Travel – Disneyland (Part One)

Posted on July 17, 2014 by barbara

One of the joys of growing up as a child in Southern California was that our family has been going to Disneyland since the 1950s. Many years later with my own children, I continued the family tradition of annual trips to Disneyland. Over the last fifty years I have seen many changes made to the park and the attractions that have come and gone. In this first of a five part series on Disneyland, I will discuss how this magical theme park started and how it has changed over the years. Then, in the next four additional posts of the series, I will offer the history of each of the eight “lands” of Disneyland, Main Street and Fantasyland, Adventureland and Frointerland, New Orleans Square and Critter Country, Tomorrowland and ToonTown.

A brief history of Disneyland

There is a famous story about how Walt Disney was inspired to build Disneyland, the story goes that while during an afternoon visit to Griffith Park located near the Burbank Studios Walt took a seat on a bench while his two young daughters rode the merry-go-round. Walt thought there should be a place where both children and their parents could enjoy spending some time together in an environment that would be both entertaining and visually appealing, so with this one thought came the vision for Disneyland.

Walt’s original plan was to build an 8 acre park located near the Burbank studios that would be a place for his employees and their families. Those plans were put on hold due to the start of World War II, but Walt never forgot. During the war and in the years after, Walt’s ideas for the park continued to develop and quickly a small park turned into something much larger!

By 1952, Walt had created a special department that was dedicated to planning his dream; it was called WED which were the initials of his name, Walter Elias Disney. His team of employees were called “imagineers” because they were pioneering a new field that blended imagination and engineering to create the new park. (The department eventually became WDI, a separate division of the Walt Disney Company, which is now based in Glendale, Ca and is currently still responsible for designing and building Disney theme parks, resorts and other venues around the world)

Finally in 1953, the first steps in building the park happened when Walt hired the Stanford Research Institute to make a survey to determine the best possible location for the future park. Taking into consideration projected population growth and accessibility of projected future major freeway construction for easy access for visitors, ultimately a location was found in Anaheim and a 160 acre property was purchased for the site of the new park.

The building of the park would prove to be very expensive and to create funding for the project Walt developed the idea of the “Walt Disney’s Disneyland” television show. It turned out to be a successful idea to not only gain the money from lucrative sponsors to build the park but it was also a wonderful way to present the park to the American public and gaining excitement for the project.

Construction for Disneyland officially began on July 21, 1954, it was an ambitious building schedule of less than one year to complete the new parkt for the projected opening day. The 160 acre property needed to be cleared of orange tree groves and also 15 houses needed to be moved in order to create the space requirements for the new park. Walt’s design for Disneyland called for five different “lands” within the park: Main Street, Adventureland, Frointerland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Each of these original Disneyland “lands” took elements from several previous and current Disney films and television shows: Main Street was inspired by Walt’s boyhood home of Marceline, Missouri and Adventureland was inspired by Disney’s True-Life adventure films, Frointerland was inspired by Walt’s love of the classic stories of Tom Sawyer and Davy Crockett (Davy Crockett television episodes were shown on the Disneyland television show starting in 1954), Fantasyland was inspired by many of the Disney animated films (such as Snow White, Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan to name a few!) and finally Tomorrowland was inspired by Walt’s interest in the future and this new “land” would showcase our emerging NASA space exploration .

Walt oversaw the park’s construction and progress continued at a steady pace with just a few minor delays and adjustments. Finally, the park was ready for Opening Day on July 17, 1955. On that day, Disneyland was officially opened to a select number of invited guests and the media for a Press Preview Day which was nationally televised on the ABC network. Unfortunately, several mishaps happened during that day and it was not the anticipated success that Walt hoped for, the day became known as “Black Friday” within the Disney Company. Some of the problems were caused by counterfeit tickets which increased the attendance to an unexpected 28,000 people (which was almost twice the number of people originally invited!) and there were severe traffic problems and delays for guests trying to reach the park. Guests also encountered long lines waiting to see the attractions and food supplies ran out. The weather wasn’t cooperating on that day and the temperature were unusually high causing the newly laid asphalt in the park to melt and another problem was that only a small number of water fountains were working. Finally, there were numerous technical problems during the live broadcast and the press reviews of the Opening Day of Disneyland were very negative.

Walt was concerned about the bad reviews, but the next day approximately 50,000 guests attended the first day the park was open for the general public. To show his support of Walt’s Dream, the first ticket was purchased by Roy Disney who was not only Walt’s brother but also his partner in the Disney Company. Over the first year, the operational problems of the park were resolved, additional attractions opened and attendance continued to increase in size and ultimately Disneyland proved to be a huge success.

During that first year, the park had opened with only five “lands” which were Main Street, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Over the following years additional “lands” were opened and currently there are eight consisting of the original five plus New Orleans Square that opened in 1966, Bear Country (later named Critter Country) in 1972 and the newest is Mickey’s Toontown which opened in 1993.

Disneyland attractions have also come and gone over the years. I remember rides like the Flying Saucers (1961-1966) and the original Carousel of Progress (1967-1973) naming just two of my favorite attractions that have been gone several years. I also remember new rides being added to the park, like the Swiss Family Treehouse (1962), It’s a Small World (1964), Pirates of the Caribbean (1967) and the Mansion Haunted (1969) and Space Mountain (1977). Over the years, during our numerous family visits to the park, we saw the Skyway ride dismantled (1956-1994), the new Fantasyland being rebuilt (1983) and the Star Tours (1987) and Splash Mountain (1989) attractions added.

To mark Disneyland 50^th anniversary in 2005, the park underwent a major renovation to prepare for the special occasion. Several events were planned during the expected 18 month-long celebration which officially started with an announcement on May 5, 2005. Some of the events held during that time included a special “Remember” fireworks show, the “Parade of Dreams” and a reunion of the previous members of the Mickey Mouse Club. During the months leading up the official anniversary, people were requested to submit their photos where used to make special murals known as the “Happiest Faces on Earth” that depicted iconic Disney characters and these were scattered across the park. The Disneyland Castle was also decorated to mark the special occasion with a golden overlay and also fifty Golden Mickeys were hidden in the decorations of the park’s attractions. Finally, to note the attractions that were there on opening day in 1955, one ride vehicle on each of those attractions was painted gold.

Walt Disney wanted his dream of Disneyland to continue grow and change with new rides and attractions being added continuously throughout the decades. In closing this post, I want to end with the words Walt spoke on opening day at the dedication of Disneyland.

“To all who come to this happy place: Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America, with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.” July 17, 1955

Be sure to check out the four additional posts in the Disneyland series. Part Two – Main Street and Fantasyland, Part Three – Adventureland and Frontierland, Part Four – New Orleans Square and Critter Country, Part Five – Tomorrowland and Mickey’s Toontown.

Dave Barry’s Birthday

Posted on July 3, 2014 by jeff0006

Hello, Jeff again. Barbara says I have a weird sense of humor and if that is the case, Dave Barry has one too because I have been following him since his humor column was first syndicated and I love his work! While humor is his claim to fame me, he has written / co-written children’s books, had several of his books made into movies and is a member of a band.

David McAlister Barry was born July 3, 1947 to Reverend David Barry (a Presbyterian minister) and a mother whose name is curiously not mentioned in any source I can find on the internet. His father died in 1984 and his mother shortly afterwards. I find this curious because I am convinced Dave cared deeply about his mother as can be heard in his record “Mama” and after she died he wrote about her death in “Lost in America”. Dave was born in Armonk, New York and went to Wampus Elementary School. He was voted “Class Clown” at Pleasantville High School and went to Haverford College where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1969. Dave has been married three times, to Ann Shelnutt, Beth Lenox and now Michelle Kaufman and has two children, Rob Barry (1980) and Sophie Barry (2000).

After college he worked for the Daily Local News in West Chester, PA and then as a copy editor for the Associated Press before joining the consulting firm Burger Associates. He then became the Humor Columnist for the Miami Herald in 1983 and that’s when he became famous for articles like “Exploding Whale” and how to make grapes explode in a microwave. I can’t find a link to the grape article, but here is a related article about Microwave Grape racing. I particularly like t-what he says before starting the races: “My son, Rob, and I held some microwave grape races, after taking the standard precaution of making sure that my wife was not home.” His description of the Potato Gun still makes me laugh, especially comments like: “…a bazooka-sized device that can shoot a potato several hundred yards at speeds up to 1,000 feet per second. To give you an idea of how fast that is, an ordinary potato, on its own, will rarely travel more than four feet per day, even during the height of mating season.”

Dave became a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1988 for Commentary:

Dave Barry of The Miami Herald

For his consistently effective use of humor as a device for presenting fresh insights into serious concerns.

He has published many, many books including some of my favorites:

Babies and Other Hazards of Sex: How to Make a Tiny Person in Only 9 Months With Tools You Probably Have Around the Home (1984)
Claw Your Way to the Top: How to Become the Head of a Major Corporation in Roughly a Week (1986)
Dave Barry’s Guide to Marriage and/or Sex (1987)
Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States (1989)
Dave Barry’s Gift Guide to End All Gift Guides (1994)
Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys (1996)
Dave Barry’s Book of Bad Songs (1997)
Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway: A Vicious and Unprovoked Attack on Our Most Cherished Political Institutions (2001)
“My Teenage Son’s Goal in Life is to Make Me Feel 3,500 Years Old” and Other Thoughts On Parenting From Dave Barry (2001)
Dave Barry’s Money Secrets (2006)
You Can Date Boys When You’re Forty: Dave Barry on Parenting and Other Topics He Knows Very Little About (2014)
Dave Barry’s Bad Habits: A 100% Fact-Free Book (1987)
Dave Barry is NOT Making This Up (1995)
Big Trouble (1999)
Peter and the Starcatchers (2004, with Ridley Pearson) series
Escape From the Carnivale (2006, with Ridley Pearson)

His book Big Trouble was made into a movie but the release was delayed because of the 9-11 attacks. Then his Dave Barry Turns 40 and Dave Barry’s Greatest Hits were made into a four season sitcom by CBS which ran 1993 to 1997. The show starred Harry Anderson as Barry and DeLane Matthews as his wife Beth. In an early episode, Barry appeared in a cameo role. There are rumors that another book written by Barry, Peter and the Starcatchers, will be made into a movie by Disney.

One thing I did not know about Dave was that he founded a rock band called “Rock Bottom Remainders” composed of other authors including Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount, Jr., Barbara Kingsolver, Matt Groening, and Barry’s brother Sam, among many others. The band has raised over $2 million for charity and is described by Dave as “not musically skilled, but they are extremely loud.” You can find a little more detail on the band on Oprah’s site here: http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/The-Rock-Bottom-Remainders

Dave retired in 2005 to spend more time with his family, but still maintains a blog at http://www.davebarry.com/ and writes occasional columns for the Miami Herald including his yearly gift guide and his year-in-review feature. In addition to the Pulitzer, Dave was awarded the Fairfax Price and has a sewage processing plant named after him in East Grand Forks, MN. He also can be hired as a motivational speaker for $20,000 to $30,000 per engagement. To quote Dave himself “I’m not making this up.”

Travel – Kensington Palace

Posted on July 1, 2014 by barbara

When we visited London in 1998, my son and I took a short walk to Kensington Palace from where we were staying in Notting Hill. I was very excited to see the palace especially after reading so many books about two of its former occupants, Queen Victoria and Diana, the Princess of Wales. Currently, the palace is now the official residence of Prince William and his family, Prince Harry and several other members of the royal family. In this post, I will discuss the history and the architecture of this historic building.

A brief history of Kensington Palace

In 1605, Sir George Coppin built a two-story Jacobean mansion in the Kensington area of London. Then, in 1619, the 1^st Earl of Nottingham purchased the house and it became known as Nottingham House. 70 years later, after William and Mary became joint monarchs of England; they purchased the house from the 2^nd Earl of Nottingham.

In 1689, William and Mary commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to design an expansion on Nottingham House. Wren kept the original structure but created a new entrance that now faced west and two additional wings were built; one to the south-east for the King and another to the north-west that was the Queen’s Apartments. The building and the surrounding grounds became known as Kensington Palace and beautiful manicured lawns and formal gardens were also created on the estate. Later, two more extensions were added, the King’s Gallery and the Queen’s Gallery, for William and Mary’s extensive picture collection.

After the death of Queen Mary in 1694 and King William in 1702, Queen Anne became the principal resident of the palace. During her reign, she had 30 acres of beautiful gardens added to the property and she also commissioned the addition of an Orangery that was built in 1704. Queen Anne occupied the palace for a short ten years and she died there in 1714.

In 1722, during the reign of King George I, three lavish state rooms were painted with trompe l’oeil ceilings and walls. The relatively unknown architect, William Kent, designed the Cupola Room which was an octagonal room with a domed ceiling painted with the Star of the Order of the Garter. He also designed two additional rooms, the Privy Chamber and the Withdrawing Room. Kent had the original King’s Grand Staircase repainted with a mural that depicted 45 Georgian court figures.

The last reigning monarch to occupy Kensington Palace was King George II. He made no interior changes to the building but his wife, Queen Caroline, had the royal gardener completely redesign the gardens. The features that were added to the design can still be seen today, they are the areas known as The Serpentine, the basin called the Round Pond and the Broad Walk.

After King George II died in 1760, Kensington Palace was only used by minor members of the royal family. The fourth son of King George III family, Prince Edward (Duke of Kent), was the most notable. His daughter, Alexandrina Victoria, was born at the palace on May 24, 1819 and her christening took place in the Cupola Room. Sadly, the Duke of Kent died nine months after the birth and the Duchess of Kent and her daughter continued to live at the palace. The Duchess proved to be an extremely protective mother and the Princess was isolated from other children and made to adhere a strict set of rules.

Then, in 1837, Princess Alexandrina Victoria, was awakened in the early morning after her uncle, King William IV, had died at Windsor Castle and she was told that she now the Queen. The petite young girl, she was 18 years old, held her first privy council in the Red Saloon at Kensington Palace. During the meeting she took the name of Queen Victoria and one of her first royal decisions was that she would move to Buckingham Palace as a means of distancing herself from her over protective mother. From this time forward, Buckingham Palace became the permanent official residence of the British monarch. (For more information regarding the life and reign of Queen Victoria, please click on the link. As if you are interested in the history of Buckingham Palace, please check out the travel post from August 2013)

Later, the Duke and Duchess of Teck, who were relatives of Queen Victoria, lived at the Kensington Palace. Their daughter (Princess Victoria Mary, later Queen Mary and the grandmother of the current Queen) was born there in 1867. Queen Victoria had been very fond of Princess Mary who eventually married her grandson, Prince George (later King George V). For more information about their wedding, please click on the following link, British Royal Weddings – Part Two.

During World War I, Kensington Palace was used to house Irish soldiers temporarily home from the front and ration restrictions were in effect not only for the soldiers but also for the royal residents. Then, in World War II, the palace was severely damaged during The Blitz in 1940. Anti-craft guns, sandbags and trenches were dug on the grounds of the palace and repairs to the palace were delayed for several years.

In 1960, after the wedding of Princess Margaret to Antony Armstrong-Jones, the sister of Queen Elizabeth II moved to Kensington Palace. The newly married couple temporarily took up residence in Apartment 10 while extensive renovations were made on the much larger Apartment 1A. By 1962, the remodeling was completed and the apartment had 20 rooms on four floors, consisting of several large reception rooms, 3 bedrooms and bathrooms, a nursery, 9 staff bedrooms and bathrooms, kitchen, laundry and even a dark room for Lord Snowdon, Princess Margaret’s husband who was a photographer. After their divorce in 1978, the Princess continued to live in the palace until her death in 2002.

Other recent notables to live at Kensington Palace are the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester (the current Queen’s first cousin) who moved into Apartment 1 after their married in 1972 and the Prince and Princess Michael of Kent (another cousin of the Queen) who moved into Apartment 10 after they married in 1978 and the Duke and Duchess of Kent (another cousin of the Queen) moved into Wren House on the grounds of Kensington Palace in 1996.

One of the most famous member of the royal family to live at Kensington Palace was the Princess of Wales. After her wedding to Prince Charles in 1981, they moved into a part of the palace that was formerly Apartments 8 and 9. The two apartments were combined, renovated and redecorated to accommodate the new royal couple and their growing family. Sadly, Prince Charles and Diana’s formal separation was announced in 1992 and later the divorce became official in 1996. Diana and her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, continued to live at Kensington until her death in 1997. After Diana’s tragic death in a car crash in Paris, the area at the gates to Kensington Palace became a spontaneous memorial with thousands and thousands of flowers, pictures and personal notes left there in tribute as the public mourned the death of the well-loved “People’s Princess. Prince William and Prince Harry eventually left Kensington Palace to live with their father, Prince Charles, in Clarence House.

Following the wedding of Prince William to Catherine (Kate) Middleton in 2011, it was announced that the newly named Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would move into a temporary home in Nottingham Cottage which is located on the grounds of Kensington Palace while repairs and renovations were being made their permanent home in Apartment 1A, the former residence of Princess Margaret. Finally after 18 months, the work was completed and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge along with their newborn son, Prince George, moved into their official residence in late 2013. Their new accommodations has become their official residence and includes five reception rooms, three bedrooms and bathrooms, a two room nursery with adjoin bedroom for a nanny, and one kitchen for the family and two for the staff. During the renovations, the heating, water and electrical systems were updated and dangerous asbestos was removed. After the Prince William and his family moved, his brother, Prince Harry moved from Clarence House into Nottingham Cottage.

Information for planning a visit to Kensington Palace

Just in time for the Queen II Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the Kensington Palace State Rooms had a $19 million two-year renovation. Visitors to the palace can now choose several different tours and there are also several interesting exhibits and interactive displays. Some of the special presentations currently happening at the palace are: The Glorious Georges exhibit which is a multi-media exhibit that covers the reigns of Kings George I through IV. The Fashion Rules exhibit which features a collection of dresses from Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret and Diana, the Princess of Wales ranging in time from the 1950s to 1980s. The Victoria Revealed exhibit takes visitors to the room where the young Queen held her first Privy Council and also on display are several items of her clothing ranging from a dress with the small 18 inch waist that she wore to that first Council meeting to one of her undergarments with a 50 inch waist that she wore later in her reign.

The King’s Apartments in Kensington Palace are entered by climbing the King’s Staircase which is painted with a grand mural that depicts 45 Georgian figures from the court of King George I. (be sure to look for the king and the mural artist, William Kent, dressed in a turban!) The tour continues into the King’s Apartments, which includes the Privy Chambers, the Drawing Room and the Cupola Room. The Cupola Room is where Princess Alexandria Victoria, the future Queen Victoria, was christened. The largest room is the King’s Gallery where George I originally displayed an extensive collection of paintings, look for the famous Van Dyck portrait of Charles I on horseback. Also displayed in the room over the fireplace is a clock which was commissioned by King William III, surprisingly it still works! In the Queen’s Apartments, accessed by the less grand Queen’s Staircase, is the Queen’s Gallery which was once filled with priceless treasures such as Turkish carpets and Oriental porcelain.

Kensington Palace - the King's Staircase

After touring the rooms of Kensington Palace, be sure to take some time to walk the grounds to see the various gardens. The Sunken Garden was originally planted in 1908 and features terraced flower beds and a pond with a fountain. During the spring, the garden is filled with tulips and pansies in bloom and in the summer there are geraniums and begonias. The formal gardens, designed during the time of Queen Caroline, features the Board Walk with a round pond and the Serpentine.

For information regarding Kensington Palace hours, prices and more details about the various tours and exhibits, please see www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace

Celebration – British Royal Weddings (Part 4)

Posted on June 24, 2014 by barbara

To conclude the four part series on British Royal Weddings are two of the most famous weddings in recent history. The first was the wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 and it became known as the “wedding of the century”. The second was the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011 which also captured the world’s attention almost 30 years later. Both weddings were equally grand and filled with the traditions, customs and spectacular pageantry that make British royal weddings so wonderfully unique.

Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer (later the Princess of Wales)

Date and location: July 29, 1981 at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London

For several years prior to Prince Charles wedding there had been much speculation as to whether the long time bachelor would ever settle down. Then in 1980, Lady Diana Spencer caught the attention of the Prince and quickly after a six month courtship he proposed to her and their engagement was officially announced on February 24, 1981 at Buckingham Palace. This occasion was the first time the world saw Diana’s stunning engagement ring, which was a large oval 12 carat blue Ceylon sapphire surrounded by 14 diamonds and in white gold setting.

Since it was the wedding of the heir to the British throne, it took an extensive amount of preparations for the state occasion. St. Paul’s Cathedral was selected as the site for the ceremony instead of Westminster Abbey because it would hold the 3,500 guests. Royal Note: Westminster Abbey had been the site of many royal weddings over the past decades; most notably Prince Charles’ grandparents, Prince George (later King George VI) and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and his parent’s, Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and Prince Phillip in 1947. (For more information of these two weddings, please click on the link to Part Three of the British Royal Wedding series

On the wedding day of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, over two million people lined the parade route from Buckingham Palace and Clarence House to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Also, as with most high profile events, security was a major concern and over 4,000 police officers with an additional 2,000 military officers were on duty. There was an estimated 750 million people worldwide that watched the wedding ceremony.

At St. Paul’s Cathedral, crowned or elected heads of state from around the world and all the representatives from the British Commonweaths had gathered. Prince Charles arrived from Buckingham Palace in the State Landau accompanied by his brother, Prince Andrew. Of course, the last to arrive was Diana who was traveling from Clarence House with her father, the Earl of Spencer, in the grand Glass Coach. Then, after a brief moment to compose herself and have the dress designers straighten her wedding dress, Diana and her father walked down the nave to the altar. The Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, presided over the traditional Church of England wedding service. In the months leading up to the wedding date, the bridal couple had choose to omit the word “obey” from the vows, this had caused much controversy and also received worldwide media coverage since this was the first time it had been done for a Royal wedding.

One of the most closely guarded secrets of the royal wedding was Diana’s wedding dress. Much has been written about the dress which was designed by the David and Elizabeth Emanuel who were relatively unknown at the time. The famous dress that Diana wore on her wedding day was an ivory silk taffeta gown trimmed with antique lace decorated with 10,000 pearls and sequins, the dress also featured a 25 foot long train. To complete her wedding attire, Diana wore the beautiful Spencer tiara, the precious family heirloom was considered her “something borrowed”. The tiara was originally given to Viscountess Althorp, Cynthia Spencer, who was Diana’s paternal grandmother as a wedding gift. (Special Note: Diana’s wedding dress and the Spencer Tiara are displayed at Althorp House, the ancestral seat of the Spencer family in Suffork, during the summer months as part of a special exhibit called “Diana: A Celebration”)

Diana’s bridal bouquet was designed by Longmans Florist; who was the same florist that made the Queen’s bouquet for her wedding in 1947. Diana’s bouquet was very large cascading style, 42” long and 15” wide. It was made of fragrant gardenias, stephanotis, freesia, Odontoglossum orchids, lilies of the valley, the Earl of Mountbatten roses, ivy and myrtle. The Mountbatten roses were used as a tribute to Prince Charles Uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, who died tragically in 1979. The sprig of myrtle was added to the bouquet in keeping with the royal tradition.

After the conclusion of the wedding ceremony, Prince Charles and Princess Diana traveled to Buckingham Palace from St. Paul’s Cathedral in the State Landau for an intimate wedding breakfast attended by only 120 guests. Photographs of the couple, the bridal party and the immediate family were taken in the grand Throne Room before Prince Charles and Princess Diana made the traditional appearance on the balcony to greet the massive crowd gathered at the front of Buckingham Palace which cheered wildly as the bridal couple walked onto the balcony and their spontaneously kiss was the first for a British Royal wedding!!

Later in the afternoon of the wedding day, Prince Charles and Princess Diana rode once again in the State Landau traveling from Buckingham Palace to Waterloo Station. Upon arriving at the station, the Royal Train was waiting to take the bridal couple to the Mountbatten home, Broadlands, to start their honeymoon. (Royal Note: this was also where Prince Charles’ parents spent their wedding night) Later, Prince Charles and Princess Diana flew to Gibraltar where they boarded the Royal Yacht, Britannia, to embark on an eleven day Mediterranean cruise and then afterwards they went to Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

Sadly, the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana which had started out as a fairytale later turned out to be a very unhappy union. The couple’s formal separation was officially announced in 1992 and in 1996 the divorce was finalized. Princess Diana died a year later in 1997 in a car crash in Paris, France.

Prince William to Catherine (Kate) Middleton

Date and location: April 29, 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London

Another more recent British Royal Wedding that also captured the world’s attention is the wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton. Prince William and Kate met at the University of St. Andrews and dated for several years. The Prince went on to Sandhurst Academy, was commissioned as an officer in the Blues and Royals regiment before transferring to the RAF taking a job as a Search and Rescue helicopter pilot stationed in Angelsey, an island off the coast of Wales. In October 2010, the Prince proposed to Kate while on a private vacation in Kenya and surprisingly presented her with his mother’s engagement ring. (Special Note: Prince Harry, the groom’s brother, had inherited the ring after the death of their mother, Diana the Princess of Wales. Several years later when he learned that his brother was to propose to Kate, Prince Harry graciously gave the ring to Prince William) The engagement was officially announced in November 2010 to the media at St. James Palace.

The wedding was not officially considered a state occasion and for this reason the 1900 people invited to the ceremony were mainly family and friends of the bridal couple but protocol still called for British Commonwealth representatives included as well as members of the diplomatic corps, religious leaders and people from the Prince’s various charities.

On the wedding day, Prince William and his brother, Prince Harry left Clarence House in a Bentley State Limousine to travel to Westminster Abbey. Prince William wore the uniform of an Irish Guard and he wore the Order of the Garter star with his Royal Air Force wings and Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee Medal attached to a blue riband. Next, the members of the Middleton family and the British Royal family arrived with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arrive just before the bridal party. Kate and her father left the Goring Hotel in a Phantom VI Rolls Royce to travel to the Abbey, they had been staying there in the days leading up to the wedding. Kate’s sister, Pippa Middleton was waiting at the bottom of the steps of the Abbey to assist the bride into the Abbey, she caused quite a media sensation with her form fitting dress nearly overshadowing the bride!

Like Princess Diana almost 30 years earlier, Kate’s wedding dress, had remained a closely guarded secret prior to the wedding day. The dress was designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen was made of satin that gathered gently at the waist with slightly padded hips that formed a bustle in the back and a 9 foot train. The stunning dress was instantly compared to that of another royal bride, Princess Grace of Monaco. (If you are interesting in seeing the wedding dress, please click on the link the Wedding of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier)

In keeping with the bridal tradition of “something old, new, borrowed and blue, Kate’s bridal attire included the following items: vintage lace was also incorporated into the dress for “something old” as well as a blue ribbon sewn into the bodice for “something blue”. The “something new” was a set of earrings especially commissioned by Kate’s parents for her wedding day and the design came from the newly created Middleton family crest. To complete her bridal attire, Kate wore a veil made of silk tulle which was embroidered with lace and held in place by the Cartier Scroll Tiara, which was the “something borrowed” from the Queen.

On her wedding day, Kate carried a bouquet the florist Shane Connolly created which included such flowers as the lily of the valley, Sweet William, hyacinth, ivy and lastly the tradition sprig of myrtle that is traditionally used in all royal wedding bouquet. Also in keeping with another Royal tradition, later in the day the wedding bouquet was returned to Westminster Abbey and placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. (For more information on this tradition started in 1923 by Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Prince William’s beloved great grandmother, please click on the link to Part Three of the British Royal Wedding Series)

For anyone that watched the wedding television broadcast that was shown in over 180 countries, the interior of Westminster Abbey was beautifully decorated with trees placed along the aisle and at the entrance, six English maples were used in the church and two Hornbeam trees were used at the entrance to create a natural archway. After the ceremony the trees were taken to Prince Charles’ country estate, Highgrove, and planted as a living memorial to mark the wedding.

After the conclusion of the wedding service, the Queen hosted a wedding luncheon reception at Buckingham Palace for approximately 600 invited guests. In addition to the wedding cake and per Prince William’s request a special groom’s cake was created from chocolate bisquits and made according to a Royal Family recipe which was a favorite dessert when the Prince was a child. As another wedding tradition dictated, the bridal couple appeared on the balcony to greet the waiting crowd gathered in front of Buckingham Palace and they surprised everyone with not one but two kisses!!

The new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge left the Palace after the wedding luncheon and travel the short distance to Clarence House to relax and change for the evening reception. (Royal Note: The car that the bridal couple drove in was a blue two seat Aston Martin DB6 Volante convertible which had been a gift from Queen Elizabeth to Prince Charles, the groom’s father, on the occasion of his 21st birthday) Later, 300 invited quests returned to Buckingham Palace for a special private wedding dinner hosted by the Prince of Wales. The event was followed by dancing and finished with a small firework display on the palace grounds.

The Duke and Duchess left on their honeymoon ten days after the wedding, the destination was a secluded villa on a private island in the Seychelles and the time was limited due to Prince William’s RAF duties.

For more information about additional British Royal Weddings, please click of the following links: Part One – Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Part Two – Prince Albert (later King Edward VII) to Princess Alexandra of Denmark and Prince George (later King George V) to Princess Mary of Teck. Part Three – Prince Albert (later King George VI) to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) to Prince Phillip.

Celebration – British Royal Weddings (Part 3)

Posted on June 17, 2014 by barbara

In the previous posts of the British Royal Weddings series, I discussed the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1840 in Part One and the weddings of Prince Albert (later King Edward VII) to Princess Alexandra of Denmark and Prince George (later King George V) to Princess Mary of Teck in Part Two. In this post, I will discuss the weddings of a father who was unexpectedly made King and his daughter who is the current Queen of Great Britain. The father was Prince Albert (later King George VI) to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and his daughter was Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and Prince Phillip.

Prince Albert (later King George VI) to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother)

Date and location: April 26, 1923 at Westminster Abbey in London

Prince Albert, known to his family as Bertie, was the second son of King George V. Bertie had fallen in love with Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and proposed to her several times over the course of several years but she was very hesitant to accept because she had great misgiving about joining the royal family, but finally she accepted in 1923. Like all royal marriages, this union needed the approval of the King and the bridal choice was very unusual at the time because normally princes were expected to marry princesses; Elizabeth was not considered royal and she was only the daughter of a British peer.

York Wedding

Upon the announcement of their marriage, the people of Wales presented the bridal couple a rather large nugget of Welsh gold from which Elizabeth’s wedding ring was made. This same piece of Welsh gold also has traditionally been used to make the wedding rings of several other members of the royal family, such as Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II), Princess Margaret (sister of the current Queen) and Prince Charles (son of the current Queen) and most recently for Catherine Middleton on the occasion of her marriage to Prince William (grandson of the current Queen)

As it has seemed customary for British Royal weddings, the weather was projected for rain but over a million people gathered along the parade route from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. As the invited guests began to arrive, the bells of the Abbey had already been ringing for four hours prior to the start of the service. Shortly before the start of the service the aged but still elegant Queen Alexander, grandmother of the groom, arrived with her sister, Dowager Empress Marie of Imperial Russia. (Sadly it is her son, Tsar Nicholas II, along with his wife and family who had tragically died six years earlier during the Bolshevik Revolution which brought an end to the reign of the Romanov Dynasty)

On the morning of the wedding, the twenty-two year old bride departed for Westminster Abbey to meet her twenty-seven year old groom from her family home on Burton Street located near Berkeley Square in London. The maroon and gold 1920 State landau was pulled by four perfectly matched grey horses and as it arrived at the Abbey the sky cleared and the sun came out casting light through the beautiful stained-glass windows.

Then, prior to the start of the wedding ceremony, an unexpected and spontaneous gesture by Elizabeth was to start a royal tradition that has continued throughout the years. On her way to the altar, Elizabeth set her bouquet of white roses, lilies of the valley and heather at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which is located near the entrance of the Abbey. She wanted to honor her brother, Fergus, who had died in World War I and she placed the bouquet there in his memory. Since then, the bouquets of royal brides have traditionally been placed at the tomb with the one exception that is done after the wedding ceremony rather than before.

Lady Elizabeth’s wedding dress was unlike other recent royal brides and it was designed in a simple medieval style made from ivory chiffon moiré designed by Madame Handley Seymour. The dress featured a square neckline with a bodice that was cut straight to the waist and decorated with horizontal silver lame panels that were heavily gold embroidered with pearl and paste beads. The antique ivory point of Flanders lace veil was secured with a simple wreath of myrtle leaves with a cluster of white York roses and white heather positioned on either side of her head. The veil was presented from the bride’s future mother-in-law for the bride to wear on the wedding day.

This photograph is for slide/reference use only. Not for reproduction.

After the wedding ceremony, the bridal couple and their guests gathered at Buckingham Palace for a lavish breakfast. Then the new Duke and Duchess of York left London for an extended honeymoon first in Surrey at Polesden Lacey and then at Glamis Castle, the bride’s ancestral home of the Strathmore family, which is located in Scotland.

The wedding of Prince George and Lady Elizabeth also set another precedence for royal weddings when it was filmed with the footage of the event shown later in theaters throughout the country. Prior to then, royal weddings were strictly private events and the bridal party was only seen traveling to and from the venue and sometimes there was the occasional public appearance on the balcony at Buckingham Palace after the ceremony.

Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and Lieutenant Phillip Mountbatten

Date and location: November 20, 1947 at Westminster Abbey in London

Princess Elizabeth meet her future groom when she was just a young girl, she was only 13 years old when she fell madly in love with the dashing naval officer and the two began to exchange letters. Almost ten years later, in July of 1947, after Princess Elizabeth returned from a long trip to South Africa with her parents their engagement was officially announce to the public.

Princess Elizabeth received a beautiful diamond engagement from Phillip. The large 3-carat diamond originally came from the tiara that had belonged to Phillip’s mother. Phillip was personally involved in the designed that also included eleven additional diamonds.

At the time of the Royal wedding, World War II had recently ended two years before but coupon rationing was still in effect. After the engagement was announced, thousands of clothing coupons were received at Buckingham Palace to assist in making the wedding dress but it was illegal to transfer coupons and they were rightfully returned with a personal letter from Princess Elizabeth thanking them for their thoughtfulness.

Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillips wedding 1

Norman Hartnell, the Royal Designer, received the commission to create Princess Elizabeth’s wedding dress. He designed a lovely gown of ivory duchess satin with a fitted bodice and full skirt that extended into a 15 foot train. Princess Elizabeth completed her bridal attire with white silk tulle veil held in place by the diamond King George III Fringe Tiara. While preparing for her wedding day the frame of the tiara broke in half but luckily the royal jeweler was called in to quickly make the repair before the ceremony.

Princess Elizabeth’s bridal bouquet was made by the local British florist Longmans from three different kinds of British-grown orchids; cattleya, odontoglossum and cypripedium. A sprig of traditional myrtle was picked from the garden at Osborne house and was also added to the bouquet.

On the day of the wedding day Prince Phillip arrived dressed in his naval uniform and accompanied by his cousin David Mountbatten, the Marquess of Milford Haven. The next to arrive at the Abbey were the bride’s mother, Queen Elizabeth and grandmother Queen Mary, then the bride’s eight bridesmaids, including Princess Margaret, who were wearing dresses designed by Hartnell. Finally, Princess Elizabeth and her father, King George, arrived from Buckingham Palace traveling in the magnificent golden Irish State Coach. Finally, on the arm of her father, as the trumpets played, they slowly walking down the nave to the altar steps to meet Prince Phillip. The hour long ceremony included vows from the Book of Common Prayer and per the bride’s request, the service was the same as her parent’s wedding service which happened almost twenty-five years earlier in the same Abbey.

At the conclusion of the service, the new Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh entered the Chapel of Edward the Confessor to sign the register officially recording their marriage. King George, Queen Elizabeth and also Queen Mary and Princess Andrew, the groom’s mother, also signed the register. Immediately following the service the bridal party exited to the sound of Mendelssohn’s Wedding March and then their guests went to Buckingham Palace for a grand wedding breakfast. Afterwards, Elizabeth and Phillip left for their honeymoon spent partly at Broadlands, the Mountbatten home located in Hampshire.

The wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip set a precedence for royal weddings when it was broadcast live on the radio. (Royal Note: In 1961, the wedding of Princess Margaret (the sister of the current Queen) to Anthony Armstrong-Jones was the first royal wedding to be broadcast on the television)

For more information about additional British Royal Weddings, please click of the following links: Part One – Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Part Two – Prince Albert (later King Edward VII) to Princess Alexandra of Denmark and Prince George (later King George V) to Princess Mary of Teck. Part Four – Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer and Prince William to Catherine Middleton.

The Enchanted Manor

a lifestyle blog by Barbara Jones

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