RepliKate: Charm Bracelet

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Duchess of Cambridge, fashion, Kate Middleton, princess, royal family, royals, royalty

Not long after her wedding to Prince William, Kate began to be seen wearing a bracelet with a charm on it sporting her royal cypher on one side and what appears to be Camilla’s on the other. (More about royal cyphers here.) You can see a detail shot here, from when Kate appeared at Wimbledon in 2011. (There has been nothing from Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, or Kensington Palace to confirm anything beyond “it was a personal gift.”) I’ve actually wanted to RepliKate this for a long time, but only just recently found the perfect charm.

I found my charm here on etsy (though my sister purchased it for me as a birthday gift). Kate’s bracelet appears to be in gold, but silver looks better with my skin tone. And, of course, it would be silly of me to wear a “C” charm when that’s not my name, so my charm has my own initial (“R” for “Robyn”). So it arrived the other day, I attached it to a bracelet I already had, et voila! A charm bracelet fit for a princess!

(It was a little hard to photograph the charm, considering that it is very reflective. However, the engraving is lovely and very well done, and the charm is better quality than you would expect given the cost. I highly recommend it.)

Photo by me.

Photo by me.

 

 

 

 

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Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge

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Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, Prince William Duke of Cambridge, princess, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, Queen Elizabeth II, royal baby, royal family, royals, royalty, united kingdom

10-hour-old Princess Charlotte of Cambridge sleeps in her mother’s arms as she’s introduced to the world on May 2. (Hat tip to @BreakfastNews on Twitter.)

It was announced today that William and Kate have named their daughter Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, known as Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge. (Under previous Letters Patent, she would have been known as Lady Charlotte Mountbatten-Windsor, as the style and title of Prince was only eligible for the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, i.e., George, but Queen Elizabeth issued new Letters Patent in December 2012 that extended princely titles to all of William and Kate’s children.)

William and Kate impressively managed to honor several family members with Charlotte’s names:

• Charlotte is a feminine form of Charles (William’s father), but it is also the middle name of Kate’s sister Pippa (and the name of Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III of Great Britain);
• Elizabeth is Kate’s middle name, Kate’s mother Carole’s middle name, and the first name of both the Queen and her mother (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother);
• Diana honors William’s mother.

(And on a personal note, as I mentioned in my previous post, Charlotte is also my mother’s name, so it’s a little extra special for us.)

Long live Princess Charlotte!

 

 

It’s a girl for William and Kate!

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Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, Prince George of Cambridge, Prince William Duke of Cambridge, princess, Queen Elizabeth II, royal baby, royal family, royals, royalty, united kingdom

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The easel at Buckingham Palace announcing the arrival of The Duke and Duchess's daughter. #WelcomeToTheFamily

A post shared by The Royal Family (@theroyalfamily) on May 2, 2015 at 8:09am PDT

Prince George has a little sister!

Saturday morning at 8:34 am (just after midnight California time), Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, gave birth to a healthy baby girl, according to the royal press release, which was also posted to Twitter. This is the second child for William and Kate, the second grandchild for Prince Charles, and the fifth great-grandchild for Queen Elizabeth II (but the second royal one). The little Princess is now fourth in the line of succession, behind her grandpa Prince Charles, her dad Prince William, and her big brother Prince George.

Her names have not been announced, but we knew George’s names within a day or so. (I’m kind of hoping “Charlotte” shows up somewhere in there, as that is my mother’s name.)

In accordance with royal tradition, a formal announcement was placed on an easel in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace (and then a picture was taken and posted on instagram.)

Congratulations to William, Kate, and George!

Another baby for William and Kate!

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Charles Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, Prince of Wales, princess, royal baby, royal family, royals, royalty, united kingdom

Prince George is going to be a big brother!

It was announced on Monday by Clarence House that Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge, is pregnant with her second child.

Unfortunately, as with the announcement almost two years ago that Kate was pregnant with George, the announcement was made early because Kate is suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum (which literally means “excessive vomiting in pregnancy”), and it forced Kate to miss an engagement in Oxford. However, instead of being treated in a hospital, Kate is being treated at Kensington Palace.

No other details are being announced yet; we should apparently hear a due month once Kate hits twelve weeks. However, it should be a spring baby (April-May-ish.)

Prince Charles has already expressed his excitement about becoming a grandfather again, and said that he hopes this little one is a girl.

I wish Kate a speedy recovery and a happy, healthy pregnancy!

Queen Elizabeth’s Christmas message

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christening, Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, Prince George of Cambridge, Queen Elizabeth II, royal baby, royal family, royals, royalty, united kingdom, video

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. I’m certainly looking forward to 2014 (and all the royal goings-on that might happen).

As she has since the beginning of her reign, Queen Elizabeth II shared her thoughts for Christmas. Ever since I first discovered them online, it’s been a part of my Christmas traditions. It even aired on BBC America this year (between episodes of Doctor Who. How much more British can you get?). In her message this year, the Queen referenced many occasions of the year, including the 60th anniversary of her coronation and the birth and christening of Prince George. If the embedded video does not work, you can watch it here.

Courtesy The British Monarchy

I wish you all the best in 2014. Happy new year!

Official Cambridge christening portraits

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christening, Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, Prince George of Cambridge, royal baby, royal family, royals, royalty, united kingdom

Today, Clarence House (the official residence of The Prince of Wales) released the portraits taken yesterday after the christening of (the absolutely adorable) Prince George of Cambridge – including the portrait of the 4 generations. You can see the gallery here.

Update: There is also a new official family portrait of the Cambridges, which you can see (with an assortment of other photos from the christening) here.

Christening of Prince George of Cambridge

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christening, Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, Prince George of Cambridge, royal baby, royal family, royals, royalty, united kingdom

Friends and family of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge gathered today in the Chapel Royal at St. James’ Palace for the christening of Prince George.

Due to the size of the chapel (it’s tiny), only five members of the royal family (The Queen, Princes Philip, Charles, and Harry, and Camilla; six, if you include Zara Phillips) were present for the ceremony. Also present were Kate’s parents, brother, and sister, the seven people William and Kate had chosen to be George’s godparents, and their spouses. No foreign royals were in attendance: while it’s tradition on the continent for royal children to be given royal godparents from other nations, the UK likes to do their own thing, and William and Kate wanted to stick to their close circle of friends.

Reportedly no media was allowed in the chapel, so we will likely never see video of the ceremony. Some pictures from before and after have already surfaced, but none of the portraits taken for the event. A small gallery of photos can be seen here, and a short video can be seen here. I’m keenly looking forward to a 2013 version of this photo, featuring four generations of the British Royal Family, but we may have to wait for that.

Pictured: Queen Victoria; her son Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII); his son Prince George, Duke of York (later King George V); and George’s son baby Prince Edward of York (later King Edward VIII, later Duke of Windsor).

RepliKate: Breton stripes

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Duchess of Cambridge, fashion, Kate Middleton, princess, royal family, royals, royalty

I had planned on posting this before my wisdom teeth surgery a month ago, and even though all the swelling is gone and life has regained a sense of normalcy, I have been putting it off due to a resurgence of warm weather. Thankfully, Kate very helpfully wore the very subject of this RepliKate the other day, which made this post very timely.

At her first solo engagement since giving birth to baby George three months ago, Kate took part in a sports day on Friday in support of SportsAid, her newest charity patronage, which encourages kids to get involved in sports and one day even make it to the Olympics. (Since William, Kate, and Harry were ambassadors for Team GB last year, Kate’s patronage makes a lot of sense.)

Kate wore a Breton stripe top, a classic style that goes all the way back to the French navy in the 1850s. Sailors in Brittany (hence the name “Breton stripe”) would wear striped sweaters because the pattern would be easy to spot amongst the waves if one of them fell overboard. It spread to other mariners in Brittany, and then to the workers. Coco Chanel introduced it to her fashion line in 1917, creating a style staple that continues to be popular even today.

I found my top at Forever 21 for $10. If this particular variation doesn’t float your boat (no pun intended), they offer a few other versions.

Kate paired her top with a navy blazer and skinny-fit navy trousers. I’m wearing mine with American Eagle Artist cropped jeans (normally out of my price range, but they were having a sale) and a black blazer which I got at Sears. (This one has a slimmer fit than the Mossimo blazer I’ve worn in previous RepliKates.) And since Kate wore her standby cork wedges (and played volleyball in them), I am also wearing mine. (For the record, I can barely play volleyball in sneakers – unlike Kate, I am not very sporty.)

Kate can be seen here wearing virtually the same outfit to see Zara Phillips compete in Show Jumping during the 2012 Olympics. Photo by 木木 曉儀 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Photo by me.

Breton stripes are effortlessly cool and extremely versatile. I like to wear mine in a preppy style, but that’s because I’m a preppy person. A quick search online offers as many looks as you could wish.

Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge

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Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, Prince George of Cambridge, Queen Elizabeth II, royal baby, royal family, royals, royalty, united kingdom

Look! Baby’s first wave at an adoring public! (Hat tip to @DiannaMcD on Twitter.)

Well, that was fast.

Considering that William’s name wasn’t announced for a week, Charles’ wasn’t announced for a full month, and William had said they wanted to get to know their son before saddling him with a name he’ll use for his whole life, I figured that we’d have a good wait before we knew the little prince’s name.

It was announced today that the baby’s full style and title is His Royal Highness Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge. If he ever finds himself needing a last name, it will be Mountbatten-Windsor, though in recent years British royals with a territorial designation attached to their name (e.g., York, Wales, Wessex) have tended to use that in place of a last name as well. (William is known at RAF Anglesey as Flight Lieutenant William Wales; he used that name before he became Duke of Cambridge and didn’t want to change it after.)

Contrary to some news reports earlier this week, George is not “Prince of Cambridge,” “the Prince of Cambridge,” or even “a Prince of Cambridge,” as Cambridge has already been established as a royal dukedom, and if George were “Prince of Cambridge,” that would mean he would outrank a Duke of Cambridge (in this case, George’s father). Instead, George’s style is the same as that of his first cousins once removed Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie of York, daughters of the Duke of York.

The announcement doesn’t list the reasoning behind George’s names, but George is most likely for his great-great-grandfather, King George VI. Louis is one of William’s middle names and is for Louis Mountbatten, a relative of Prince Philip who Prince Charles was very close with. Alexander is a bit of a mystery, though the best theory I’ve seen is that it’s the masculine form of Alexandra, one of Queen Elizabeth’s middle names.

Reports are that new mothers all across the United Kingdom were waiting to see what William and Kate were going to name their child before naming their own, so hopefully those little boys won’t have to go nameless for much longer.

Long live Prince George!

It’s a boy for William and Kate!

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Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, princess, Queen Elizabeth II, royal baby, royal family, royals, royalty, united kingdom

Video courtesy Sky News.

Monday afternoon (or morning California time), Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, gave birth to a healthy baby boy, according to the royal press release. This is the first child for William and Kate, the first grandchild for Prince Charles, and the third great-grandchild for Queen Elizabeth II (but the first royal one). The name has not been announced yet, and we may have a small wait: William’s name was not announced until a week after his birth.

In accordance with royal tradition, a formal announcement was placed on an easel in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace (and then a picture was taken and posted on instagram. Gotta love the 21st Century.)

Of course, considering the race to establish absolute primogeniture (succession of the eldest child regardless of gender), a son seems a little ironic, but of course, a healthy baby and mother are the first priority.

On a personal note, July 22 is also my grandmother’s birthday. We were joking around that now she has no reason to ever forget the little prince’s birthday.

Congratulations to William and Kate!