Here are the links for Part I: The Queen and Prince Philip and Part III: The Yorks, Wessexes, Princess Anne and her family, and the Queen's cousins - the Kent's and the Gloucester's.
Prince Charles and
Camilla
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| Charles and Camilla visiting a synagogue in Budapest, Hungary in 2010. |
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall
continued to increase their profile as future king and queen. Their appearance
alongside the Queen at the State Opening of Parliament in May was a clear sign
that Charles is indeed her heir, and that there is no chance of him renouncing
his right to the throne. This comes at a time when more of the Queen’s
ceremonial functions, such as conducting investitures and meeting foreign
dignitaries, are being carried out by the Prince in her stead – creating an
unofficial co-regency of sorts.
In the spring, Charles and Camilla represented the Queen at
the inauguration of the Dutch king,
Willem-Alexander, as well as at the enthronement of the 105th Archbishop
of Canterbury, Justin Welby. In the fall, he and the Duchess took a
nine-day tour of India, where they were warmly received by the people of the
Commonwealth’s largest country which was once the jewel in the crown of the old
British Empire, and it was here where Prince Charles celebrated his 65th
birthday on November 14th, which means that he will be oldest person to accede
to the throne whenever that day should come.
In Sri Lanka, he again stood in for his mother as Head of
the Commonwealth when he opened and attended the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting (CHOGM). As heading up the 53-member Commonwealth of Nations
is not a hereditary position, the appearance at CHOGM may have represented the
Prince’s attempt to convince Commonwealth leaders that he ought to succeed to
the title held by his mother for 61 years.
On top of all this is the Prince carrying out his own
activities and engagements, sometimes on the behalf of the charities,
foundations, and trusts he has created over the years, and he has kept himself
busy by attending to his wide variety of causes, including the environment,
urban regeneration, architecture, and protection of the British countryside.
As for the Duchess of Cornwall, she has been coming into her
own as an integral part of the royal family. She has been conducting engagements
on her own with ease, and has developed a passionate interest in causes such as
literacy and arthritis research. In
the time she has been married to Prince Charles, Camilla has earned the respect
and affection the people through her own brand of regal warmth and openness.
She is not a replacement for Diana - no one can replace her, not even the
Duchess of Cambridge - but she is certainly showing that she is worthy of being
the nation’s next Queen.
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince
George
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| William and Kate riding in a carriage procession during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations last year. |
It can be fair to
say that the Duchess of Cambridge was probably the most-photographed woman in 2013. The media attention to her pregnancy, as well as what she wore and how
she looked during the pregnancy was unrelenting and frankly nauseating.
Nevertheless, Kate took it in stride and gracefully carried on with her duties
and responsibilities as a member of the royal family. Among other things, she became
volunteer leader with the Scout Association in North Wales, and expanded her patronages
to include the Natural History Museum and SportsAid, a charity that helps to
provide financial assistance for aspiring young athletes.
Meanwhile, Prince
William continued to carry out his duties as a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue pilot in
Anglesey, Wales, and also took on greater amounts of royal workload. He and
Kate visited Scotland, where they teamed up with Prince Charles for a joint
engagement, and took part in activities leading up to the 2014 Commonwealth
Games being held in Glasgow. Along with Prince Harry, they also toured the
Harry Potter film set at Leavesden Studios. In November, Prince William took part in a sing-a-long of Livin' On a Prayer with Taylor Swift and Bon Jovi.
But of course, the
highlight for William and Kate was the birth of their first child, Prince
George of Cambridge on July 22, 2013, which was a joyous moment for them, the
royal family, the British nation, and the world. From the time that birth was
announced,
there were expressions of celebration and happiness for the newest
member of the royal family and the future king of the Commonwealth realms. Amid
all of the fanfare surrounding the occasion, it is difficult to remember that
George is a baby not unlike many others born that day and that William and Kate,
though not ordinary parents, will face challenges in raising George like most
other parents. Of course, George will grow up under an intrusive media
spotlight, but then again, it is clear that his parents want him to live as
normal a life as possible. This is probably why the first official photograph
was taken by Michael Middleton, Kate’s father, at the Middleton family home in Bucklebury,
Berkshire – as opposed to a professional photographer at the Palace.
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| The world's first look at Prince George. |
In October, the
little prince was baptized into the Anglican Church inside the Chapel Royal at
St. James’ Palace by Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury. Wearing the replica
of the christening gown worn by every royal baby since Queen Victoria’s first
child, Victoria in 1840, Prince George was said to have gone through the brief
ceremony without a hitch. Afterward, professional photographs were taken at
Clarence House with George and members of his immediate family, including his
uncles, aunt, parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Importantly, for
the first time since Queen Victoria in over a century, there is a photograph featuring the
reigning monarch and three generations of heirs in direct succession.
With the birth of
Prince George and the increasing royal workload resulting from the Queen and
Duke of Edinburgh cutting back engagements, Prince William decided to leave
active duty in the Armed Forces at the end of his commitment for the
search-and-rescue job – having been involved in the rescue of 149 people. In
October, he stood in for the Queen at an investiture in which he knighted two
people, and made tennis player Andy Murray an Officer in the Order of the
British Empire (OBE). William, Kate, and
George have since taken up residence in Apartment 1A in Kensington Palace
(which formerly belonged to Princess Margaret) as they begin their lives in transition to becoming full-time working members of the royal family.
In the coming year,
it has been announced that they will be taking a tour of Australia and New
Zealand in April, and they are expected to expand their charitable activities.
Prince Harry
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| Prince Harry meeting U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona |
At the beginning of
the year, Prince Harry returned from his 20-week tour of duty in Afghanistan,
and was criticized for comparing life on the battlefield to the war games he
played on the X-Box game console and for saying that to save a life, sometimes
another life has to be taken.
This came on the
heels of the Prince’s nude romp in Las Vegas during the previous summer, and
raised questions about his judgement (with Harry admitting that he was probably being "too much army, and not enough prince"). It also
sparked some debate over the issue of royal finances, and whether the taxpayer
should continue to fund the activities of the monarchy.
However, the rest of the year was bright for Prince Harry as he proved his worth as a member of the royal family and as an individual.
However, the rest of the year was bright for Prince Harry as he proved his worth as a member of the royal family and as an individual.
In May, he visited
the United States for a week to conduct engagements on the behalf of his
charities and of the UK government.
It was a packed
week in which Prince Harry toured an exhibition on landmine clearance - a cause championed by his mother, Diana - in
the U.S. Capitol Building with fellow military veteran, Senator John McCain and visited the White House,
where First Lady Michelle Obama was hosting a Joining Forces Mother's Day Tea
to honor military mothers. He also paid his respects to the military dead at
Arlington National Cemetery and visited the Walter Reed National Military
Medical Center to meet wounded veterans going under recovery and
rehabilitation.
He then traveled to Colorado Springs, where he opened the
2013 Warrior Games at the US Air Force Academy. The Games were created as a way
help injured service members recover and to introduce them to Paralympic sports
and one of its partners is the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge and Prince Harry. In addition to opening the games, the Prince took
part in a volleyball match with the British team.
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| In Colorado, the Prince played sit-down volleyball with wounded veterans. |
Flying back to the East Coast, he teamed up with UK Prime
Minister David Cameron in New York City at an event to promote the GREAT
campaign, which aims to boost trade and investment in the United Kingdom. Harry
then visited Harlem, where he played baseball (at hit a home run) with a local
community sports program that is in partnership with the Royal Foundation.
In New Jersey, he toured the hard-hit areas of the Jersey
Shore that had been affected by Hurricane Sandy in the previous year, and
commented on the rebuilding projects by saying: “It’s the American spirit,
isn’t it? Everyone getting together and making things right. It’s fantastic.”
Accompanied by Governor Chris Christie, Prince Harry walked along the Atlantic
City Boardwalk and tried his hand at a few carnival games.
At the end of the US tour, he played a game of polo in
Greenwich, Connecticut to raise funds for his charity Sentebale, and expressed
his appreciation for “a wonderful week” and “the extraordinary generosity of
the people of this great nation.”
In October, he attended the International Fleet Review
during his first official visit to Australia. There, he represented the Queen
of Australia and took the salute of the fleet review, which consisted of 40
warships from 17 countries, and which was held to commemorate 100 years since
the arrival of the Royal Australian Navy's first modern warships in Sydney. During
the two-visit, he was greeted by enthusiastic crowds, but also faced a joke
about republicanism from Australia’s pro-monarchy prime minister, Tony Abbot,
who regretted that “not every Australian is a monarchist. But today everyone
feels like a monarchist.” He also said: “You grace us as your family has graced
our nation from its beginning, as the crown is a symbol of our stability,
continuity and decency in public life.”
Toward the end of the year, Harry took part in Walking with
the Wounded, an event in which four teams of wounded and disabled veterans
would race to the South Pole in Antarctica. Prince Harry was Patron of the
expedition and joined one of those teams on the 125 mile trek, which ceased to
be a race as weather conditions deteriorated. Nonetheless, the journey
continued as a joint effort among the teams, and they reached the South Pole after
four weeks on Friday, December 13th, with Harry becoming the first
member of the royal family to reach that location.
Throughout the year, speculation was rife about Prince
Harry’s relationship with Cressida Bonas, a granddaughter of Edward Curzon, 8th
Earl Howe. The couple are said to be “serious”, and the gossip hounds and
newspaper editors are looking forward to another royal wedding, or at least an
engagement in 2014. Personally, I do not believe either will happen for a
simple reason: they have not been together for long time. The royal family has
already witnessed what can happen when a marriage takes place in the modern age
when the couple does not have firm foundations, so Harry and Cressida will
probably be wise to wait it out for at least another year to firmly establish
their roots, and to give Cressida time to contemplate the realities of being
royal.
Photo Credit: M3peti via Wikimedia Commons cc, Christopher Neve via Photopin cc, John Pannell via photopin cc, GlynLowe via Flickr cc, DVIDSHUB via Flickr cc
and
Part III: The Yorks, Wessexes, Princess Anne and her family, and the Queen's cousins - the Kent's and the Gloucester's.
Photo Credit: M3peti via Wikimedia Commons cc, Christopher Neve via Photopin cc, John Pannell via photopin cc, GlynLowe via Flickr cc, DVIDSHUB via Flickr cc
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