Coronation Souvenirs you can order here in the USA

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Amazon is offering a selection of Charles III Coronation souvenirs ... and yes, if you purchase any of these items through the links, I will earn a few pennies per item.  Seriously, it is a few pennies per item.

 I tried not to choose the cheesy and tacky souvenirs, although a few may have snuck in.  After you click on a link, you can continue to shop for anything on Amazon.  I expect more souvenirs will be added.  

The puzzle looks like fun, and it has been added to my want list.  I am retiring in July.  Three months to go before I can tell Alexa to turn off the alarm.

I have also included the link to the Emma Bridgewater Coronation Collection as the offerings are high-quality British-made products.

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https://us.emmabridgewater.com/collections/king-charles-iii-9975a1

 The Westminster Abbey store still has about a dozen of puzzles. Yes, the store will send it to the US.

https://shop.westminster-abbey.org/king-charles-iii-coronation-of-a-king-1000-piece-jigsaw-puzzle

 

 

 

 And books about Coronations 

http://royalbooknews.blogspot.com/2023/01/coronation-books.html

Prince George to be a page at the Coronation

 

@Hugo Burnand

King Charles and Queen Camilla have announced the names of their pages of honour. 

The King's pages will be Prince George of Wales, the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Nicholas Barclay, 12, Lord Oliver Cholmondeley, 13, and 12-year-old Ralph Tollemache.

The Queen's pages of honor are her grandsons, Gus and Louis Lopes, Freddy Parker Bowles, all of whom are 13 years old, and her great nephew, Arthur Elliot.  Arthur, 10, is the grandson of the queen's sister, Annabel, and husband Simon Elliot who died in March.   

At age nine, Prince George will be the youngest page of honour.  Earlier tonight, a Kensington Palace spokesman said: "We're all very excited about Prince George's role in the Coronation, it will be an incredibly special moment." 

Both the King and Queen wanted to include their family and children of friends in the ceremony.

Nicholas Barclay is the grandson of Sarah Troughton, who is one of King Charles' second cousins.  She is the daughter of Sir Timothy Coleman, KG, and Mary Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, a granddaughter of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.  Lady Coleman and the late Queen Elizabeth II were first cousins.   Sarah served as a lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Kent from 1990 to 2000.   Nicholas is one of three children of Rose Troughton and her husband, Piers Barclay.   Rose is one of King Charles's godchildren.

Sarah is the Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire and is one of Queen Camilla’s closest friends.   

Lord Oliver Cholmondeley is the second son of David, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and his wife, the former Rose Hanbury, whose maternal grandmother, Lady Elizabeth Lambart was one of Queen Elizabeth II's bridesmaids.  Lord Cholmondeley served as the Lord Great Chamberlain during Queen Elizabeth's reign, succeeding his father.  In 1984, as the Earl of Rocksavage, David was a page of honour to Queen Elizabeth II.   Lord Oliver's twin brother, Alexander, Earl of Rocksavage, is the heir to the marquessate, and during the reign of King William V, will serve as the Lord Great Chamberlain (after the death of his father).

The Marquess is now the Lord-in-Waiting to King Charles III.

 Ralph Tollemache is the eldest child of the Hon. Edward Tollemache, heir apparent to his father, Timothy, 5th Baron Tollemache.  Edward is King Charles' godson.

Buckingham Palace also released a photo of the official invitation.

https://www.royal.uk/new-photo-coronation-invite

The newest QVD: Ana Sandra Lequio Obregon

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Last week, Ana Obregon, the Spanish actress, beamed with delight as she held her newborn granddaughter, Ana Sandra, as they left the Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, where Ana Sandra was born on March 20th.

“A light full of love came into my darkness. I will never be alone again. I AM ALIVE AGAIN!" she announced on her Instagram page. 

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Ana Victoria Garcia Obregon, 68, told the press that Ana Sandra was born to an unnamed surrogate. The father is Ana's first child.  Alessandro (Aless) Lequio. He was only 27 years old when he died of cancer in March 2020.   In an interview with the Spanish magazine, Hola, Ana confirmed that the baby is the biological child of her late son.

"This girl is not my daughter, but rather my granddaughter, " she told Hola.   "I want the truth to be known, of course. Because I have nothing to hide, quite the opposite. It’s a pride, it’s a miracle.”

https://www.hola.com/actualidad/20230404344346/ana-obregon-presenta-ana-sandra-hija-aless-lequio/

Aless underwent cancer treatment in New York City.  Before he began the first round of chemotherapy in New York, his doctors encouraged him to store samples of his sperm.  Several weeks before he died, Aless wrote a will stating that he would allow the use of his sperm to have a child after his death.   Ana said: "It was Aless' last wish to bring a child into the world."

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Obregon, who appeared with Bo Derek in the film, Bolero, was devastated by the death of her only child.  

  Aless' father is  Alessandro Lequio di Assaba, 62, whose affair with Obregon took place when he was married to his first wife, Italian model, Antonia Dell'Atte.    Alessandro and Antonia have one son, Clemente Lequio was born in 1988.  

Count Alessandro, who lives in Spain with his second wife, Maria, and their daughter, Ginevra Ena, is the son of Count Clemente Lequio di Assaba (1925-1971) and Donna Sandra Torlonia, (1936-2014) who was the eldest child of HRH Infanta Doña Beatriz of Spain (1909-2002) and Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince of Civitella-Cesi (1911-1986).    Infanta Beatriz was the elder daughter of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

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Victoria - Beatrice - Victoria Eugenie (Ena) - Beatriz - Sandra - Alessandro - Alessandro - Ana Sandra.

Ana Sandra also has American ancestry as Alessandro Torlonia's mother was Mary Elsie Moore.  Alessandro's younger sister, Donna Marina, was the grandmother of actress Brooke Shields

Ana Sandra has been registered with the surname Lequio Obregon.  Ana Obregon and her infant (grand) daughter will be staying in a Miami apartment.  

Another weekly Spanish magazine, Lecturas, which was published today, features a photo of the alleged surrogate, a Cuban-born woman, who is said to live in a "humble apartment" in Miami, 20 minutes from where Ana Obregon is staying with her granddaughter.   This magazine has also obtained the court documents that name Ana as the infant's mother.   

Unfortunately  I do not have access to the full text of the Hola and Lecturas articles.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/30/spanish-actor-ana-obregon-decision-to-have-child-via-surrogate-sparks-debate-in-spain

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2020/05/qvd-alex-lequio-garcia-1992-2020.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2014/12/donna-sandra-torlonia-1936-2014.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2016/12/princess-torlonia-dead-at-3.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2014/02/alessandra-torlonia-formally-presented.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2009/07/father-confirms-miss-moores-engagement.html

Mail Call

@Maison du Grand Duc/ Marion Dessard

@Maison du Grand Duc/ Sophie Margue

 

The Princess Royal in Southwold & Thetford

 The Princess Royal carried out engagements in Southwold and Thetford on March 28.   These photos were taken by Ken Stone. 

In Southwold, the Princess visited the Lighthouse and the Adnams Brewery, celebrating its 150th anniversary.

all photos @Ken Stone

The Princess also visited  Felixstowe and Ipswich, where she opened the  Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service's new Fire and Police Station.  She toured the Excelsior Trust at the Neptune Quay in Ipswich in the afternoon.   

The Excelsior Trust is "a charitable organisation that provides life-changing sailing experiences for young and disadvantaged people, schools and corporate groups as well as unique sailing opportunities for individuals, all whilst preserving and maintaining one of the UK’s most historic ships."

Anne is the Excelsior Trust's Centenary Patron.

https://suffolkwire.co.uk/events/hrh-the-princess-royal-visits-abps-port-of-ipswich

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/23419400.princess-anne-commissions-great-yarmouth-shrimper-ipswich/

Thank you, Ken, for allowing me to use your superb photos.

First photos of HRH Prince Francois of Luxembourg

© StudioByC / Celine Maia

© StudioByC / Celine Maia

Here are the first photos of HRH Prince Francois of Luxembourg

http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2023/03/its-boy-for-guillaume-and-stephanie.html

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© StudioByC / Celine Maia

It's a boy for Guillaume and Stephanie!

 

Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to marry Sophie Evekink in May

The Bavarian Royal House has announced the wedding date for the marriage of HRH Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Miss Sophie Evekink.  The religious wedding will take place on May 20, 2023, at the Theatinerkirche (St. Kajetan) in Munich,

The head of the Royal House of Bavaria, HRH Duke Franz, is involved with helping Ludwig and Sophie's parents plan the wedding and has invited the couple and their guests to a reception at Schloss Nymphenburg following the wedding.

Prince Ludwig is third in line to the headship of the House after Duke Max in Bavaria (Duke Franz's younger brother) and Prince Luitpold of Bavaria.

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 The groom is the eldest son of Prince Luitpold.   Guests will include "delegations from traditional Bavarian associations associated with the House of Wittelsbach," according to the official announcement. 

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Prince Ludwig and Miss Evekink have made it known that instead of wedding gifts, they would like donations to the Nymphenburg Aid Association, a charity founded in 1964 by Duke Franz's parents, TRH Duke Albrecht and Duchess Marita of Bavaria.

Prince Ludwig is one of the Association's Board of Directors.

www.hilfsverein-nymphenburg.de

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2022/08/prince-ludwig-of-bavaria.html

Photo credit: Administration of the Duke of Bavaria Photographer: Lobeco

Queen Mary dead at 85

Baptism of the Hon. George Lascelles

all photos: Marlene A. Eilers Koenig collection

Buckingham Palace has posted the following bulletin: "While sleeping peacefully, Queen Mary died at 20 minutes past 10 o'clock."   She died at Marlborough House.

This was the "fourth and last of a series" posted during the day, informing the public that Queen Mary's end "could not be far away.

Queen Mary "lived through two World Wars and a series of personal tragedies without bowing her regal head," died at 10:20 in the evening.  She was 85 years old.

She was the widow of King George V, who died in 1936, and the grandmother of the present Queen Elizabeth II, who succeeded her father in February of last year.


The earlier medical bulletins note the New York Times, told of the Queen's "restless night," the "serious weakening" of her heart, and her "ebbing strength."

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