We're back with a brief post before the weekend beginning with calendar updates and a look back at Kate's Christmas engagements. The Duchess of Cambridge will undertake two engagements next week with with links to the Grenfell Tower fire. On Thursday, 14 December, William, Kate and Harry will join Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at the Grenfell Tower National Memorial Service at St Paul's Cathedral. The service will be broadcast live on BBC One from 10.30 am.
Before that, on Tuesday, 12 December, Kate will join children and families to celebrate the work of the Rugby Portobello Trust at its community centre in North Kensington. The Rugby Portobello Trust is part of a network of centres that help local communities, and provides support by running programmes for children and parents such as homework clubs, sporting activities, social groups and tuition. The Trust and the centre staff in Kensington have also been pivotal in supporting people affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. During the visit the Duchess will join the Christmas party for the 'Magic Mums' group which supports mothers, babies and toddlers.
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| Clarence House Twitter Feed |
Before that, on Tuesday, 12 December, Kate will join children and families to celebrate the work of the Rugby Portobello Trust at its community centre in North Kensington. The Rugby Portobello Trust is part of a network of centres that help local communities, and provides support by running programmes for children and parents such as homework clubs, sporting activities, social groups and tuition. The Trust and the centre staff in Kensington have also been pivotal in supporting people affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. During the visit the Duchess will join the Christmas party for the 'Magic Mums' group which supports mothers, babies and toddlers.
A 'Christmas Party' style pre-engagement is becoming something of an annual tradition for Kate. Last year, the royal trio joined youth helpline the Mix for a volunteer Christmas party in support of their mental health campaign, Heads Together. It was a nice way of closing the year with an event for the Heads Together charity partners.
With a good dose of festive fun.
In December 2015, the Duchess of Cambridge was guest of honour at Anna Freud Centre's Family School Christmas party.
Kate joined families in festive activities designed to help pupils reflect on the positive progress they have made during the term, not only academically but in their communications and social skills. The children were very excited to have a 'real life princess' at the party.
I loved this engagement; Kate never shines more brightly than during engagements with children. Royal engagements are of course planned down to the most minute detail and quite formal in their nature. Events like these are particularly special because we get to see more of Kate's personality and the expressions on the children's faces are priceless.
In December 2014 when Kate was expecting Princess Charlotte, the Cambridges travelled to New York for a 'mini-tour'. At the Northside Center, Kate joined staff and volunteers for a gift wrapping session.
You might remember this memorable video went viral. 'Keep Wrapping'. :)
Kate tends to opt for festive red for Christmas parties; perhaps we'll see a repeat of her new GOAT Eloise dress for the 'Magic Mums' party.
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We also have a couple of updates from the Court Circular to share. Yesterday, William and Kate held a meeting at Kensington Palace for the Royal Foundation.
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| Cepe Smith Twitter Feed |
And on Wednesday, the Cambridges were represented by their former private secretary and most trusted adviser Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton at the Service of Thanksgiving for the life of Mr Anthony Gordon Lennox in Southwarn Cathedral. Mr Lowther-Pinkerton, who is also Prince George's godfather, was listed as 'Extra Equerry'. He has been credited time and time again as someone the young royals trust completely and turn to for advice. I'm not at all surprised to see he's still officially involved in a much smaller role. Anthony Gordon Lennox tragically passed away in October, aged just 48. He served as a voice coach to Kate, who acquired his services before the Royal wedding. Below, Jamie with Kate at one of her pre-wedding engagements in Anglesey.
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Last year, we put together a 'Christmas Gift Guide' for fans of the Royal family. From items worn by the Duchess, to Repli-Kate's, commemorative gifts and edible treats, there are endless options when it comes to gifting to the royalist in your life (or to yourself).
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Hope you all have a lovely weekend ahead. For fans of Netflix's hugely popular The Crown, series 2 is now available to stream. The royals are actually fans of Peter Morgan's depiction of the early years of the Queen's reign, with Prince Harry admitting he enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to a night by the fire and a glass or two of Sauvignon Blanc while watching this!
To get you in the festive mood, take a look at this tweet posted by Clarence House. I suspect George's police car is in there, and whatever present Charlotte is hoping for. :)
Shh... don’t tell anyone... but we found Father Christmas at @Castell_Coch loading his sleigh with presents for Prince George and Princess Charlotte... 🎁 pic.twitter.com/k58wMdrEyz— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) December 8, 2017
See you all next week!
Thank you, Charlotte! Headed home now to curl up with a gin&tonic and The Crown! Looking forward to the upcoming engagements.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Charlotte, for your wonderful recap of Kate's pre-Christmas engagements. I hadn't realized how much of a tradition it has become. One of my favorite pre-Christmas engagements is missing though (although it was before this became a "tradition"): Prince William and then Kate Middleton's attendance at the Teenage Cancer Trust Christmas Spectacular in 2010 (I believe if I am not mistaken their first official appearance together after the engagement announcement - I can't believe it has been 7 years!)
ReplyDeleteI'm excited for another pre-Christmas engagement, so I would be more than happy with a repeat, but I am still selfishly hoping for a new look. I think it's time (as I've heard a few other posters mention) to bring out the maternity wear instead of buying non-maternity clothes in larger sizes. Seraphine has a style similar to Kate's knot front dress worn for the photos of the family taken by Michael Middleton in a festive red or green:
http://www.seraphine.com/us/maternity-clothes/maternity-dresses-us/jolene-3-4-slv-claret.html
I also like the cerise dot maternity dress (We know Kate can rock polka dots)
http://www.seraphine.com/us/maternity-clothes/maternity-dresses-us/pink-polka-dot-maternity-dress.html
Excellent choices, Anne. Personally, I prefer these over the boxier 60's styles. Pregnant or not, Kate does have the figure to pull it off.
DeleteThank you for the update, Charlotte! Hooray for additions to Kate's calendar. Have a wonderful December, everyone :)
ReplyDeleteCharlotte- Cheers! for a well deserved weekend.
ReplyDeleteThank you Charlotte for the updates! I do wish she could pop into more Christmas parties for her patronages. I am sure they would love to see her, she is such a warm presence.
ReplyDeleteI will be watching The Crown on my own at first I think. Mr. Jo doesn't like anything immoral or sexy and it looked, from the trailers, that things could get a mite steamy with Princess Margaret.
Thanks, Charlotte! I do love a good pre-Christmas party :) I wonder what she'll wear this time. I wasn't a fan of the Vanessa Seward dress last year, but I would like to see a repeat, maybe one of the recent burgundy/red GOAT dresses or something in green :) But regardless of what she wears, it'll be great to see her with kids & spreading some festive cheer...she really does shine when she has engagements with children.
ReplyDeleteI love the NYC "eyeroll" video...almost as much as the Queen getting excited over "cows!" LOL & also Prince Philip getting impatient with a photographer to take the *bleep*ing picture :P
I'm excited for the next season of The Crown...I haven't yet gotten through the first season! It's a toss up between that & Suits at the moment :)
Although Kate always smiles, there are times she truly sparkles, as if the engagement meant something particularly thrilling to her.
ReplyDeleteThe Anna Freud Centre engagement was one of those and it's lovely to revisit it. Her hair was natural and glossy - whilst not everyone's favourite - I loved that easy cut - those few engagements when she had it cut shorter and let it just flow almost seemed like something in her relaxed without having to worry about those heavily styled curls. The red dress was festive, and she was simply radiant - and completely at ease with those children.
But all the Christmas engagements are nice. The Grenfell service will be solemn and is very important particularly for Kate who was ill when her expected visit was to happen. But the Christmas party will be a joy and I'm excited to see it. I hadn't really thought about it being a tradition either - and Charlotte has done a wonderful write-up as usual.
Very sad about Mr Lennox. I'm glad William and Kate were represented at the funeral.
Yes, it's very sad about Kate's voice coach...he was only 48 :( Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton has always been a dependable figure in the younger royals' lives.
DeleteThe Grenfell Tower memorial service will be heartbreaking to watch...but I'm glad Kate is attending & also visiting a charity that has helped those in the community affected by the tragedy.
I did not watch “The Crown” until the reminder from this very blog. I started out with Part 1, and thought it could have been better. It looks and sounds too movie driven. May be some other time, I will keep up. I ended up finding this video and watched it instead.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/wiDCwqpupj8
What Powers Does the Queen of England Actually Have?
Charlotte, I was ill yesterday & watched The Whole Season 2 of The Crown! Wow! The more I watch & am reminded of all that HM has been through...(no surprises just history) I am Increasingly Amazed by HM! I love watching The Crown with HM & PP being in their 90's. It gives their journey & relationship such Perspective! I admit to being so sad to be saying Good bye to Clair Foy & This Amazing Cast as The Crown moves on to a Different Cast for Seasons 3&4, then another Cast for Seasons 5&6! I hope the transitions works well. I hope it's very believable? Evidently Charles meets Camilla in Season 3! I wonder how it will be watching the future Seasons as more Current Events & Relationships are played out on Screen.... Will they take it all the way up to Will & Kate (& children) as well as Harry & Meghan? We will have to wait until Winter 2019 to watch Season 3 & begin the journey into more recent times that some of us will remember living through! Hope you all enjoy Season 2! It's another Winner! :) xoxo
ReplyDeleteWe will also have the Queen’s Christmas lunch next week. I checked the calendar and Monday seems most likely.
ReplyDeleteI’m also still hoping we’ll get a family photo from the Cambridges. If I’m not mistaken, the last time we saw the whole family was in July in Germany. We had William and George in September, but that was it.
And my (pure) guess is Wednesday or Thursday. Let's see..... :-)
DeleteGrenfell Tower National Memorial Service is on Thursday, which is why I eliminated it.
DeleteI'm thinking Monday 18th, Tuesday 19th or Wednesday 20th might be likely dates for the luncheon based on previous years.
DeleteCondolences to the family of Mr Lennox and to the Cambridges. Thanks Charlotte for this post.
ReplyDeleteThank you again, Charlotte, for a really wonderful blog, not just this post, but taken all in all. You do brilliant work.
ReplyDeleteAlong with a list of potential Christmas gifts related to Kate that we could theoretically get for our loved ones, ourselves, or each other, how about a list generated by us readers of potential fun or gag gifts, not forgetting inexpensive, that our favorite royals could give the Queen and one another? I bet we could come up with some clever and creative things as possibilities.
Season 2 of The Crown was amazing! I thought S1 was terrific but 2 was even better! Hubby and I binge-watched it yesterday while spending a snowy Saturday at home. ☺️
ReplyDeleteI agree. Season 2 is a must. Claire Foy's acting deserves all the awards in the world.
DeleteI like the Christmassy picture next to your name, Anett! :)
DeleteI like your picture too, Anett!
DeleteI am positive, most likely watched the trailer for Season 1, and felt bombarded with the highlights of the negative. The made for movie sensational but scary operation with all the … of George VI, Winston Churchill’s struggling turning points and Princess Margaret’s struggle between love and duty. I hope to watch all of Part 1 this coming weekend. It will be better to watch it without rush, and given allocated time.
ReplyDeleteThe review of the series on this blog are convincing so far.
I just saw the new tour information for Sweden and Norway. The Swedish and Norweigan Royal families love their tiaras, so I am hoping for a tiara appearance.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte, thank you so much for the delightful photos of Kate with the children. You can feel the love! Reading your blog is always a welcome respite during overly busy days - I ALWAYS make time to do that. <3
ReplyDeleteDitto, leahmaria.
DeleteCharlotte thank you very much for your lovely update hmm looking. Forward i love the season. One has good and insterting stories second was a blown away
ReplyDeleteI have been in Norway and Sweden in winter. It was cold and dark! Good preparation for my life in the US upper midwest. But I assume things will be warm indoors with those two lovely royal families. Looking forward to it. :-)
ReplyDeleteI just woke up and was looking for a Kate post--too early I guess even with the 7 hour time difference. I did see on Hello that she and William were awarded the Blue Peter Badge for their work on mental health with children. How lovely!
ReplyDeleteI was home yesterday and dh and I did watch the first three episodes of The Crown. Fascinated by the political side. And realized that, really, in the beginning Queen Elizabeth seemed quite overwhelmed trying to understand how politics "works." As someone said, if you don't like duplicity, politics is a depressing area to be involved in. In fact dh wanted to keep going but I needed to do some genealogical transcription for a friend. We will doubtless go back this afternoon. I have a hard time hearing all of the conversation. Am slated to get hearing aids on Thursday--penance for loving rock concerts in my 20s I guess--so will probably save The Crown until I get them.
Now to get ready for my first graders and hope that whilst they are off playing in a few hours, I can catch a peek at Kate's visit today.
I watched the whole season 2 of the crown in 2 days. What a brilliantly made show! Looking forward to see who they cast for season 3. Thanks Charlotte for your hard work here.
ReplyDelete