Monday, May 15, 2023

England Day 1 and Day 2 London and Windsor

 Only ten months after the Jubilee, I flew back to England for 10 days - and of course the Coronation.  I arrived on April 28 traveling overnight from Dulles to Heathrow on British Airways.  I booked the same Air BnB in Walthamstow.   

As this was a shorter visit, I planned only two day trips to Windsor and Arundel, although there would be a third day trip on my final day in England.

Catching up as we wait for our luggage



A friend from San Francisco was also traveling to London for the Coronation.  She was traveling from San Francisco and our flights were scheduled to arrive at Heathrow at the same time.  Our luggage was on Carousels 3 and 4.  






ce a


Plans were underway for the Coronation procession on the Mall to the Abbey. A part of Green Park was already closed as it was being set up for the international media.     The government published guidance for attending the procession.  From the start, it was misleading and confusing.  The guidance stated that the viewing areas would not be open until 6 a.m. on Saturday morning (May 6).  This gave the impression that camping would not be allowed on the Mall.   I noticed a group of tents already set up on the Mall on April 28, a week before the Coronation.






I was able to stop into the Buckingham Palace shop where I bought a few Coronation items including the Christmas ornament.  I was also amused by two people, dressed in Georgian costumes, who wandered into the shop.   


This is Zachary Pinsent who has worn historically accurate (usually Regency) since age 14. He is a bespoke tailor who specializes in historical dress  https://www.pinsenttailoring.co.uk/

The Mall with the Flags of all the realms








After dinner, I headed back to Walthamstow, a hot shower and bed as I was getting up at 8 to catch a train to Windsor.




My Air BnB is across from the Wetlands.   These geese and their goslings were out and about when I left the house.



Windsor is all decked out for the Coronation.  









A beautiful sunny day.  A bank holiday weekend - and Windsor was filled with tourists.  This was the first line I ever had to stand in to purchase a ticket.  While in line, I accessed the ticket sales on the official website, but it took ages to get through.  I was able to go to the purchased ticket line even though I had not yet received the confirmation email ... but the lady at the register was able to find the ticket -- and she said, you have been here before!

With T-Mobile, I do not have data roaming charges which means I can use my phone while abroad, apart from making and receiving phones, which is why I use WhatsApp for overseas calling.







Now the walk to the State Apartments.   This is a robotic lawn mower.   








Tulips everywhere
























Seriously crowded, but no special Coronation exhibit.  I stopped in front of the Malachite Urn which was too heavy to be removed at the time of the 1992 fire. It suffered damage during the fire.  One of the docents let me past the rope so I could see the repairs (to the cracks) up close.   Just me.   I was thrilled. 
I was unable to take photographs inside




After leaving the State Rooms,  I popped into one of the shops and then got in line for St. George's Chapel -- and the lines were long.   People want to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II.  Finally inside the chapel -- you can stop for a few seconds in front of the vault where the late Queen is buried with her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and her parents, King George VI & Queen Elizabeth.  Princess Margaret's ashes are also in this vault.  You were allowed to step back and stand longer, which I did.  I also talked to one of the chapel's staff, asking about the flowers in the vault.  Flowers are not normally allowed. This large bouquet of Queen Elizabeth roses appeared on the late queen's birthday (April 26) and probably came from the family.  In other words, no one at the Chapel said no to the request.















Time to eat.   I decided to have lunch outside at the Clarence Brasserie and Tea Room.  I chose the Avocado and Bacon salad and a Coke.  Delicious.






Now revitalized, I decided to walk down High Street to the Long Walk, where I had camped out for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's wedding.   Everyone was out and about.  I used my long lens (400mm) -- the statue of George III is a mile from the Castle....   I have walked the distance,  but not this time.








Frogmore Cottage - with my long lens


Walked back up High Street and did a bit of retail therapy on Peascod, including the purchase of Coronation PJs -- I was interested in top, a t-shirt which shows a King Charles Spaniel and a Jack Russell Terrier.   Very cute















A bit of construction on the Castle.   Victoria is keeping her eye on it.








 A few seconds without people.





 https://www.theduchessofcambridgepub.co.uk/

A nice pub in Windsor.  I have eaten here several times.  I chose the scampi and chips and a glass of Pimms.  Make that two glasses.

 






After dinner headed down toward the River Thames to the bridge that crosses to Eton.



Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein, grandson of Queen Victoria.










Back to Windsor and Eton Central for the train to Slough, and then to Paddington






My favorite of all the Coronation posters.




Several of us jumped on the first car at Slough to Paddington ... we decided to remain in First Class, but no train officials came through.


Comfy!


Next stop:  Day 3 Arundel Castle


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On the train platform at Slough, I noticed a Louisville Slugger bag.   I met three young women who are playing developmental baseball in the UK.  They were coming from playing a doubleheader.  They won both games. They play for a team for the Belles.  We had a lovely chat ...  Talkin' baseball in Slough.


A QVD engagement: Schleswig-Holstein-Press-Neudorf

 

@Bridgemaker



HH Prince Leopold of Schleswig-Holstein is engaged to marry Alix Preuss-Neudorf.   

The prince is the fourth and youngest child of Christoph, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and Princess Elisabeth of Lippe--Weissenfeld.   He was born at Eckernförde September 5, 1991

@Medica


Miss Press-Neudorf is the second of four children of Dr. Chrisian Preuss-Neudorf and Countess Margareta von der Schulenburg.  She has a Bachelor of Science in Data Information from the University of Cologne and a Master of Science in Data Science from City, the University of London. She works as a Machine Learning Project Manager for Berlin-based Merantix Momentum.   

She is the first cousin of Countess Sophia von der Schulenberg who is engaged to marry Prince Leopold's brother, Prince Constantin.   Miss Preuss-Neudorf's mother and Countess Sophia's father are siblings.


https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-countly-engagement-waldburg-zeil.html

Prince Leopold earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the IE Business School and a master's in business Analytics from the Bayes Business School in London.   He spent the 2015 Fall semester at Babson College in Massachusetts.  Leopold is a senior venture architect with Bridgemaker, , "the independent corporate venture builder," based in Berlin.

Prince Leopold is a descendant of Queen Victoria 


Victoria - Alfred - Alexandra - Marie Melita - Peter - Christoph - Leopold




Friday, May 12, 2023

Prince Charles to see part of the Coronation

Embed from Getty Images

 May 12, 1953


Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan-Howard, the 16th Duke of Norfolk,  who is the Earl Marshal, revealed today in an interview that Queen Elizabeth, "already knows her part," for the Coronation which will take place on June 3.  The Duke also revealed that his wife will be the stand-in for the Queen for the daily rehearsals.

He also told the press that Prince Charles, 4, will be present "for a time," during the ceremony.  Charles, whose official title is the Duke of Cornwall, is the heir apparent to the throne.

It is understood that the Queen and Prince Philip had wanted their son to see "something of the Coronation."   According to the Duke of Norfolk, the young prince had "passed the tests which he unknowingly had been undergoing for the past few months."

Charles' parents believe that he is old enough to remember what he will see, unlike his two-year-old sister, Princess Anne.  There were concerns that he would not be quiet at the ceremony as, at church,  he is always "removed before the sermon."

At some point during the Coronation,  Charles will be brought in by a side entrance and sit near his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.   The ideal moment, of course, would be when the Archbishop of Canterbury "places the crown on his mother's head."

This is the "moment" that his parents "would like Charles to see.

Queen Wilhelmina to abdicate

Embed from Getty Images

Queen Wilhelmina will abdicate in favor of her only child Princess Juliana next September after her Golden Jubilee celebration,  according to the New York Times.

Earlier today, the Queen, who is 67 years old,  made the announcement in a broadcast to the Dutch people.  She said it was the "pressure of work,  coupled with failing strength" for her decision, although the announcement did come as a surprise to her subjects.

Wilhelmina was only ten years old when her father King Willem III died on November 23, 1890. She has been a "symbol for the Dutch people for almost sixty years.    She began her public role with her mother. Queen Emma as Regent, until she reached her 18th birthday, and now will step back with her daughter as Queen."





Wilhelmina spoke for about 15 minutes from her palace, Het Loo, near Apeldoorn.  "I must accept reality and I know full well that man proposes and God disposes.  I think in the interests of you all and the Empire, the Government should be confided to Juliana, who apart from the wisdom of insight is favored by her age with fresh youthful forces at her disposal."

The queen also explained that Juliana insisted that no change be made until after Queen celebrates 50 years on the throne, which is scheduled to take place on August 31, a week after Wilhelmina's 68th birthday.

Juliana, 39. is married to Prince Bernhard of Lippe.  They have four daughters  Princesses Beatrix, Irene, Margriet, and Maria Christina.

The Queen chose today's date with care.  On May 12, 1889, she was in Amsterdam with her father, as the country commemorated his fortieth anniversary as King.

During her brief broadcast, Wilhelmina spoke of "enduring great fatigue, harmful to health and work." She ended her speech with "Go into the future shoulder to shoulder with Juliana.  God Bless you and my beloved child."


Princess Radziwill dead at 84

May 12, 1941

Mrs. Charles Louis Kolb-Danvin died tonight in St. Clare's Hospital in New York, reports the Chicago Tribune.  She entered the hospital on April 15 after suffering a hip fracture.  She was 84 years old.

Mrs. Kolb-Danvin is the former Princess Catherine Radziwill, the daughter of a czarist army officer, who fled her homeland after the Bolshevik Revolution.  She was well-known as "a writer and a lecturer under her title of Princess."

She continued to write "until a few hours before her death, insisting that her knowledge of Europe would be of great value in the present world crisis."



The former princess was the daughter of Count Adam Lzewuski, a Russian army officer.  Her friends including members of the Russian Imperial Family.  A number of her books were "about the many episodes of a youth spent close to the throne of the czars."    Her first marriage was to Prince Adam Charles Radziwill, a member of the Polish princely family.   The couple was based in Berlin, which provided entry to the Prussian court.  Before the prince's death in 1910,  Princess Catherine had "acted as secretary" to Empress Friedrich.

The couple had three children.  Her son, Prince Vladislaw Radziwill, was killed in action in East Prussia during the World War. 

Her second husband, Charles Louis Kolb-Danvin, was an Alsatian by birth but was living in Stockholm Sweden, when they married.  He was an "exporter engaged in trade with English and Dutch concerns."

In 1921,  she was "credited by the American Hebrew with supplying the direct evidence to prove that the Protocols of  Wise Men of Zion were forgeries."  She said she had seen the "manuscript of the Protocols while it was being compiled in Paris by the secret agents of the Czar."  The purpose of the Protocols was political, used after the assassination of Alexander II, and to promote anti-Semitism.

Several years ago, Mrs. Kolb-Danvin became an American citizen.  She had also converted to the Roman Catholic faith.  She is survived by two daughters, who live in Germany.

Mrs. Kolb-Danvin's books included:  It Really Happened, an autobiography; The Empress Frederick; Behind the Veil of the Russian Court; Confessions of the Czarina;  and Germany under Three Emperors.



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Thursday, May 11, 2023

Prince Arsene to marry rich American widow or not?

 



May 12, 1913

Prince Arsene of Serbia is engaged to Mrs. Thomas Huger Pratt, a wealthy American widow, according to a dispatch from Florence to the Daily Express.

The wedding is expected to take place later this month.

The 54-year-old Prince is the younger brother of King Peter.  His first marriage to Aurora Demidoff, the daughter of Pavel, 2nd Prince of Donato ended in divorce in 1896 after only four years of marriage.  

The couple had one son, Prince Paul, who was raised by his uncle King Peter.  Paul is attending university in Oxford.

The future Princess was born Myra Abigail Pankhurst and married Pratt in 1896.  They were separated for some time, and Pratt died in 1912.   Her first marriage to Herbert Wright ended in divorce.

https://olympstats.com/2019/07/24/huger-pratt/


The Daily Express got it wrong.  The groom was Prince Alexis Karageorgevitch (1859-1920), who in 1884, following the death of his father, Prince George, became head of the senior branch of the Karageorgevitch family, which gave him a claim to the throne. His great uncle, Alexander Karageorgevitch was Prince of Serbia from 1842 until1858.




   In January1902, Serbian newspapers reported that King Alexander Obrenovic would abdicate in favor of Prince Alexis.  This did not happen. 

A year later,  King Alexander and his wife, Queen Draga, were assassinated in their palace, and the throne was offered to Alexis' first cousin, Peter.  After Peter was proclaimed king, Alexis abandoned his claim to the throne.





Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Prince Charles of Luxembourg is 3 today

all photos   © Maison du Grand-Duc / Kary Barthelmey

  














Prince Charles of Luxembourg celebrated his 3rd birthday today.   He is the elder of two sons of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg.  His younger brother, Prince Francois was born in  March.


Charles is second in line to the Luxembourg throne.

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Book sale for charity

 I am in London but wanted to share this