Royals in the news : New Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh

King Charles has given the title to Prince Edward on his 59th birthday! The titles was their father's, Prince Philip, who was Duke of Edinburgh for over 70 years until his death in 2021.

Prince Philip was given the title in 1947 when he married the then Princess Elizabeth, who later became Queen Elizabeth II. He had made it very clear that he wanted Edward, his youngest son, to take on the title, but that decision was left in the hands of the current King.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement: "The new Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are proud to continue Prince Philip's legacy of promoting opportunities for young people of all backgrounds to reach their full potential."

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In other news there has been a christening. Lilibet Diana was christened in California and that both children will be using their royal titles Prince and Princess. They made this announcement to People instead of going through Buckingham Palace. Verry classy indeed.. no not really, but I'm really not surprised at this move at all. 

London Bridge & "A Knight's Tale".

"A Knight's Tale" is one of my all time favorite movies. I love how the peasant became a hero and found his father in the end. The numerous obstacles he overcame with the help of his friends were both amusing and inspiring.

This is the London Bridge as portrayed in the movie. It was home to a central chapel, a host of shops and houses (the rent from which funded its construction and upkeep), gates, a drawbridge – even waterwheels and a mill. 

The houses were up to seven stories high and jutted over the river by as much as 6.5 feet on either side. Many homes practically touched in the middle, making the bridge more of a tunnel in places. 

I can just imagine walking down the road stopping at the shops on the way home or on the way to work while armed guards walk up and down the road keeping things under control. 

Do you think Prince Charles owe an apology to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle?

To this I say Nope. King Charles is not and has never been a perfect father and nor has he ever claimed to be one. I think he tried to do his best after Diana died. Charles wasn’t exactly raised in a loving household by his parents. He was raised by nanny’s and I believe that the only affection he ever got was from The Queen Mother.

Harry should be the one who should be apologizing to his father and to the British people for the lies he’s spilled about them all. His wife should be apologizing to the royal family, who welcomed her with open arms. If she wasn’t welcome then she would NOT have been allowed to celebrate Christmas at Balmoral with the family and nor would Charles have walked her down the isle at the wedding.

They threw so much away and now that those bridges are burned they are struggling and loosing popularity. I do feel bad that they chose to take this route, bad for the royal family that is, but then again everything is always someone else's fault and not theirs. They need to take responsibility for what they have done, that is the first step. Next one is to relinquish those titles they feel so entitled to use to make money. They would be nothing without them.

The Coronation of His Majesty King Charles

Yippee! Buckingham Palace has released details of the events due to take place between Saturday 6th and Monday 8th May - the Coronation Weekend! I actually took this day off from work so that I can ensure that I can watch it. I'll have a mini brunch as I watch it as well. lol 

The Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort will be taking place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6th May, 2023. I'm really hoping to see many of the long standing traditions and amazing pageantry take place. I've seen video's of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation and it was beautiful. 

I know the Brits will be celebrating this historic event the entire weekend. Gathering for meals, having tea and all around celebrating in the streets. I would love to be there and experience it first hand, maybe when William takes the throne I can be there. 

 

Madly, Deeply the diaries of Alan Rickman

 Madly, Deeply came today and I'm so excited to read it! I absolutely love Alan, he was an amazing actor. His witty musings and Rickmanism's as I call them are great. Random musings and some of the things he has written I can totally relate to.

His words can be hilariously funny as well as incredibly sad, and at times even a touch of arrogance. That English wit seeped through the words throughout the book.

His diaries are similar to the 1 line diaries that are all the rage these days. Celestial One Line a Day Diary

He talks about life and life in the acting world. There are also drawings and doodles on the pages. 

"Quiet pleasure of preparing food for friends. {Name of friends} The sun emerged and we spilled into the garden." 

I just love this one, it's so whimsical for me. I visualize him and his friends sitting around a table with glasses laughing and chatting about life or work. 

"3:40 am Awake trying to locate one worthwhile nameable emotion that deserves this sleeplessness..."

This is absolutely me when I have insomnia! I literally will lay awake at night trying to figure out why I'm awake and unable to sleep.

I can't wait to finish the book, I'm sure I'll be reading it all over again once I'm finished.

The Regal Rules for Girls: How to Find Love, a Life --and Maybe Even a Lord -- in London

Well I finally finished the book. While I did enjoy it, I did find that it has a creepy stalker vibe to it. You really have to take the contents of this book with a grain of salt and the use of your own common sense is advisable. Mrs. Fine talks about her life in London and what she experienced when she moved there. Call me crazy, but I find that some of what she wrote to be a bit exaggerated just a teeny bit. No seriously it has to be exaggerated a lot. 

This book is great when it comes to the aspect of places to visit and not to visit when in London. Mrs. Fine doles out some beauty advice, books to read, places to visit, where to shop as well as dating and life advice. She gives you all the information you need to move to England, from getting a VISA and places to look for when looking at schools or places to live. I literally took notes on a lot of this stuff!

Then comes the disturbing bit.. she literally tells you how to land an English gentleman by stalking. She tells you exactly where to go to find them and what to do and not to do to attract them. She makes the English gents out to pretty much not have an ounce to romance in their entire being. She also makes it seem like they are stupid and can't navigate outside their own social circles. She says that you need to be in charge of them and guide them. She literally makes them out to be pathetic. 

The Regal Rules for Girls: How to Find Love, a Life --and Maybe Even a Lord -- in London

Why I love Penelope on Bridgerton

 In a Bridgerton group I'm in, there is a thread about Penelope and how she's a bad person. I have to respectfully disagree with them as I see her as being a very misunderstood character. I kind of feel sorry for Pen because she had to deal with being in the shadow of two beautiful sisters and her mother was more concerned with her sisters finding husbands than herself. 

I do agree that Pen is a bit shady, but I think in order for her to be able to support herself as a spinster, I'm pretty sure she knew she would be one, then she had to do shady stuff to make the $$ to be able to support herself without a man. 

In my opinion Pen has almost ZERO self esteem and it showed by the way she acted. 

One was upset that Penelope told Eloise "Not all of us can be pretty Bridgerton's!" I can understand Pen saying that because it's 100% true... not all of them can be pretty Bridgerton's and everyone knows that the Bridgerton woman are very sought after when it comes to marriage.

If you were to put Eloise and Penelope in a room with suitable prospects.. who do you think will get the marriage proposals? Guarantee you it won't be Penelope.

Henry Cavill will always be Geralt and so will Liam Hemsworth.

The Henry Cavill fans are just upset..
ok in my opinion overreacting, because he's leaving The Witcher.
Now they are saying that they won't watch it because he's leaving..
 they are posting that bs on his Facebook..
good way to try to guilt trip him.

Look... I'm upset that he's leaving as well,
but I'm still going to watch it because I love the show.
I guess it helps that I enjoy Liam Hemsworth's acting. lol
Henry will always be Geralt in my eyes.
To me Liam will just be an alternate universe Geralt. lol

I just don't understand what the drama is about...
actors do leave shows, it's not uncommon for them to do that.
He has his reasons and I don't think he owes any explanations.
I'm sure he'll be busy with Superman.
Superman and The Witcher are two big shows and it would be rough
to do both at once timing wise.

 

Long Live Queen Elizabeth II. Rest in Peace Milady.

 

The Oldest Door in Britain.

 This was splashed all over my newsfeed on Facebook this morning so I figured I would share it for those who don't actually have social media accounts. Believe it or not I do know people who don't have a single one of them. lol

This oak door is in Westminster Abbey and is Britain’s oldest and only Anglo-Saxon Door. The door has been standing for over 950 years, dates back to the reign of Edward the Confessor during the 1050s!

The door was made from a single oak from Eastern England in medieval times. The ancient door stands at 6.5 feet tall and is 4 feet wide. Traces of human skin have been rumored to remain on the door, but it has been proved to be cowhide.

The door opens into the octagonal Chapter House, where monks met every day for prayers in the 13th century and today serves as a storage place for important religious documents.

Really Lisa.. really??

Last night I got an eyelash in my eye so now my left eye is all bloodshot and red from me rubbing and trying to get it out. I have my eye drops that I've been putting my eye. I've noticed that the older I get the thinner my eyelashes are. 

I woke up this am feeling pretty good a slight runny nose, and some sneezing. Had a cup of tea and went outside to grab a Amazon parcel, I bought some Polo mints from England and they're better than Lifesavers, then sent for some groceries. 

Now I'm sitting at my desk with three boxes of tissues and I'm almost finished with one of them and realized that I forgot to buy allergy meds. That was my MAIN reason for doing Instacart today! This is what happens to me every bloody time when I don't make a list! LOL

BUT all in all it's a good day, the weather is beautiful and there's children laughing and squealing on the hill above my house along with the sounds of splashing water. 

Happy 96th Birthday!

Our beautiful Queen turned 96 today! She was seen out an about being driven around the Sandringham Estate located in Norfolk. It's the location where her husband, Prince Philip spent his final days. It's also the place where the family spends Christmas together.

There will be a public celebration of her birthday in June that is known as Trooping the Colour. This celebration happens every year and will include the royal family gathering on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch a fly past — will coincide with a weekend of festivities to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, celebrating her historic 70 years on the throne!

This photo was taken last month on the grounds of Windsor Castle. She is holding the reins of her fell ponies, Bybeck Katie and Bybeck Nightingale. She is a huge animal lover and has multitudes of horses and dogs. The coat is a subtle nod to Prince Philip who wore that color alot. 

 

Who is Nicholas Fairford?

 

Maybe I'm weird, but when I find a YouTuber that I am interested in then I will look them up online to learn more about them. There is a British YouTuber, Nicholas Fairford, that I started following in January. His videos are great, but there has always been something off about him. It's like he's playing let's pretend that I'm posh and I really dislike it when someone pretends to be someone they aren't.

 
So, from what I found, his name is actually Nicholas Burden. He has stated numerous time's that he comes from a family that is not aristocratic and well... he comes from a working-class family. I did find during my research on him that he is a model or a former model so perhaps this is a model name? If so, he should drop the act and be himself on YouTube.

Now his videos are lovely and very informative, but they all seem to revolve around the same thing. Tea parties. He also does advertisements for companies who sponsor him. I sincerely do hope that he is being honest with them as well as his business partner Vanessa. I would love to see the real Nicholas Burden and hear His story, not the embellished story of Nicholas Fairford. You can only fake it until you make it for so long, then it could crash down around you. 

I have a challenge for you if you choose to accept it... Stay off your phone for 4 days and keep it away from you.

So, I did a thing. I kept my phone on the other side of the room from where my desk is, so I wasn't on it as much. Every time I would get a notification, I'd grab my phone and go on it. I found myself on my phone more and more and well I get distracted easily. LOL

Instead of being distracted on the phone I have been doing what I have planned... I have been doing stuff online, blog updates, surveys and taking care of FB groups {1 hr. for 4 groups}. I have also been watching/listening to a lot of YouTube video's about #vanlife and the British royal family.
Van Life
(In order of favorites)

VANCITY VANLIFE ~226K subscribers ~ Chrome is my all-time favorite because he tells you how van life really is. The ups and downs and he literally will show you. Go to his page and binge from the beginning. He literally sold pretty much everything and moved into a van with his pup Disco!

British Royal Family

(In order of Favorites)

River ~ 76.6K subscribers ~ Ok ya'll River is so awesome! He will tell you like it is and won't hold anything back.

PDina ~ 52.1K subscribers ~ PDina gives the smack down on the royal family and has no problem calling people out when they screw up.

I have literally only been on my phone when my sister and niece called, otherwise it sat on my nightstand the entire time and was untouched... no messenger or any gaming apps. Messenger and the gaming apps are my distractions!

Taking time off the internet has caused me to read 2 and a half books and start writing again. You'll be amazing at how much better you're feeling by staying off social media.  

Queen Elizabeth's Scone recipe

This is Queen Elizabeth's personal recipe for drop scones.
I really want to try to make these.
I mean it's literally just making pancakes!

 

Who are the Norfolk Turnip Toffs?

I heard my favorite British YouTuber, River, mention "The Turnip Toffs" and I will admit that I was curious as to who they were. He mentioned that they were friends of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge aka William and Catherine. 

So, the Turnip Toffs are essentially wealthy aristocratic friends and neighbors of the couple who reside in Norfolk when their Anmer Hall home is.

There's Viscounts, Earls, Lords and Countesses who own a lot of farmlands in the British countryside and they also all hang out together. From what I can find, it all revolves around Anmer Hall in Norfolk. 

The Turnip Toffs consist of ...

Nick and Laura Pettman ~> She is actually Williams older cousin. Her mother is Princess Diana's sister Sarah.

Robert and Sophie Snuggs 
Robbie and Iona Buxton

The Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley, David Rocksavage, and Rose Hanbury 

 Viscount and Viscountess Coke of Holkham, Tom and Polly Coke

William and his wife Rosie van Cutsem

James and Laura Meade

The word "Toff" is a British slang word for rich British people, and I'm unsure as to why they are called Turnips. I am really wondering as to why they chose the word turnip, why not truffles? Could it just have been chosen willy nilly? I suspect we will never find out until someone figures out the secret to this royal mystery.”

Meet Kate and Will's neighbours, the party-loving Norfolk set... The Turnip Toffs! 

It's about time!

 Well, well, well! It looks like the favorite son to Queen Elizabeth has lost his military titles and royal patronages because of the sexual abuse allegations that are against him. This decision came to be today on January 13th and yes, the Queen agreed to this decision. It's honestly for the best. 

Virginia Giuffre is suing the prince, saying that he abused her in 2001 and Prince Andrew has denied these allegations and claims Guiffre is only after his money.

This is a good thing as he is no longer allowed to be a working royal and hasn't had any duties in well over a year. Prince Andrew cannot use his HRH title and is enduring his legal battles as a private citizen.

His titles and patronages have been returned to the Queen who will distribute them among the other working royals.  The decision came to be after 150 former military personal wrote letters to the Queen asking them to remove his military titles.

His ex-wife Sarah Ferguson is allowed to keep her HRH titles despite him losing his. This baffles the mind considering she is no longer a royal so why does she still have her titles?

Catherine Middleton's chutney recipe

 Makes 8 x 350g jars

Ingredients
1.8kg marrows, peeled, deseeded and chopped into small chunks
4 medium onions, peeled and chopped into small chunks
3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks
225g sultanas or raisins
225g stoned dates, roughly chopped
600ml malt vinegar
900g soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons mixed pickling spices, secured in a piece of muslin

Method
1. Put the chopped marrow, onions and apples into a large preserving pan, add the rest of the ingredients and the bag of spices and stir together, then place over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat and simmer gently from 1 ½-2 hours or until well blended and thick.

2. Take the pan off the heat, cool and remove the muslin, squeezing the liquid form from the bag. Spoon it into sterilized jars with vinegar-proof lids, filling them to within 1cm of the top.

3. Ensure the rims are clean, screw on the sterilized lids and store in a cool place for up to 12 months. Once open, store in the fridge and use within 1 month.

To Whom it may concern,

As I sit here and await the new year I reflect back on my life as it has been thus far. I am currently 52 years old and have had a pretty uneventful life. 

Honestly, I never thought I would reach 52. I have mentioned this a few times in this blog and will continue to do so sporadically throughout the posts.

 

I have been an avid follower of the Royal Family ever since Lady Diana's marriage to Prince Charles. I was 12 years old and completely enthralled by this fairytale marriage. I dreamed of finding my own Prince and living in a beautiful castle in the country I love the most. Great Britain. I may be American by birth, but my heart has always belonged to Great Britian, and it will forever be so.

I was up bright and early for the wedding sitting in front of the tv as close as I could get, without getting yelled at by my parents. There was a blanket wrapped around me and I held my breath as I listened to the music and waited for my favorite Princess to show up at the cathedral. 

After the wedding my heart was so full of joy and happiness. Princess Diana was so beautiful, and I prayed that someday when I grew up that I would be able to meet her. I did school reports on the Family and would dream about meeting her and just listening to her talk about her charities and why she chose them. She made my darkness not seem so dark. 

 

The morning that Princess Diana died felt like the end of the world for me and for many of her loyal followers. I have always thought that as long as Princess Diana was alive the world had a chance. As long as she was alive then no matter what happened things would be ok. Because she was the people's champion. See she chose to put people first over the other charities that were put in front of her.

Like me, she had her flaws and through each flaw I adored her unconditionally. She made me realize that it's ok to be flawed. It's ok to not be perfect. It's just ok to be real. I miss her every single day. I miss seeing she smiling you know the real smile she has on her face when she was with her boys. I miss hearing about her charities, since her death you very rarely hear about them in the news anymore. This to me is so sad. 

Though I don't know them personally I do love both of Diana's boys as an extended part of my heart. I love them unconditionally as I loved her. I miss seeing William and Harry together laughing and talking. I miss seeing them doing outing together, I miss seeing them joke around with each other and I miss seeing them acting like... Brother's. 

Life has a way of screwing with us at times. We tend to lose track of what really matters to us and once we lose touch with that it's so hard to try to get it back. No matter how hard you try there is always something hindering it. I am constantly being told "You can't love them both unconditionally considering everything that's happened between them." But I can and I do, and I will continue to do so until the very last breath I take.

They are her boys; they are her loves. They are the reason she worked so hard to make this world a better place. They are an extension of her. I look back at all that she had done that wasn't perfect. Her boys are not perfect either. They are both flawed, but I believe that deep down they truly do love each other. Their story together is yet to be finished and I pray that their mother is watching over them and their families and guiding her boys together again.