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.

Celebration – British Royal Weddings (Part 1)

Posted on June 3, 2014 by barbara

British Royal Weddings have become known over the past centuries for their grand traditions and pageantry. I remember waking up very early in the morning to watch the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer in 1981 and most recently the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011. (For more information about these two weddings, please click on the link to the British Royal Weddings Part Four) In this post, I will start a four part series, by discussing the clothes, customs and traditions of British Royal Weddings starting with the wedding of Queen Victoria.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Date and location: February 10, 1840 at the Chapel Royal, St. James Palace

Queen Victoria had ascended to the throne in June 1837 and quickly she had been encourage by her favorite Uncle Leopold to marry her second cousin, Prince Albert. On Albert’s second visit to England after the coronation, Victoria soon became smitten with the handsome Albert and because of her royal status as Queen protocol dictated that she was required to propose to him, which she did in June 1839. Shortly thereafter, Victoria called a meeting with her Privy Council and wedding plans were finalized for the beginning of the following year.

The wedding day of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert started with imperfect weather conditions, it was a rainy day with high winds but that did not keep the public from gathering along the procession route to St. James Palace. Prince Albert arrived ten minutes ahead of his bride wearing the scarlet and white uniform of a British field marshal with the Star of the Garter proudly displayed on his chest. When Victoria arrived at the Chapel Royal with her twelve bridesmaids she was a wonderful mixture of a composed and regal Queen while still an excited twenty year old bride. (Later the Queen would give her bridesmaids eagle brooches set in turquoise and pearls as a token of appreciation and to mark their participation in the wedding)

The wedding ceremony started as Albert entered the Chapel and proceeded to the altar while Handel’s “See the Conquering Hero Comes” appropriately played. Victoria walked down the aisle on the arm of her uncle, the Duke of Sussex, who officially gave her away. It was noted that as the vows were exchanged, Victoria’s eyes filled with tears possibly expressing her deep happiness at marrying her handsome prince and finding her one true and lasting love.

After the ceremony, there was a reception held at Buckingham Palace. A celebration banquet and the newly married couple cut a massive wedding cake. The cake was nine feet in circumference, weighed three hundred pounds and was decorated with a Britannia figure depicted with cupids at her feet. Later, at four o’clock in the afternoon, Victoria and Albert left London for nearby Windsor Castle for a four day honeymoon.

The wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert set quite a few precedents and created many royal customs and traditions which are still observed today. One of the first precedents set was that prior to the wedding of Queen Victoria, most royal weddings were usually celebrated at night, but the Queen decided to break with this custom and her wedding ceremony was held at one o’clock in the afternoon. Since then, most royal weddings have followed this new Victorian tradition and are generally held in the early to late afternoons.

Another royal tradition was set by Queen Victoria and it has been said that she started a bridal custom of wearing a white wedding gown. Prior to that time royal brides wore elaborate dresses made especially for the occasion from gold or silver fabric sometimes embroidered with silken threads and embellished with semi-precious stones to show their wealthy status. Ordinary brides of the working class wore their “best dress” usually made in a dark and durable material.

Queen Victoria wore a white satin dress which featured a separate bodice top and a full skirt which featured a court train that measured 18 feet in length and had a border of orange blossom sprays that matched the head wreath that Queen Victoria wore on her head to secure a square Honiton lace veil. Orange blossoms were a bridal tradition which were often worn to symbolize chastity and fertility.

Speaking of flowers, Queen Victoria carried a small bouquet of snowdrops which were Prince Albert’s favorite flower. Legend has it that the myrtle supposedly used in her bridal bouquet has been used by every royal bride since the time of her wedding including most recently by Catherine Middleton when she married Prince William in 2011. The tradition of the myrtle first started when the Princess Royal Victoria, the eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, married Prince Frederick of Prussia in 1958 and continued thereafter for their other four daughters’ weddings. In fact the myrtle planted during Queen Victoria’s time, that still grows in the garden at Osborne House, did not come from her bridal bouquet but it originally came from a nosegay presented by Prince Albert’s grandmother during a visit to Prince Albert’s homeland of Germany several years later.

To complete her bridal ensemble, Queen Victoria wore a necklace and earrings set made from Turkish diamonds. Also, on her wedding day, Queen Victoria received another significant piece of jewelry, a beautiful sapphire and diamond brooch which she wore attached to the bodice of her wedding dress. The brooch was a wedding gift from Prince Albert and after her death it became the personal property of the British crown and, on special occasions it is still currently being worn today by Queen Elizabeth II. (For information on the history of this item of historical jewelry and a brief description of the brooch, please on the link to The Queen’s Personal Jewel Collection)

To conclude this post, I have a few last additional notes regarding Queen Victoria’s bridal veil. Queen Victoria continued to wear her bridal veil long after her wedding day. She wore it for the christenings of her nine children and the weddings of several of her children. Queen Victoria wore her bridal veil for the final time in 1897 for her official photograph on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee. When she died a few years later in 1901 her request was to be buried alongside her beloved husband, Prince Albert, who was laid to rest almost 40 years earlier in 1861 at Frogmore in the Windsor Great Park. As a fitting final tribute to him, the Queen also requested the she be buried wearing her wedding veil.

For more information about additional British Royal Weddings, please click of the following links: 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. Part Four – Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer and Prince William to Catherine Middleton.

Travel – Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Posted on May 25, 2014 by barbara

If you have read any of the previous Travel posts on my blog, you know that our family loves weekend car trips and when we moved to Indiana several years ago we had a list of things to see and do in our new home state. The famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway was on that list and we decided to plan a visit. In this post I will discuss the history of the Indianapolis 500 car race and what to see if you plan a visit to the Hall of Fall Museum that is on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Indianapolis 500 is an annual car race which takes place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana and it is held during Memorial Day weekend, normally the last weekend in May. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built in 1909, the 2.5 mile oval track and is run with 200 laps counterclockwise around the track for a total distance of 500 miles. After several fatal accidents were caused by defects in the gravel and tar racetrack, improvements were soon made during that first year to allow for a better and move even surface for the car races and 3.2 million bricks were used to repave the racetrack (which is why the track was originally known as the Brickyard) and a concrete wall as added around the track for the safety of the race car drivers and the spectators.

1909 first winner of the Indy 500 - Ray Harroun

1909 first winner of the Indy 500 - Ray Harroun 1

The first Indianapolis 500 race was held on May 30, 1911 with 80,000 spectators in attendance and a substantial prize of $25,000 was won by Ray Harroun who drove a Marmon Model Wasp racer that was outfitted with his new invention, a rear view mirror. This was a very controversial win and Harroun was considered a safety hazard on the track because at the time drivers rode with their mechanics in the car to check the car’s oil pressure and other car functions but most importantly they were there to constantly let the driver know about the position of the other cars on the track. In 1912 a riding mechanic was made a race requirement, this was eventually eliminated as car safety standards improved. By 1935, hard crash helmets were made mandatory for the race and a yellow light system was devised to caution drivers to slow down in the case of debris on the track or stopped cars or accidents.

After World War II, the Speedway was in a severe state of disrepair and in danger of possibly being sold for a housing development. The Speedway was purchased by Tony Hulman, an Indiana businessman, in November 1945 for a reported $750,000. After major repairs and renovations were made to the racing facility the track opened in time for the 1946 race.

The Indianapolis 500 race continued to draw increasing larger crowds over the following years with the race events extending not only to race day but a weekend long festival that included entertainment. For safety reasons, the race field was now limited to only 33 cars. The cars speeds increased dramatically as the race cars were designed to be were lower to the ground and more streamlined instead of the larger and heavier roadsters used in the Speedway’s earlier races. By 1961, the remaining brick of the old track was paved over with asphalt except a three foot wide section at the start/finish line to preserve a small part of the history of the racetrack. In 1987, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was designated a National Historic Landmark.

The Hall of Fame Museum

Located on at the grounds of Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the Hall of Fame Museum featuring exhibits explaining the automotive history of the racetrack and filled with numerous cars used in the Indianapolis 500 race. The original Hall of Fame Museum was built in 1956 where the current Speedway Administration Building is located but the museum’s collection of race memorabilia and vintage cars soon became too large and another facility was required.

A larger Hall of Fame Museum was built and opened in 1976. The building was 96,000 square feet which had 30,000 square feet of museum display space that includes a gift shop. Be sure to check out the 20 minute film which includes rare historic footage of the Indianapolis 500 race shown in the Tony Hulman Theater. Located adjacent to the museum are a small snack shop and nearby is the departure point for the bus tours of the 2.5 mile oval racetrack.

Listed below are some of the interesting items which are displayed at the museum –

Over 75 vehicles are on display including the Marmon “Wasp” which was used by Ray Harroun to win the first Indianapolis 500 race in 1911.
Several cars driven by A.J. Foyt Jr. including his 1977 car used to win his fourth Indianapolis 500 record-setting win.
The Duesenberg #12 Murphy Special, the only car used to win both the French Grand Prix at Le Mans in 1921 and the Indianapolis 500 in 1922.
The #8 Cummins Diesel Special used by Dale Evans in 1931, the only car to complete the Indianapolis 500 race without a pit stop.
The Borg-Warner Trophy, which honors the winner of each of the Indianapolis 500 race.

For more information regarding price and hours for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum please see their website, www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.

Indianapolis 500 information and trivia

The Indianapolis Speedway is an oval 2.5 mile racetrack. The basic layout of the track has changed little since the Speedway opened in 1909. The track has four straight sections, the front and back longer straights are 5/8^th of a mile each and the shorter straights between Turns I & 2 and Turns 3 & 4 are an 1/8^th of a mile each. Each of the four turns on the oval track are 1/4^th of mile long and built at a 9 degree angle.
After winning the 1936 race, Louis Meyer celebrated his win on Victory Lane by drinking some buttermilk. The executive of the Milk Foundation was so happy see it that he took advantage of the moment and a photograph appeared in the sports section of the newspaper the next day. He thought it was such a great way to advertise that, except for the period between 1947-55, the tradition of the winner of the Indianapolis 500 race drinking milk in celebration has continued ever since then.
Three drivers have the Indianapolis 200 races four times. They are: A.J. Foyt in 1961, 1964, 1977. Al Unser in 1970, 1971, 1987. Rick Mears in 1979, 1988 1991.
Five drivers have won the Indianapolis 500 race two consecutive times. They are: Wilbur Shaw in 1939 & 40, Mauri Rose in 1947 & 48, Bill Bukovich in 1953 & 54, Al Unser in 1970 & 71, Helio Castroneves in 2001 & 02.
The youngest winner of the Indianapolis 500 is Troy Ruttman who was 22 years old when he won on May 30, 1952. The oldest winner is Al Unser who was 47 years old when he won on May 24, 1987.
In the decades following the first Indianapolis 500, female participation was discouraged and essentially banned from competition and even female reporters were not allowed into the pit area until 1971. The female driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 race was Janet Guthrie in 1977. Sarah Fisher has the distinction of competing eight times. Danica Patrick led the 2005 race for 19 laps and again in 2011 for 10 laps. In 2009, Danica finished the race in third place, the best finish for a woman.
Racecar drivers can be very superstitious, it is considered bad luck to enter and exit from the same side of the car and green cars are also considered bad luck.

The Enchanted Manor

a lifestyle blog by Barbara Jones

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