Thursday 25 July 2013

Royal Baby's ABCDEF and it's G for George ...


Here’s my take on the last few days ... 

When George V11 rules the waves ... possibly
into the 2070s to 2080s
The Announcement of the royal birth was made in edition number 60576 of The London Gazette Extraordinary ... the official (weekday) Government newspaper of record ... that traditionally announces royal births and deaths.

A new mix of ancestors has joined the royal band: coal miners and labourers, amongst others ...

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby commented: the 1940s to Prince George will be as far away as the Crimean War (1853 – 56) and the Charge of the Light Brigade is today to us ...

 
The London Eye
It’s a boy born at 4.24 pm on Monday 22nd July 2013

The world turned blue: Tower Bridge, Niagara Falls, Trafalgar Square fountains, London Eye became red, white and blue ...


Bucklebury village church
Bells would peal: Westminster Abbey for three hours on the Tuesday; St Michael’s Church, Helston, Cornwall pealed and the Middleton village of Bucklebury’s church bells pealed on Wednesday evening ...

Changing of the Guard – the Guardsmen played “Congratulations” as a break with tradition and for the crowds in front of Buckingham Palace ...

Christmas card message has been solved: “We Three Kings ... “; with a cartoon quip ...  of Prince Charles mentioning to his son, Prince William, “I hope he’s not a queue jumper ....!”


George V1, the Queen Mother with
Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret
with their dogs ... at home (1930s)
and relaxed before the
abdication issue
Dynasty – assured with this heir ... three future Kings ...

Destiny – the young prince has destiny on his shoulders ...

Expectation of inheritance: we forget the Queen’s father, George VI, never expected to be King ... thank goodness in hindsight that Edward VIII abdicated ...

Feelgood Factor around the world is ascribed to the Duchess of Cambridge and we might include her husband!

Fees for a suite at the Lindo wing of St Mary’s Hospital are £6,000 per night, without all the extras ... doctors etc etc etc

George 1
Gun Salute – two of these took place: the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired a 41 gun salute with six First World War 13-pounders in Green Park; while at the Tower of London the Honourable Artillery Company, the City of London’s Army Reserve Regiment, fired a 62 gun-salute.

George 1 (1714 – 1727) was the 51st in line to the throne, but was the first heir eligible to succeed as he was a Protestant, as Catholics may not succeed.

This Heir is the 3rd in line to the throne, the 2nd to be born in hospital, his father being the first.

Ladders for height -
Baby time is the bottom clock,
the upper one is NBC news time
International interest – around the world – the South African camera crews had been camped outside another hospital waiting for a much less happy occasion: the death of Nelson Mandela, but were sent to cover the royal birth.


Russians, Chinese, Japanese, American, Australian, Canadian – you name them the journalists were there ... encamped in the blazing sun patiently waiting 24 hours a day ... who would be a journalist?!
 
Jubilation
Journalists surprisingly missed the telling signs – the whole was choreographed to perfection ... there were no leaks ...

Jubilation in the crowd and around the world on hearing the news ..

The Kingdom will continue .. United Kingdom all three future Kings ... 

Ladders – journalists teetering ... good pond pudding ladders, I’d say .... I wonder if Lee would concur ...?

Lee's toes up said ladder
Lee's Pond Pudding link

Lungs and Legs and the thing I don’t discuss hair!  According to his father he has a good set of lungs, and has legs like his mother ... harking back to men in tights?, but more hair than his father! 

His great grandmother, the Queen, commented on Monday evening he is “an enormous child” – before she eventually met the third heir to the throne on Wednesday.

Management of details kept old fashioned and private (very efficient)  ... no social media updates – Facebook or Twitter - on his birth ...  yet: see "W" ...
 
The new baby's playground
Monarchy: by embodying history, monarchy is implicitly conservative; by investing in generations to come it is implicitly progressive.

Names: a huge array to choose from ... Middleton names such as Ron, Steve, Tom, Gary and Fred, or from the Bucklebury village school a popular child’s name “Ethan” ... then there’s the grandparents: Charles and Michael; or more likely a royal name ... Albert, Louis, John ... yet consider the initials ... we wouldn’t want William Arthur George – “wag” ...

What’s in a Name?  Well the wait is over “George Alexander Louis” for Prince George of Cambridge.

Nanny – for the time being they will manage without any extra help ..


Horses called Derek first!
Order of Notice: Prince William first rang the Queen, then his father, his brother and together, he and Kate, rang the Middletons ...

Old Boot Inn, near the Middleton’s home, held an impromptu gathering .. popping champagne corks, previously they’d placed bunting over a horse called Derek, whose owners had earlier led it into the bar for a slops tray of Guinness!


Not a bad local pub when on
paternity leave
Paternity Leave – the Prince has two weeks before he returns to work ..

Protocol: the Bulletin is typed up at the hospital, signed by the four doctors giving the basic details of HRH’s arrival, placed in a red leather folder – which is driven to Buckingham Palace for public display.

Pageantry: no-one does it quite like the British ... gun salutes, full peal of bells from Westminster Abbey, including a popular song ‘Congratulations’ into the Changing of the Guard ceremony ...

 
1937 Memorabilia - the retail floodgates
have opened
The Prince of Wales, as described by the former royal correspondent, Jenny Bond, “is quite an emotional, sentimental old stick really”.  Well the ‘old stick’ looked very delighted at the arrival of his first grandchild.

The Queen returned from Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace mid afternoon before the young man made his entrance into the world ...


Royal event = retail event!  Royal memorabilia – both lovely and naff ... tons of the stuff!!

Before the storm - Hildebrand
In the Stars  ... HRH emerged into the world at 4.24pm, close to the Cancer-Leo cusp at 4.57pm; the borderline between the two signs is an extremely royal moment to be born.

 As a Cancer, the importance of family life is paramount.  He will be ruled by the Sun and Moon: the king and queen of the heavens.

Thunderstorm on his first night on this earth.

The Town Crier proclaiming the news
The Town-Crier appeared on the steps of the Lindo Wing to formally congratulate the royal couple.

Twitter – there is a spoof twitter account, called @TheRoyalBaby___ ... the biography description reads “It’s jolly dark in here ...”  The account already had 11,500 followers and counting – and there are regular tweets.

Untoward ... nothing!  Nothing untoward happened ... the whole arrival was choreographed with consummate royal professionalism ... even the journalists were caught out ....

Victoria, for Queen Victoria – was originally known as Drina ... she had been christened Alexandrina Victoria ...

The quiet, peaceful wait in the British countryside

Weight of heirs:  George weighed in at 8lbs 6oz, William weighed in at 7lbs 1.5oz, while Charles weighed in at 7lbs 6oz

Wait Prince George of Cambridge could wait 60 years before he steps up to the throne and he was tardy arriving ... ; Prince Charles is the longest waiting heir to the throne in history – 61 years, so far ... and counting ... 


The long rail into the future -
what will life hold ....
Wikipedia Page – HRH pre-birth has already made history by becoming the first person to get a Wikipedia page before he was born; it has since been updated with his full names ... and he is only 2-3 days old!

X  the Duke of Edinburgh apparently kept well away at Charles’ birth .. he went off for a game of squash!  William was present for his son’s birth ...


The rolling English landscape
The Years 2011, 2012 and 2013 ... Marriage, Celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee (60 years on the throne) and for the first time in more than 120 years that three direct heirs to the throne will share some time with their beloved matriarch, the Queen, of the Windsor or Mountbatten-Windsor line.


Zara – Princess Anne was so kind to call her daughter ‘Zara’ – Mrs Michael Tindall is expecting a new royal baby early in 2014.


That’s my ABC take on this week’s royal birth ... 

Long Live the Queen, then the King, then the King and now the next King ...


My P for Pond Pudding, part of the A-Z Challenge 2013 ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

66 comments:

Empty Nest Insider said...

What a wonderful account of Prince George's birth Hilary! I don't know what surprises me more, the fact that he already had a Wiki page before he was born, or the fact that they aren't starting out with a nanny. Hopefully, Princess Di is watching over them.

Julie

Linens and Royals said...

I love this post, all the information I need is here. I know I missed the big event in London and came home too soon but there is lots of excitement and baby news here too. I approve of the names, very suitable for a little Prince who will one day be King. Now for the souvenirs, I don't have any yet, I was waiting for names and a birth date.

Suzanne Furness said...

Welcome Prince George. Wonderful A-Z full of royal facts. Didn't hear the bells on Tuesday in Helston as was at work all day.

Lynn said...

I loved reading this - I'm just awake for the day (in the US) and had not heard the baby's name yet. Lovely!

Diana Wilder said...

You did not disappoint, my dear - and such a collection of facts. Let me add this about George I. George of Hanover was abed (and, most likely, snoring). The bearers of the momentous tidings came into his bedchamber, roused him and gave him the news. He fixed them with an eye like an oyster, grunted, turned over, and went back to sleep. I would certainly call that sang-froid!

Diana at About Myself By Myself

J.L. Murphey said...

A royally grand A to Z, pun intended.

MunirGhiasuddin said...

Cheers Hilary,
I heard this good news on the radio in my car during the evening commute. Congratulations to the new parents and the rest of the Royal family and all of the Britishers. I do miss England at times like these. Thank you so much for this post. I will let my husband read it as he is interested in details of a lot of families, including the Royal Family. Me on the other hand am lucky if I can remember the details of my siblings and my cousins LOL
You take care of yourself.

Old Kitty said...

I'm so glad the little prince is called George! I really like that name!! What a week it's been!! Brilliant! Take care
x

Jo said...

Good post Hilary. They really are determined to keep life as normal as possible. Even I had a nanny as a baby, before the war that was.

Manzanita said...

This is fine take on the royal birth. You summed it all up in the best account I've so far heard. It's so exciting the way the whole world sends good wishes to the young royal family. I'm including mine too.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Julie - delighted it satisfies with sufficient info! I guess both the lack of nanny and the Wiki page would tie in with their situation - but they're interesting snippets. I am sure Princess Di is beaming down ..

@ Sylvia - thanks so much .. yes with little George being so tardy you were already home. I hope you can find some suitable souvenirs now we know all is safe ..

@ Suzanne - thanks so much - apparently the town could hear them .. perhaps you work out of town ..

@ Lynn - so pleased you could find out here .. makes blogging so much more fun.

@ Diana - and again you've added some important facet of history for us ... very grateful!

Of course if he could have read the stars ... he might have paid more attention at the birth of this son - who through circumstance 51 times removed would inherit a huge estate ... most of Europe.

It was an extraordinary way to succeed to the throne of England .. but hasn't done us any harm.

@ JL - thank you ..

@ Munir - glad you caught the news - and have it confirmed here .. I hope your husband enjoys the post.

I'm sure you miss being here at times like this .. we've had a good few years with lots of interesting things happening ..

@ Karen - delighted .. royalists seem to be happy, while the media have some happy news ..

@ Old Kitty - I'm not so fond of George .. but there we go! They didn't ring me to check my preferences! Charlie is obviously happy - though perhaps he'd have preferred the little one being called Charles!

@ Jo .. thanks - yes they seem to want to live a normal existence while they can ..

.. before the war there weren't washing machines or mod-cons were there ... we didn't have a nanny ... perhaps one lot of cousins did ... but not us!

@ Manzanita - thanks so much .. doing the ABCs makes life easier and I can get more in ... little snippets amongst the informative bits ..

Cheers to you all - it has been a successful week ... Hilary

D.G. Hudson said...

Congrats to the Royal couple, and thanks for all the info, Hilary!

Although, this happy event does remind me of Diana.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Only two weeks before the prince has to go back to work? You'd think royalty would get longer.

Morgan said...

Loved how you put this together, Hilary. Very fun and entertaining!

Vallypee said...

Love your A to Z, Hilary! How on earth do you get to know all this? Amazing. Congratulations to you too :-)

Janie Junebug said...

That's lovely. Thank you for the fascinating information. I enjoy the tradition and pageantry, so often lacking in the U.S.

Love,
Janie

JoJo said...

I'm glad that the baby is healthy, although I would have preferred his name be Alexander first instead of George.

Chatty Crone said...

Girl you know I LOVED THIS!

Patsy said...

Excellent A-Z!

The number of photographers present when little George was first shown was incredible, wasn't it?

btw, I've drunk at The Old Boot (a long time ago) and I took my horse - he stayed outside though for his half of cider.

Inger said...

What a creative way to let us across the pond in on all the celebrations. It's wonderful that in this difficult world, where so much seems to go wrong, be bad, and so on, that nothing untoward happened. All the best to the Royal Couple and the new Prince.

Romance Reader said...

I loved reading this account of our Prince's birth. Thanks Hilary!

Nas

Julie Flanders said...

I thought of you as soon as I read the news of the baby, Hilary. Love your take on these things! :)

Luanne G. Smith said...

The UK has had a very good couple of years lately -- a jubilee, the Olympics, a wedding, a baby, and a Wimbledon champ!! That's a lot of celebrating. :)

Stephen Tremp said...

Wow! I am truly impressed. The English sure do love their royalty. And just look at this post dedicated A - Z tot he little tyke.

Well, three cheers for George Alexander Chase Louis! He's a big hit here across the Pond too!

Denise Covey said...

Now I know why these gals don't stay long in hospital - £6,000 per night! Wow, I'd be outta there too, lol! Now my husband can relish in his name, George...no doubt his mother named him after King George V or was that V1? What a lot of work has gone into this collation, Hilary. Well done you!
The UK economy should experience quite a boom!

A Lady's Life said...

I would have liked to see something fresh in names but knew they would look back at history. George was my husbands' first choice and he was right on the ball lol

Patricia Stoltey said...

A royal baby is even more exciting than a royal wedding. Your ABCs are fun.

klahanie said...

Hi Hilary,

A right Royal alphabet. And indeed, the whole world covered the event of the latest prince.

I wonder why, when you consider the anthem is "God Save The Queen" when a Queen is on the throne and "God Save The King", when a king is on the throne, that this fair land should right now be called the "United Queendom".

As for the name, "George", it seems like an incomplete name as in Georgeorgeorge...

Fair thee well, Hilary.

Gary

Chuck said...

Hilary, you are better than the news...I got everything I need to know about the royal birth and all that revolves around it from reading your post.

Very good job and congrats on the King!!

Chuck

Charmaine Clancy said...

Wow, that's a lot of info on little Georgie's introduction. You've obviously followed the news :)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ DG - we've had a few documentaries about Diana recently - but this week .. there's been little. Still we obviously remember her .. her legacy now lives on ...

@ Alex - yes, only 2 weeks off - and a great deal of that has now gone!

@ Morgan - thanks so much .. made it easy for me .. and happy it was entertaining..

@ Val - thanks .. picking up bits and pieces from different sources ..

@ Janie - delighted and I too love tradition and pageantry - I'd hate to live in a grey country!

@ JoJo - I'd agree with you .. I'm not so keen on George .. but he sounds like he's a very healthy little lad.

@ Sandy - thank you so much!

@ Patsy - thanks - what did your Gary think of the photographic work here - there were loads of them and under canvas in the Mall, outside Buckingham Palace too ...

Have you drunk at the Old Boot Inn .. and your horse had some apple cider - what a fabulous addition to know here ..

@ Inger - yes I hadn't thought of untoward as nothing serious happened, I was thinking no leaks of information, no rushing cars etc etc - but as you put it - I'm glad all was safe.

I needed an "U" ... couldn't think of anything else ..

@ Nas .. pleasure ..

@ Julie - so pleased I'm able to please everyone - I enjoy drafting them up ..

@ LG - we have had a good few years recently haven't we - lots of pomp, pageantry and celebration .. and even another (2nd) Tour de France winner .. and I do love my tennis too!

@ Stephen ... thank you .. I know I'm sorry he wasn't called Chase! That would have surprised us!

I gather the States has been having a field day ... lots of photos and tv channel news ..

@ Denise - well the rest of the bills will add up a great deal too ...

Isn't that lovely that Mr George can revel in his name ... the name of many Kings. Depends when he was born .. probably after George V1, the Queen's father ..

I'll be interested to see the memorabilia out there ...

@ A Lady's Life - I would have done too .. but there we go - George was the bookies choice ...

@ Patricia - oh I think I preferred the Wedding ... there was no waiting for a tardy lad!! - but I'm so happy for them ..

@ Gary - I'd agree the world and its mistress were covering the event.

Queendom might be a stretch too far .. but is an interesting thought.

I thought they might select Gary - as it's in the Middleton family line .. but no ... another George to muddle school children in centuries to come, if by then anyone is interested ..

@ Chuck - thanks so much .. I garnered snippets of interest - seems to have worked ..

@ Charmaine - I sort of listened for oddities, or interesting bits and wove them together .. it's more fun for us all apparently - thank you ..

Cheers to you all and have lovely weekends ... Hilary

Marja said...

Oh a wonderful complete and colourful post about little prince George. Congrats to all ;)lol he might jump the queue

Annalisa Crawford said...

Lol, yes, very fortuitous Zara was so called :-) A great post. I never realised Victoria was christened Alexandrina until I was watching the BBC news yesterday, or that George I was 51st in line! I like the name George, personally.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

What a wonderful post, Hilary! You Brits have a way of sometimes presenting a "stiff upper lip" persona to the world, but you SURE know how to celebrate with proper ceremonial pomp and circumstance.

Chase March said...

Hi Hilary,

I'm really happy for the new Royal Family. The energy over here is amazing. I can't even imagine what it must be like over there.

Very nice post to celebrate the occasion!

Michael Di Gesu said...

HI, Hilary,

Thanks for the blow-by-blow....Saw bits and pieces here and there, but you did an AWESOME job informing all your bloggie friends....

Hope you have a grand weekend and if you get a chance to DROP by my blog on Monday, I'll have another reveal this time featuring a debut novel written by my cyber sister and I illustrated the covers. It should be a FUN reveal.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Marja - thanks so much .. I hope he doesn't get to jump the queue .. but the thought is fun ..

@ Annalisa - isn't a good thing re Zara! All my snippets came from articles read, or the news from some channel or other ..

@ Susan - it's still stiff upper lip for those 'performing' .. but anyone celebrating it's good old jubilation. The birth and all the trimmings of announcement have gone off so very well ..

@ Chase - thanks so much .. it's just so nice to have some fun things to talk about - and not all the negativity ...

Pleasure - I enjoyed writing the post up ..

Cheers to you all - looks like we might have a lot of rain this weekend it is considerably cooler .. Hilary

Juliet said...

Hilary, congratulations on achieving another A-Z marathon, and all in one colourful post. I learned some fascinating background facts, and chuckled at the cartoon quip. Thank you, this was a fun post.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Michael .. well fortunately the post seems to have gone down well ..

I will drop by your blog on Monday .. I'd spotted your cyber sister's notice of excitement. That's wonderful you've been designing the cover of her book for her .. I'm so pleased for you both .. see you on Monday ..

@ Juliet - I'm finding it the easiest way to do it ..

The cartoons were fun - there were a couple of other clever ones ..

Cheers to you both - have good weekends .. Hilary

TALON said...

Loved this, Hilary. My daughter and I had a bet on the name...I had thought George Alexander so I won (I didn't add the Louis, though, so it was a technical win). :)

Tina said...

Oh that was lovely and so chock full of great info and trivia and lore. Spectacularly done!
Tina @ Life is Good

Unknown said...

That's cool to note that they won't be using a nanny at this time. Way to step up to the challenge of being parents. :) Great post!

loverofwords said...

Thank you for all the wonderful details of Baby George's birth. What a stellar year for the United Kingdom. We all need celebrations, even vicariously.

Patricia said...

Yes - who in their right mind would be a journalist?

What a delightful read and I learned many new things I did not know. Thank you - especially liked the format

I was born on the cusp between Leo - Virgo and have had many very confusing readings over the years and neither sign really matches me. My July 22 daughter was also born on the cusp hour but she is clearly a cancer sign I do feel rather Royal..
My father was part of the Royal family of Scotland heritage. Kind of fun to fiddle around with historic stuff!
Delightful post

Patricia said...

Oh I forgot to mention this:

WAG !

My Uncle was Francis Alvin George FAG!

we have a QRS too

JJ said...

I love the traditions. Kate made all Brits proud! This post was a terrific account.

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Sweet couple - Congrats on the precious new baby!

As always, you did an excellent job reporting on the occasion, Hilary! I love the added bits of history.

Betsy Brock said...

Congratulations to them...how exciting!

I heard the Town Crier wasn't really legit...just a commoner with a costume who heard the news in a taxi and came over to add to the festivities! ha! Cute.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Talon - well done .. there were lots to chose from - and I suppose they had to stick with tradition .. but well done on two out of three .. I'd have got the Louis .. but thought Albert - but the King bit I wasn't sure .. ie George - the main thing is he's obviously very healthy.

@ Tina - it was fun to extract salient bits and pieces ..

@ Julia - if they're 'at home' (ie in Anglesey) and he's working army hours ... presumably they'll have a normal life for the first few years .. til school time or more babies!

@ Tasha - thanks so much .. well we seem to be having quite a lot of celebrations over here - and it's a pleasure when you join us ..

@ Patricia - thanks so much .. the poor journalists waited for two weeks outside in the boiling heat -not fun.

Astrology is an interesting belief system ... and being born on the cusp - can muddle things. It's great you have Royal connections - however tenuous!! Nice to weave the magic in ...

Yes - initials .. well George is GAL .. we had to be careful too .. and ended up with 'car county initials' ... in those days you knew which county a car came from by the initial part of the number plate.

@ JJ - good, so do I .. and we all revelled this week.

@ Susan - thanks so much .. all is well in Wills and Kate land .. now George has safely arrived.

@ Betsy - it's been a good week - not as good as your recent wedding and addition to your family .. which is wonderful to see.

I think you're probably right - I hadn't checked it out, or heard more .. but the historical bit about the town crier announcing the birth .. after his bell ringing and cries of "Oyez, Oyez, Oyez" before making the announcement ...

So thank you for adding that he was taking advantage of the situation .. sensible chap.

Cheers to you all ..we've had storms - not enough rain down here .. but the hot weather has broken .. Hilary

Rosalind Adam said...

This is an excellent post, Hilary. You've covered it all with more entertainment than all of those waiting journalists put together. I still can't believe that so many people spent so long waiting in the blistering heat of central London to hear that a baby had been born. They'd have got a better view from their TV screens.

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

wonderful post, Hilary! I hadn't really thought about his birth making it three kings to come in the future. That is many many years of male rulers. (Yes, I know they aren't really ruling.)

Friko said...

Golly, where did you pick up all these bits of info on all things new baby?

This is one subject I can love or leave, other than wishing them well.

dolorah said...

Three kings in line. Well, I guess that breaks the long running line of queens! I think its cool there will be no nanny immediately available to relieve the new mom and dad of the duty of loving their son. Doesn't seem like the wedding was long enough ago to be having a baby already.

.......dhole

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Ros - those waiting journalists thankfully had time to write long-winded articles and I just extracted a few salient points.

It's interesting isn't it - the journalists had to be there, yet passers-by were there for 'history' .. I prefer to be in the comfort of my own home ...

@ Sharon - all being well there should be a King on the throne in a hundred years time ... and no you're right re the ruling - but they hold 'a balance' and particularly in the Queen's case a sense of what is right for the country ..

@ Friko - I think it's called 'trawling', listening, jotting and then combining! I know you love or leave them .. I certainly don't spend much time - but for the pageantry and history this has been interesting ..

@ Donna - well we've had two long lived Queens in recent years .. but four Kings in between - granted one abdicated, before he was crowned.

I guess once they start royal duties then a 'nanny' will be required .. but good for them for starting out doing it themselves.

I know just over two years since the wedding -we've had the Jubilee and the Olympics since then too!

Cheers to everyone - have good weeks .. Hilary

David P. King said...

What a truly massive week you had! Don't know if I'd be able keep up. :)

Karen Lange said...

Such exciting news! What a life this little one will have. I think it will be interesting to see how William and Kate raise him and any future children. I suspect they'll be raised much like William was.

Thanks, as always, for an engaging post!

Have a great week,
Karen

Leigh Covington said...

The birth of the royal baby is such an exciting event. What a wonderful, historic moment for everyone!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ David .. well the little one kept everyone waiting - so many were very 'agitated' ... just keeping us all hanging around til he was ready.

@ Karen - I hope he can be raised fairly normally and be relaxed and happy - I'm sure the Middletons will give him some degree of normality ...

Glad you enjoyed the post .. thanks.

@ Leigh - good to see you and it's been an interesting time and historic as you say.

Cheers to you all .. Hilary

Sara said...

Hilary,

While I was too early, now I'm slightly late, but you definitely DID NOT disappoint with this post. It has everything I could want to know about the new heir and more.

I loved how you ended the post and the pageantry part is so true, but I do believe we, Americans, are sometimes a tiny bit jealous of all the excitement and how it is expressed in the UK.

It's funny that he already has a Wikipedia page. LOL

It was a grand birth and no one tells about it better than YOU:~)

Judy Croome | @judy_croome said...

Long live the new future King indeed (and Queen Elizabeth who is such a great Queen!) HRH Prince George is very cute and they make a lovely family, I hope the press leave them to live as normal a life as possible! (That being said, I confess I poured over the baby photos as much as any one! :) )

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Sara - many thanks - just so glad it turned out to bring most of the points in ..

I'm so pleased all went so well for them .. many around the world were totally hooked on his arrival and he kept everyone hanging around ..

I thought the Wikipedia page was a fun thing to know .. the Royals get things right with their protocol ..

Delighted you enjoyed it - when I eventually got the data up ..

@ July - how lovely to see you .. and yes long live Queen E II .. and her little great grandson and those inbetween!

They did look so well on leaving hospital .. such a quiet and organised arrival and departure.

Many of us will still keep our open for more photos .. but I also hope they'll be allowed to do their own thing together as a little family for a while ...

Cheers to you both .. Hilary

Unknown said...

The best tribute to our new prince I have seen, marvellous Hilary, simply marvellous. I really enjoy an a to z theme, great job. Thanks for the visits back, so kind of you.:)

mail4rosey said...

You write the most amazing posts, the rare kind that one wants to read slowly and thoroughly with no one in the room so you can process what's being said in the writing. Very well done, as always, and I love that pics you've put up too!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Maggie - delighted .. thank you. Where there's lots of facts and I can have fun with the post .. I'm rather taken with the A - Z aspect too!

@ Rosy - thank you so much - just delighted you enjoy the posts .. that to me is the most important thing ... the people who read them enjoy them.

Cheers to you both and thanks so much .. Hilary

CMSmith said...

A lot of direct heirs to the throne living now in England. I had CNN merrily playing in the background all day long as we waited for the announcement. I don't know why it's so enthralling to watch the royals, but it is.

I hope Kate and William can have the life they desire.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Christine .. it's lovely all turned out happily and easily - and I think much of England was ready and waiting! I was fascinated seeing all the royal watchers ..

I agree - I hope they're allowed some peace and quiet and as you say the life they desire ...

Cheers Hilary