Eurohistory

Friday, April 29, 2011

US Media goes gaga for royals

Like guests who whisper asides to their friends from the back pews, the commoners in the media tried to have fun with the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton for Americans who awoke in pre-dawn hours to watch the pomp.

Most U.S. television networks sent their own royalty to London in a full-scale deployment, with Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, Barbara Walters, Anderson Cooper, Shepard Smith and others donning their finery for the occasion.

"If the Lord Chamberlain didn't send you a formal invitation, well, sorry, join the club," Couric said on CBS News from a position outside Westminster Abbey.

Couric, in a striking pink jacket for what is likely her last big news event at CBS News (she's stepping down as anchor in the coming weeks), immediately seemed more comfortable in a setting that reflected her time on morning television at the "Today" show.

She, like others in American television, couldn't take quite seriously the "breaking news" of the queen of England conveying new titles on her grandson and his bride-to-be.

"What the heck does that mean?" she asked a dour-faced historian sitting beside her.
Her former NBC colleague, Lauer, read the titles and joked that it was going to require "a business card seven and a half inches long. It's going to be huge."

Befitting their own status as the most popular morning show on American television, the "Today" team sat behind a desk decorated with their show's name topped by a large crown.
Fashion was a central focus as the royal guests arrived. Fox News Channel's Smith focused on the tall blue perch of a woman who arrived at the abbey with a man who looked like actor Rainn Wilson of "The Office."

"I don't know where she got that hat, but you know it's going to be a big seller," said the jaunty Smith, who earlier adopted what seemed to be an exaggerated Winston Churchill impersonation in asking Steve Doocy to fill him in on the weather for "this royal morning here across the pond."

On CNN, Piers Morgan announced the breaking news update that soccer star David Beckham was wearing a Ralph Lauren suit.

"As am I," broadcast partner Cooper interjected.

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http://royalwedding.yahoo.com/news/media-fun-hats-titles-royal-wedding-095448068

Images from Westminster Abbey (2)

Images from Westminster Abbey

The wedding ceremony begins

More photos

Official Announcement of The Queen's Decision to Confer the Dukedom of Cambridge

THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS ISSUED BY THE PRESS SECRETARY TO THE QUEEN

The Queen has today been pleased to confer a Dukedom on Prince William of Wales. His titles will be Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus.

Prince William thus becomes His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge and Miss Catherine Middleton on marriage will become Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge.

Background:

DUKEDOM: Cambridge:

In 1706 George Augustus (subsequently George II) the only son of George Ludwig, Elector of Hanover (subsequently George I of Great Britain) was created with other titles Duke of Cambridge. On the accession of his father to the throne in 1714 he also became Duke of Cornwall and was created Prince of Wales. On his own accession to the throne in 1727 the Dukedom of Cambridge merged with The Crown and ceased.

Cambridge was previously a Royal Dukedom and four sons of James, Duke of York (afterwards James II) who died in infancy were all created Duke of Cambridge. As an Earldom Cambridge was a medieval Royal title. Edward IV was Duke of York and Earl of Cambridge till proclaimed King of England in 1461 when his titles merged with The Crown.

His father and grandfather both Richard Plantagenet were both Earls of Cambridge and the latter was also Duke of York. Edmund of Langley, 5th son of Edward III and great-grandfather of Edward IV, was created Earl of Cambridge in 1362 and Duke of York in 1385.

The Dukedom of Cambridge created in 1801 became extinct on the death of the 2nd Duke of Cambridge in 1904. Cambridge existed as a Marquessate from 1917 when it was conferred on Queen Mary’s brother till 1981 when the 2nd Marquess died and the title became extinct.

EARLDOM: Strathearn

Strathearn has had Royal connections since Robert Stewart, High Steward of Scotland, was created Earl of Strathearn in 1357. In 1371 he succeeded his Uncle as King of Scotland becoming Robert II and the Earldom merged with The Crown Robert II created his 5th son David, Earl of Strathearn in 1371. Subsequently in 1427 the 6th son of Robert II was created Earl of Strathearn.

In 1766 George III’s younger brother Prince Henry Frederick was created
Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn. He died without issue in 1790 and in 1799 Queen Victoria’s father was created Duke of Kent and Strathearn. These Dukedoms became extinct on his death in 1820. Finally, Prince Arthur William Patrick Albert, 3rd son of Queen Victoria was created Duke of Connaught and Strathearn in 1874. He died in 1942 and was succeeded by his grandson who died the following year
1943 since when Strathearn as a title has been extinct.

BARONY: Carrickfergus:

An Irish Viscountcy of Chichester of Carrickfergus now held by the Marquess of Donegall was created in 1625 but Carrickfergus alone only existed as a title between 1841 and 1883. The 3rd Marquess of Donegall was created Baron Ennishowen and Carrickfergus, of Ennishowen, co: Donegal and Carrickfergus, co: Antrim. He died in 1883 being succeeded by his brother and the Barony became extinct.

Carrickfergus is County Antrim’s oldest town. The word means Rock of Fergus and as an urban settlement it predates Belfast. It is on the north shore of Belfast Lough and is the site of Carrickfergus Castle which dates from circa 1180 and is one of the best preserved Castles in Ireland.

http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Pressreleases/2011/Announcementoftitles29April2011.aspx

The Duke of Cambridge's brother-in-law to be – James Middleton

As Prince William and Kate Middleton make their wedding vows on Friday, one person a few feet from the royal couple is likely to have his BlackBerry switched on (albeit on silent). Sitting across the aisle from no less a figure than Prince Charles in the third row of the Northern Lantern of Westminster Abbey, James Middleton could be forgiven a quick peek at his emails while he waits for the bride to arrive.

For Kate’s younger brother has seen his upmarket bakery business, Cake Kit Company, take off in recent months. So much so, that the 23-year-old is in the process of launching three more companies. In the past fortnight, James has registered these businesses at Companies House: Nice Cakes, Nice Wine and Nice Group London. Notably, all three have been registered to the family’s Berkshire trading headquarters, home of the successful Party Pieces firm, which has made the Middletons a fortune.

A friend of the young entrepreneur says: “There is no doubt about it, James would like to be the next Richard Branson. He is surfing on the crest of a wave at the moment. All his friends think he will make serious money.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/kate-middleton/8474786/Royal-wedding-the-very-ambitious-Mr-Middleton.html

More Photos from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Dinner

HM Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

HM Queen doña Sofía of Spain and
the Prince and Princess of Asturias

The Earl and Countess of Wessex

Crown Prince Pavlos and Princess Marie Chantal of Greece

The Dukes of Brabant

HM The Queen

In royal/commoner marriage, a happy mix of genetic diversity

In royal/commoner marriage, a happy mix of genetic diversity

By Faye Flam
Inquirer Staff Writer
While opinion leaders in Britain debate whether Prince William's impending marriage to a commoner will diminish the royal family's public image, geneticists see only an upside to the pairing.

"From a genetic perspective, mixture is good," said Francisco Ceballos, a biologist at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Ceballos is involved with an ongoing study of the Habsburg family, a once-powerful royal dynasty that appears to have inbred itself into extinction.

Inbreeding, which can increase the likelihood of genetic defects, is still one of the most complex areas of evolution and population genetics, he said. Some groups of plants and animals can withstand more than others before harmful effects surface. In the badly depleted Florida panther population, geneticists determined that inbreeding had led to various birth defects, including malformed testicles and heart deformities - and that without intervention, the big cats were nearly certain to go the way of the Habsburgs.

About 10 percent of humans worldwide are the product of some inbreeding, and the potential dangers were little understood as recently as 150 years ago, when Charles Darwin did some of the earliest research on inbreeding, in plants. Since he was married to his first cousin, historians say, some of his interest was driven by concerns about his own children's health.

Ceballos and other scientists are hoping to gain a better understanding of the varied effects of inbreeding by looking at royal families, where the practice has reached extremes in the past.

In the British royal family, Prince Charles is a product of slight inbreeding, said Ceballos: His parents are related as third cousins through Victoria and Albert, and also fourth cousins once removed, through King George II and Queen Charlotte.

But by marrying unrelated Princess Diana, he produced sons who are not inbred. Still, Ceballos said, it can't hurt for William to be adding more diversity to the royal gene pool.

Friday's wedding certainly will make it less likely for the Windsor family to meet the fate of the Habsburgs - the royal dynasty that arose in the 1500s and controlled the Spanish Empire at its height. By the late 1600s, the last Habsburg king, Charles II, suffered chronic muscle weakness, abnormally short stature, intestinal problems, mental retardation, impotence, and infertility. He married twice, but died childless at age 39.

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http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20110425_In_royal_commoner_marriage__a_happy_mix_of_genetic_diversity.html?viewAll=y#ixzz1Kq9jfHrc

An Abbey with Filled with History

Westminster Abbey is steeped in more than a thousand years of history. Benedictine monks first came to this site in the middle of the tenth century, establishing a tradition of daily worship which continues to this day.
The Abbey has been the coronation church since 1066 and is the final resting place of seventeen monarchs.

The present church, begun by Henry III in 1245, is one of the most important Gothic buildings in the country, with the medieval shrine of an Anglo-Saxon saint still at its heart.
A treasure house of paintings, stained glass, pavements, textiles and other artefacts, Westminster Abbey is also the place where some of the most significant people in the nation's history are buried or commemorated. Taken as a whole the tombs and memorials comprise the most significant single collection of monumental sculpture anywhere in the United Kingdom.

The Library and Muniment Room houses the important (and growing) collections of archives, printed books and manuscripts belonging to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, providing a centre for their study and for research into all aspects of the Abbey's long and varied history.