#her royal highness the duchess of camilla

[houseofbrat]

The wailers are going to need to text SHOUT after the news that Cathy isn’t banqueting! I’m sure Camilla is going to get dragged through the mud rather than the covert separation 😂

Did you see the engagement stats that came out over the weekend? Willy being so obviously outworked by the 31st person in line to the throne who is older than his father! Good grief…

I’m so intrigued to see the body language between the most in love loved up couple ever when this is what they looked like unposed during their last state visit together…

I think it's pretty clear that Kate isn't allowed to attend the banquet because she's not working. No tiaras for royals who won't do their job!

I suspect the only reason Kate is involved in the welcoming aspects is that William doesn't feel comfortable going solo and making conversation with two people on his own. Kate speaks a bit of Arabic, so she can greet them in their local language for a moment. Don't know what kind of negotiation the KP staff had to get her to do it, but they did.

But, hey, Kate has to prepare for her big concert next Friday! Just a few days ago, The Sun mentioned in their EXCLUSIVE! that Kate might be playing the piano again!

In 2021 she surprised guests with a solo piano recital and there are rumours she may be planning something special again this year.

Those are Kate's priorities. I don't know why any of the Wales fandom thinks serving her country by attending a state banquet ranks high on the list.

Can't wait to see which tiaras will make an appearance next week. Survey says Sophie will be wearing the Cambridge Lovers' Knot. Camilla will probably wear a completely different tiara again. Perhaps we'll even get Anne in a different tiara too!

In a notable development, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, claimed third position with 126 royal engagements. The Duke's performance marked an impressive 11.5 per cent increase from his previous year's duties. Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, secured fourth place with 124 engagements, whilst his wife Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, ranked fifth with 108. Queen Camilla took sixth position with 95 engagements, followed by the Duchess of Gloucester with 72. Prince William placed eighth with 71 royal engagements, marking a quieter year with a 35.5 per cent decrease as he focused on supporting the Princess of Wales during her cancer treatment. The Duke of Kent completed 62 engagements, securing ninth position.

I think it's too early for engagement count lists. November hasn't even finished yet. Even still, William is barely outworking The Duke of Kent--a stroke survivor in his 80s! People will blame Kate's "cancer," yet William didn't pick up the pace of his workload after Kate released her music video announcing the end of her "treatment." No, instead William has undergone a weight loss program while simultaneously growing a beard!

Proof of life AND proof of marriage next week!

Remind me when the Waleses' Christmas card comes out again? After Kate's Christmas carol concert has been filmed? Either the weekend after the concert or the following week?

Asking for a friend...

[saintmeghanmarkle]

A Year in Review: All the times Meghan Markle been publicly called out in 2023. Highlights and favorite #MarkleMoment from last year? 📌Part 1 of 2

These are her humiliating moments over past year that she’s been publicly called out for in some way. All with proof, all archived from media reports around the world. Get cozy, save this post, and as always, appreciate the upvotes so it doesn't get targeted for downvotes! Posting it now as many of us will be celebrating Christmas with our loved ones. Although we are a diverse bunch, this unites us all :)

Here’s some from 2022 to inspire you:

Harry and Megan of “overseas”

the Funeral candle

no Jubilee balcony

voetsek Megan

I love the part where…(YouTube comments on their Netflix trailer)

Marriott Meg

12% Rotten Tomatoes rating for Netflix flopumentary, with her cutesy (mocking) curtesy

What was your favourite from 2023?

Air New Zealand’s epic trolling tweet re Sussex Class (a truly underrated gem). Proves Meg never bought Thomas Markle his flights for the wedding, as Harry claimed in Spare. https://archive.ph/wip/chjhf

'Live to Lead' quietly dumped on Netflix New Year’s Day. Jacinda Arden's PMO puts out a statement that when she filmed it years earlier it wasn’t affiliated with Harry and Meghan. https://archive.ph/DiDzT

South Park, Worldwide Privacy Tour episode.https://archive.ph/Sqc99

Frogmore no more. KCIII evicts Harry and Meg from Frogmore. Toad Abode eviction, just leave your spare keys on the bench.https://archive.ph/PeCPQ

9 edits on a Telegraph article about Harry and Meg's 'appalling treatment' from the Royal family. https://archive.ph/wip/suU7g

Chris Rock blasts their victimhood (on Netflix special, extra irony). Points out all families speculate on what the baby will look like. https://archive.ph/3NdgW

The underrated British Vogue moment, where they posted a pic of the best wedding veils of all time of Meghan, intentionally on William and Catherine’s anniversary. The public response was epic. They were not having it. Trolled by posting pics of Catherine in her veil. https://twitter.com/BritishVogue/status/1652309496482394116

Coronation weekend: Montecito Meg will never appear in that historical record. Claims a 4 years olds birthday is more important (hot tip: kids are portable. Just like Lili was for her birthday during the Queens Jubilee). Weak PR attempt about lemon cake with lemons from her tree, and somehow Harry defying the laws of physics and time to make it back in time for Archie’s alleged party. Close second: her urban safari hike PR pap walk the next day. Honourable mention: Anne’s feather. https://archive.ph/m0fcH https://archive.ph/9BsWW https://archive.ph/7UNDp

Queen of Hertz; flees via high speed “near catastrophic car chase” papped taxi “chase” that the taxi driver, Backgrid, and NYPD deny. 4 paps, with 1 on a bike. For 2.5 hours. Yes, a bike. https://archive.ph/EBmZ9

Spotify, bye-bye to “f$&@ing grifters”. https://archive.ph/OWTI2

Publicly manifesting Duchess of Dior? Dior source is “nonplussed as to how the story came about.” Dior firmly stares - No Deal! Update: a few months later, Princess Maria Olympia of Greece has a Dior and Aquazura contract. Repeats the process with Cartier page six article Aug 6th. Nothing. Camilla wears Dior a few days later. https://archive.ph/wip/k0hiA

Netflix manifesting: rom coms, Bad Manners feminist Miss Havisham, Harry saves Africa (sarcasm on it not being a country), Meg to offer advice of safe birthing practices, buying the rights to a Princess who dies in a car crash https://archive.ph/wip/W9xQg https://archive.ph/wip/8COXT https://archive.ph/JDspD

“Turns out Meghan Markle was not a great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent” - United Talent Agency CEO Jeremy Zimmer. https://archive.ph/wip/4TnM6

Taylor Swift turned down Archetypes Spotify appearance. https://archive.ph/VjC07

No Emmy nomination for Harry and Meghan, "devastated". Scoreboard: Meg = 0 nominations. Thomas Markle = 2 Emmy wins. https://archive.ph/wip/m3PQS

UnSussexful trends on Twitter after Harry and Meg blame their lack of success on "bad luck."https://archive.ph/CauG3

Report surfaces that Sussexes tried to bum a ride on Air Force One following QEII’s funeral. Access denied. Also tried to tie Jill Biden’s lemon dress the day after the Oprah interview to Meg as a sign of support. Meg sends Jill a basket of lemons. https://archive.ph/ZofTQ

Celeb “friends” bail. Public reports the Beckhams aren’t friends after no invite to Brooklyn’s wedding, no celeb studded InterMiami game. Serena holds a baby shower, no Meg to be found.https://archive.ph/k02N8 https://archive.ph/6rfSO

No birthday wishes from the Royals. Confirms no Balmoral for the one year anniversary of the Queen’s death, despite the Sussexes confirming they will be in Germany the day after for Invictus.https://archive.ph/0IAaO

Sussexes claim to be friends with John Travolta! And he noped that one in record time.https://archive.ph/dPjLW

Meg attempt to convince everyone she was at the Taylor Swift concert in LA while Harry is in Japan/Singapore but no pics exist. Despite many actual celebs having pics there. Not a single one. Outside of the one helpfully provided to Page Six that’s a cropped version of her pink linen suit from the Laker’s game, Harry cropped out. Later, the pic is updated with Harry back in it after it's pointed out on this sub. https://archive.ph/DhvlY

Meg dresses in beige coat, scarf, in August. In California. Attempts to merch them, including the Nucalm (aka sticker) on her wrist, with only that cuff of the coat helpfully rolled up to show it off better. Note she has not managed to elude the pap on her “casual walk”, yet there is nary a pic from the Swift concert. Skills. Despite posting it on their own Insta with a promo code, one day later NuCalm denies that they are affiliated with Meg. Ouch. https://archive.ph/MVGfP

A) Meg and Harry attend Beyoncé to deflect for on the Heart of Invictus flop and rumours their marriage is in trouble. Harry manages to make Beyoncé with Meg look like he's a sulking toddler. B) Meg attempts to change the SEO results and attends Beyoncé a second night in a row, takes pics with Kerri Washington and Kelly Rowland. Kerri Washington crops Meg OUT of the pic on her Instagram.https://archive.ph/As4RZ https://archive.ph/wip/NOL8m

Meg’s Backgrid planned pap, inside the restaurant, at In N Out. Allegedly buying milkshakes for a 2 yr old and 4 yr old an hour away. Which is why she's 'late' to Invictus. (Still think this was likely her assistant who hopped out of the car, went inside to take the pic, and then met her after the drive through, and they sold the pic via Backgrid.) https://archive.ph/wip/bvgjX

post link: A Year in Review: All the times Meghan Markle been publicly called out in 2023. Highlights and favorite #MarkleMoment from last year? : SaintMeghanMarkle (reddit.com)

author: somespeculation

submitted: December 17, 2023 at 02:25PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit

[charlotte-of-wales]

NEWS: the King and Queen + the Rothesays will attend events as part of the ‘Royal Week’ in Scotland on July 5th

Scotland will mark the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty Queen Camilla during Royal Week in Edinburgh on Wednesday 5 July.

The King will be presented with the Honours of Scotland at a National Service of Thanksgiving at St Giles' Cathedral following processions on the Royal Mile. Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay will also attend events.

The Honours will be collected from Edinburgh Castle by a People's Procession, involving around 100 people representing aspects of Scottish life.

It will be escorted by The Royal Regiment of Scotland , Shetland pony mascot Corporal Cruachan IV and supported by cadet musicians from the Combined Cadet Force Pipes and Drums, 51 Brigade Cadet Military Band.

The Royal Procession will travel from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to the Cathedral. There will be opportunities for the public to view the People's Procession and the Royal Procession along the Royal Mile.

A 21-Gun Salute will fire from Edinburgh Castle at the end of the St Giles' Service, before the Royal Procession travels back to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

via Buckingham Palace

[ifreakingloveroyals]

5 April 2017 | Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Austrian First Lady, Doris Schmidauer tour the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Her Royal Highness will accompany the First Lady on a tour of the Presidential apartments whilst His Royal Highness and the President hold a bilateral discussion with the Austrian and British delegations. (c) Chris Jackson - Pool/Getty Images

[ingek73]

Charles undermined late queen’s plan to sue News UK, Prince Harry tells court

Harry claims his father intervened because he wanted to ensure the Sun supported his and Camilla’s future reign

Jim Waterson Media editor

Tue 25 Apr 2023 15.39 BST

Queen Elizabeth II personally threatened Rupert Murdoch’s media company with legal proceedings over phone hacking only for her efforts to be undermined by the then Prince Charles, the high court has heard.

Prince Harry said his father intervened because he wanted to ensure the Sun supported his ascension to the throne and Camilla’s role as queen consort, and had a “specific long-term strategy to keep the media on side” for “when the time came”.

The Duke of Sussex made the claims on Tuesday as part of his ongoing legal action against News Group Newspapers. The legal case lays bare Harry’s allegations of the deals between senior members of the British royal family and tabloid newspapers.

The prince said his father, the king, had personally demanded he stop his legal cases against British newspaper outlets when they were filed in late 2019.

The court filings state: “I was summoned to Buckingham Palace and specifically told to drop the legal actions because they have an ‘effect on all the family’.” He added this was “a direct request (or rather demand) from my father” and senior royal aides.

Harry blamed tabloid press intrusion for collapses in his mental health, said journalists had destroyed many of his relationships with girlfriends, and said British tabloid journalists fuelled online trolls and drove people to suicide.

He said: “How much more blood will stain their typing fingers before someone can put a stop to this madness?”

The duke also suggested that press intrusion by the Sun and other newspapers led to his mother – Diana, Princess of Wales – choosing to travel without a police escort, ultimately leading to her death in 1997.

In 2017, Harry decided to seek an apology from Murdoch’s News UK for phone hacking, receiving the backing of Queen Elizabeth II and his brother. His submission said: “William was very understanding and supportive and agreed that we needed to do it. He therefore suggested that I seek permission from ‘granny’. I spoke to her shortly afterwards and said something along the lines of: ‘Are you happy for me to push this forward, do I have your permission?’ and she said: ‘Yes.’”

Having received the support of Queen Elizabeth II, Harry said he asked the royal family’s lawyers to write to the Murdoch executives Rebekah Brooks and Robert Thomson and seek a resolution. Yet the company refused to apologise and, out of desperation, Harry discussed banning reporters from Murdoch-owned outlets from attending his wedding to Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

In 2018, Sally Osman, Queen Elizabeth II’s communications secretary, wrote an email to Harry explaining that she was willing to threaten legal action in the name of the monarch.

The email read: “The queen has given her consent to send a further note, by email, to Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corporation and Rebekah Brooks, CEO of News UK.

“Her Majesty has approved the wording, which essentially says there is increasing frustration at their lack of response and engagement and, while we’ve tried to settle without involving lawyers, we will need to reconsider our stance unless we receive a viable proposal.”

However, there was no apology, which Harry ascribes to a secret deal between the royal family and senior Murdoch executives to keep proceedings out of court. As part of the legal proceedings he alleged that his brother, Prince William, had secretly been paid a “huge sum of money” by Murdoch’s company in 2020 to settle a previously undisclosed phone-hacking claim.

Harry claimed that, shortly before his wedding, he was informed Murdoch’s company would not apologise to the queen and the rest of the royal family at that stage because “they would have to admit that not only was the News of the World involved in phone hacking but also the Sun”, which they “couldn’t afford to do” as it would undermine their continued denials that illegal activity took place at the Sun.

Murdoch’s company has always denied that any illegal behaviour took place at the Sun and that all phone hacking and illicit blagging of personal material was limited to its sister newspaper, the now-defunct News of the World.

Harry insists this is untrue and claims phone hacking was widespread at the Sun when it was edited by Brooks, now a senior Murdoch executive. He has said he is willing to go to trial in an attempt to prove this. Murdoch’s company denies any wrongdoing at the Sun, or that there was any secret deal between the newspaper group and the royal household over phone hacking.

The prince also said press intrusion into the life of his mother was “one of the reasons she insisted on not having any protection after the divorce” as she suspected those around her of selling stories to outlets such as the Sun. He claims: “If she’d had police protection with her in August 1997, she’d probably still be alive today. People who abuse their power like this need to face the consequences of their actions, otherwise it says that we can all behave like this.”

Harry now believes his father and royal courtiers were prioritising positive coverage of his father and Camilla in the Sun, rather than seeking to back his legal claims. He said: “[T]hey had a specific long-term strategy to keep the media (including [Sun publisher] NGN) onside in order to smooth the way for my stepmother (and father) to be accepted by the British public as queen consort (and king respectively) when the time came … anything that might upset the applecart in this regard (including the suggestion of resolution of our phone-hacking claims) was to be avoided at all costs.”

He said all of his girlfriends would find “they are not just in a relationship with me but with the entire tabloid press as a third party”, leading to bouts of depression and paranoia. He claimed the press was pushing him in the hope of “a total and very public breakdown”.

He made clear his personal loathing of Brooks, who was found not guilty of phone hacking by a jury in June 2014. He said: “Having met her once with my father when she was hosting the Sun military awards at the Imperial War Museum in London and having seen her essentially masquerading as someone that she wasn’t by using the military community to try and cover up all the appalling things that she and her newspapers had done, I felt this surprise at her acquittal even more personally, especially as I had been duped into thinking that she was OK at our meeting.”

[misspeppermint2003]

👑🎂 Happy 97th Birthday Queen Elizabeth II 🎂👑

Hello everyone. I've made two pictures of Her Late Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II (21st April 1926-8th September 2022) with using Picrew.

Queen Elizabeth II (younger)

At 26 years old, succeeeded her late father, King George VI, she became the Queen and reigns the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until 2022.

Queen Elizabeth II (older)

After her death on 8th September 2022 at the age of 96, her oldest son Prince Charles (then Prince of Wales) and his second wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall became Britain's new King and Queen and their coronation has been started in May 2023.

[kikotapasando]

Minister Javier Silvania Her Royal Highness Princess Camilla of Bourbon Two Sicilies, Duchess of Castro huntu ku consul di Mexico a hasi un bishita di kortesia na MinFin

[mermaidsirennikita]

the whole kate thing is so confusing to me because 1) she's one of the more popular royals, not at diana-level obvi, but she does pull the hope of the future of the monarchy with her, imo. 2) in that case, why wouldn't they keep her happy? she's been a diligent worker bee for the firm for decades. she knows what she got into, she also knows what kind of sway she has, right? I think that she had a procedure that went awry bc of some oversights by the ppl in charge of that kind of stuff.

Iiiii don't know that Kate is all that popular these days. She may have better approval ratings than some, but I don't know that that's like... a high bar to clear. Before the Meghan stuff happened, she was often behind Harry and I think the Meghan thing made the press swing more behind her in order to denigrate Meghan.

However:

a) people who end up supporting Harry and Meghan swung away from Kate

b) she hasn't popped out any babies recently and probably won't (and let us be real, Kate being pregnant and holding her babies was a big part of her appeal)

c) her personality is rather opaque (which is to say, she kinda doesn't have one publicly)

d) she isn't a compelling speaker

e) she ISN'T a diligent worker bee outside of pumping out babies, and that's been one of her biggest flaws press-wise;she was criticized a lot especially prior to Meghan's arrival for not doing as many engagements as she should (she was called "Duchess Do-Little/Do-Nothing")

f) she always needed (and will always need) to keep a step behind William.

And more recently, she got exposed as a racist. Which--if you watched Kate and weren't stanning her, you knew she was racist lol. This is not news. But her name being attached to the "what will Archie's skin tone be" scandal was really explicit.

But! Even if Kate was popular. This family does not and has never cared about using royal women to the best of their advantage, unless that royal woman was Elizabeth II. Diana was indeed ridiculously popular at one point, SUPER good at PR and humanizing the royal family... and she got shafted a lot because of jealousies surrounding her popularity. Meghan offered the potential to make the Windsors look less stuck in the past, more open--when she and Harry got together, a lot of headlines speculated about this making the royals more relatable to Brits who were not in fact white. (Now: is this weird and mercenary and does it simplify the way people of color think to a ridiculous degree? Oh yes. But it was something people thought at the time.) However, they threw her to the wolves.

Even if Kate was popular--doesn't matter. This family prioritizes blood first, and men most of all. William wants to be front and center. Charles wants to overshadow William. Camilla is known to throw other royals under the bus.

It doesn't matter if it makes zero sense. They've NEVER made the smart choices regarding married in women. They want broodmares who will look pretty and keep their heads down when called upon.

I don't think she has sway, tbh. I don't think the public was fond enough of her to give her that before (even the concern about her is less "we miss Kate" and more "wtf is going on over there"), and I don't think the family has any respect for her.

[thepensociety]

Long live king, Charles and Queen Camilla

The wait is now finally over!

Long live king, Charles and Queen Camilla

On May 6, 2023, King Charles III and Queen Camilla were officially crowned as the King and Queen of the United Kingdom and other commonwealth realms. After the passing of the late Queen Elizabeth, her majesty's eldest son was expected to be crowned, and on May 6, 2023, it became official.

More than 2,000 people were invited to the coronation, and many of the guests were high-profile guests from around the world. Some of the notable guests were the Crown Prince of Norway, Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Prince Radu and Margareta of Romania, Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko of Japan, Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba and wife Sylvia Bongo Ondimba, King Felipe VI and Letizia of Spain, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene, Grand-Duke Henri of Luxembourg and Grand-Duchess Maria Teresa,Yang di Pertuan Agong and Raja Permaisuri Agong of Malaysia, Letsie III, King of Lesotho, and royals from around the world also attended the coronation ceremony. In addition, leaders from the United States congratulated the newly crowned king and queen, while China opted for "cooperation and peace."

With the newly crowned King and Queen, changes in the country are expected, from the national anthem to coin stamps and bills. Legal changes are also expected, and even the royal cipher will change. The Queen's "EIIR" stamp is now located beneath an image of the St. Edward's Crown in the royal monogram known as the Royal Cypher, but this may soon change, with this

Long live the King, and all hail the Queen!

The wait is now finally over!

Swifties around the world were thrilled as Taylor announced the release date of its highly anticipated own version of "Speak Now."

Taylor Swift took to Instagram to announce the release of her own version of the album "Speak Now." With six additional tracks written solely by her, her version of the album will be released in July of this year, and Swifties can’t wait for it.

According to the star herself, "The songs that came from this time in my life were marked by their brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions, and wild wistfulness. I love this album because it tells a tale of growing up, flailing, flying, and crashing... and living to speak about it."

And as a Swiftie myself who grew up with her music, I also can’t wait for it. If I could just fast forward to the time I would do it, that’s how I'm excited about this coming release of her own version. I can’t wait to listen to her version of my favorite tracks, Enchanted, Dear John, and Back to December, and listen to her newly written songs.

Taylor Swift is one of my favorite artists and will always be. With her great skills in writing and enchanting voice, I can't help but fall in love with her. With this upcoming release, I’m sure not just me but also Swifties around the world are all hyped up and can't wait for it.

[houseofbrat]

Oh goodness. Danielle Elser (journalist who writes for news.com.au) has written an article criticizing Catherine for not being at the whole service or whatever event followed the service. Very detailed article about why Kate should have been there because the RF has to work hard to make amends in light of recent events that put the RF in a bad light. She said this is more important than taking George to an oboe lesson. I really do hope she’s pregnant. What will she say then?

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/royals/kate-middleton-going-missing-after-commonwealth-service-is-a-bad-look/news-story/d4673b319d2d898932244f8efb817a5d

Inside the Abbey, Kate managed not to yawn, fidget or check that eBay auction she has been watching, before greeting some small children on the way out. This was some textbook princess-ing if ever we’ve seen it.

And then … Poof! The lady vanishes.

After the service, King Charles, Camilla, Princess Anne, her husband Sir Tim Laurence, Prince William and the newly elevated Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh all trooped back to Buckingham Palace for the Commonwealth reception. Imagine a lot of high commissioners clutching glasses of orange juice waiting nervously to take their turn to make 30 seconds of small talk with the King about that one bit of the service where the organ really got going.

However, conspicuously absent from all the polite chitchat was Kate, despite a press release having previously said she would be attending.

With no official word about her no-show, the current theories are that her inclusion in the release was a mistake or that she left to pick up her three young HRHs from their Windsor school, Lambrook.

But … do we really buy either?

Firstly, does a well-oiled and experienced press machine like the Palace make admin mistakes? (Maybe cost-cutting measures have gotten such that courtiers have started letting work experience kids have a go on the Commodore 64 they use to crank out the official missives …)

Secondly, the Waleses have a nanny, aides, and probably more staff than a Fiji-bound P&O cruise ship, not to mention that her parents live nearby to their home, Adelaide Cottage. Someone else could clearly have picked up Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and their piles of maths homework. (‘Finnigan can only invite 12 friends along to his hunting weekend. If they will drink three bottles of Jägermeister each, how many buckets will his butler need to get in?’)

Sure, Kate’s desire to perpetually do the school run is admirable and all, but that does not change the fact that her priorities in this instance are really quite off.

And that's just from Australia.

Just wait until the UK tabs start going on this and the general low number of engagements.

[college-girl199328]

When members of a regiment from Ontario's Niagara Region took part in a military skills competition organized by their honorary colonel-in-chief in England last month, they claimed first place. Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, has been the Lincoln and Welland Regiment's colonel-in-chief since 2004 on top in the competition involving her other Canadian- and U.K.-affiliated units meant a lot to its members.

But it wasn't everything. While winning is the bond we share as allied units under [Sophie] is just as important to our soldiers," Lt.-Col. Christopher Canavan, the regiment's commanding officer, said via email.

Canavan said he has "always felt a great sense of pride" talking with Sophie about the unit, where its soldiers are serving or training, and how their families are adjusting with personnel away on training or operations. Sophie "has always been genuinely interested in the affairs of her soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and officers," he said.

Such sentiments are often attached to Sophie, the 58-year-old sister-in-law of King Charles, who became Duchess of Edinburgh earlier this month as her husband, Prince Edward, was granted the title Duke of Edinburgh, which had been held by his late father, Prince Philip. She's credited with the ability to listen with a smile and look interested and genuinely respond and engage," Judith Rowbotham, a social and cultural scholar and visiting research professor at the University of Plymouth in southwestern England, said in an interview.

"I think of people of manner, and her accessibility before the new title was a sense that Sophie's profile was the rise. Charles is widely to want a slimmed-down monarchy. The passage of time and other family circumstances have played into that plan, as some members age out of more active roles, and others — Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex — step back of their own accord.

Along with Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, Sophie and Edward have become the "key extra support" to King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, Rowbotham said. While Sophie's public profile may rise, she has long been considered a no-fuss royal who is diligent and devoted to the many causes she supports, with little need for fanfare. Areas of interest developed during her time as Countess of Wessex range from support for women who are victims of conflict-related sexual violence to those who are facing challenges in the agricultural sector.

"She picked up an awful lot of the traditional, but unglamorous … philanthropic involvement and other kinds of patronage involvement," Rowbotham said.

"She's working on women's rights long before it became high-profile and fashionable. She has been working on various forms of disability — particularly blindness because there was a problem with her daughter's sight soon after birth."

Sophie has also urged openness around women's health issues, such as menopause. I've always found that when we talk about women's health, it's actually preceded by talking about women's problems or women's issues, which immediately puts it into a negative light," Sophie said in a virtual chat a couple of years ago, as she took on the royal patronage for Wellbeing of Women, a U.K. women's health charity.

"But armed with knowledge and choice, our lot would be so much better, and I think it is up to us to try and inform women about that knowledge, about those choices that they have, in a way that is bringing the subject out into the open. Sophie's approach and openness have drawn the attention of others.

Rowbotham said activists she knows who work in areas such as domestic violence welcome Sophie's involvement.

"They credit her with listening and learning from them, also putting forward to help enrich the publicized, Rowbotham said, is how much time Sophie spends in her local hospital maternity units and similar places.

"She's one of the people known to be able to add value to an event personally, based on her personal insights, experience, and ideas. It's why Sophie is popular "in a low-key way, why she is so recognized and so welcome wherever she goes," Rowbotham said. "People enjoy meeting her and listening to her."

Sophie's visits with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment include time spent with members in 2012 when she presided over the presentation of new regimental colors. She also visited a training exercise in 2015.

"We look forward as her regiment in the Niagara Region to host [Sophie] when she is next able to visit," Canavan said. At first, the thinking went, the next horse the RCMP would give to the Royal Family would be a gelding — after all, that's what Queen Elizabeth suggested when she broached the idea a year and a half ago.

But when King Charles met the horse that eventually he rides on ceremonial occasions, it was a relatively young mare named Noble, which offered her nose for a nudge.

Noble, a seven-year-old Hanoverian who stands 16.2 hands high, arrived at the Royal Mews in Windsor, west of London, a few days ago.

Those who worked with Noble in Musical Ride stables in Ottawa have heard she's taken quite comfortably to her new surroundings. "I'm … in contact with the folks of the Royal Mews they've all [fallen] in love with her," Sgt. Maj. Scott Williamson, the RCMP's riding master, said in an interview. "She's really settled in well."

After the Queen suggested the need to think about a successor to George — the horse Charles is riding that was a gift to Elizabeth from the RCMP in 2009 — the search was on for a suitable replacement within the RCMP's equine ranks.

When Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall, were in Canada last May, they visited the Musical Ride stables.

"We had actually set aside a couple horses that we thought might be good fits," Williamson said. But when Charles commented that those animals were folks thinking maybe they needed to reassess just what horse they were putting forward.

Plus, the Musical Ride hadn't been touring for almost three years, limiting the potential to assess how the horses behave and perform in public with noise and music.

Once the Musical Ride for its summer tour season, one horse stood out, presenting the qualities most sought for the royal role. "The main quality that we're looking for is a calm disposition," Williamson said, "a horse that when it is in a very raucous or intense environment … can withhold its temperament, stay steady and continue to commit to its duties."

After the Musical Ride came back from its summer tour, Williamson put Noble through her paces, seeing how she would behave in environments, such as loud music being played, and how she would work on her own, without other horses to support her, as happens within the Musical Ride.

"She just took it like a champion and … I thought, OK, yeah, this is the horse we'll put the work into." That meant mimicking what Noble would encounter in ceremonial parades for Charles.

"We had live music, we had the RCMP pipes and drums band coming in regularly, playing with Noble to the point where she was just … bomb-proof with anything and everything that went on around her."

"She's an incredibly, incredibly sweet horse," Williamson said. "Any of us that worked with her developed a strong bond with her…. "She is such a willing partner [and] really wants to please whoever she's working with."

All that leaves Williamson with some envy of Charles will spend with Noble. "But by the same token, I'm incredibly proud to represent our country."

Noble arrived at Windsor after quite a journey, flying with an RCMP vet to Frankfurt, where she was met by Royal Mews staff, put on a truck, and transported to England.

Noble follows a long line of RCMP horses given to the Royal Family. Throughout Elizabeth's reign, the RCMP presented her with eight, beginning in 1969 with Burmese, which the Queen rode at Trooping the Colour, marking her official birthday, for 18 years.

The relationship between the Royal Family and the RCMP is one that Williamson describes as special and unique, both in the ceremonial connections through attendance at every coronation for more than a century and other royal protection detail they provide when Royal Family members visit Canada.

Noble's first public appearance in the U.K. may come within a few weeks, as the Mounties take part in another coronation procession, this time for King Charles on May 6.

"My understanding is that we will be the first people to ride her in the first public performance when we ride her for the coronation," said Williamson, who was one of four Mounties riding in the lead position of the procession following the Queen's funeral in September.

"Everything in her demeanor and her steadiness is everything Canadians hope to see, and I think Canada should be proud that we represent our country."

After a noticeable silence from the federal government, a few details have emerged regarding how the coronation of King Charles will be marked in Canada.

An official ceremony in honor of the event will be held in Ottawa on May 6, the Prime Minister's Office announced the other day's speeches, artistic performances, and unveilings, according to the federal government's website.

"This historic event, the first coronation of a Canadian head of state and monarch in seven decades, will allow communities to come together and highlight themes that both King Charles III and Canadians hold dear, including service, the environment and sustainability, and our nation's diversity," the government said.

Canadians will also be invited on May 6 and 7 to celebrate the coronation at Rideau Hall, the residence of Charles's representative in Canada, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon.

That same weekend, federal buildings in the National Capital Region and landmarks across the country will be invited to light up in emerald green to mark the coronation, the federal government said.

Several provincial lieutenant governors and territorial commissioners are also expected to hold celebrations. The federal plans are known and described so far came as a surprise to Justin Vovk, a royal commentator and a Ph.D. candidate at McMaster University in Hamilton who specializes in the history of the monarchy.

"I wasn't expecting something so monarch-centric, you could say," Vovk said, noting the emphasis the government places on the fact that Canada is a constitutional monarchy and that the monarch is central to the functioning of our political institutions.

Vovk was also surprised we have not heard anything about celebrating Canada's Indigenous history" or diversity. "If you're going to make it relevant for Canadians, you need to acknowledge the tremendous diversity, so I'm hoping that acknowledgment will start in the coming weeks."

Vovk will be watching what Buckingham Palace starts to announce "because the cards they start to show will begin to indicate what our government is going to do," he said.

"The King and our prime minister have similar values. They espouse similar causes. So that in and of itself shouldn't be difficult, but it is important to the same messaging."

[grannycrowley]

Isn't the throne The House of Windsor? The agreement with HM Queen Elizabeth? When Catherine married William her name legally became Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cambridge. When HM passed the King also made William and Catherine, The Prince and Princess of Wales. Importantly Catherine also inherited The Duchess of Cornwall from Camilla. Catherine is still The Duchess of Cambridge and is also the Duchess of Rothesay and Countess of Chester, Countess of Carrick and Baroness of Renfrew and known as Lady Carrickfergus.

I think that deserved a lot more respect for 'Kate Middleton' please Daily Mail.

@dailymail I know you like to mess with the Royals because they always outsmart you people in every way possible but she has been the princess of Wales for almost a year now she has been a duchess for longer than that. She has been in the royal family since she was a teenager she’s been married for 12 years to the freaking heir apparent. Her name is Princess Catherine Mountbatten-Windsor, or for formal use the princess of Wales, princess Catherine she’s your future queen for crying out loud.

[ifreakingloveroyals]

5 April 2017 | Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by Federal President of the Republic of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen and First Lady Doris Schmidauer as they arrive at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Her Royal Highness will accompany the First Lady on a tour of the presidential apartments whilst His Royal Highness and the President hold a bilateral discussion with the Austrian and British delegations. (c) Chris Jackson - Pool/Getty Images

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

Daniela Elser on the freebie bit in the book, which she notes seems to have been overshadowed by penises, drugs, etc.

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/royals/royal-rule-on-freebies-that-meghan-markle-kept-breaking/news-story/9b9fbdf9f1ee5a34140bc6afae19324b

[In "Palace Papers", Tina] Brown writes of a publicist who “was cc’d in a message to a member of Meghan’s team soon after she became the Duchess of Sussex”.

“Make sure [the publicist] knows that she can still send me anything. She’s always been one of the good ones.”

Writing in the UK Telegraph last weekend, Camilla Tominey reported that “when she first came on the scene, Meghan’s expectation was that she could keep some of the dresses she had been loaned”. (And the claim that the Los Angeles native shared around her “freebies”? That is “disputed,” per the same report.) ...

Other accounts have pointed to this luxury largesse as a point of friction behind the scenes.

In late 2018, it was revealed that Meghan’s assistant Melissa Toubati had quit, and Valentine Low writes in his 2021 book Courtiers: “Palace sources have said that the clashes between Meghan and Toubati centred on the free gifts that some companies would send to Meghan.

“Toubati was apparently punctilious in following the household rule that members of the royal family cannot accept freebies from commercial organisations. Her approach did not go down well with Meghan.”

Which thus brings us to the crux of all this: Harry, in Spare, is trying to use the “freebie” situation to paint his adored other half in a glowing light when in fact he would seem to have accidentally confirmed these previous reports.

(And to be fair, Elser does mention that Meghan wasn't alone in this: "Days before the Meghan bullying story broke in 2021, the Times revealed that Queen Elizabeth had 'continued to accept gifts of racehorses from the ruler of Dubai, even after his wife fled to London in fear of her life'. This same generous horsey royal, sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, had been found by the British high court to have abducted two of his daughters who are believed to be forcibly held in the Middle Eastern country.")

I’m glad someone is focusing on this. Thanks!

[ingek73]

Tominey: Prince Harry & Meghan ‘could be a poster couple for workshy Britain’

April 02, 2023

By Kaiser

The Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey is frantic. When Prince Harry showed up unexpectedly at a London High Court last week, Tominey could not contain her rage and fury at Harry for daring to stand up to a British tabloid. She barfed out an especially crazy piece about how Harry is a piece of sh-t for calling out the Daily Mail and calling out his father, who hires senior staff straight from the Mail’s editorial board. Tominey even admitted that Harry’s work-trip to London last week “would almost certainly have upstaged the King’s European charm offensive.” Camilla Tominey is such a loser and she defends losers. Well, she had another column in the Telegraph where she latched onto the Daily Mail’s “exclusive” story about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell charity tax filing, wherein they claimed (for tax purposes) that they worked one hour a week on Archewell’s charity arm. Behold, I give you “Harry and Meghan could be a poster couple for workshy Britain.” Sub-head: “But when it comes to self promotion, no one can doubt that the publicity shy couple have put in the hours.” Here’s part of her piece:

We all know that productivity has gone down since the pandemic…But who knew that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would have what it takes to become a poster-couple for workshy Britain, even after they left the UK to become “financially independent” in the United States?

The revelation that they last year carried out just one hour’s work a week for the Archewell Foundation, their non-profit organisation, has naturally been seized upon by the sort of people who revelled in that South Park episode. To be fair to the Duke and Duchess, it is standard practice for directors in the US to list their hours, as they have done on these newly released tax records.

Moreover, we can hardly say that they haven’t been busy since they stepped back as working royals – what with their Oprah Winfrey interview, their six-part Netflix documentary and Prince Harry’s autobiography, Spare.

Indeed, the Duke has also been occupied at the High Court this week, bravely setting aside his security concerns to join a group of well-known faces in suing Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, for allegedly stealing their private information, which the newspaper group denies.

Clearly, the amount of hard graft that is necessary, supposedly to protect one’s privacy, should not be underestimated.

In Harry and Meghan’s case, it has involved the traducing of a great many people to generate the requisite number of headlines to show just how intrusive the press can apparently be. We must never forgive the sacrifices they have made in the name of global royal reporting.

To be a royal is to be duty-bound in pursuit of the service of others, but Harry and Meghan’s approach has been rather more self-serving than that. For when it comes to self promotion, no one can doubt that the couple have put the hours in.

[From The Telegraph]

Imagine writing this about two people who left the UK in 2020, had their security pulled, were in fear for their lives, and were simply trying to survive for months with the kindness of a relative stranger (Tyler Perry). And in three years, this is what Harry and Meghan have done: welcomed a second child and recovered from a miscarriage; bought a home; won at least two lawsuits against the Mail; produced a wildly successful memoir; produced a wildly successful Netflix docuseries; produced a wildly successful and award-winning podcast; taken a Chief Impact Officer position with a billion-dollar life-coaching business; made a successful investment in a small oat-latte business; built a charity which has already worked on several substantive projects with tangible objectives and raised millions of dollars as well as working with corporate sponsors; organized another successful Invictus Games despite a global pandemic; continued conservation work in Africa; built an actual business and charity from the ground up, and on and on. While I wish we saw more of Harry and Meghan too, what they’ve managed to accomplish in three years is amazing.

Imagine writing all of this snide bullsh-t about “work-shy” Meghan and Harry… and then having nothing to say about Prince William and Kate, who barely do one event a week and are currently on a month-long vacation. I guess someone’s buying it?

Repeating this because it is a fantastic list:

Imagine writing this about two people who left the UK in 2020, had their security pulled, were in fear for their lives, and were simply trying to survive for months with the kindness of a relative stranger (Tyler Perry). And in three years, this is what Harry and Meghan have done: welcomed a second child and recovered from a miscarriage; bought a home; won at least two lawsuits against the Mail; produced a wildly successful memoir; produced a wildly successful Netflix docuseries; produced a wildly successful and award-winning podcast; taken a Chief Impact Officer position with a billion-dollar life-coaching business; made a successful investment in a small oat-latte business; built a charity which has already worked on several substantive projects with tangible objectives and raised millions of dollars as well as working with corporate sponsors; organized another successful Invictus Games despite a global pandemic; continued conservation work in Africa; built an actual business and charity from the ground up, and on and on. While I wish we saw more of Harry and Meghan too, what they’ve managed to accomplish in three years is amazing.

[skamenglishsubs]

Actual Royals

Because of current events, you can watch a lot of the stuff I wrote about a year ago in this blog post happen in real time:

Charles Philip Arthur George became the new monarch the instant his mother Queen Elizabeth II died. He quickly announced his regnal name, and chose King Charles III. Note that he could have picked anything! He could have become King Arthur I if he wanted to! That would have been awesome!

King Charles gained the title of King of the United Kingdom, but he also lost a bunch of titles that are either automatically bestowed on the crown prince, or were bestowed on him because he was the crown prince. He also gained fourteen (14!!!) more titles of king because of a slightly aggressive colonial past, but for example Tuvalu now has a king again. Canada too, I guess.

King Charles also gained the style of His Majesty, and lost the previous style of His Royal Highness.

The royal house of the United Kingdom is still House Windsor, even though it should have changed to House Mountbatten. However, Queen Elizabeth said fuck that declared that her descendants should belong to House Windsor in the 1960's.

In the rest of the royal family, there’s been a bunch of changes and reshuffling of titles. Camilla gained styles and titles, and is now Her Majesty, Queen Consort Camilla. Note that she is queen consort instead of queen because of - essentially - low ratings. Also note that queen consort is lower than queen, but prince consort is higher than prince because everything is made up and the points don't matter.

Prince William is now the crown prince and heir to the throne, and automatically gained a bunch of titles as a result. In addition to his previous titles, he is now also the Duke of Cornwall, and the Duke of Rothesay, making his wife Catherine the Duchess of Rothesay, Cornwall, and Cambridge. This also made their kids princes and princesses of Cornwall and Cambridge, but not of Rothesay, because Scotland.

Some titles also merged with the crown, foremost of these is the title of Prince of Wales which is currently vacant. This title does not automatically pass to the crown prince, and King Charles has to actually bestow the title on Prince William. Will he break 700 years of tradition? Who knows! (Magic 8-ball says: Very doubtful…)

Edit: Well, that went quick! King Charles named William Prince of Wales today, so even though he and his wife Catherine gained a bunch of ducal titles yesterday, they won't really be using those. Same goes for their kids who were princes and princesses of Cornwall and Cambridge for a day, but are now princes and princesses of Wales instead.

But the most important change of all is that King Carl XVI Gustaf is now one step closer to inheriting the throne of England! About 280 people need to be eliminated first, a minor detail, but once that happens we will rule England like we were meant to! 🇸🇪🇬🇧🇸🇪🇬🇧🇸🇪🇬🇧