i remember the names of British POC, ESPECIALLY BLACK PEOPLE, who were killed by a corrupt and racist system.

i remember Mary Seacole and Nanny of the Maroons and Mary Eliza Mahoney and Toussaint Louverture and Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr and Kofoworola Abeni Pratt. i remember the names of people who were wronged, whose legacies are an important part of Black history and global history.

i remember Dr Shirley Jackson and Madam CJ Walker and Lyda D Newman and Marie Van Brittan Brown and Valerie Thomas and Christina Jenkins and Theora Stephens and Lisa Gelobteran and Sarah Boone. i remember the names of Black women whose inventions are an essential part of our lives today, whose names are swept under the rug and hidden by the names of their white male counterparts.

i remember Jupiter Hammon and Wentworth Cheswell and Phillis Wheatley and James Derham and Thomas L Jennings and Alexander Twilight and Macon Allen and Joseph Jenkins Roberts and Charles L Reason and Sarah Jane Woodson Early and Mary Jane Patterson and Dr Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler and John Willis Menard and Thomas Mundy Peterson and Richard Theodore Greener and Frederick Douglass and Judy W Reed and John R Lynch and Booker T Washington and Butler R Wilson and Lucy Diggs Slowe and Bessie Coleman and Josephine Baker and William Grant Still and James W Ford and William H Hastie and Crystal Bird Fauset and Hattie McDaniel and Bob Howard and Amanda Randolph and Florence LeSueur and Juanita Hall and Ralphe Bunche and Cora Brown and Dorothy Dandridge and Arthur Mitchell and Ruth Carol Taylor and Ruby Bridges and Donyale Luna and Robert Henry Lawrence Jr and Cheryl Browne and Vinnette Justine Carroll and Alan Bell and Teddy Seymour and Barack Obama and Rita Dove and Darnell Martin and Chelsi Smith and Franklin Raines and Venus Williams and Halle Berry and Sophia Danenberg and Karen Bass and Anette Gordon-Reed and Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald and Ruth E Carter and so many more. i remember the names of all the Black firsts who are forgotten, whose accomplishments are ignored.

don’t waste brain space on racists. learn from their mistakes, yes. but learn about the Black people they tried to silence for so long. because i can’t think of a better way to spite racists than by remembering the people they tried to make us forget.

[maximumphilosopheranchor]

English people supporting Elizabeth Tudor on her journey from Windsor to Woodstock, May 1554

“Item, her grace passed the town of Windsor with much gasing of people unto Eton Colledge where was used the like, as well by the scholars as other; the like in villages and fields unto Wycombe where most gasing was used , and the wives had prepared cake and wafers which at her passing by them they delivered into the litter. She received it with thanks until by the quantity she was encumbered and with the herbs delivered in with the wafers troubled as she said, and desired the people to cease. (..)

… at Woburn in Buckinghamshire one Christopher Cooke, a plain husbandman, awaited a quarter of a mile from the town upon an hill to see her grace, and advised my lord Williams and Sir Henry Bedingfield of the way: and the said Sir Henry talking with him found him a very protestant, upon which occasion he inquired of Woburn and Wycombe market, which for the most part be of the same opinion, and by the credible report of devise my l. Russell and certain other gentlemen of his sect has procured and practiced the same.”

A remembrance of the journey made by my Lady Elizabeth grace from Windsor to Sir William Dormer’s house at West Wycombe, the 21 of May

“First, her grace entered the litter at the hall door of Sir William Dormer, taking her leave of ye lady Dormer and her daughter, the queen Majesty’s maid, with in which place sū (?) women did behold her entry in to the litter, and with out the gate were some more people to behold, and passing through on corner of the said town, where she was likewise seen and spoken unto; thus safely she passed without any great meeting with unto a town called Aston, where sū (?) people looked on her passing, and four repared to the church and rang the bells which were, by order of the lord Williams, Sir Henry Bedingfield and Sir William Dormer, put in ward presently;”

A remembrance of her grace’s journey from M. Dormer’s house in West Wycombe unto the lord William’s house, the 22 day of May

“Item, passing by the town of Wheatley, there all the people awaited her passing with god save your grace.

Item, like was used at Stanton Saint John.

Item, half a mile on that side Islip there was a number of men and children of the same town fetching hom to the use of the church, as they said, given to them by the lord of the same, as lood of wood, and according to their use, as they said, to be drawn hom by the strength of men drawing in tracs (?), and having with them for their further sport a minstrel, whom at her coming by she did a little behold, and they saluting her she passed on the way and at ye bridge of the same town the women of the town were ready to behold her grace.

Item, at Gosford her coming was likewise looked for, from whence she passed straight to Woodstock; and at the park gate awaited her coming the fosters & keepers of the park, and at the gate of the house were sū (?) people gathered…”

A remembrance of her entertainment at the Lord Williams, and her journey from thence to Woodstock, the 23 of May