#also guest appearance by Charles's eldest son Thomas!

[jasminesilk]

Good-bye Kitty. 💔

She passed away in the tiny hallway by the front door and chaos ensued.

[papermoonloveslucy]

DORIS SINGLETON

September 29, 1919

Dorthea ‘Doris’ Singleton was  born in New York City in 1919. She trained as a ballerina but began her career in show business as a vocalist in the late 1930s. Singleton worked as a guest star and in regular roles on numerous hit radio shows. 

During a guest appearance on the radio show “My Favorite Husband” in 1948 she met Lucille Ball and this began their long professional relationship. 

When she first appeared (in a sweater coveted by Lucy) in “The Club Election” (ILL S2;E19) in 1953, her character was named Lillian Appleby but it was decided that she should go by Caroline Appleby in all future episodes. In “Lucy Gets Into Pictures” (ILL S4;E18), Desi Arnaz made an error and called Caroline Appleby “Lillian” but the error remained in the final print. 

Caroline and Marion Strong (Shirley Mitchell) turn up for the club meeting when “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (ILL S3;E3).

A game of cards in “Lucy Is Matchmaker” (ILL S2;E27) brings out Caroline and Pauline (Peggy Rea). 

In “The Camping Trip” (ILL S2;E29), the card game has swapped out Pauline for Sally (June Whitely Taylor). 

The card game is moved to the Appleby apartment (Chinese Modern) in “Lucy Tells The Truth” (ILL S3;E6), with ‘cackling’ Marion Strong wearing a statement hat!

Caroline Appleby with her son Stevie (Steven Kaye), one of Little Ricky’s best friends. 

Caroline with her husband, local TV station manager Charlie Appleby (Hy Averback) in “Baby Pictures” (ILL S3;E5) . The next (and last) time we see Charlie Appleby he will be played by George O'Hanlon (inset photo).

The Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League calls an emergency meeting to address the deficit in the budget in “Lucy’s Club Dance” (S3;E25). Caroline Appleby turns up in a black dress with Peter Pan collar and hat!

Visiting Hollywood, Caroline was suddenly near-sighted!  To convince Caroline that she was hob-nobbing with celebrities, Lucy and Ethel scheme to get her glasses off her in two related episodes, “The Dancing Star” (ILL S4;E27) and  , “Lucy Meets Harpo Marx” (ILL S4;E28).  

In 1953, Singleton made her television TV debut as Gloria Harper in the episode "Jungle Devil" on “The Adventures of Superman.” Coincidentally, Singleton's final appearance on “I Love Lucy” was in an episode with Superman (George Reeves), "Lucy and Superman" (ILL S6;E4). 

In 1966, Singleton was teamed again with Ball on “The Lucy Show” in the episode, "Lucy and Art Linkletter", in which she plays Ruth Cosgrove, an actress whom Linkletter hires to help Lucy with a stunt on his television series. Coincidentally, Ruth Cosgrove is the name of Milton Berle’s real-life wife, who will also guest star on “The Lucy Show” as herself. 

Her second appearance on “The Lucy Show” was in “Lucy Gets Her Diploma” (TLS S6;E5) in 1967.  Note: Doris has very little to do with the main plot of this episode.  Her one scene might have been originally meant for Mary Jane Croft but reassigned due to a conflict in Croft’s schedule or illness.

Singleton said that she had originally been hired to be a regular on Ball's third series, “Here's Lucy” in 1968. Ball would have played a dumb secretary and Singleton the more intelligent one, but the premise was dropped when Ball decided to cast her own children in the show. She did, however, appear in the series premiere episode, "Mod, Mod Lucy" (HL S1;E1). 

In 1971, Singleton was featured on an episode of ABC sitcom, “Make Room For Granddaddy” which had Lucille Ball as the guest star. In this installment, titled "Lucy Carter, Houseguest", Singleton played Grace Munson, another character from “I Love Lucy,” although she is listed in the credits as Sylvia. 

In a 1973 Bob Hope Christmas Special, Lucille Ball, Gary Morton, Hope and Doris Singleton all played themselves in a sketch that finds Lucy believing Bob has a secret crush on her and buying her expensive gifts. Singleton is not given a character name but drops by to Ball’s home. 

Her final appearance on “Here's Lucy” was as Lucille Ball's studio secretary in  "Lucy Carter Meets Lucille Ball" (HL S6;E22) in 1974. Her character was named Doris.  (If Lucy was Lucy and Lucille was Lucille, then why shouldn’t Doris be Doris?)

Singleton and Ball were reunited one last time, again as Ball's studio secretary, in the 1980 special “Lucy Moves to NBC.”  She played Wanda Clark, who was Lucille Ball’s real-life secretary. 

DORIS at DESILU (SANS LUCY)

Singleton did an episode of Desilu’s helicopter series “Whirlybirds” in 1957. She played Jan Revere in an episode titled “Lady Luck.”

In 1954 and 1958 she was at Desilu for two episodes of “The Danny Thomas Show”. In 1958, to symbolize the show’s move to CBS, the Williams family moved into the Ricardo home in Westport. In return, Lucy and Desi guest-starred on “The Danny Thomas Show” as the Ricardos. 

In February 1960, Doris played Mavis on Desilu’s “The Ann Sothern Show” directed by “Lucy’s” James V. Kern. In a 1959 cross-over episode of “The Ann Sothern Show”, Lucille Ball guest starred as Lucy Ricardo.

In 1960, Singleton became a regular character of Desilu’s new series “Angel” about a young woman who has moved to America from France after getting married to her sweetheart, John. Singleton played Susie for 26 of the show’s 33 episodes. It last just one season. Above, Lucille Ball attends a kick-off event featuring Jess Oppenheimer (creator), Annie Fargue (Angel) and Marshall Thopmson (Johnny). Singeton shared the soundstage with “Lucy” alumni Shirley Mitchell, Gale Gordon, Madge Blake, and many others. 

In 1960 and 1962 she was back at Desilu for two episodes of “The Real McCoys”. 

Singleton was in three episodes of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” between 1962 and 1965.  

In Fall 1967, Singleton did a day on “Gomer Pyle: USMC” filmed at Desilu Studios. A year earlier, Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors) made a cameo appearances on “The Lucy Show” (TLS S5;E9) in which Lucy Carmichael is mistaken for Lou C. Carmichael and drafted!

“My Three Sons” - on which she played two different characters - was filmed on the Desilu backlot. Her first character was Helen Morrison (two episodes in 1964 and 1965), the mother of Sally Ann (Meredith MacRae)—the woman who married the eldest of the Douglas sons, Mike (Tim Considine), and both left the series shortly after the start of the 1965-66 season. Doris was pressed into service again in the 1970-71 season to play the mother (Margaret) of Polly Williams (Ronnie Troup), a girl who also nabbed herself a Douglas boy—this time eloping with youngest son Chip (Stanley Livingston).  She played the character for six episodes. 

Her final screen appearances was a small role in the ABC TV film Deadly Messages in 1985. 

Singleton married Charles Isaacs in 1941, and they remained married until he died on December 13, 2002. She died in 2012, aged 92, from complications of cancer. She had no children and left no immediate survivors.

[jerseydeanne]

Proposal

The Royal Marriages Act of 1772 requires all royal descendants to seek the sovereign's approval for marriage. But the requirements don't stop there—the 1701 Act of Settlement prohibits royals from marrying Catholics. To wed the Queen's eldest grandchild Peter Phillips in 2008, Autumn Kelly converted from Roman Catholicism to Anglicanism so her husband would keep his place as 11th in line for the throne. Soon after Will and Kate's engagement was announced, officials from Buckingham Palace said the Queen was "absolutely delighted" for the couple, which can only mean she approved of Will's choice.

Stag and Hen Parties

What began as a dinner party in Ancient Sparta has evolved into a party thrown in honor of a bachelor's soon-to-be-lost single status. But in the UK, groomsmen have taken the tradition even farther, now celebrating over an entire weekend's worth of festivities known as a stag weekend. While details are scarce, Will's office confirmed that the Prince's party took place in late March (about a month before the wedding). Hosted by his brother, Prince Harry, at a country estate, the party included Will's close friends James Meade, Thomas van Straubenzee, and Guy Pelly. With the dawn of the sexual revolution in the 1960s, women claimed their own night of "farewell-to-singlehood" revelry. Kate's "hen night" (we call it a bachelorette party around here) was even more hush-hush than Will's. Her sister Pippa reportedly booked four different hotel locations to throw off paparazzi.

Wedding Location

The most traditional site for a royal ceremony is the Chapel Royal at St. James Palace, which housed the weddings of Queen Anne (1683), George III (1761), George IV (1795), Queen Victoria (1840), and George V (1893). More recent royal couples have since outgrown the small chapel, which seats 100, as the ceremonies have become more of a public spectacle. For her 1919 ceremony, Princess Patricia of Connaught brought Westminster Abbey (left) back into vogue for royal weddings for the first time in 605 years. Westminster was then chosen for King George V's daughter Mary in 1922, Queen Elizabeth's parents in 1923, and the Queen's own wedding in 1947. Kate and Will are Westminster-bound, as well, but two alternatives would have been the much larger St. Paul's Cathedral where Charles and Diana wed or the much smaller St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle where Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles's wedding was dedicated following a civil ceremony at Windsor's Guildhall in 2005.

Wedding Party

English brides are accompanied by a group of bridesmaids, usually younger girls between the ages of 10 and 12. The Queen had eight bridesmaids, and Diana had five, ranging in age from 5 to 17. Kate's bridal party will be even younger, with Grace van Cutsem (Will's goddaughter) and Eliza Lopes (Camilla's granddaughter) both toddling down the aisle at age 3. In a major break with tradition, Kate has chosen a maid of honor, her sister Pippa, who will be the oldest main bridesmaid in recent memory at the ancient age of 27. The Prince's godson, Tom Pettifer, and Billy Lowther-Pinkerton, the son of Will's Secretary, will serve as pageboys—young attendants who traditionally carry the train of the bride's dress.

Guests

At an event as exclusive as a royal wedding, the guest list is everything. Fellow royals, foreign leaders, church officials, and diplomats dot the list along with the couple's own friends and family. The Royal Family sits on the right-side of the church, unless the groom is not royal, in which case they sit on the left. By the Queen's command, 1,900 invitations went out to Will and Kate's wedding guests—including to their friends from St. Andrews University, but notably excluding Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. Male attendees are expected to wear military uniforms, morning dress (single-breasted coats with tails) or lounge suits (what we consider a business suit). Female attire is less specifically outlined, though hats are a must.

Transportation

Most royal brides arrive to their wedding in horse-drawn regal style (Diana's choice: the 1881 Glass Coach purchased for George V's coronation in 1911), but Kate will instead arrive at Westminster Abbey with her father in a car. And not just any car. She's selected the Queen's Rolls Royce Phantom for its large windows to allow onlookers the best view. Once they are married, Kate and Will plan to depart the ceremony in the same carriage that transported Charles and Diana, a 1902 State Landau originally made for the coronation of Edward VII. For Charles and Camilla's wedding, Will and Harry tied metallic balloons and the words "Just Married" to the back of the couple's Bentley. What are the chances bad-boy Harry will try the same on Will and Kate's carriage?

Bouquet

When Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840, she carried myrtle—known as the herb of love—in her bouquet. After the wedding, Victoria planted a myrtle shrub in her garden at the Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Every British royal bride since has carried a bouquet containing a sprig plucked from the same shrub. In an act of love to honor the armed forces, Kate will leave her bouquet in Westminster Abbey at the grave of the Unknown Warrior, a tradition begun by the late Queen Mum.

Ceremony

English brides lead the processional down the aisle, with her bridesmaids in tow unescorted by ushers, who stand at the front of the church with the groom. The couple has selected the 32-person Choir of Westminster Abbey, the Chapel Royal Choir, the 39 musicians of the London Chamber orchestra, and the Central Band of the Royal Air Force to perform various selections, which royal officials say will include well-known hymns and choral works, as well as some specially-commissioned pieces. Some royal wedding staples have been Mendelssohn's Wedding March, the hymn The Lord's My Shepherd, and Widor's Toccata from Organ Symphony No. 5, which was the recessional music at Edward and Sophie's wedding. (Official recordings of Will and Kate's music will be available on iTunes May 5.) The ceremony itself will be divided between three officiants: the Dean of Westminster conducting the service, the Archbishop of Canterbury presiding over the vows, and the Bishop of London giving the address. Will and Kate will likely exchange traditional vows, with one possible exception: Back in 1999, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, caused an uproar for promising to "honour, cherish and obey" Prince Edward, a public relations nightmare the newest royal couple might want to avoid repeating.

Wedding Band

Beginning with the wedding of the Queen's late mother in 1923, all of the royal women's wedding bands have contained precious Welsh gold from the same nugget mined in Dolgellau, North Wales—a variety of gold that's three times more valuable than gold from Australia or South Africa. While the traditional nugget (similar to the one on the left) is almost depleted, the Queen has since been presented with another large nugget for subsequent weddings bands, including that of Sarah, Duchess of York and now Kate. Breaking with tradition, Will has decided not to wear a wedding ring. Even his father Charles wears a band in addition to his signet ring, but Will says he personally just isn't one for jewelry.

Reception

Most British weddings are held at noon and are followed by a seated luncheon called a "wedding breakfast" (a brunch, basically). The Queen's luncheon was held in the Ball supper-room at Buckingham Palace for a small party, as was Diana's for about 120 guests. Following Will and Kate's 11am ceremony, 600 guests will join the new couple at the Palace for a buffet-style wedding breakfast hosted by the Queen (the canapé menu is to be created by Chef Mark Flanagan, left). The reception will also include two cakes: one fruit (the traditional royal wedding choice) and one chocolate (at the request of Will). At 1:30pm, the couple will appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony to share a public kiss, a tradition begun by Charles and Diana. Usually, the royal couple then jets off to a honeymoon destination, but Kate and Will plan to stick around for a private dinner and night of dancing at the Palace hosted by the Prince of Wales.

Royal Titles

With a few exceptions, women who marry royal male successors assume their husbands' titles: The Duke and Duchess of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, etc. The most notable exception is, of course, Camilla, who adopted the title Duchess of Cornwall instead of the Princess of Wales out of respect for Diana. If Prince Charles becomes King, Camilla will be the Princess Consort, not Queen Camilla. Will and Kate's titles haven't yet been announced, but the most likely contenders are: Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Duke and Duchess of Connaught, and Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

[thecousinswar]

Today in history, March 18, 1496: the birth of Mary Tudor:  

"Mary Tudor (/ˈtjuːdər/; 18 March 1496 – 25 June 1533), the third daughter of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, was an English princess. Mary became the third wife of Louis XII of France, more than 30 years her senior. Following his death, she married Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. The marriage, which was performed secretly in France, took place during her brother's reign and without his consent. This necessitated the intervention of Thomas Wolsey and although the couple were eventually pardoned by Henry VIII, they were forced to pay a large fine.

Mary's second marriage produced four children; and through her eldest daughter Frances, Mary was the maternal grandmother of Lady Jane Grey, who was the de facto monarch of England for a little over a week in July 1553.

Mary was the fourth child of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the youngest to survive infancy. She was born at Sheen Palace, "most probably" in March 1496. A privy seal bill dated from midsummer 1496 authorizes a payment of fifty shillings to her nurse, Anne Skeron. Also, Erasmus stated that she was four years old when he visited the Royal nursery in 1499–1500. At age six, she was given her own household, complete with "a staff of gentlewomen assigned to wait upon her," a schoolmaster, and a physician. She was given instruction in French, Latin, music, dancing, and embroidery.

As children, Mary and her brother, the future King Henry VIII, shared a close friendship. He would name his first surviving child, the future Queen Mary I, in her honour. They lost their mother when Mary was just seven, and given the number of bills paid to her apothecary between 1504 and 1509, it would appear that Mary's own health was fragile.

Known in her youth as one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe. Erasmus said of her that "Nature never formed anything more beautiful."

In 1506, during a visit from Philip I of Castile, Mary was called upon to entertain the guests, dancing, and playing the lute and clavicord. The following year, King Philip died, and on 21 December 1507, Mary was betrothed to his son Charles, later Holy Roman Emperor. The betrothal was called off in 1513.

Instead, Cardinal Wolsey negotiated a peace treaty with France, and on 9 October 1514, at the age of 18, Mary married the 52-year-old King Louis XII of France at Abbeville. One of the Maids of Honour who attended her in France was Anne Boleyn. Despite two previous marriages, Louis had no living sons, and sought to produce an heir; but he died on 1 January 1515, less than three months after marrying Mary, reputedly worn out by his exertions in the bedchamber, but more likely from the effects of gout. Their union produced no children. Following Louis' death, the new King Francis I made attempts to arrange a second marriage for the beautiful widow."

[gizedcom]

Visit UK spots that inspired famous composers, from the Malvern Hills to the Suffolk coast

The British countryside is woven through with home-grown classical music, from symphonies inspired by the Scottish islands to Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s chamber composition that references a prehistoric mound in Wiltshire.

And exploring the areas which influenced a composer’s finest work, or visiting museums which celebrate their legacy, makes for an inspiring break.

British composers might not have the exuberance of Italian ones, nor the fame of Bach or Mozart, but if there’s one thing that unites them it’s that their music is tied to the landscape around them. This can range from the sound of birdsong, a blustery Suffolk day or even, in the case of Gustav Holst when he wrote The Planets, the clear night skies.

Inspirational: Black Pear Tours has a self-guided, five-night Elgar walking tour through the Severn Valley and surrounding hills, visiting Malvern and Worcester

Sir Edward Elgar, perhaps Britain’s most famous composer, wrote the Pomp And Circumstance Marches as well as the music for Land Of Hope And Glory. Visit The Firs (nationaltrust.org.uk/the-firs), his birthplace in Worcester, and it’s soon clear how much the countryside meant to him, especially the soft green hills where he grew up and continued to live near for much of his life.

Elgar composed the Enigma Variations in Malvern in 1898, each one a musical portrait of a friend and inspired by the magnificent landscape. A keen cyclist and walker, he wrote The Apostles after cycling to the beautifully still Longdon Marsh, today a nature reserve and haven for birdwatchers.

And while staying at Spetchley Park Gardens, as a guest of the owner when it was privately owned, Elgar penned part of his choral masterpiece, The Dream Of Gerontius. The little-known 30-acre garden, three miles east of Worcester, is a Victorian delight, remains largely unaltered and contains one of the country’s biggest private collections of peonies (spetchleygardens.co.uk).

The dining area at The Cottage In The Wood hotel in Malvern Wells, which has a sense of Edwardian generosity

If you want a relaxing stay nearby, The Cottage In The Wood hotel in Malvern Wells has a sense of Edwardian generosity and spectacular views, especially in its 1919 restaurant. B&B costs from £109 (cottageinthewood.co.uk).

To dig a little deeper, Black Pear Tours has a self-guided, five-night Elgar walking tour through the Severn Valley and surrounding hills, visiting Malvern and Worcester. The price starts at £415pp and covers maps, B&B accommodation and luggage transportation between hotels (blackpearwalkingtours.com/the-walks/elgar-trail).

Elgar was also a regular guest at Long White Cloud, a house close to the Thames in Bray which is now part of the luxurious Monkey Island hotel (monkeyislandestate.co.uk). It was here that he worked on his Violin Concerto.

Not every Elgar haunt is so grand. On the Isle of Wight you can stay in Bermuda House, a Victorian villa in Ventnor where he honeymooned with wife Alice (ventnorselfcatering.co.uk/bermuda-house).

London has a special classical musical landscape of its own. Baroque composer George Frideric Handel left his native Germany and lived here for more than 40 years, becoming a British citizen (he’s buried in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey, alongside Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens). And, like Elgar, he had a strong connection with the Thames.

His Water Music, still wonderfully cheerful and party-minded, was written for a pageant on the river in 1717 where musicians performed while bobbing around on a boat. His Music For The Royal Fireworks was first performed in Green Park in 1749 flanked by a recently built Buckingham Palace.

Sir Edward Elgar, perhaps Britain’s most famous composer 

Handel’s home in Mayfair’s Brook Street also comes with a plaque to Jimi Hendrix, who spent a year living next door. The two very different musicians also share a museum (handelhendrix.org).

Just around the corner from the designer shops of Bond Street, the museum celebrates both with small but very popular concerts of Handel’s chamber music and also jam sessions, Hendrix-style. Until audiences can enjoy live concerts again, they are being filmed and can be found on the museum’s website.

Also on Brook Street, Claridge’s has history and comfortable double rooms costing from £660 a night (www.claridges.co.uk).

There’s something particularly magical about hearing a piece of music in the place it was first designed to be performed, and Britain’s churches and cathedrals will be for ever intertwined with such an experience, even in more modern cathedrals – Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem was commissioned for the opening of the newly consecrated Coventry Cathedral in 1962.

Next year, Martin Randall Travel has a trip to Oxford that focuses on Divine Office, a series of psalms and hymns written to be performed at certain times of the day.

Held over four days in a variety of colleges, including Magdalen and Christ Church, there’s strong emphasis on British composers, ranging from Thomas Tallis and Henry Purcell through to Britten and modern works. Prices start at £2,580pp including accommodation, breakfasts and some dinners (martinrandall.com/divine-office).

Many of Britain’s oldest stately homes nurtured the talent of English composers. Cliveden House – now a luxury hotel – saw the first performance of Rule, Britannia! in 1740 when Frederick, George III’s eldest son, lived there. Room-only from £445 (clivedenhouse.co.uk).

These days, patronage operates in different ways. Glyndebourne (glyndebourne.com) and Garsington Opera (garsingtonopera.org) are just two historic organisations that started in stately homes.

As well as staging classic operas, both commission new compositions that play to music fans who come to take in culture amid meadows and formal gardens. This year the season has been disrupted but operas can be viewed online, and at 5pm today you can watch the premiere of Rossini’s The Barber Of Seville from Glyndebourne on YouTube.

Cliveden House – now a luxury hotel – saw the first performance of Rule, Britannia! in 1740 when Frederick, George III’s eldest son, lived there

Ralph Vaughan Williams devoted his life to collecting English folk tunes before they were lost, and used them as a basis for lyrical classical music, from the glorious The Lark Ascending to the more mournful Norfolk Rhapsody and In The Fen Country.

He grew up at the 17th Century mansion Leith Hill Place in Surrey, now owned by the National Trust. There are some glorious walks that allow you to follow in his footsteps. Even if you can’t guarantee hearing a lark these days, you can really get a sense of the peaceful, nature-filled landscape that Vaughan Williams grew up in (nationaltrust.org.uk/leith-hill/trails/leith-hill-woodland-walk).

With eight acres of protected landscape, including a river, the rather special Wotton House Country Estate Hotel, which dates from the 16th Century, is a ten-minute drive from Leith Hill Place. Room-only from £110 (wottonhouse.co.uk).

Benjamin Britten was born in Lowestoft in 1913 but spent most of his life down the Suffolk coast in Aldeburgh, working on operas such as Peter Grimes, Billy Budd and The Turn Of The Screw.

Sound sculpture: The Scallop on Aldeburgh beach, dedicated to Suffolk-born Benjamin Britten

His home, the Red House (brittenpears.org/visit), full of hip 1960s furnishings and his purpose-built Composition room, is open to the public. Visitors are welcome to picnic in the classic cottage garden, but venture outside this protected zone and you’re on the starker, moodier North Sea coast that suddenly makes sense of the Sea Interludes in Peter Grimes.

Full Aldeburgh immersion can be had by staying at the seafront Brudenell Hotel, a mile from the Scallop, Maggi Hambling’s controversial four-metre-high steel sculpture dedicated to Britten. Doubles from £150, including breakfast (brudenellhotel.co.uk).

Britain’s composers tend to leave festivals as one of their legacies. Britten set up the Aldeburgh Festival in 1948, starting as a few concerts in the nearby Jubilee Hall. It is now held in Snape Maltings (snapemaltings.co.uk) – a venue converted from a barley warehouse which is on the banks of the River Alde and surrounded by fields.

The Aldeburgh Festival has been cancelled this year, but some of its archives are now online so it’s more accessible than ever. It’s due to host the festival again in 2021.

Three Choirs Festival, which runs each year at Worcester, Gloucester and Hereford cathedrals (3choirs.org) is most closely associated with Elgar but has also featured work composed by Sir Arthur Sullivan, whose favourite collaborations were with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, resulting in The Pirates Of Penzance and The Mikado.

Felix Mendelssohn visited Staffa (pictured) in 1829 – and wrote an overture inspired by it first performed in 1833 in Berlin

Fingal’s Cave was written by Felix Mendelssohn about Staffa, an uninhabited island in the Inner Hebrides, when he visited it in 1829. Queen Victoria’s favourite composer, he dedicated his Scottish Symphony to her.

And this tradition of Scottish scenery inspiring music continued into the 20th Century. Composer and conductor Sir Peter Maxwell Davies lived in the Orkney Islands for more than 40 years, using the location to inspire operas – most joyously with An Orkney Wedding With Sunrise, depicting the aftermath of a riotous wedding.

If ever there was a year to enjoy the remote beauty of the Orkneys, it’s 2020.

The Storehouse restaurant with rooms makes a perfect base, with doubles costing from £110 including breakfast (thestorehouserestaurantwithrooms.co.uk).

Credit: Source link

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[nishantwap]

Meghan Markle's father is seen in Mexico for the first time since his daughter's wedding

New Post has been published on https://www.hsnews.us/meghan-markles-father-is-seen-in-mexico-for-the-first-time-since-his-daughters-wedding/

Meghan Markle's father is seen in Mexico for the first time since his daughter's wedding

Shoulders slumped and shuffling, and clutching a plastic bag marked ‘personal possessions’, this is Meghan Markle‘s father pictured two days after the Royal Wedding as he returned home from hospital.

DailyMail.com’s exclusive photos were taken in his adopted hometown of Rosarito, Mexico, where he has been recovering from a heart operation.

Thomas Markle Sr had initially hoped to make the ceremony, which took place on Saturday morning, but was forced to pull out after allegedly suffering a heart attack last week.

Shoulders slumped and shuffling, and clutching a plastic bag marked ‘personal possessions’, this is Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas Markle, pictured two days after the Royal Wedding as he returned home from hospital

DailyMail.com’s exclusive photos were taken in his adopted hometown of Rosarito, Mexico, where he has been recovering from a heart operation

Thomas Markle Sr had initially hoped to make the ceremony, which took place on Saturday morning, but was forced to pull out after allegedly suffering a heart attack last week

He returned to his San Antonio Del Mar property Monday – driven in by a different friend, single mom Lori Davis, 38, with whom he has previously been pictured enjoying a dinner date

On Wednesday, he was admitted to hospital for an operation to insert three stents – and as a result, is likely to have to take blood-thinning medication for the rest of his life.

Since being released from medical supervision, Markle Sr has been staying with friends in a different gated compound a few miles from his home.

He returned to his San Antonio Del Mar property Monday – driven in by a different friend, single mom Lori Davis, 38, with whom he has previously been pictured enjoying a dinner date.

His return home came days after Meghan walked down the aisle in a spectacular Givenchy dress – accompanied for part of it by her new father-in-law Prince Charles.

Her yoga teacher mother Doria Ragland, 61, was the only member of the newly minted Duchess of Sussex’ family to attend the wedding and was seated alone.

Markle Sr is understood to have watched the ceremony, which took place at 4am Pacific Time, on TV – later pronouncing it ‘joyful and emotional’ in an interview with his favored media outlet, gossip website TMZ.

The former lighting director added: ‘My baby looks beautiful and she looks very happy. I wish I were there and I wish them all my love and all happiness.’

In a second interview with the same outlet, he revealed he had texted his daughter to tell her he loved her before the ceremony and said he regretted not being able to go.

He told TMZ: ‘The service was beautiful and it [is] history. I will always regret not being able to be there and not being able to hold my daughter’s hand.’

On Wednesday, he was admitted to hospital for an operation to insert three stents – and as a result, is likely to have to take blood-thinning medication for the rest of his life.  Because of the surgery Markle Sr missed out on walking his daughter down the aisle on Saturday 

His return home came days after Meghan walked down the aisle in a spectacular Givenchy dress – accompanied for part of it by her new father-in-law Prince Charles (pictured) 

Markle Sr is understood to have watched the ceremony, which took place at 4am Pacific Time, on TV – later pronouncing it ‘joyful and emotional’

Markle Sr also slammed his son and eldest daughter Thomas Jr, 51, and Samantha Grant, 53, saying they ‘should just shut up about everything’.

On Monday, Meghan’s estranged half-sister Samantha called on the duchess to ‘do the right thing’ and reunite their family in the wake of the royal wedding.

She also called on Prince Harry to fly Markle Sr over once he is back to full health in order that he is able to fulfill his lifelong dream of visiting Buckingham Palace.

Last week he blamed his health problems on their constant carping in the media and said he had been forced to take valium to deal with the heartache caused by their attacks on Meghan.

Meghans’s yoga teacher mother Doria Ragland (pictured), 61, was the only member of the newly minted Duchess of Sussex’ family to attend the wedding

His ex-wife Roslyn, 72, has also hit out at their behavior, telling DailyMail.com she ‘chewed out Tom for making us look like a bunch of hillbillies’.

She also described estranged daughter Samantha as ‘an embarrassment’ to the family and said she needs to ‘get some dignity’.

Markle Sr is now expected to keep a low profile at his single-story home north of Rosarito while he recovers from his operation and the fallout from the fake pictures scandal that emerged just over a week ago.

The Mail on Sunday expose included CCTV footage of Markle Sr colluding with Los Angeles-based photographer Jeff Rayner, 44, to stage ‘candid’ pictures of him looking at Meghan’s photo on the internet.

Friends told DailyMail.com he had been left ’embarrassed’ by the incident.

As a result of the scandal and his subsequent health problems, he is still to meet new son-in-law Prince Harry, 33, although he is thought to have spoken with the royal by phone.

Markle Sr revealed earlier this week that he plans to travel to London later this year to meet the royals after failing to make the wedding.

His experiences in the UK will be in stark contrast to Rosarito, where he has lived since relocating from Los Angeles on his retirement in 2011.

The border town, which has a population of approximately 70,000 people, sits eight miles south of San Diego and is notoriously crime-plagued. 

Meghan’s estranged half-sister Samantha Markle (left) called on the duchess to ‘do the right thing’ and reunite their family in the wake of the royal wedding. She also called on Prince Harry to fly Markle Sr over once he is back to full health so he can visit Buckingham Palace

Instead of focusing on the Royal Wedding, headlines in the local papers last week noted that Baja California has already experienced 1000 murders in 2018 alone.

Another reported the discovery of a man’s mutilated body inside a tamale van left in nearby Tijuana’s Zona Norte district which sits beside the US border crossing at San Ysidro.

His home, in a large expat complex called San Antonio del Mar, sits on a clifftop overlooking a trash-strewn beach butting onto the Pacific.

An open sewage pipe spills directly into the water, creating a filthy brown slick that extends out past the rocks into the ocean.

The compound has cobbled streets and a motley collection of houses, with architectural styles ranging from ultra-modern boxes to rambling Tuscan style properties in a rainbow of bright colors.

Four miles away is the Papellon Shopping Mall where Markle Sr does his bi-weekly grocery run at the huge Walmart supermarket and a branch of Home Depot where he was recently photographed purchasing a toilet.

He is also understood to occasionally frequent expat bar Plan B and a café called Coffe House, both of which are less than a mile from his home.

Plan B owner Chris Larsen said he had considered throwing a royal-themed celebration but told DailyMail.com that his license wouldn’t allow him to open the bar at 4am.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, as the wedding got underway in Windsor, the streets of Rosarito were totally deserted but for a stray dog seen loping down main drag Benito Juarez.

Markle Sr revealed earlier this week that he plans to travel to London later this year to meet the royals after failing to make the wedding

The newly married Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, leaving Windsor Castle after their wedding to attend an evening reception at Frogmore House, hosted by the Prince of Wales

Even late-night drinking establishments such as Acua Baja Bar & Mar were empty, with the popular party spot shutting at its usual time of 3am instead of extending its hours.

Markle Sr later told TMZ that he had watched the ceremony from his hospital bed but his neighbors in Rosarito appeared not to have tuned in, with every home dark as the wedding began.

Other members of the Markle clan also viewed the ceremony on TV with Roslyn telling DailyMail.com she got up at 3am to see the celebration.

Roslyn, who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said: ‘Meghan looked wonderful and I thought her dress was classically beautiful. Doria looked proud and lovely.’

She said former husband Markle Sr would have been ‘a bit tearful’ as he watched the ceremony and added:

‘I’m sorry that her father missed out on this joyous occasion. I know he was watching and was a bit tearful – but he was very proud.’

Her two eldest children, neither of whom were invited to the wedding, also watched proceedings from afar – and both cashed in.

Samantha was at home in Ocala, Florida, with an Australian TV crew and is understood to have been paid around $25,000 to appear.

Tom Jr, meanwhile, was in the UK as the paid guest of a tabloid newspaper.

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