Order of the Thistle - a Scottish Order of Chivalry ...

 

A simple post today as we ease towards the 'The Final Journey for Her Majesty', RIP Queen Elizabeth II.

She died in Balmoral, Scotland … giving us an opportunity to understand a little more of our ancient history.

Portrait by Julian Calder

The Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland.

This is a magnificent photo by Julian Calder, who specialises in portraits … here is Her Majesty up in the heathered landscaped above Balmoral so beloved by her, dressed in the Order of Thistle raiment.

Julian Calder photographer ... 

Information on the Order of the Thistle ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

For Whom the Bell Tolls … it tolls for Elizabeth, our Queen : 1926 – 2022 …

 

It has all happened rather swiftly … where the death of our beloved Queen was announced less than 24 hours ago …

Queen Elizabeth
1926 - 2022

Preparations for the death of her Majesty were made as early as the 1960s, regularly updated each year … and more so during the pandemic years …

… as you'd expect where Kings and Queens have reigned for over 1,000 years these plans have been revised and amended as times have changed …

Royal Arms of Queen Elizabeth 
as used in England (NB Unicorn)

For the Queen – preparations were in place:

Operation Unicorn being the first should she die in Scotland, which as we know occurred;

The details are finalised through the various formal routes of Monarchy and Government … which will be acted upon in the coming days;

Platinum Jubilee event at 
Buckingham Palace for the public

We don't know all the specific details … but as the hours unfold – we, the public, will be informed.

There are many tributes being paid both from people in all walks of life … many being recorded on radio and tv …

She died here in Balmoral Castle yesterday
RIP Queen Elizabeth II

It is a huge shock that our Queen should have departed quite so quickly … but during Thursday it became fairly obvious that things were developing – until the announcement of her death was made at 6.30pm – : RIP Queen Elizabeth II.

The plans for the event of the Queen's death and funeral are occurring concurrently with plans for the accession of King Charles III to the throne.

The Royal Standard

The Royal Standard is never lowered … we always have a Monarch in place … other Union flags fly at half mast …

We are now at this point … the new King will be formally Accessed tomorrow … while other plans will arise as and when. Information is happening quite quickly.

Our new King as he was
back in 2017

The new King has arrived back in London, when he will meet the Prime Minister – herself only three days into the job …

Both houses of Parliament … the House of Lords and the Commons are sitting so that members may record their condolences – these operations will cease at about 6.00pm when the new King will address the nation.

David Austin rose -
Floribunda 'Queen Elizabeth'

There will be a service at St Paul's Cathedral this evening … 'The Service of Prayer and Reflection' – which will be broadcast to the nation ...

The bells tolled at mid-day … for our dear Queen, Elizabeth II, rest in peace after decades of Devotion to Duty … 'The Servant Queen'.

PS I will do an ABC type of post in due course ...   Change of plan - apologies ... I will not be doing a major post on her life.  Perhaps when the Coronation comes along ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Peace will Conquer War …

 

Decency to consider others' lives … as here – the Kviv Symphony Orchestra was allowed, by the Ministry of Culture, also the Ministry of Defence, to leave Ukraine in early 2022 …

Kviv Orchestra

… but most importantly with their families and children … this leadership from the Ukrainian government is extraordinary and so commendable - how that country is setting examples for the rest of the world.

The Queen in platinum colours -
looking happy

The Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend will be celebrated by many … those who've been through WW2 and other wars, and others like me who've known the Queen as our head of state for almost all my life …

She has been another exemplar of living life to the full, fairly, squarely and with honesty setting personal examples as well as maintaining moral standards …

Leek Town Council's -
very pretty, I thought, marketing ad

Peace is the bold, courageous and ultimate response to the notion that violence provides any viable solution for the conflicts of our world.

Where war destroys and tears apart ...

… Peace builds, strengthens and restores.

As the 21^st century continues – let us all do our best to bring humanity and compassion into our communities – and to ensure our progeny are here to guard this world for everyone's and everything of value's future.

We will be celebrating our Queen's life … while remembering all who have served us in many wars, as well as today remembering Ukraine …

To conclude I would like to copy a piece from Wikipedia on the Orchestra's chief conductor … Luke Gaggero:

He came to Ukraine as a performing percussionist around 2012, and was impressed by the quiet attention of the audience, listening like to a spiritual message ("geistige Botschaft").

Gaggero was born in Italy, studied in Germany, has taught in France, and has a vision of building Europe.

The orchestra has toured in Spain and the Netherlands. They have played at national occasions such as the 30th anniversary of independence in 2021. The orchestra has run an orchestra academy.

Here is a true European embracing all cultures and learning from them … then we have our Queen who has overseen the growth of diversity amongst her peoples … many countries which have requested to join the organisation: The Commonwealth of Nations ...

I wish everyone the best for the years ahead, particularly for us here in Europe who are not believing what we see happening in Ukraine, yet how their heads are held high and absolutely deserve the return of their country.

With thoughts to all around the world …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

The King’s Observatory, Old Deer Park, Richmond …

This was just an amazing outing … to what is now a private residence ... 

The King's Observatory southern entrance
(on a coolish autumn day)

Richmond Palace of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I’s days (16^th century) had been demolished … 




... but the hunting grounds were still in existence surrounding the remains of the Carthusian Monastery, built on the orders of Henry V in 1414.

A model of Richmond Palace ... only vestigial
traces remain - notably the Gate House, which I walked
through on my way home

King George III (1738 – 1820), who had always been fascinated with the science of his time, used to visit Richmond Lodge, his country retreat ... 

The telescope cupola
seen from the roof

... it was here that he would construct an observatory … to view the heavens and, in particular, the 1769 Transit of Venus. 

An image of the sun captured in the last
Transit of Venus 2012 ...
Venus is the black dot upper right

This rare astronomical event permitted scientists to gain the first realistic estimates of the size of the Solar System and the distance between Earth and Sun. 

Account of George III's observations

King George, his wife, Queen Charlotte and guests were in attendance, thenceforth the King regularly used the Observatory for various purposes, storing of his instruments, educating his children … while staying at the Lodge.

The River Thames loops round
Richmond Park

The architect, Sir William Chambers (1723 - 1796), completed the building, raising it above the floodplain, with its first entrance from the north side near the River Thames … the waterway connecting early royal residences - Greenwich, the Tower of London, Whitehall, Richmond and on to Windsor.

the grounds are now part of
a golf course - so have
significantly changed.

Sir William also loved Chinese landscape and had on a few occasions travelled to Canton to study it more thoroughly … which he then incorporated into the more formal Italianate style of the parkland at that time.  He was responsible for the recently renovated famous ten storey Kew Pagoda in Kew Gardens nearby …

… this put him at odds with Lancelot Brown, the ‘great English 18^th century gardener’ known as ‘Capability Brown’ who favoured open parkland.

The magnetic huts, seen here across the lawn,
have been moved and are now together

The Observatory passed from royal hands in 1840, via the Royal Society, to the Meteorological Office, and eventually handed back in to the Crown Estate Commissioners … reverting to its name of The King’s Observatory.

Looking down from the roof

It was then leased as a commercial office building in 1981 … the lessees didn’t give the building much respect … but thankfully in 2011 permission was requested to change the use of the building to residential, which was granted in 2014.

Not the original telescope

The present owner has restored and renovated this incredible building to Grade 1 building standards, including its telescope cupola, which opened for private tours in 2019 when I was able to visit.  Thank goodness I went … I so enjoyed it. 

Also getting the tube across from Victoria Station, rather than travelling by barge, or taking a horse and cart from central London is considerably easier and quicker!

Custom built library table,
with this beautiful carpet

The interior has been restored to exceptionally high standards … the present owners having connections with Hong Kong and Canton.

The building contains pairs of connected octagonal rooms … this has been painstakenly highlighted using this superb carpet under the equally special library table.

Looking through from the library
to the dining room

The glass cabinets in the original construction were used to house the king’s ‘treasures’ – which are now safely stored in appropriate scientific institutions in London.

The restored glass cabinets

When the cabinets (they are also Grade 1 listed status) were stripped back for restoration and repainting – it was found there were 18 layers of paint … the first colour has been faithfully reproduced (the duck egg blue as seen looking through from the library to the dining room in the photo above).

The drawing room

The early Prime Meridian at Kew goes through the drawing room … and then was used to co-ordinate triangulation points for the official meridian (0 degrees Longitude) at Greenwich (Greenwich Mean Time - the mean solar time at the Observatory in east London at Greenwich).

The “magnetic huts” erected in 1854 and 1912 contain no metallic nails and were used for scientific experiments … while in WWII weather balloons were dispatched from them to check the winds in the upper stratosphere. 

One wall - the rest of the walls
are covered in a series of
panoramic views

Fromental Company of London and Hong Kong designed and created the exquisite wallpaper in the dining room, working closely with the owners on this unique project.

The traditional hand painted silk wallpaper of a Canton River Scene, depicted the foreign factories in China, c 1772, being roughly the same age as the Observatory.

Fromental make these hand painted silk wallcoverings in the long-established Chinese painting style using traditional materials.

Another Fromental scene,
incorporating the porthole
window of the original building

This delicate wallpaper took over 4,300 hours (getting on for six months) of hand painting the fine details in Chinese water colours onto silk, that is then mounted onto traditional rice paper backing before the final more European elements, such as the clouds and western figures, were add by  a UK based artist.

I still cannot believe I was able to walk and wander around this amazing home – led by the owner, who was a fount of knowledge with impeccable style.  I could have spent hours talking to him.

Walking back to the tube and home ... 

It was a wonderful outing and then I had an autumnal walk back to the river before finding my way to the station and eventually home.

The King’s Observatory official site – with full details, photos and its history …

Fromental Company’s web site explaining how they work … and showing other projects …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

What’s in a Name …

… anything but Sue – is what sprang to mind immediately before the new Royal was named - I was then hooked into the Johnny Cash renditions of the famous song …

Johnny Cash with June Carter

… while researching the last two posts … ‘Socrates’ popped off the page at me … Socrates Mbamulu is the journalist, who wrote the trending article on ‘Kugali: Africa’s largest networking comics platform’ …

Which led me to think of names – and how the colonising powers made sure people had names they could pronounce … many recorded on the spur of the moment at the registration offices. 

I'm just glad that these sorts of letters
weren't mixed up into his name

Hence the preponderance of biblical, saints, classical, historical or place names that people might have been lumbered with … mind you some will stand out – eg Socrates, Nelson …

Prince Harry was the founder of the Invictus Games
for wounded and injured Service personnel; two days
after Archie was born, the Prince popped over to
the Netherlands - to promote the 2020 venue ...
where he was given this baby gro

So young Archie … all of 10 days old … bemused the nation as many of us were caught totally off guard … seems an appropriate name for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s new born … Archie apparently being of German origin meaning ‘genuine’, ‘bold’ and ‘brave’ …

Harrison - Harry’s son - first recorded back in the 1300s … now denotes a first name of fairly recent origin – both names, I’m certain, will become more popular in the years ahead …

Language is wonderful … as are names – and I encourage us all to learn their sources … we can deduce a fair amount from each name’s history … be it a person, a place or its origin …

Well the young Master Sussex … Harry’s son with an Anglo-Saxon heritage from the Germanic tribes who had migrated from continental Europe to our southern (Sussex) shores …

Saxons and Sussex both in yellow-green.
Continental invaders 400 - 500AD

… mixing with the indigenous British groups … laying the cultural foundations (from about 450 AD to 1066 AD), which are still in use today … our modern English legal and administrative systems, and many aspects of English Society …

… now adding in an American heritage to his roots – while being a citizen of both the UK and the US.

Black-Eyed Susan

May we all live in tolerant communities, understanding and embracing each other’s roots … as the Sussex’s add to the concoction of the peoples in this wonderful world of ours …

… I’m just glad he wasn’t called Sue … !!

Here's link across to the lovely story behind the Johnny Cash song 'a boy named Sue' ...  

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Blog Sandwich Update 12: The Queen's official birthday and Prince Philip's 97th ... aMayZing!

Lots of odds and ends today ... but as the title says aMayZing as the Queen celebrates her official 92nd birthday - the actual date is 21 April ... and tomorrow (probably by the time you read this! - today) Prince Philip reaches 97.

Ministry of Defence's photo (Wiki) 2013
Trooping the Colour

I saw that the Queen has recently had a cataract operation ... and has been seen out and about in dark glasses, but for The Trooping of the Colour Ceremony she had reverted to ordinary glasses, yet seemed to be blinking quite a lot ... lovely sunny day they had: it's like cold April showers here!

Her Majesty, the Queen
pretty in pink (2015)

Prince Philip wasn't in attendance ... presumably gearing himself up for his birthday cake tomorrow ... and putting in his exercises for his new hip.

Amazing couple ... through two operations and life continues on - may my life be as long (and healthy!) ...

A major change at this year's Trooping of the Colour was the Sikh Coldstream Guards soldier, who became the first to wear a turban during the Ceremony ... his comment was: I hope that people watching will just acknowledge it and that they will look at it as a new change in history' - good for him and for the Guards allowing him to take part.

A typical aerial view of the Okavango -
with its waterways, channels, islands

The new Duke and Duchess of Sussex were back from their honeymoon (I've no idea where they went ... back to Botswana if they were sensible - as I loved it there ... but I wasn't fortunate enough to be on honeymoon - just a few holidays ... lucky me!) they were part of the carriage ride down the Mall to HorseGuards Parade ...

Flowers on our tea tables

I guess that you'd like me to do one of my rather eclectic write-ups on perhaps the new baby and the recent wedding with as many  ramifications as I can figure out for 26+ bullet points in the A-Z format ... 

Victoria's water taxis

Moving un-swiftly along ... a heart-shaped flower garden for you all - I was in Victoria to take a water taxi to one of the oldest properties in the Victorian countryside ... now surrounded by industrial estates ... sad but true.

Two Orcas c/o Wiki

Believe it or not ... I'll get to the garden shortly! ... we missed seeing four Orca whales come into the harbour and then 'mosey' out again ... by only a couple of hours ...

Point Ellice House

We were on a tour to see the house (Point Ellice House) and learn about the O'Reilly family, who after 108 years, sold the property ... lock, stock and barrel to the Province ... the contents, their papers, seed catalogues, the garden details, how the house was built up etc ... I'll do a proper post anon - and show you more ...

The heart-shaped garden

But the heart-shaped memorial garden overlooking the water was created for the child they lost, and then shortly afterwards her grandmother died ...

We had an Afternoon Tea - that was our lunch - as far as I was concerned:was at coffee time ... i.e. it was 11.45 or so - I cannot get used to the 12.00 for lunch ... and the tour - half went in to the house, while the others went round the garden and then we swapped.   The scone was delicious - the best bit ... and the cream, was not Cornish, but wasn't bad ... though the jam was fairly jelly-like - perhaps practical.

For some reason this has
decided to come out this
way up ... 

We were given Philosopher's Tea ... and Point Ellice Tea - there were spice or tea caddies in the kitchen store room - and they are now nearly 160 years old - the teas were recreated from the recipes kept amongst the records.

Colclough china

That ends this update ... and is really here for the official birthday of the Queen - and I have a WEP post to write up about unravelling yarn ... who knows what tale will spin out ... and to check in re your happiness to have me write up about the recent wedding and that new bonny baby boy ... some distant heir to the throne ... is he 5th in line - I think that's right ...

Hilary Melton-Butcher

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