Details of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge’s royal tour of Australia and New Zealand were released today. Prince George will accompany his parents on this three week trip from April 5 -27. The 9 month old will be based with a nanny in Wellington, Sydney, and Canberra, while Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge make a number of day trips and two overnights. See the rest of the trip highlights here from The Guardian.
Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge enjoyed a rare night out to celebrate the birthday of Louise Aubrey Fletcher, wife of a close friend of the Prince, at Bunga Bunga in Battersea. Also attending was one of the Duchess’ best friends, Emilia Jardine-Paterson d’Erlanger.
Emilia Jardine-Paterson d’Erlanger and her husband, David Jardine-Paterson
Attending as the honorary president of the film academy, Prince William walked the red carpet at yesterday evening’s BAFTA awards. He presented an award to Dame Helen Mirren, who has portrayed his grandmother in film as well as on stage, and even joked that he should probably call her “granny”.
Photo courtesy of REX
Photo courtesy of REX
The Prince got a high five from musician, Tinie Tempah, during his opening performance!
The brothers have joined colleagues from the armed forces to help homeowners protect their properties with sandbags. According to the BBC, the Queen has also provided feed and bedding to flood-hit Somerset farmers. A Kensington Palace spokesperson said: “They wanted to show their support for the flood victims and have joined the armed forces’ relief effort.”
The private visit was unannounced but television crews and reporters began to follow the brothers as the news spread.
When Prince Harry was asked by reporters if he was enjoying helping out, he replied: “Not really, with you guys around.”
A newspaper reporter said he was asked by Prince William: “Why don’t you put your notebook down and give us a hand with the sandbags?”
Kate Middleton and Prince George were reunited with Prince William today after returning from a 10 day holiday in Mustique with the Middleton family. HELLO! has some exclusive pictures from their trip but only the magazine cover is available online….at least so far.
Prince William traveled by train today from London to Cambridge to begin his bespoke course at St. John’s College at Cambridge University. His 10 week course is designed to him prepare in his future role as Prince of Wales in charge of the 763 million pound, 130,000 acre Duchy of Cornwall estate. While he has been given on campus housing, he is expected to take the 45 minute train ride daily from Kensington Palace.
His decision to attend Cambridge has not been without criticism; students have claimed that the Prince’s A-Level results of A, B, and C did not make him qualified to attend the prestigious university. The Prince went on to achieve a 2:1 in geography at St. Andrews in 2005.
As expected, the university has denied giving Prince William any special treatment and have insisted that his course is one of many designed by the sustainability leadership program for senior company executives and others willing to pay.
Word on the street is that Prince William and Kate Middleton’s dog, Lupo, was not invited to be a part of the holiday festivities in Sandringham this year. According to Cindy Stockman of Royal Central blog, it appears that the Queen, concerned about the playful nature of the the cocker spaniel versus the territorial and slightly unpredictable temperament of her corgis, decided it was best if Lupo went to spend Christmas with the Middletons in Berkshire.
The Queen’s corgis have a history of run-ins with other family pets, including Princess Beatrice’s Norfolk terrier, Max, and Princess Anne’s bullterrier, Dotty. Dotty unfortunately injured the Queen’s dog, Pharos, so badly that he had to be put down the next day.
Stockman went on to write, “perhaps Lupo will be allowed to join in the holiday merriment someday. Hoey (author Brian Hoey) writes; ‘As Duke of Cambridge, William recently said, perhaps only half-jokingly, that one of the changes he will make when he eventually succeeds to the throne is to get rid of the corgis. ‘They bark all the time,’ he said, but not within hearing distance of his grandmother. Of course, he would never do or say anything to upset her during her lifetime, but there may have been more than a little truth in what he said.'”
Here is a clip from the royals’ appearance at Christmas…the Duchess of Cambridge comments on Prince George and Lupo!