Here are some highlights of recent royal news, and my take on them.
Birth Registration of Prince George
Birth Registration of Prince George
Yes, even members of the royal family must have a birth certificate and have it registered and listed in public records like everyone one else – no chance for “birthers” to make an argument here.
On Friday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge officially registered the birth of their son, Prince George of Cambridge, with a standard certificate issued by the registrar's office of the City of Westminster in London. The deputy registrar, Alison Cathart, paid a visit to Prince William at Kensington Palace – Kate remained at her parent’s house in Bucklebury – where the certificate was filled and signed with William’s signature.
The official
birth certificate of Prince George of Cambridge. Alison Cathart, the deputy
registrar said that it was a pleasure and a privilege to formally register the
baby.
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What’s interesting is that William chose to name his occupation as Prince of the United Kingdom, even though he works as an RAF search-and-rescue pilot in Wales. The Telegraph seems to believe that he did so to show “solidarity” with Kate, whose occupation is listed as Princess of the United Kingdom (which the Queen also listed as her occupation on the marriage register in 1947).
Marriage register signed by then-Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten. |
Bearing Gifts From Politicians
The leaders of Britain’s three main political parties have
disclosed the gifts that they gave to Prince George following his birth on July 22nd.
The Prime Minister and Conservative (Tory) Party leader David Cameron and his
wife Samantha provided a set of 15 Roald Dahl books, including titles such as
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and The Twits. Deputy
Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg and his wife
Miriam gave George an embroidered cot blanket made by Spanish nuns, which the
Clegg’s purchased while on vacation in Spain – Miriam’s native country – a few
weeks ago.Ed Miliband, the Leader of the Opposition and leader of the Labour
Party, along with his wife Justine, presented the prince with a three-year-old apple
tree from the London Orchard Project and Brent Eleven Streets residents
association. The gift is said to be traditional for a first-born son, but from what
tradition, I do not know. Miliband is from a Jewish family, but I cannot (yet)
find references to Jewish first-born boys being presented with an apple tree.
If anyone knows something about this, please contact me, so that I can be
better informed!
Prime Minister David Cameron |
William's First Parenthood Experiences and Fun Uncle Harry
Meanwhile, William made his first appearance since the birth of Prince George at a charity polo match last Saturday (August 3rd) with his brother, Prince Harry. The Audi Polo Challenge supported the charities SkillForce, an education charity of which William is patron, and The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, of which he is president.William and Harry played on the same four-man team and won, but William admitted after the match that his mind was not entirely focused on the game. He said that he wasn’t really “in the zone” and was thinking about diapers (“nappies” as they are called in the United Kingdom). Later, as he was being presented with a mini polo mallet for George, he jokingly asked if it were diapers, saying that he needed to pick some up on the way home. He also said that George “likes to move around a lot” and keeps him and Kate on their toes.
Prince Harry |
Indian Footman Forced To Leave UK
On the day that Prince George was born, a Palace footman named Badar Azim was seen by millions of people around the world as he helped Alisa Anderson, the Queen’s Press Secretary, to place the official notice of the birth on an easel in front of Buckingham Palace. The next day, he was on the front page of several newspapers around the world. A few days after that, he was forced to leave the Royal Household because his visa to work in Britain had expired.
Born in India,
Azim was educated in Catholic schools and took up hospitality management in
college. A local charity provided the funds for him to finish his studies at
Napier University in Edinburgh, Scotland. He applied for jobs throughout
Britain, and was eventually hired by Buckingham
Palace in early 2012, where he worked for 18 months under a two-year working
allowance as part of his student visa. The 25-year-old reportedly asked the
Palace to vouch for him to obtain a long-term working visa so that he could continue
working there, but UK visa requirements mandate that work visa applicants need
to have a sponsor and a job paying at least £24,300 ($35,250) a year that cannot be filled by
a UK citizen. Royal footmen are paid as little as £14,000 ($21,500) a year – although they are provided rent-free “grace-and-favor” apartments on the grounds of Buckingham Palace. So
he had to fly back to India, where he lives in Calcutta with his eight-member
family in a two room apartment above a local shop. But Azim remains hopeful that
something will work out, and that he will be able to return to work at the
Palace.
In my opinion, Azim appears to be very enthusiastic about working in the Palace, and it is so unfortunate that he has become ensnared by immigration laws (especially given that he is from a Commonwealth country). This potentially puts the Palace in a tough position. On the one hand, if it does nothing and is forced to obey the laws passed by Parliament, which results in Azim never coming back, people will accusing the Palace of turning its back on him. On the other hand, it could intervene on his behalf, but then it would be accused of being above the law and getting special treatment. The Palace could raise the pay levels of all of their footmen so that Azim can come back under the current law, but such an increase would show up on Palace accounts, leading to nefarious republicans to accuse the monarchy of financial profligacy. (As a side note, I have read comments on republican sites that have criticized the royal family for paying certain employee’s “dirt” wages and salaries, but then accuse them of not being prudent with taxpayer money. Talking about wanting to have cake and eating it too).
At
any rate, I hope that Azim will be able to return to his old job at the Palace.
It would be a sad commentary if the man who helped to announce the birth of the
future king of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms (and possible Head of the Commonwealth, of which India is a member) ended up living out his
life in an Indian slum with no prospects. Sure, he may find other opportunities in his native India and elsewhere, but the fact that he apparently liked what he was doing at the Palace makes for a disappointing situation, especially since he appears to be a upstanding and hard-working man who was liked by his colleagues at the Palace. On another note, it never ceases to
amaze me how immigrants tend to be more enthusiastic and optimistic about their
adoptive countries than many natives.
Pregnancy of Zara Phillips
With all of the hoopla over the birth of Prince George, most people do not know that there is another royal baby on the way (well, sort of). Zara Tindall – the Queen’s eldest granddaughter – and her husband Mike announced that they are expecting their first child in the new year.
Zara is the second child and only daughter
of Princess Anne by her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, and is an
accomplished
equestrian rider. Professionally riding under her maiden name,
Zara Phillips, she has participated in – and has won – several competitions,
including winning a silver medal as a member of the British equestrian team during the
Summer Olympics last year in London. Zara is 15th in the line of
succession to the Commonwealth realms, which will make her child 16th
in line. As female-line grandchildren of Elizabeth II, both Zara and her older
brother Peter were not born with royal titles and their parents reportedly
refused aristocratic titles to ensure that they would have careers independent of the
Palace, which means that they are not financially supported by the British
treasury.
Zara Tindall
with the silver medal that she earned
as part of the British equestrian team during London 2012. |
In a move that has created a wee bit of controversy, Zara – now thought to be four months pregnant – has continued to ride horses. She announced that all of her competitive engagements for the year have been cancelled and that she has already qualified for next year’s competitions. But last Saturday, she took part in non-competitive exercises on the horse she used during the Olympics, High Kingdom, which she has since retired from competitions but still uses for recreation. Britain’s National Health Service warns pregnant women against partaking in activities where there is a risk of falling, such as horse-riding. But the Scottish branch of the NHS adds a caveat that pregnant women can continue to ride so long as they are professionals or experts, and Zara clearly qualifies this criteria.
As a man with absolutely no knowledge of obstetrics or gynecology, it will be wrong for me to judge Zara (or any woman) for what they do during pregnancy (aside from drinking and smoking). For all I know, Zara may have already had discussions with her doctor over this issue, and – as an expert equestrian – she probably knows what she is doing. Let’s hope that the pregnancy goes well, and that the child will be safely delivered next year – potentially providing a playmate for Prince George and the Queen's other great-grandchildren, Savannah and Isla Phillips (daughters of Zara's brother, Peter).
Prince Philip Return's To Duty
Finally, there is the good news that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh will be making his first public appearance in nearly two
Prince Philip |
He is now expected honor a long-standing commitment to attend a meeting of the Royal Society of Edinburgh – an organization of which he is a patron and honorary fellow – and present medals to Professor Sir John Cadogan, former director of research at BP and president of the Learned Society of Wales; Professor Michael Ferguson, Dean of Research for the College of Life Sciences at The University of Dundee; and businessman Sir Ian Wood. Then Philip will join the Queen and much of royal family for their summer vacation (“holiday” in the UK) at Balmoral, the Queen’s private Highlands estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland until October.
It is good to
know that the Duke of Edinburgh is getting better and doing well enough to
participate in the engagement with the Royal Society. Without him, the monarchy
lost one of its most invaluable assets, and the Queen was publicly without her
essential partner and companion over the last two months. In an interview with
the BBC’s Andrew Marr last year, Prince Harry said that he did not believe that the
Queen could have gone on through the last six decades without Philip. His
absence from the Diamond Jubilee Service of Thanksgiving last year was
especially felt, as the Queen walked down the aisle of St. Paul’s Cathedral
alone. Hopefully, the Duke will have many more years ahead of him with good
heath, so that he may remain the “strength and stay” of the Queen.
Photo Credit: Mareklug via Wikimedia Commons cc, GlynLowe via Flickr cc
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