Thursday, November 29, 2018

Frogmore Cottage -- A History

From the book  The Boy Who Would be Tsar The Art of Prince Andrew Romanoff. (2006.)  Photo is from the mid-1920s.


Sometime early next year, perhaps after the birth of their first child, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will move into Frogmore Cottage, a small manor house within the precincts of the better-known Frogmore House in Windsor Great Park.  The Duke and Duchess will be the first members of the British royal family to make Frogmore Cottage their home, although other royals have used the house as a retreat or a place to spend the weekend.   Frogmore Cottage has been the home of Henry James’ father; Abdul Karim, Queen Victoria’s beloved Munshi lived in the cottage; a nursery for the children of the Prince and Princess of Wales (King George V and Queen Mary); a safety net for the nearly destitute Grand Duchess Xenia of Russia, a sister of the murdered Nicholas II, and for more than 70 years, the home of loyal Windsor Castle staff.


Queen Charlotte, the consort of George III, acquired Little Frogmore, in the north-west area of what is now the Frogmore estate, in 1790.  The 3rd Earl of Harcourt, a “loyal servant and friend of both the King and Queen,” was able to obtain the Crown lease of this property for the Queen.  There was a small house on the estate, which the Queen used as a retreat for herself and her unmarried daughters.  The small house that they used was renamed Amelia Lodge, in honor of Charlotte’s youngest daughter, Princess Amelia (1783-1810).    

The Lodge underwent several additions and changes, which suited the Queen as she looked forward to her “sweet retirement” at Amelia Lodge.

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Two years after the acquisition of Little Frogmore, Queen Charlotte purchased the Great Frogmore estate, which had been owned by the Aldworth family until the early part of the 18th Century when the main house was leased to the Duke of Northumberland, the son of King Charles II and the Duchess of Cleveland.   During the next few decades, the Great Frogmore estate passed through several owners including Edward Walpole, the second son of Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole.

The two estates, now under one owner - the Queen - led to numerous changes.  Amelia Lodge was demolished, and the Queen devoted her energies to Frogmore House, which was “altered and greatly extended,” according to Frogmore House's official guidebook.   

Queen Charlotte considered Frogmore to be the place that will “furnish me with fresh amusements each day.”  It was at Frogmore that the queen was able to create a “calm retreat” for herself as she wrote, “a life of constant hurry and bustle is not reasonable.”   Charlotte preferred country life.

The Frogmore estate was inherited by Charlotte’s eldest unmarried daughter, Princess Augusta (1768-1840) when Queen Charlotte died in 1818.  Although most of the contents of the house were sold at auction after the queen’s death.   It was not until 1841, after the death of Princess Augusta, that the Crown purchased the estate from Augusta’s executors.  An Act of Parliament allowed for the estate to become a part of the “royal domain” at Windsor.

On the grounds of Frogmore House is the smaller Frogmore Cottage, which was often used as a retreat by Queen Charlotte and her unmarried daughters.

In May 1841, Queen Victoria offered Frogmore House to her mother, the Duchess of Kent, where she lived for the next 20 years.    Frogmore Cottage was rented out to tenants.   In the mid-1840s, the American theologian Henry James, Sr., lived at Frogmore Cottage with his wife and two young sons, William and Henry.  The family returned to the United States in 1845.  Young Henry grew up to author numerous books including Daisy Miller, The Turn of the Screw, and Portrait of a Lady.

Several years after the James family returned to America, the road in front of the house was closed to the public to give more privacy to the royal family.

I found few references to the Cottage from the 1850s to the 1890s, although, due to its proximity to Frogmore House – and Victoria’s affection for the house and gardens – it may be assumed that the cottage may have been leased or used as a retreat for members of the royal family.
On July 5, 1891, Queen Victoria’s third daughter, Princess Helena, and her husband, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein celebrated their silver Wedding anniversary with a grand party.  The Aberdeen Weekly Journal reported that the Queen had been “suffering from such a superfluity of superiority personages that many of them had to be bedded out.”  There was not enough room for the guests at Windsor Castle or at Helena’s residence, Cumberland Lodge, that the “Queen’s apartments at Frogmore House, Frogmore Cottage and the White Harte Hotel had to be requisitioned.”

The need for extra beds came up again later that year when the Lord Chamberlain’s office was asked to “prepare all the available rooms in Windsor Castle, as well as those at Frogmore House and cottage, for Her Majesty’s guests attending the marriage of the Duke of Clarence and Princess Victoria of Teck.”

The order would soon be canceled as the Duke of Clarence died from pneumonia on January 14, 1892. [Princess Mary married the Duke of Clarence's younger brother, Prince George, Duke of York at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace in July 1893.]

The Cottage would soon have a new resident, however, in October 1893, Queen Victoria offered the cottage to her Munshi, Abdul Karim.  It was reported that the house was “being decorated, refurnished, and generally renovated for his occupation.”  Abdul Karim and his family lived at Frogmore Cottage until shortly after Queen Victoria’s death in January 1901, when they returned to India.   None of Victoria's close family members shared her affection for the Munshi.  She would often join him and his family for tea at Frogmore Cottage.  Victoria's friendship with Karim was platonic.  He acted as one of her secretaries.  The Queen was eager to learn Urdu and was able to write notes to Karim in his native language.

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King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra enjoyed having quiet luncheons or tea at the cottage during the summer, especially when they were able to spend time with their grandchildren.  

In August 1904, Truth, a British magazine, suggested that King Edward VII was going to offer Frogmore Cottage to his daughter, Maud, and her husband Prince Carl of Denmark, but some people at Windsor maintained that “the King had offered the place to Prince and Princess Louis of Battenberg.  Princess Louis was the King’s niece, Princess Victoria of Hesse and By Rhine, the eldest daughter of his late sister, Princess Alice.  Neither story proved to be true as Frogmore Cottage was used by the Prince and Princess of Wales as a nursery for their young children. 

By 1909, however, the cottage became the home of King Edward’s Lord-in-Waiting, Lord Colebrooke. The king gave permission for Lord Colebrooke’s daughter, Mary, to marry Edward Packe, at the Chapel Royal, St. James’s Palace.  The Times’ announcement for their wedding noted that the honeymoon “is to be spent at Frogmore Cottage.”

King Edward VII died in May 1910 and was succeeded by his son, George.  In October of that year, one newspaper reported that George V intended to keep Frogmore House and Frogmore Cottage “in his own hands,” for the “greater accommodation at Windsor.”   The new king envisioned eventually handing over Frogmore House to his eldest son, Edward, known as David, “when he set up an establishment of his own. "George also planned for Frogmore Cottage to be used as a “bachelor annexe” for male guests and their suites, as well as a grace and favour” residence. 


 In June 1912, Queen Mary decided that her daughter, Princess Mary, then age 15, and her governess would stay for a few weeks at Frogmore Cottage, instead of Windsor Castle. The Queen made the decision for two reasons.  Princess Mary’s new “suite of apartments” was not yet ready, and Queen Mary was “anxious that her daughter’s education should not be interrupted” because of a house party – it was Ascot Week -- that was underway at the Castle. The Cottage was described as a “pretty little residence in Windsor Forest,” and Queen Mary contemplated converting the house into a residence for the royal children when Court was at Windsor.   

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Every morning, the young princess had a lesson in Scripture before breakfast and Queen Mary was insistent that she read at least one chapter of her Bible each day.

Princess Mary found the Cottage quite charming and its gardens which “were beautifully laid out.”   

The following year, the King and Queen were expected to spend Easter at York Cottage and not at Windsor.  It had been reported that they would stay at Frogmore Cottage “but the smallness of that otherwise charming little abode would alone render such a project impossible.”   They could not stay at Frogmore House, as the King’s aunt, Princess Helena, and her husband, Prince Christian, had been living there for eighteen months as their home, Cumberland Lodge, was under renovation.  The rebuilding of Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park was completed in December 1912, but Prince and Princess Christian were not able to move back in until the spring of 1913. 

Mary’s plans for a country retreat for her children were put on hold as in the fall of 1912, the king offered Frogmore House or Frogmore Cottage to the Duke and Duchess of Teck, who had recently given up their home in Holkham.

The duke was Mary’s eldest brother, Prince Adolphus, who was married to Lady Margaret Grosvenor, the third daughter of the 1st Duke of Westminster.  The Sunday Times reported that the Tecks were expected to choose the latter as it was “more suited to their requirements and costing considerably less to maintain. "The Cottage occupied a “charming position in the heart of Windsor Forest.”   

Queen Mary had wanted Princess Mary to continue to “occupy this house whenever convenient,” but if the Duke and Duchess of Teck accepted the King’s offer, arrangements would be made for Princess Mary to use Frogmore House.   The Duke and Duchess of Teck did accept the King’s kind offer to use Frogmore Cottage.  They also had a lease for a home on Devonshire Place in London, which they gave up in August 1919.  The Court Circular noted that the Marquess and Marchioness of Cambridge returned to Frogmore Cottage, where they remained until September after their younger daughter’s wedding.    Lord and Lady Cambridge settled into a new home, Shotten Hall, in Shrewsbury.


The change of titles came in July 1917 when the duke renounced his German titles and created the Marquess of Cambridge, Earl of Eltham, and Viscount Northallerton.   Lord Cambridge’s four children ceased to be styled as princes and princesses of Teck and adopted the style and precedence of children of a marquess.  The eldest son, George, was known as the Earl of Eltham.  His younger siblings were Lady Mary, Lady Helena, and Lord Frederick Cambridge.  The Marquess chose Cambridge as the family’s surname, as his mother, the late Princess Mary Adelaide, was born a Princess of Cambridge, the youngest of the three children of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

All four of the children spent a good part of their youth at Frogmore Cottage.

Lady Helena’s engagement to Major John Evelyn Gibbs of the Coldstream Guards was announced on July 18, 1919, with the wedding scheduled to take place at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on September 2.  It was the first royal wedding at St. George’s Chapel since June 1905, when Princess Margaret of Connaught, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, married Hereditary Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden - the future King Gustav VI Adolf, the grandfather of the present King Carl XVI Gustav.


all three postcards: Marlene A. Eilers Koenig Collection.

Lady Helena is the only royal bride who has dressed for her wedding at Frogmore Cottage.  A Royal Landau drawn by a pair of greys brought the bride and her father to the chapel’s western entrance.    

Lady Helena “looked very girlish in her wedding gown of white satin,” a simply made gown “trimmed with lace.”

The reception was held at Frogmore House with the permission of King George V, who was unable to attend the wedding as he and Queen Mary were at Balmoral.   Frogmore Cottage was “too small” for the wedding reception.
As Colonel Gibbs was based in Windsor, King George V granted the lease of Frogmore to Lady Helena and her husband in the early 1920s. In the 1925 Berkshire Electoral Register, Gibbs is listed as a resident of Frogmore Cottage, along with several servants.   They would soon move out to another home as Frogmore Cottage was about to become the home of King George V's first cousin, Grand Duchess Xenia of Russia.

Xenia was one of the two surviving sisters of the late Russian Emperor, Nicholas II, who was executed with his family by the Bolsheviks at Ekaterinburg in July 1918.  Grand Duchess Xenia, who was married to Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia, was finally able to leave Russia in early 1919 when King George V sent the British warship, the HMS Marlborough to Crimea, where Xenia, her mother, the Dowager Empress, and other family members were rescued. 

The Grand Duchess's financial situation was dire, and George offered her Frogmore Cottage as a place to live.

She sent a letter to the King, expressing her gratitude for his kindness. "Really Georgie, it is too good & kind of you."

There was no public announcement that the Grand Duchess would be moving into the house, officially known as "Grace & favour apartment 9."   Prince Nicholas of Greece wrote to Xenia about her move into the "pretty little house," which had about twenty-three rooms, but only one toilet "that was fitted out in a manner which suggested a stubborn devotion to the sixteenth century."

Prince Nicholas was a first cousin to both King George V and Grand Duchess Xenia.  His daughter Marina married the Duke of Kent in 1934.

Xenia was not living alone in the house.  She was joined by several of her sons and their families.   When it became too crowded, George V also offered Home Park Cottage (formerly named Frogmore Lodge), which was opposite Frogmore Cottage, as overflow for her large family.

A Ministry of Works official in 1929 found that the cottage was in "deplorable condition," as the house had not been "touched for several years."   Wallpaper was tearing off the walls, the ceilings were dirty, and the plaster was breaking off from the walls.  The house needed more than a mere lick of paint.

George wanted his cousin to be "made as comfortable as possible" so arrangements were made to install gas lighting.   There was one major problem when the Ministry of Works asked about who would pay for all the refurbishments.  Residents of grace and favour homes were required to pay for all internal changes, but Grand Duchess Xenia, a close relative of the king, was in no position to pay.

Bills would be quibbled over, but all the work - from installing hot water pipes to the installation of a "second-hand" gas stove from the Castle -- was paid for by King George V.


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By 1934, twenty-one people were living at Frogmore Cottage.  A plan to move the family into Frogmore House was vetoed.  King George did approve of the addition of a new wing that would include three bedrooms and another bathroom.

Again, all the expenses were paid for by the king.

On occasion, King George V invited Xenia to tea, sending a car with two footmen to bring her to the castle.   He also provided her with a £2400 annual pension.

In his book, The Boy Who Would Be Tsar, Prince Andrew Romanoff, a grandson of Grand Duchess Xenia, wrote briefly about living at Windsor.  He lived with his nanny in a building near the Cottage.  I expect this residence to be Home Park Cottage.

[The title of the book is misleading.  None of Xenia's sons married equally, which meant that the thrice-married Andrew, an artist who has lived for many years in the United States, was not in line for the Russian throne.]

Andrew, who was born in London in 1923, noticed the distance between the two families.  One afternoon, he was riding his bicycle on the palace grounds when he met Princess Elizabeth.  He said to her: "How do you do?" before getting back on his bike and riding back home.  That night, the family received a phone call from the castle.  Xenia's family would not be able to walk in the private gardens when their British cousins were staying at Windsor Castle.   The young Andrew also remembered another incident when "three enormous packages" were delivered to Frogmore Cottage.  Andrew and his siblings opened the packages to find large chocolate Easter eggs. One egg was as tall as Andrew.  Then came the phone call from the Castle.  The packages were meant for Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret.

Too late ... Andrew and his siblings had devoured the eggs.   Christmas was celebrated at Frogmore Cottage.   The children would perform plays for the adults before tearing open dozens of presents. Each child's gifts were placed on a separate couch.  "There were at least six different couches," Andrew wrote.

King George V died in January 1936.  His son, King Edward VIII, decided that he wanted to retain Frogmore Cottage for "the immediate royal family," and sent word to the Grand Duchess that she and her family had to move out of Frogmore Cottage.   He offered her Wilderness House, at Hampton Court, another "grace and favor" home.   

The late king's sister, Queen Maud of Norway, in a letter to Queen Mary, appeared relieved that Xenia was leaving Frogmore Cottage.   Hampton Court "will be further away for all her tiresome family."

Grand Duchess Xenia and her family moved to Wilderness House in November 1936.

Coryne Hall and John van der Kiste's biography, Once a Grand Duchess, provides more details on Xenia's time at Frogmore Cottage, including the costs of renovations and additions.

This begs the question -- what happened next to Frogmore House after the Grand Duchess was "chucked out."  In 1937, British and American newspapers reported that Queen Mary would move into the Cottage.   One newspaper reported that she "had made several visits to the cottage recently to give instructions for the decorations and furnishings."   The cottage was described "as extremely comfortable and well-arranged."

Queen Mary was not expected to "take possession" of the Cottage until the fall of 1937.   There are no references, not even in James Pope-Hennessy's classic biography, Queen Mary, about the queen using Frogmore House.   Within two years, Britain was again at war with Germany and Mary spent most of the war at Badminton House, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort.  The Duchess was her niece, the former Lady Mary Cambridge, elder sister of Lady Helena Gibbs.

In November 1947, just a few weeks before Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip, the deputy manager of Windsor Great Park went to Balmoral to meet with King George VI to discuss "another home" for Princess Elizabeth and Lt. Philip Mountbatten.  Their proposed country home, Sunninghill Park, was destroyed by fire only a few days earlier.  One of E.H. Savill's suggestions was Frogmore Cottage, but this suggestion was not accepted.

The Cottage had already been divided into several apartments for Windsor Castle Staff.  I expect this was done in the early 1940s, as the Berkshire Electoral Register lists five couples living at the Cottage including Florence and Henry Shurley.

The Shurleys continued to live in one apartment at the Cottage until the 1960s.  Unfortunately, the Electoral Register did not include the occupations of the residents of Frogmore Cottage.

Harry Shurley's death notice in The Times notes that he died "peacefully, at Frogmore Cottage, Windsor Castle, his beloved home, on February 16, 1965.

Now, fifty-five years later, Frogmore Cottage will once again become a home, this time a royal residence, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their growing family.  They will feel as Queen Charlotte did, that Frogmore will be a "calm retreat."   

One day, perhaps, Harry and Meghan will see Frogmore Cottage as their "beloved home," just as Harry Shurley did.



If you liked this article







Tuesday, November 27, 2018

No Proof Nicholas and family executed says reporter (What about the bullet holes?)



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November 28, 1918 (report sent November 21)


New York Times reporter Carl Ackerman is reporting that there is no evidence that former emperor Nicholas II and his family were killed in Ekaterinburg.   He writes:  "I have been through the house where he [Nicholas] is supposed to have been killed, and have talked with many inhabitants and foreigners.  None possessed proof that the family were executed.  There is no evidence except some twenty bullet holes in the wall, and there is considerable circumstantial evidence to make the Bolshevist story that the family were executed a doubtful one."

For the last three months an Ekaterinburg judicial commission has been investigating the reports of the executions, but "so far has been unable to reach a conclusion."

The Allied Consular corps, which has been in Ekaterinburg throughout the Bolshevist occupation, "does not possess evidence that the family were executed."

Prominent Ekaterinburg residents have doubts that Nicholas was killed.

The owner of the house where the family was imprisoned has no information on the status of the family.

Ackerman says, "on the other hand, there are bullet holes in the walls of a basement room, and there is the Bolshevist official statement that the family were executed."




The reporter adds that there is the "testimony of a prominent Ekaterinburg citizen" who claims that he saw the former emperor and his family at the railroad station three days after their reported disappearance.

The family arrived at the Ipatiev House in May and were allowed outside for one hour each day.   The house was under daily surveillance.  On the morning of July 17, every one who worked at the house departed.  The house was in a deplorable condition.

One room in the basement, according to Ackerman, were "bullet holes in the  wall about thirty inches from the floor.  There were bullet holes also in the floor and on it some blood stains.  This is the only evidence there is of executions."

The prisoners included Nicholas, his wife, Alexandra, their five children, one valet, one doctor and one maid.   "Ten persons must have been executed, or some of them or all escaped."

After the Bolseviki were forced to leave the city by Czechs, a judicial commission was formed to find out what happened to the former Emperor and his family.  Parts of the wall and floor were removed and taken to the courtroom.  "If the family had been executed they must have been seated on chairs but no chairs have been found.  The bodies have never been found, and no traces of them have ever been discovered."

Ackerman stated that it was possible that the Bolseviki "took every evidence with them, this does not seem logical considering the hopes of the Bolsheviki who were guarding the Czar."

A local resident walked into the station master's office at the train station in Ekaterinburg and said that he had seen the family  who were hidden in an inner room in the house.  Although he is the only person who claims to have seen Nicholas since the reported execution, "he is considered a reliable man."


The report concludes:  "Added to all the evidence here must be the German influence, which at the time was very great.  This is believed to have been exerted in the Czar's behalf.  After my investigation I am of the opinion of most people here that there is not sufficient evidence to prove the family were executed.  There is circumstantial evidence that they may still be alive.  The question of the Czar's fate is a conundrum to which even the judicial commission has not found the answer.  The Czar may be alive, or he may be dead.  Who knows?"

The execution was "alleged to have taken place on July 17."  The Czech soldiers arrived in Ekaterinburg on August 1.   On August 15, a dispatch from Amsterdam announced that Nicholas' body "had been taken from the well where it had been placed by his executioners and buried with great pomp by the peasants."




Monday, November 26, 2018

Mail Call today





Look what the mailman brought today  ... the thank you from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.




Sunday, November 25, 2018

A thank you from Princess Elisabeth




A thank you from Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, Duchess of Brabant

Friday, November 16, 2018

A lovely interview with Lady Amelia Windsor







The interview was done by my good friend, Mickey Boardman, the editor of Paper Magazine, must reading for the chic and the hipsters.
thanks to Mickey Boardman for allowing me the use of this photo

Lady Amelia Windsor is the youngest of three children of the Earl and Countess of St.  Andrews.  Lord St. Andrews is the heir apparent to his father, HRH The Duke of Kent, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.  

A royal engagement: Princess Theodora of Greece & Denmark to marry Matthew Kumar


@ HM King Constantine II

"Their Majesties King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie are delighted to announce the engagement of their youngest daughter Theodora to Mr. Matthew Kumar.

Further details about the forthcoming wedding will be provided in due course.

Mr. Matthew Kumar, 34, was born and raised in Southern California to Sam and Lonnie Kumar. He is a practicing attorney in Los Angeles."


He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and his law degree from the University of La Verne in Ontario, California.

Matthew Jeremiah Kumar was admitted to the California bar in 2012.  He was born December 15, 1983 and is the son of  Shalendra Kumar and Yolanda Sherry Richards.

The couple began dating in 2016.

Mr. Kumar owns the FarMar Law firm, which is a debt collection service.


Princess Theodora, an actress who uses the stage name Theodora Greece, was born June 9, 1983 at St. Mary's Hospital in London.  She graduated from Brown University with a BA in Theater Arts in May 2005.  She is a goddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II.

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

BULLETIN: Elizabeth gives birth to a son, crowd goes wild

Page 1 of the New York Times  November 15, 1948


November 14, 1948


Princess Elizabeth, the heiress presumptive to the British throne, gave  birth to a son.  The news was released in an official announcement from Buckingham Palace.

"Her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh was safely delivered of a Prince at 9:14 P.M. today.  Her Royal Highness and her son are both doing well."

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were in the palace for the birth of their first grandchild.  Their younger daughter, Princess Margaret, who moves down to third in the line of succession,  was out of the palace for evening. 

Queen Mary, who lives at Marlborough House, "hastened over and received her full share of cheers."  When she returned to her home at midnight, her "car was surrounded by a frenzied crowd," reported the New York Times.

The Home Secretary, James Chuter Ede, was the first person to "be officially notified.  [ The newspapers reported that this was the "first time in centuries that a  Home Secretary was not in official attendance at a royal birth," as King George VI had "abolished the ancient custom."  Yes, it is true, that the King ended the custom before Elizabeth gave birth, but the final royal birth for the Home Secretary was on December 25, 1936, when the Duchess of Kent gave birth to Princess Alexandra.  The formality was dispensed during the second world war for the births of Prince William of Gloucester (1941), Prince Michael of Kent (1942) and the Duke of Gloucester (1944).]

Mr. Chuder Ede immediately informed the Lord Mayor of the news of birth.  "Telegrams and messages" were sent to the rest of the United Kingdom and to all the Governors of the Dominions.

The New York Times described the birth as the "biggest news in the world to millions of persons."  As "affair of state," the birth of a prince is considered a :"great national and imperial event." 

What "counts most of all" is that the infant prince will succeed his mother on the throne.  This birth is seen as a "long historic tradition and a great wave of simple human joy."

The Princess' gynecologist, Sir William Gilliat, arrived at the palace last night at about 10:00 p.m.  Earlier this evening Sir William summoned his assistant, John H. Peel and the the royal family's physician, Sir John Weir.  An anesthetist V.F. Hall was also called.   The doctors arrived shortly after 7:30 p.m.   The baby was born less than two hours later, thus assuming that the princess "had a relatively easy time of it."

The news of the birth was made public at 10:10 p.m.

The Press Association's Court Correspondent reported:  "The new royal baby was described to me by one who has just seen him as a 'lovely boy, a really splendid baby.'" 

A large crowd waited outside Buckingham Palace.  A royal page slipped out the palace and whispered the news to a police constable, who made the announcement to the crowd: "It's a boy!" 

The crowd broke into "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow."  There were also cheers "We Want Philip, We want Philip, we want Philip," which continued for about five minutes. 

No members of the Royal Family appeared on the palace's balcony, as it was "not considered for Philip to make a public appearance despite the urging of the crowd."

The huge crowd went wild," reported the Washington Post, after hearing the news.  The baby's father, the Duke of Edinburgh, was playing squash when he was told by the doctor that he was a father. He immediately rushed to his wife, who was still under an anesthetic.  He was then taken to see his newborn son, who had been taken to the palace nursery.

The Duke of Edinburgh then brought the King and Queen to see their first grandchild.  Queen Elizabeth "embraced her son-in-law and the King shook his hand warmly."

A bottle of champagne was opened after 81-year-old Queen Mary arrived.  The "first health" to the infant prince was drunk by the Duke and his staff.

The Washington Post's reporter commented that "many years may pass" before the new prince "ever touches a scepter.  King George is only 53 and in excellent health.  Princess Elizabeth at 22 is apparently assured of a long life, too."









Tuesday, November 13, 2018

The Prince of Wales with his family

Two photos were released today to commemorate the Prince of Wales' 70th birthday





Happy 75th birthday to Crown Princess Katherine

Crown Princess Katherine, the consort of Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia, celebrates her 75th birthday.  May I offer my congratulations to a very sweet, hardworking lady, who is called the "Jewel of Serbia."

I have had the honor and great pleasure to visit Serbia on three occasions: Crown Prince Alexander's 60th birthday celebrations in 2004,  the couple's 25th wedding anniversary in 2010 and the State Funerals for King Peter II, Queen Alexandra, Queen Marie and Prince Andrej, in 2013.  I also had the honor of being invited to Prince Philip's wedding in October 2017, but, sadly, had to decline.   (I also can say that in 2004, I joined the Crown Princess for a shopping trip to Tysons shopping center in Fairfax County,  Virginia, as she and several friends, were on a mission to find a gown for the birthday celebration.)

Crown Princess Katherine does so much good for Serbia, especially for culture, women, children and medical needs.

She is the Founder and Patron of Lifeline.

Happy, Happy Birthday!!!

An interview from 2010

 https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2010/09/exclusive-interview-with-crown-prince.html

https://www.lifelinechicago.org/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQBnYjrpanA&feature=youtu.be


Friday, November 9, 2018

An abdication for Wilhelm

all images: Marlene A. Eilers Koenig Collection



It was on October 4, 1918, that the German Chancellor,  Prince Max of Baden succumbed to the pressure from the Supreme Army Command and asked American President Woodrow Wilson to "arrange an armistice."  Prince Max also accepted Wilson's "Fourteen Points" plan as the "basis for the forthcoming negotiations.   Kaiser Wilhelm II's biographer John Röhl described Max, in his first act as chancellor, as "hapless."





Max was ordered to capitulate and was told by Wilhelm II: "The Supreme Command consider an armistice necessary and you have not been brought here to make things difficult for the Supreme Command."



But Americans were not planning to negotiate with Wilhelm II.  By  October 23, it became clear that Wilhelm's abdication "rose to the very forefront of the domestic agenda."


Revolution was fomenting throughout Germany.  Wilhelm II was furious with President Wilson.  "That brute is demanding my removal and that of all the other monarchs in Germany. He has now thrown aside the mask and will get what is coming to him."


Wilhelm was deluded into thinking that the German people "were staunchly monarchist."

It was on October 29 that the Emperor, who had been in Berlin since the beginning of the month,  left the capital to return to Spa, Belgium, where the Supreme Headquarters was located.  Prince Max told Wilhelm that leaving for Spa would not be in his best interests or in Germany's.


Wilhelm II would never return to Germany.   His decision to leave Berlin proved to be a disastrous decision, putting him further out of touch "with the rapidly changing developments in the capital."


Max was now placed in a difficult position, knowing that Wilhelm's abdication could no longer be avoided.   The Prussian Minister of the Interior was sent to Spa to urge Wilhelm to abdicate.

The Emperor refused.  "I wouldn't dream of abdicating.  The King of Prussia must not leave Germany in the lurch, least of all at a time like this; I too have sworn my oath and will keep it.  I wouldn't dream of quitting my throne on account of a few hundred Jews or 1,000 workers -- you go and tell that to your masters in Berlin."







Wilhelm remained convinced that he had the solid support of the German army.  "My duty as Supreme Lord forbids me to abandon the army."


The revolution spread like wildfire throughout Germany, leading to the end of the German monarchies.  The King of Bavaria's throne collapsed on the night of November 7-8, followed the next day by most of the other monarchs.


This was followed by demonstrations and a general strike.  The Social Democrats, the majority party in the government, threatened to pull out if Wilhelm II did not abdicate.   Two of his aides come up with idea that he could abdicate as Emperor but remain as King of Prussia.

Wilhelm II "clutched at this straw," wanting to hold onto his Prussian throne, although others knew that could not happen.  It was not what Prince Max wanted to hear as he was making plans to announce the abdication in Berlin.




Wilhelm remained convinced that he had the solid support of the German army.  "My duty as Supreme Lord forbids me to abandon the army."

The revolution spread like wildfire throughout Germany, leading to the end of the German monarchies.  The King of Bavaria's throne collapsed on the night of November 7-8, followed the next day by most of the other monarchs.

This was followed by demonstrations and a general strike.  The Social Democrats, the majority party in the government, threatened to pull out if Wilhelm II did not abdicate.   Two of his aides come up with idea that he could abdicate as Emperor but remain as King of Prussia.

Wilhelm II "clutched at this straw," wanting to hold onto his Prussian throne, although others knew that could not happen.  It was not what Prince Max wanted to hear as he was making plans to announce the abdication in Berlin.

Röhl stated that Prince Max "graphically described" the events in his memoir. "The half hour went by without any sign of the promised wording from Spa, At any moment the Kaiser's dethronement could be proclaimed on the street.  We had no way of stopping that from happening. The dethronement could only be pre-empted by declaring the abdication. If we were to achieve even the slightest advantage for the Kaiser and his House, the abdication had to be made public immediately and could not be announced as an appendage to the dethronement. We tried over and over again to reach the Kaiser. One telephone ... was off the hook, the other one engaged.  I was faced with the dilemma of either waiting or doing nothing, or of acting on my own initiative.  I knew that I was not formally entitled to publish [the abdication] without the Kaiser's express consent. But I held it to my duty to proclaim the Kaiser's decision, which had been reported to me as firm, while there was still some point in doing so."

Thus, Prince Max of Baden, the last the Imperial Chancellor, authorized the Government's news agency to release a statement: "The Kaiser and the King has decided to give up the throne."

Wilhelm was still "dithering" in Spa when the announcement was made.  A few hours later, the German Republic was proclaimed.

Now came the decision on how to protect the former monarch, as "revolutionary troops" marched toward Spa.  His generals waited until the last minute to "inform the Supreme War Lord " that he no longer had the support of the army.

It was over.  The only action now available was to get Wilhelm "secretly across the border in the Netherlands."

One General said of Wilhelm II after he realized that the gig was up, "He said nothing, just looked --looked from one to the other, with an expression first of amazement, then piteous appeal, and then -- just a curious wandering vagueness. He said nothing, and we took him -- just like he were a little child -- and sent him to Holland."































Mail call

Prince Louis' baptism card arrived today.  Still hoping for the Sussex wedding card.