Wednesday, July 24, 2013

UK Royal baby: William and Kate name their son George

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have named their son George Alexander Louis, Kensington Palace has said.
George had been the bookmakers' favourite for the first name of the prince, who is third in line to the throne.
He will be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.
They are currently at the duchess's family home in Bucklebury, Berkshire, after spending a night at Kensington Palace.
The Duke and Duchess had been expected to pick a traditional royal name for their son, who was born at St Mary's Hospital in London on Monday at 16:24 BST, weighing 8lbs 6oz.
Royal infants usually have historical names which are passed down through the generations.
This is a relatively quick announcement of a name compared to previous royal babies.
It was seven days before the name of a newborn Prince William was announced in 1982, and there was a wait of a month following the Prince Charles's birth in 1948.
All births in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, regardless of parentage, must be registered within 42 days at the hospital before leaving or a register office.

UK: Echoes of 1982

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge left hospital on Tuesday evening with their new baby son, born on 22 July. The duke was born at the same hospital - the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London - some 31 years and one month almost to the day earlier.

UK: Her Majesty Visits a Future King


The Queen has paid a half-hour visit to Kensington Palace to meet her new great-grandson, the son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The new parents left St Mary's Hospital in west London on Tuesday evening, where the duke said they were yet to name the third in line to the throne.
They spent the night at the palace and they have now gone to Catherine's family in Bucklebury, Berkshire.
Other visitors to the palace included Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton.
After a morning of visitors, the duke and duchess were seen leaving Kensington Palace with their newborn at 13:00 BST.
The BBC's royal correspondent Luisa Baldini said there had been wide speculation that the couple would head to the maternal grandparents' home but it was not known how long they would stay.
Catherine is very close to her parents, Carole and Michael, and Prince William has previously said how comfortable he feels around them, she said.
"The house is large and private enough for the duke and duchess to bond with their newborn son," she added.
'Very special'
The Queen visited without her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, as he continues to recover from abdominal surgery.
She made the short journey from Buckingham Palace in a dark green Bentley.
Continue reading...


Tuesday, July 23, 2013

[LEAKED] Kate and Will Arguing Over Royal Baby's Name LEAKED -- Find out what it is here!

Click on any two advertisements posted on this blog to reveal a hidden blog with the royal baby's name. 

It will appear alongside a leaked cell phone video-recording of Kate disagreeing with William on his choice for the boy's name, only to follow with an eventual concession from the Duchess


Hint: the name starts with H.
Here is a teaser screenshot of the video to wet your appetite:





Just click on any two ads to find out now!

Royal baby: Put yourself there as Prince William and Kate Middleton show off their little Prince



IT was the moment the world had waited for as Prince William and his wife Kate emerged from St Mary's hospital to show off their son and the future king - and now you can experience the moment as if you were there.
Barely a day old, the son of Prince William and wife Kate was shown to the world from the steps of  St Mary's hospital in London about 7.15pm local time (4.15am AEST).
With the cheers of wellwishers ringing in their ears, the royal couple could not contain their joy as they broke from protocol and walked out of the Lindo Wing to face the world's media and chat about their new addition.
With our special 360-degree panorama and video (above) we put you front and centre at the historic moment. It's easy to use: Just click on four arrows to expand then use your arrow keys – or finger if on a mobile – to guide it around.

The new royal baby meets the world...and even manages a wave!


The royal couple beam as they depart the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital with their new son
And he joked: “He’s got her looks, thankfully, and way more hair than me.
“He’s got a good pair of lungs on him, that’s for sure!”
The elated new dad held on to his son as he admitted he and Princess Kate had still not chosen a name for the third in line to the throne.
And Prince Wills, 31, proved he will be a great dad, as Kate said: “He’s done his first nappy already.”
William said: “He’s a big boy, he’s quite heavy. We are still working on a name, so we will have that as soon as we can.
“It’s the first time we have seen him really, so we are having a proper chance to catch up.”
Wills and Kate, both 31, greeted well-wishers outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, as applause erupted.
The Duchess Of Cambridge, still showing a bump under her blue summer dress, said she was overwhelmed at becoming a mum.
She looked a little tearful as she said: “It’s very emotional, it’s such a special time. I think any parent will know what this feeling is like.”
Her husband agreed, adding: “It’s very special.
“I’ll remind him of his tardiness when he’s a bit older.
“I know how long you’ve all been standing here so hopefully the hospital and you guys can all go back to normal now and we can go and look after him.”
Kate appeared at 7.14pm, carrying the baby in a white blanket.
As she clutched the 8lb 6oz boy, the first Prince Of Cambridge to be born for more than 190 years, his hand appeared over the top of the cover, making it look as if he was waving to the crowds.

Royal baby is born: Kate gives birth to royal baby boy


LONDONIt's a boy for Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge. 
The birth was announced via a formal press release issued by Kensington Palace, which stated that the duchess "was safely delivered of a son" at 4:24 p.m., local time, weighing 8 lbs., 6 oz. 
The royal baby is third in line to the English throne, after Prince Charles and Prince William, and would have gained this line of succession regardless of gender.
What's more, still-serving monarch Queen Elizabeth gains yet another royal accolade unique to her age by witnessing the birth of her great-grandchild in direct succession to the throne she occupies. 

Queen Victoria, seen below, was the last monarch to do so circa 120 years ago. 

A true sign of the times: Bookmakers across the globe are taking bets on the royal baby's name. 
    One such entity, Paddy Power, listed the female name Alexandra as the initial favorite (although this was prior to the baby's birth) with 3 to 1 odds. 

    Ladbrokes also has George as the top boy name, giving it 10 to 1 odds, with Alexander listed second at 20 to 1, Richard and Louis tied for third at 25 to 1 and Charles, Edward and David locked into a 
    three-way tie at 33 to 1.

    The Duke, 31, also revealed they had not yet decided what to call their son, saying: "We are still working on a name so we will have that as soon as we can."


    He added: "It's the first time we have seen him really so we are having a proper chance to catch up."
    Stay tuned for more news on the royal baby and the release of its name.






      UK: First Glimpses of Baby Cambridge!


      1. The Duke of Cambridge, just now: "He has got a good pair of lungs on him"
      2. The Duchess of Cambridge: "It was very emotional, it is such a special time".
      3. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have left hospital with their new baby boy
      4. Their Royal Highnesses would like to reiterate their thanks to the hospital for the care and treatment they have all received.
      5. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their son will travel home to Kensington Palace.




      Enjoy!











      UK: Royal Birth – Images from London

      Here are some images from the Royal Birth!

      Enjoy...

      The Prince of Wales and their Duchess of Cornwall visit their grandson. 

       Official birth announcement outside Buckingham Palace.

      The Town Crier makes an announcement.

      The Duchess of Cambridge's parents visit their daughter, son-in-law and first grandson.

      UK: Royal Baby Card



      Clarence House has set up an online baby card for us all to sign, wishing Baby Cambridge the best of luck!

      https://royalbabycard.withgoogle.com/

      Monday, July 22, 2013

      UK: More Royal Birth News

      The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth Monday to her first child, an 8-pound, 6-ounce boy at 4:24 p.m. local time (11:24 a.m. ET).

      The palace revealed the news via press release at 8 p.m. local time following a hospital stay that lasted more than 14 hours at London's St. Mary’s Hospital, the same facility where Princes William and Harry were born.

      The official announcement, placed on an easel outside Buckingham Palace.
      NBC News
      The official announcement, placed on an easel outside Buckingham Palace.
      The baby's birth was to be announced to the world in a formal declaration placed in front of Buckingham Palace on an easel, the same one used to announce Prince William’s birth 31 years ago. But the palace released the news to the media first; the formal notice was posted a few minutes later.

      "Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well and will remain in hospital overnight," the statement read.

      "We could not be happier," new dad Prince William said via his spokesman.

      The name of the baby, the palace said, will be announced "in due course." Prince William's parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, took a week to announce his name.

      The infant will be third in line to the British throne, after his father and grandfather, Prince Charles. He is the first grandchild for both Prince Charles and the Middleton family. 
      “Both my wife and I are overjoyed at the arrival of my first grandchild," said Prince Charles in a statement. "It is an incredibly special moment for William and Catherine and we are so thrilled for them on the birth of their baby boy. Grandparenthood is a unique moment in anyone’s life, as countless kind people have told me in recent months, so I am enormously proud and happy to be a grandfather for the first time and we are eagerly looking forward to seeing the baby in the near future."

      Continue reading...

      ©Getty




      UK: It's a Prince of Cambridge!

      Clarence House has released the following information regarding the birth of Baby Prince of Cambridge!

      The Duchess of Cambridge was admitted at St Mary's Hospital's Lindo Wing, earlier this morning.

      After nearly 11 hours of labor, the Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a little boy, who was born at 4:24PM, weighing 8.6lbs.

      The Duke of Cambridge was present at the birth. HM The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall, as well as other members of the Royal Family, have been informed.

      The Duchess of Cambridge and her son will remain at hospital overnight. Both are doing splendidly well!

      UK: It's a BOY!

      The Palace has released the news...it is a BOY!!!!!

      UK: Imminent News to Be Released!!!!!

      News organizations have been told that news is imminent...officials have given the Press Corps a five minute standby!!


      Belgium: Official Portrait of the New Monarch


      The Royal Palace in Brussels released official portraits of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians.

      This is the first ones I obtained!



      UK: A New Prince of Wales Is Born



      In November 1841 Queen Victoria Gave birth to her second child and first son. She would rule for another six decades and the baby born in 1841, better known as King Edward VII, succeeded his mother at the age of 59. The King went on to have a very successful reign that lasted a very short nine years. Had he lived another five years, it is quite possible that the world's history would be quite different!

      This is a notice released by Buckingham Palace back then!





      UK: The Cambridge Baby Wait Continues

      An hour by hour wait...

      •  It is expected that Press and Communications Secretary to The Queen, Ailsa Anderson, will be the person to place the royal birth announcement on the easel in front of Buckingham Palace.
      • 17:43 A royal child usually has three names, a first name and two middle names and, although William and Kate will officially choose their child's first name, it must be approved by the Queen before it can become his/her official name.
      • 17:39 The first person to be informed of the royal baby's birth will be the Queen. It is expected that Prince William will call her from a direct, top-secret phone line from the hospital itself. It is likely that William will then call his father Prince Charles, his brother Prince Harry and Kate's sister Pippa Middleton.
      • 17:32 The brief bulletin, which will be presented on palace-headed paper, usually confirms the sex of the baby and the weight, but will contain very little other information.
      • 17:30 The first official sign of the birth will be a royal aide leaving the main entrance of the Lindo Wing bearing a typed medical bulletin signed by doctors at the birth. The aide will then take the bulletin to Buckingham Palace where the bulletin will be placed on the ornate easel behind the gates of Buckingham Palace.
      • 17:17 After Kate gives birth we can expect to see Carole and Pippa Middleton among the first to arrive and meet the royal baby.
      • 16:17 Prince Harry is currently on duty at his military base in Suffolk, no doubt he will be eagerly awaiting news of officially becoming an uncle.
      • 15:40 After 16 hours of labour, Prince William was born at 9.03pm on June 21, 1982, weighing 7lb 1.5oz. How much with William and Kate´s little one weigh?
      • 15:39 The Queen has arrived back at Buckingham Palace to await the arrival of her third great-grandchild.
      • 15:29 Irish bookmakers Paddy Power has said they took £30,000 in bets during the three hours following the announcement at 6:30 that Kate had gone into labour.
      • 15:25 Don't forget you can also keep up-to-date with all the #royalbaby news by following us on Twitter @hellomag
      • 15:24 Extra police presence has arrived at the Lindo Wing, could an announcement be coming soon?
      • 14:49 Whilst in York, Prince Charles commented to a young well-wisher that his grandchild "hasn´t quite appeared yet".
      • 14:23 According to reports, Kate has had a laptop and iPod delivered to her suite at St Mary´s Hospital.
      • 14:16 A one night stay on the Lindo Wing would cost you £6,265 and includes a suite of two rooms (excluding consultant fees).
      • 13:16 William and Kate´s child will be the first grandchild for Carole and Michael Middleton.
      • 12:59 The royal baby does not necessarily have to have an official surname, but should William and Kate decide to give him/her one then they can choose between Mountbatten-Windsor, Wales and Cambridge.
      • 12:55 World landmarks including the fountains at Trafalgar Square in London, Niagara Falls and Toronto´s CN Tower will turn pink or blue to celebrate the birth, depending on whether it is a girl or boy.
      • 12:51 Thanks to Kate, international awareness of the pregnancy condition hyperemesis gravidarum has been raised.
      • 12:35 Crowds have flocked to Buckingham Palace ready to be some of the first to find out the baby´s arrival, weight, and sex which will be announced on a wood and gold easel just inside of Buckingham Palace´s gates - it is the same easel that was used to announce William´s birth.







      UK: More News on Cambridge Birth


      Her royal highness The Duchess of Cambridge is reportedly in labor. After much anticipation and speculation as to the baby's gender, it appears the world will soon get to meet the Prince or Princess of Cambridge. The New York Times reports:

      "A brief message on Twitter was the first of a series of carefully scripted disclosures set to culminate in the announcement of a birth that seems certain to draw unparalleled media coverage, even in the annals of Britain’s headline-making royal family.

      “Her royal highness the Duchess of Cambridge has been admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London, in the early stages of labour,” said a message from Clarence House, the official residence of the duchess and her husband, Prince William, the duke of Cambridge.

      A spokesman for the couple, speaking in return for customary anonymity, said that the duke and duchess had traveled without a police escort. “Things are progressing as normal,” the spokesman said.

      Continue reading...



      UK: Duchess of Cambridge Goes Into Labor

      It seems the wait is done as about four hours ago the Duchess of Cambridge went into labor.

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/22/kate-middleton-labor-baby_n_3385492.html

      Sunday, July 21, 2013

      Belgium: The Reign of King Philippe I Begins!

      BRUSSELS — Belgians shouted "Long live the king" Sunday to welcome their new monarch to the throne on a sunny national holiday. But several legislators from northern Flanders boycotted King Philippe I's coronation, highlighting longstanding feuding between the nation's Dutch-speaking Flemings and Francophones – the biggest challenge the new monarch will face.
      In his first speech as king shortly after his father King Albert II abdicated, Philippe made no attempt to paper over those cracks, instead casting the country's division between its 6 million Dutch-speaking Flemings and 4.5 million Francophones as one of its strengths.
      "The wealth of our nation and our institutions consists in turning our diversity into a strength," he said after taking his oath of office at the country's parliament.
      The ceremony capped a day of transition which started when Philippe's father, the 79-year-old Albert, signed away his rights as the kingdom's largely ceremonial ruler at the royal palace in the presence of Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, who holds the political power in this 183-year-old parliamentary democracy.
      Less than two hours later, the nation got its seventh king when Philippe, 53, pledged to abide by Belgium's laws and constitution.
      While crowds of well-wishers cheered the royal family's every move Sunday, far from everybody in Belgium was happy with the new king.
      One Flemish separatist group, the Flemish Interest party, boycotted the parliamentary ceremony, while the legislature's biggest party, the N-VA New Flemish Alliance, sent only a limited delegation.
      `'We are full-blooded democrats and the purest form of democracy is the republic," said Jan Jambon, the parliamentary leader of the alliance, which has surged to become the main opposition party seeking Flemish independence through democratic transition. It wants the new king not to have any role in coalition negotiations to form a new government, not be head of the armed forces and not sign any laws.
      Continue reading...




      Saturday, July 20, 2013

      EUROHISTORY: Issue XCIII Mailing!

      Our latest journal, Issue XCIII began mailing this week. Even today we managed to get copies out!

      We expect the magazine to finish mailing to US, Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australasia to complete mailing by Tuesday.

      All European issues have mailed already!


      Belgium: A New Reign About to Begin


      BRUSSELS — As an exultant Britain awaits the birth of a royal baby, Belgium is preparing to install a new king this weekend and wondering what this means for its own less joyous bout of royal baby mania, over a birth that took place 45 years ago.
      Played out in serious newspapers, gossip magazines and, for the past month, a Brussels courtroom, Belgium’s fixation with royal bloodlines revolves around Delphine Boël, a now middle-aged artist who insists she is the illegitimate daughter of Albert II, Belgium’s soon-to-be ex-king.
      The palace has not denied this, but has not confirmed it, either, keeping behind a high wall of royal reserve. “This is a private affair, and we have no comment whatsoever,” said a palace spokesman, Bruno Neve.
      One thing, though, is certain: Ms. Boël will not be on the guest list on Sunday when Belgium’s political and social elite gather to watch Albert II, 79, sign a declaration of abdication and then his son Prince Philippe, 53, be sworn in as this tiny nation’s new monarch, its seventh since Belgium became an independent state in 1830.
      Unlike most European royalty, Belgium’s monarchy still has modest but, on occasion, critical political powers. In addition to his duties cutting ribbons and hosting banquets, Albert II played an important role in settling a political deadlock after inconclusive elections in 2010 that left Belgium without a government for more than 500 days.
      Continue reading...
      King Albert II and the Duke of Brabant.



      Thursday, July 18, 2013

      Eurohistory: New Book: The Coburgs of Europe!

      As many of you know, I have been working on this book for more than two decades...today the cover of the book came alive thanks to the amazing talent to my husband, David Higdon.

      The Coburgs of Europe will go to print in late August and be ready to launch at our yearly EUROHISTORY conference, on October 19-20, 2013.

      I an sharing with you all the contents...


      The Coburgs of Europe

      “The Rise and Fall of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s European Relations”


      Chapters

      I.               Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld – The Beginning   


      II.             Enter Russia – A Fateful Journey


      III.           Franz Friedrich Anton – The Luckless Duke


      IV.           Enter Kohary – Untold Riches


      V.             Enter Great Britain ­– A Failed Attempt


      VI.           Enter Gotha – Power Expanded


      VII.         Enter Belgium – The Masterminding Success


      VIII.       Enter Portugal – The Unlucky Promising Brood


      IX.           Enter Great Britain – Prince Consort and Pater Familias


      X.             Return to Coburg & Gotha – Broken Lines & A Contested Succession


      XI.           The Kohary Line – Wealth and Position Without a Throne


      XII.         Enter Bulgaria – Alas a Crown at Last


      XIII.       The Mainline Coburgs – Political Suicide


      XIV.       The Coburgs of Windsor – A Dynasty’s Name Changed


      XV.         The Coburgs of Brussels – Beloved and Betrayed


      XVI.       The Coburgs of Lisbon – An Expected End


      XVII.     The Coburgs of Vienna – Debacle and Ruin


      XVIII.   The Coburgs of Sofia – Conundrum


      XIX.       The Women of Coburg – A Most Interesting Club



      Epilogue – Apres-eux, le deluge…