Saturday, March 30, 2019

#GlobalSussexBabyShower



 

The title of this post refers to a hashtag on Twitter that is gaining momentum largely due to fans and admirers of HRH The Duchess of Sussex.

The former Meghan Markle - now a member of the British Royal Family - has been the recipient of racist and hate-filled posts on Twitter and Instagram largely fomented by newspaper and magazine writers who twist and embellish articles that cannot be described as authoritative or accurate.

But let's not focus on hatred.  March 31 is Mothering Sunday in the United Kingdom, which is an excellent day to have a global baby shower that celebrates the upcoming birth of a new member of the Royal Family.

Supporters of the Duchess of Sussex are tweeting and re-tweeting information on how to donate in honor of the soon-to-be new mother.

The most popular charities that are being supported are the charities that have the Duchess as Patron or charities that she has been involved with even before her marriage to the Duke of Sussex.

Here is a list of charities that one can make a donation to take part in the Global Baby Shower.

Campaign for Female Education.  https://camfed.org/

Mayhew https://themayhew.org/

WellChild https://www.wellchild.org.uk/

One 25 https://twitter.com/One25Charity

Queen's Commonwealth Trust https://www.queenscommonwealthtrust.org/

Others are supporting local charities in the USA, Canada, the UK, Europe and elsewhere.

Another person suggested that people use Amazon Smile to purchase copies of Together: Our Community Cookbook and donate the books to local libraries.  https://org.amazon.com/

Actions like this cannot completely erase or ameliorate the pain caused by the keyboards of reporters, feature writers and others who continue to fabricate or twist the true narrative.

Friday, March 29, 2019

Carol will give up the throne


March 29, 1929


Dowager Queen Marie of Romania returned to Bucharest from Spain today and informed the Government that her eldest son, Crown Prince Carol, "fully recognizes his situation and the futility of any attempt to return to Roumania or to regain the throne," reports the Associated Press.

Marie had spent two days in France with Carol.  He made a pledge to his mother that he "would do nothing to embarrass her or the regency by unseating his young son Michael as king."

All of Roumania's political leaders had approved of Marie's meeting with her son.   Her "principal object" was to obtain Carol's promise that he would not take part in the "political and dynastic affairs" of the country."  He was also persuaded to accept a "more conventional life for the sake of his family."

The Roumanian government denied reports that Prince Stirbey and Mihail Manoilescu had traveled to Paris to arrange for Carol's return to Bucharest.

In a stern statement released earlier today, one government said: "Please make it clear once and for all that neither in the capacity as a crown prince nor as a private citizen can Carol return to Roumania.  When the disinherited Prince signed the law of renunciation to the throne in 1927, he pledged himself solemnly to remain out of the country for at least ten years.  That law is fixed and final and cannot be changed even by parliament.

"Neither can the law creating the regency and establishing Michael as king be altered to allow Carol's return.  The law is an integral part of the existing constitution and is unalterable.  Only a revolution could upset it.

"You may be sure that while Premier Maniu is in power, the prince will never be allowed to set foot on Roumanian soil."

Carol who is now back in Paris refused to "discuss reports" that Prince Stirbey and Mihail Manoilescu were coming to Paris to "escort him back" to Roumania as king.


Planning a trip to Belgrade --- do visit the royal palaces in Dedinje




OFFICIALY OPENED JUBILEE 15TH TOURIST SEASON AT THE ROYAL COMPOUND IN DEDINJE

Belgrade, 29 March 2019 – Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine officially opened the tourist season for 2019 and invited everyone interested in visiting the Royal Palaces to join the tours during the period from 3 April to 31 October. This season, 2019, is the jubilee 15th one. Before Royal Family’s coming back to Serbia, the Royal Compound was closed for public, and opening it for the tourists was one of the first important decisions of it’s head – HRH Crown Prince Alexander.

“I am very glad to open the Royal Palaces for another tourist season, already the 15th one! It seems like yesterday when me and my family came back to Serbia, to our home where we belong. The history and memories of the Royal Compound are magnificent, so it is very important that they are conveyed to our younger generation. Unfortunately, it is often the case that our people are not fully aware about the history and important works of art which are here, and organized touristic tours are the best opportunity to see the art and learn something new”, said HRH Crown Prince Alexander.

Media representatives who joined the first tour were welcomed by traditional “pogaca“ bread and salt, they enjoyed the national dance performed by Talija folklore dance troupe, and also had the opportunity to refresh themselves with coffee from a wide range of “Bean and Leaf” products.

Mr. Miodrag Popovic, acting Director of the Tourist Organization of Belgrade, thanked Their Royal Highnesses for the cooperation and emphasized once again that the Royal Compound is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Belgrade.

During the tours, visitors will be accompanied by professional tourist guides and will have the opportunity to visit the Royal Palace, the White Palace, the Royal Chapel of St. Andrew the First-Called and the Royal Park, as well as when available to be greeted by Their Royal Highnesses.  The tour is a pleasant 1½ hour walk to get acquainted with history, art and culture of our country.

Tourist Organization of Belgrade (TOB) organizes visits to the Royal Palaces every Wednesday at 10:00 am, and on weekends – Saturday and Sunday at 10:00 am and 1:00 pm. Ticket purchased from Tourist Organization of Belgrade include organized bus transportation from Nikola Pasic Square to the Royal Palaces (meetings for transport on Wednesday 9:30 am (tour in Serbian); Saturday 9:30 am (tour in English) and 12:30 pm (tour in Serbian); Sunday 9:30 am (tour in English) and 12:30 pm (tour in Serbian). Ticket price is 650 RSD. The number of people in a group is restricted to maximum 50 visitors.

Schools, students and pensioner associations can visit the Royal Palaces in Dedinje in announced group visits every working day from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm with the mandatory notification to the Office of HRH Crown Prince Alexander, +381 11 306 4050 or via e-mail: kancelarija@dvor.rs. Each group must consist of at least 15 visitors and up to a maximum of 50 visitors. Website: www.dvor.rs

For information and reservations, tourists must visit the Tourist Information Centre in Belgrade, Knez Mihailova 56, phone: 011 26 22 798, e-mail: bginfo.knezmihailova@tob.rs, website www.tob.rs

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Prince Welf August of Hannover?



Bunte is reporting that the newborn son of Hereditary Prince Ernst August and Hereditary Princess Ekaterina has been named Welf August.  The family has not confirmed this and the report is based on a now deleted Instagram post, where one friend wrote "Welcome Welf August."


The little prince was born on March 14 at the Henriettenstift in Hanover.

 

The tradition of naming the eldest son, Ernst August, actually began in 1914, when  Prince Ernst August of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and his wife, Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, the only daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

The Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg was the third son of the former Crown Prince Ernst August of Hanover and Princess Thyra of Denmark.  Crown Prince Ernst August was the only son of King Georg V of Hanover.   Ernst August, who adopted the use of his father's British peerage, Duke of Cumberland, after King Georg V's death in 1878, was the third son.

The eldest son, Prince Georg Wilhelm, was killed in a car accident en route to his uncle, King Frederik VIII of Denmark's funeral in May 1912.  The second son, Prince Christian, was only 16 years old when he developed appendicitis that led to peritonitis, which caused his death in September 1901.

Thus, Prince Ernst August did not become his father's heir until Georg Wilhelm's death.   He named his second son, born in 1915, for his eldest brother.


 The former Duke of Cumberland - he lost his British titles in 1917 with the Titles Deprivation Act - died in 1923 and was succeeded as head of the house of Hanover by his youngest but only surviving son, Ernst August.

Ernst August was married in 1951 to Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.   He succeeded his father as head of the house in January 1953.  The couple's first son (and second child) was born in February 1954 and was given the first name Ernst August. 

In 1981, Prince Ernst August married Chantal Hochuli.  They had two sons,  Ernst August (1983) and Prince Christian (1985).   It is this Prince Ernst August, who now runs the family businesses, who has chosen to break the nearly 115 year old tradition of the naming the eldest son, Ernst August.

Welcome Prince Welf August.    Welf is also a Hanover family name. The name has been used twice in the 20th century:  Prince Welf  Heinrich (1923-1997), the youngest son of  the Duke and Duchess of Brunswick and Prince Welf (1947-1981), the eldest son of  Prince Georg Wilhelm and Princess Sophie (of Greece and Denmark.)  The latter Prince Welf was a first cousin of the Prince of Wales.

 

It must said that the use of Ernst August as the name for the eldest son appears to apply to legitimate children.

Baroness Maria Anna von Humboldt-Dachroeden, the first wife of Prince Hubertus of Prussia, gave birth to a son, Christian Ernst August Hubertus Freiherr von Humboldt-Dachroeden on December 27, 1943.  She had married Prince Hubertus in December 1941. The marriage was dissolved a year later and is June 1943,  Hubertus married Princess Magdalene Reuss.

It appears that Maria Anna was in love with Hubertus' first cousin, Prince Ernst August of Hanover (1914-1980) and he was the father of her son, Christian.


If you liked this article






http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2010/12/if-circumstances-had-been-different.html


https://www.bunte.de/royals/royals-weltweit/deutscher-adel/ernst-august-von-hannover-er-will-seinen-enkelsohn-nicht-anerkennen.html

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

So where was Skippy?


 


Tatler and other sources are making hay these days with poorly researched articles.  The May issue of Tatler includes an article on the Duchess of Sussex.  Among other statements, the magazine claims that several of Harry's close friends, including Tom "Skippy" Inskip, were not invited to the evening wedding reception at Frogmore House.

Perhaps someone should tell the writer of the Tatler article that Skippy gave one of the speeches at the evening reception, at least according to several newspapers. If this information is not correct, why not issue corrections.

Daily Mail: "Its three courses were understood to have been peppered with 'naughty' speeches from Prince William and a joint effort from Tom Inskip, known as 'Skippy' and Tom Van Straubenzee. Any crude nods to Prince Harry's playboy past were held back until the older guests had departed.

Harry's closest confidante – was also under strict instructions to downplay Prince Harry's Las Vegas trips – all before he met Meghan."

Daily Express:  "Featuring risqué speeches from Prince William and Harry’s pals Tom Inskip and Tom Van Straubenzee – references to the Royal groom’s former party-going lifestyle kept under wraps until the older guests had departed."

Independent:  "and there was also said to be a "risqué" joint effort delivered by Prince Harry's friend from Eton days, Tom Inskip (a banker known as "Skippy"), and property agent Tom van Straubenzee, whom Prince Harry knows from their days at Ludgrove prep school."

Daily Express:  "Prince William was said to have joined forces with guests Tom Inskip and Tom Van Straubenzee for the cheeky speech, though details of exactly what he said to his brother remains unknown."

Tom and his wife, Lara, now live in Washington, D.C.  Lara works as a software developer and Tom is the Chief Commercial Officer for Afiniti, the firm that also employs Princess Beatrice.

https://www.afiniti.com/team/thomas-inskip


Guy Pelly and his wife and young daughter are now said to be living in Tennessee, where Guy bought a home last fall and has plans to farm in Tennesse, not-to-far from his in-laws' residence.


Friday, March 22, 2019

Day 3-4 Newport, Rhode Island

Malbone Castle.  Sadly, this house nor its gardens are open to the public,


Finally able to catch up on my brief visit to Newport.  Suffered a minor concussion a few days so now finally feeling better -- although the bump on my head is still a bump -- and able to get back to doing things.


On day 3, my friend Cassie and I drove to see Malbone Castle, once the home of Anita Rhinelander Stewart (1896-1977)  and her second husband, Lewis Morris (1882-1967).

Malbone was built in the late 1840s after a fire destroyed the original mansion, originally the home of Colonel Godfrey Malbone of Virginia and Connecticut.  George Washington visit stayed with Malbone in February 1756.  The two men were childhood friends.   The house was destroyed by fire in 1766 and remained a ruin until 1848 when it was rebuilt by Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Prescott Hall.

The house remained in the Morris-Bedlow family for more than 130 years and was used as the summer cottage.  Malbone Cottage is the oldest mansion in Newport.  Although the Morris family bequeathed the house to the Newport Preservation Society, the house remains in private hands.   It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Anita Stewart's first marriage to  Prince Miguel, Duke of Viseu (1878–1923), a member of the exiled Portuguese royal family, took place on September 15, 1909, in Dingwell, Scotland.  Prince Miguel was the eldest son of Dom Miguel, Duke of Braganza, and a grandson of King Miguel I of Portugal.

Prince Miguel died in 1923.  Anita and her children returned to the United States to live.  She renounced her royal titles in order to regain her American citizenship.  She married Lewis Morris in 1946.

Anita died at Malbone.   She and her husband are buried in the cemetery at St. Columba Episcopalian Church in Middletown, Rhode Island, which is the town next to Newport on Aquidneck Island.

While we looked for their graves, I discovered other interesting tombstones:
Prince Serge Mdivani and Cynthia Burke Roche Cary.  Serge Mdvani, was one of the marrying Mdvanis, five siblings who had at least eleven marriages between them.

The family is a Georgian noble family that fled the Soviet Union.   Louise Astor Van Alen was Serge's third wife. She had previously been married to his brother, Alexis.

Louise grew up at Wakehurst in Newport.  She was the daughter of James Laurens Van Alen and Margaret Post.  James was the son of James John Van Alan and Emily Astor, who was the daughter of William Backhouse Astor, the owner of Beechwood.   Much her family's dismay she married Alexis Mdvani in 1931.  A year later, he divorced her to marry Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton. In 1936, she married his brother, Serge, who had been previously wed to actress Pola Negri and opera singer Mary McCormic.    Serge died only a few months after his marriage to Louise. He suffered a fatal injury during a polo match.

The Van Alen family sold Wakehurst to Salve Regina University in Newport in 1972.

Cynthia Burke Roche (1884-1966) was the daughter of James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy, and the American heiress, Frances Work. Her brother, Maurice, 4th Baron Fermoy, was the maternal grandfather of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.   Cynthia, who became a naturalized American citizen in 1908. Her second husband, Guy Fairfax Cary Sr. (1879–1950).  She was a noted art collector and Newport society hostess.

The Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex have numerous American cousins, the descendants of Cynthia's two marriages.


After seeing Malbone Castle and St. Columba's Church & Cemetery, we returned to Sachuset National Wildlife Refuge for a long walk (and another glimpse at the Snowy Owl.  I got "attacked" by a sneaker wave ... my sneakers got a bit wet.  We also did the Cliff Walk from the 40 Steps to sort of near Rough Point.

Only three of the homes, The Breakers, The Elms and Marble House, were open.  More will open as the summer season approaches.  The weather was lovely and no crowds.  So much history!



























Ochre Court, once the summer home of Ogden & May Goelet & their family, 2nd largest mansion after the Breakers.  Their daughter, May, married the 8th Duke of Roxeburghe,  Their son Robert gave the mansion to Regina Salve University.







The Breakers   the Vanderbilt summer cottage

Don't know the name of this house





Beechwood .. get a nicer fence  Mr. Ellison

Marlbe House





Just walking along

Seriously, this was not the easy part

I WANT A GOOD PHOTO OF BEECHWOOD  

Rough Point






Kingscote . A Gothic revival house.  Not open when I was in Newport  https://www.newportmansions.org/explore/kingscote










Trinity Church  George Washington worshipped here










Pronounced Thaymes



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