1.
Surrey
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Surrey is a county in the south east of England. It shares borders with Kent to the east, East Sussex to the south-east, West Sussex to the south, Hampshire to the west and south-west, Surrey County Council sits extraterritorially at Kingston upon Thames, administered as part of Greater London since 1965. With a resident population of 1.1 million, Surrey is the most densely populated and third most populated county in the South East region, after Kent, the London boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth, and parts of Lewisham and Bromley were in Surrey until 1889. The boroughs of Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Sutton and Richmond upon Thames south of the River Thames were part of Surrey until 1965, when they too were absorbed into Greater London. In the same year, the county was extended north of the Thames by the addition of Spelthorne, due to this expansion, modern Surrey also borders on the London boroughs of Hounslow and Hillingdon. It has the highest GDP per capita of any English county, Surrey is divided in two by the chalk ridge of the North Downs, running east-west. To the north of the Downs the land is mostly flat, the geology of this area is dominated by London Clay in the east, Bagshot Sands in the west and alluvial deposits along the rivers. Much of Surrey is in the Metropolitan Green Belt and it contains a good deal of mature woodland. Among its many notable beauty spots are Box Hill, Leith Hill, Frensham Ponds, Newlands Corner and Puttenham & Crooksbury Commons. Surrey is the most wooded county in England, with 22. 4% coverage compared to an average of 11. 8%. Box Hill has the oldest untouched area of woodland in the UK. Surrey also contains Englands principal concentration of lowland heath, on soils in the west of the county. Agriculture not being intensive, there are many commons and access lands, together with a network of footpaths and bridleways including the North Downs Way. Accordingly, Surrey provides much in the way of leisure activities. The highest elevation in Surrey is Leith Hill near Dorking and it is either 293,294 or 295 metres above sea level and is the second highest point in southeastern England after Walbury Hill 297 metres in West Berkshire. Surrey has a population of approximately 1.1 million people and its largest town is Guildford, with a population of 66,773, Woking comes a close second with 62,796. They are followed by Ewell with 39,994 people and Camberley with 30,155, towns of between 25,000 and 30,000 inhabitants are Ashford, Epsom, Farnham, Staines and Redhill. Guildford is the county town, although the county administration was moved to Newington in 1791
2.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
3.
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
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Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, KG, GCVO, CD, ADC is the youngest of four children and the third son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. At the time of his birth, he was third in line to succeed his mother, as of 2017, he is ninth in line. Prince Edward was born on 10 March 1964, at Buckingham Palace, as the son and fourth and youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. He was baptised on 2 May 1964 in the chapel at Windsor Castle by the then-Dean of Windsor. As with his siblings, a governess was appointed to look after Edward and was responsible for his early education at Buckingham Palace. At the age of seven, Edward was then sent to Gibbs School before attending, in September 1972, Heatherdown School, near Ascot in Berkshire. He then, as his father and elder brothers had done him, moved to Gordonstoun, in northern Scotland. Upon his return to Britain, Edward matriculated at Jesus College, Cambridge and his admission to Cambridge caused some controversy at the time, since his A-level grades were far below the standard normally required, straight As, for Oxbridge entrance. Edward graduated in 1986 as BA and proceeded Master of Arts in 1991, Prince Edward made two very public attempts to pursue a career. However, in January 1987 he dropped out of the commando course after completing just one third of the 12-month training. Media reported, at the time, that the move prompted a berating from Prince Philip who reduced his son to prolonged tears, after leaving the Marines, Edward opted for a career in entertainment. His duties reportedly involved making tea for the artistic staff, while there he met actress Ruthie Henshall, whom he dated for three years. The media attacked the programme, it was reported that the Queen was not in favour of the event. In 1993, Edward formed the production company Ardent Productions. Commercial breaks are filled with army recruiting advertisements, ardents productions were somewhat better received in the United States and a documentary Edward made about his great-uncle, Edward VIII in 1996, sold well worldwide. Nonetheless, the reported losses every year it operated save one when Edward did not draw a salary. The Prince of Wales was reportedly angered by the incident, Ardent Productions was voluntarily dissolved in June 2009, with assets reduced to just £40. Edwards original backers in the venture are said to have lost every penny, Edward met Sophie Rhys-Jones, then a public relations executive with her own firm, in 1994
4.
Sophie, Countess of Wessex
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Sophie, Countess of Wessex, GCVO, is the wife of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Married in 1999, she worked in public relations until 2002, the Earl and Countess have two children, James, Viscount Severn, and Lady Louise Windsor, who are respectively tenth and eleventh in line to the British throne. She has a brother, David, and was named after her fathers sister, Helen. Her godfather, actor Thane Bettany, is her fathers stepbrother, Sophie was raised in a four-bedroom 17th-century farmhouse in Brenchley, Kent. She then trained as a secretary at West Kent College, Tonbridge and she also worked as a ski representative in Switzerland and spent a year travelling and working in Australia. In 1996, Rhys-Jones launched her public relations agency, RJH Public Relations, while working at Capital Radio, Sophie met Prince Edward, the youngest son of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, for the first time in 1987 when he was dating her friend. She met Prince Edward again at a charity event in 1993, and their engagement was announced on 6 January 1999. Edward proposed to Sophie with an engagement ring featuring a two-carat oval diamond flanked by two heart-shaped gemstones set in 18-carat white gold and this engagement ring was made by Asprey and Garrard and is worth an estimated £105,000. Following their union, the moved to Bagshot Park, their home in Surrey. The Earl and Countess have two children, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn, in December 2001, the Countess was taken to the King Edward VII Hospital after feeling unwell. It was discovered that she was suffering from an ectopic pregnancy, the Countess returned to Frimley Park Hospital on 17 December 2007, to give birth, again by caesarean section, to her son, James, Viscount Severn. The Countess of Wessexs first overseas tour after her marriage was to the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island in 2000 and she also became patron of a number of organisations, including the SAFC Foundation and Girlguiding UK. In 2003, she became Patron of Tomorrows People Trust, in 2006, she also lent her support to the Born in Bradford research project, which is investigating causes of low birth weight and infant mortality. In December 2011, the Countess of Wessex joined her husband visiting troops in Afghanistan, on the same trip, the royal couple visited Bahrain, and received two gifts of jewels from the Bahraini royal family and Prime Minister. Given concern about human rights abuses in Bahrain, this gift attracted controversy, with calls for the jewels to be sold, on 26 March 2015, she attended the reburial of Richard III of England in Leicester Cathedral. Buckingham Palace immediately issued a statement saying, This mornings story in The Sun is an invasion of privacy. Prime Minister Tony Blair also condemned the publication of the photograph, the Palace made an official complaint to the Press Complaints Commission. According to Sophies business partner the incident had left her distressed, tarrant later said, There was never, ever the slightest hint of romance between Sophie and myself, let alone these snidey insinuations
5.
Elizabeth II
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Elizabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth was born in London as the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake duties during the Second World War. Elizabeths many historic visits and meetings include a visit to the Republic of Ireland. She has seen major changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation. She has reigned through various wars and conflicts involving many of her realms and she is the worlds oldest reigning monarch as well as Britains longest-lived. In October 2016, she became the longest currently reigning monarch, in 2017 she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee. Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiments and press criticism of the family, however, support for the monarchy remains high. Elizabeth was born at 02,40 on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather and her father, Prince Albert, Duke of York, was the second son of the King. Her mother, Elizabeth, Duchess of York, was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and she was delivered by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfathers London house,17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. Elizabeths only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930, the two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as Crawfie. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music, Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margarets childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeths love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, others echoed such observations, Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant and her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved. During her grandfathers reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father, the Duke of York. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, many people believed that he would marry and have children of his own. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second-in-line to the throne, later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeths father became king, and she became heir presumptive, if her parents had had a later son, she would have lost her position as first-in-line, as her brother would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession
6.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
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Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Philip was born into the Greek and he was born in Greece, but his family was exiled from the country when he was an infant. After being educated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, he joined the Royal Navy in 1939, from July 1939, he began corresponding with the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth, whom he had first met in 1934. During the Second World War he served with the Mediterranean and Pacific fleets, after the war, Philip was granted permission by King George VI to marry Elizabeth. After an engagement of five months, he married Elizabeth on 20 November 1947, just before the wedding, he was created Duke of Edinburgh. Philip left active service when Elizabeth became Queen in 1952. He was formally made a Prince of the United Kingdom in 1957, Philip has four children with Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. He has eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, a keen sports enthusiast, Philip helped develop the equestrian event of carriage driving. He is a patron of over 800 organisations and serves as chairman of the Duke of Edinburghs Award scheme for people aged 14 to 24 and he is the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch and the oldest-ever male member of the British royal family. Philips four elder sisters were Margarita, Theodora, Cecilie, and he was baptised into the Greek Orthodox Church. His godparents were Queen Olga of Greece and the Mayor of Corfu, shortly after Philips birth, his maternal grandfather, Prince Louis of Battenberg, then known as Louis Mountbatten, Marquess of Milford Haven, died in London. Louis was a naturalised British citizen, who, after a career in the Royal Navy, had renounced his German titles and adopted the surname Mountbatten during the First World War. After visiting London for the memorial, Philip and his mother returned to Greece where Prince Andrew had remained behind to command an army division embroiled in the Greco-Turkish War, the war went badly for Greece and the Turks made large gains. On 22 September 1922, Philips uncle, King Constantine I, was forced to abdicate, the commander of the army, General Georgios Hatzianestis, and five senior politicians were executed. Prince Andrews life was believed to be in danger, and Alice was under surveillance, in December, a revolutionary court banished Prince Andrew from Greece for life. The British naval vessel HMS Calypso evacuated Prince Andrews family, with Philip carried to safety in a cot made from a fruit box. Philips family went to France, where settled in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud in a house lent to them by his wealthy aunt, Princess George of Greece. Because Philip left Greece as a baby, he not have a strong grasp of Greek
7.
Succession to the British throne
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Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, gender, legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the crown is inherited by an individuals children, Protestant descendants of those excluded for being Catholics are eligible to succeed. Queen Elizabeth II is the present sovereign and her heir apparent is her eldest son, Charles, next in line after him is Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, the Prince of Waless elder son. Third in line is Prince George of Cambridge, the son of the Duke of Cambridge, followed by his sister, fifth in line is Prince Harry, the younger son of the Prince of Wales. Sixth in line is Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the Queens second-eldest son, the first four individuals in the line of succession who are twenty-one years or older, and the sovereigns consort, may be appointed Counsellors of State. Counsellors of State perform some of the duties in the United Kingdom while he or she is out of the country or temporarily incapacitated. Otherwise, individuals in the line of succession need not have specific legal or official roles, the United Kingdom is one of the 16 Commonwealth realms. Each of those countries has the person as monarch and the same order of succession. After the necessary legislation had been enacted in accordance with each realms constitution, no official, complete version of the line of succession is currently maintained. The exact number, in remoter collateral lines, of the persons who would be eligible is uncertain, in 2001 genealogist William Addams Reitwiesner compiled a list of 4,973 living descendants of the Electress Sophia in order of succession, but disregarding Roman Catholic status. When updated in January 2011, the number was more than five thousand, the annotated list below covers the first part of this line of succession, being limited to descendants of the sons of George V. Persons named in italics are unnumbered either because they are deceased or because sources report them to be excluded from the succession. The order of the first sixteen numbered in the list is given on the website of the British Monarchy, other list numbers and exclusions are explained by annotations. Notes and sources, XC Excluded as Roman Catholics and this exclusion is not affected by changes subsequent to the Perth Agreement. MC These people were excluded through marriage to a Roman Catholic and this exclusion was repealed on 26 March 2015, restoring them to the line of succession, when the Perth Agreement came into effect. B listed by the website of the British Monarchy, Succession. Originally in both countries, there were no fixed rules governing succession to the throne, the individual could have relied on inheritance, statute, election, nomination, conquest or prescription. It was often unclear which of these bases should take precedence, often, the outcome depended not on the strength of the claims
8.
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
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Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, KG, KT, PC, ADC is the elder son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales. He is second in line to succeed his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, William was educated at four schools in the United Kingdom and obtained a degree from the University of St Andrews. He spent parts of a gap year in Chile, Belize, in December 2006, he completed 44 weeks of training as an officer cadet and was commissioned in the Blues and Royals regiment. In April 2008, he qualified as a pilot by completing training at Royal Air Force College Cranwell. He then underwent helicopter flying training in order to become a pilot with the RAF Search. His service with the British Armed Forces ended in September 2013, William married Catherine Middleton, on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey. Hours before the wedding, he was created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, the couples first child, Prince George, was born on 22 July 2013, and their second, Princess Charlotte, was born on 2 May 2015. William, the first child of the Prince and Princess of Wales, was born at St Marys Hospital and his names, William Arthur Philip Louis, were announced by Buckingham Palace a week later on 28 June. He was baptised in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on 4 August by the Archbishop of Canterbury and he was the first child born to a Prince and Princess of Wales since Prince John in 1905. William was affectionately called Wombat by his parents or Wills, Williams first public appearance was on 1 March 1991, during an official visit of his parents to Cardiff, Wales. After arriving by aeroplane, William was taken to Llandaff Cathedral where he signed the visitors book, on 3 June 1991, William was admitted to Royal Berkshire Hospital after being accidentally hit on the side of the forehead by a fellow student wielding a golf club. He did not lose consciousness, but suffered a fracture of the skull and was operated on at Great Ormond Street Hospital. In a 2009 interview, he dubbed this scar a Harry Potter scar and he was reported to have said, I call it that because it glows sometimes and some people notice it—other times they dont notice it at all. His mother wanted him and his younger brother Harry to have wider experiences than are usual for royal children and she took them to Walt Disney World and McDonalds as well as AIDS clinics and shelters for the homeless. She bought them typical teenage items, such as video games, Diana, who was by then divorced from the Prince of Wales, died in a car accident in the early hours of 31 August 1997. William, then aged 15, along with his brother who was 12, the Prince of Wales waited until his sons woke the following morning to tell them about their mothers death. At his mothers funeral, William accompanied his father, brother, paternal grandfather, William began to accompany his parents on official visits at an early age. William was educated at independent schools, starting at Jane Mynors nursery school, following this, he attended Ludgrove School near Wokingham, Berkshire, and was privately tutored during summers by Rory Stewart
9.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
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Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is the wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. Following his father Charles, Prince of Wales, William is second in line to succeed his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, the duchess grew up in Chapel Row, a village near Newbury, Berkshire, England. She studied art history in Scotland at the University of St Andrews and their engagement was announced on 16 November 2010 before they married on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey. The duke and duchess have two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, who are third and fourth in line to the British throne. Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on 9 January 1982 to an upper-middle-class family and she was christened at St Andrews Bradfield, Berkshire, on 20 June 1982. The family of her father Michael has ties to British aristocracy and her Middleton relatives were reported as having played host to British royalty as long ago as 1926. She has a sister, Philippa Pippa, and a younger brother. The family lived in Amman, Jordan, from May 1984 to September 1986, her father worked for British Airways, following her return to Berkshire in 1986, she was enrolled aged four at St Andrews School, a private school near the village of Pangbourne in Berkshire. She boarded part-weekly at St Andrews in her later years and she then studied briefly at Downe House. In November 2006, Middleton accepted a position as a buyer with the clothing chain Jigsaw. She also worked until January 2011 at Party Pieces, her role within the business included catalogue design and production, marketing. In 2001, Middleton met Prince William while they were students in residence at St Salvators Hall at the University of St Andrews. The couple began dating in 2003, although their relationship remained unconfirmed, on 17 October 2005, Middleton complained through her lawyer about harassment from the media, stating that she had done nothing significant to warrant publicity. Middleton attended Prince Williams Passing Out Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 15 December 2006, on 17 May 2008, Middleton attended the wedding of Prince Williams cousin Peter Phillips to Autumn Kelly, which the prince did not attend. On 19 July 2008, she was a guest at the wedding of Lady Rose Windsor, Prince William was away on military operations in the Caribbean, serving aboard HMS Iron Duke. In 2010, Middleton pursued an invasion of privacy claim against two agencies and photographer Niraj Tanna, who took photographs of her over Christmas 2009 and she obtained a public apology, £5,000 in damages, and legal costs. In April 2007, Prince William and Middleton split up, the couple decided to break up during a holiday in the Swiss resort of Zermatt. Newspapers speculated about the reasons for the split, although these reports relied on anonymous sources, Middleton and her family attended the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium, where she and Prince William sat two rows apart
10.
Bagshot Park
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Bagshot Park is a royal residence located near Bagshot, a village 11 miles south of Windsor and approximately 11 miles north west of Guildford. Owned by the Crown Estate it is the current home of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Bagshot Park is on Bagshot Heath, a fifty square-mile tract of formerly open land in Surrey and Berkshire. Bagshot Park occupies 21 hectares within the area of Windsor Great Park. It is only a few miles from Sunninghill Park, the residence of the Duke. In March 1998, the Mansion House at Bagshot Park, including a block of stables, the Mansion House was renovated as a residence for the prince. The renovation was funded by the Crown Estate and partly by Prince Edward. The renovation was estimated to cost £2. 18m, with £1. 6m from the Crown Estate. The National Audit Office report on the states that the final cost of renovations was £2. 98m, the Crown Estate paid £1. 6m. The prince rented it from the Crown Estate initially for £5,000 a year then after renovation rising to £90,000 a year subject to 15-year rent reviews linked to RPI. According to the NAO report, the property leased by the prince does not include commercial farmland or woodland, the lease agreement permits subletting of the stable block. The prince is allowed to sell the lease or sub-lease the property after 8 years from the date of completion of the rectification works and it appears that the prince used the premises as a base for his film production company, Ardent Productions, until he closed the business. The original Bagshot Lodge was built between 1631 and 1633 as one of a series of small lodges designed for King Charles I by Inigo Jones, Bagshot Park was subsequently used by Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester, nephew of King George III. The Duke added pieces of property between the estate and Sunningdale, his widow, Princess Mary, daughter of King George III, the original house was demolished in 1877-78. A new building with 120 rooms was completed in 1879, a coachman and seven grooms lived in the stables. Two other domestic staff lived in one of the lodges, three agricultural workers lived in another, and one gardener is recorded as living on the estate, from 1880 this was the principal residence of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, a son of Queen Victoria. The Duke, who was Governor General of Canada from 1911 until 1916, the house was thereafter the regimental headquarters and depot of the Royal Army Chaplains Department, who famously placed a notice by the pond reading Please do not walk on the water. They vacated the building shortly before the Earl and Countess of Wessex took over the tenancy from the Crown, the original sign was removed when the chaplains left, but a new one, made by J. M. J. Holland Chairmakers and given to the Earl of Wessex, has replaced it and this was a result of the Duke of Connaughts Indian tour, when the Duke met John Lockwood Kipling and asked him to design and oversee the installation of a billiard room in Indian taste
11.
St George's Hospital
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St George’s Hospital is a teaching hospital in Tooting, London. Founded in 1733, it is one of the UKs largest teaching hospitals and it is run by the St Georges University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It shares its main site in Tooting in the London Borough of Wandsworth, with the St Georges, University of London which trains NHS staff. The hospital has around 1,000 beds and most general tertiary care such as accident and emergency, maternity services and care for older people and it is also home to one of four major trauma centres and one of eight hyper-acute stroke units for London. St Georges Hospital also provides care for patients from a catchment area in the South East of England. Other services treat patients all over the country, such as family HIV care. The trust also provides a nationwide endoscopy training service, as of the end of 2014 it became the subject of the Channel 4 documentary 24 Hours in A&E. By 1732 the Governors were forced to seek a larger building. The majority of the Governors favoured a house in Castle Lane, the original site was in Lanesborough House at Hyde Park Corner, originally built in 1719 by James Lane, 2nd Viscount Lanesborough in what was then open countryside. The new St Georges Hospital was arranged on three floors and accommodated 30 patients in two wards, one for men and one for women, the hospital was gradually extended and, by 1744, it had fifteen wards and over 250 patients. By the 1800s, the hospital was slipping into disrepair, the old Lanesborough House at Hyde Park Corner was demolished to make way for a new 350 bed facility designed by architect William Wilkins. Building began in 1827 and was completed by 1844, by 1859, a critical shortage of beds led to the addition of an attic floor. This was soon insufficient and led to the creation of a new convalescent hospital, Atkinson Morleys in Wimbledon, a medical school was established in 1834 at Kinnerton Street and was incorporated into the hospital in 1868. In 1948, the National Health Service was introduced and plans for a new site for St Georges at The Grove Fever, in 1954, the Grove Hospital became part of St Georges, and clinical teaching started in Tooting. In 1973, building began on the new site, the new hospital and school buildings were now well advanced. The School was completed, as were two wings of the new hospital, which provided a total of 710 beds, in 1976, the Medical School opened at Tooting and, in 1980, St Georges Hospital at Hyde Park Corner closed its doors for the last time. In 1981, medical education in London was reorganized to recognize the movement of population away from the centre, there are now fewer, larger medical schools in London. The expansion of St Georges, University of London has become part of this policy, in 2003, neuroscience services located at Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon moved to the brand new Atkinson Morley Wing on the main St Georges site
12.
Tooting
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Tooting is a district of South London, England, forming part of the Wandsworth borough. It is located 5 miles south south-west of Charing Cross, Tooting has been settled since pre-Saxon times. The name is of Anglo-Saxon origin but the meaning is disputed and it could mean the people of Tota, in which context Tota may have been a local Anglo-Saxon chieftain. Alternatively it could be derived from an old meaning of the verb to tout, there may have been a watchtower here on the road to London and hence the people of the look-out post. The Romans built a road, which was later named Stane Street by the English, from London to Chichester, Tooting High Street is built on this road. In Saxon times, Tooting and Streatham was given to the Abbey of Chertsey, later, Suene, believed to be a Viking, may have been given all or part of the land. In 933, King Athelstan of England is thought to have confirmed lands including Totinge to Chertsey Abbey and its people were called to render £4 per year to their overlords. Later in the Norman period, it came into the possession of the De Gravenel family, until minor changes in the 19th century it consisted of 2 km2. Upper Tooting, or Tooting Bec, appears as a held by the Abbey of Hellouin Bec, in Normandy. Its domesday assets were 5 hides and it had 5 1⁄2 ploughlands and so was assessed as rendering £7. As with many of South Londons suburbs, Tooting developed during the late Victorian period, some development occurred in the Edwardian era but another large spurt in growth happened during the 1920s and 30s. 1902, Tooting Library opened as a one-storey structure, a second storey was added in 1906. In 2012 the library was rebuilt,2003, Redevelopment of St Georges Hospital buildings completed. The Member of Parliament for Tooting is Dr. Rosena Allin-Khan, following the election of her predecessor Sadiq Khan to the role of Mayor of London in May 2016. Since the parliamentary constituency of Tooting was founded, it has always been a seat held by the Labour Party, Tooting is positioned on the Northern line—with stations at the top and the bottom of the hill that slopes down the High Street, Tooting Bec and Tooting Broadway. Tooting is also served by rail at Tooting railway station providing a direct link south to Sutton via Wimbledon. It also has bus links, with routes to and from Central London, Croydon, Sutton and Kingston amongst others. Tooting Broadway tube station is currently being considered by TfL as a stop on the future Crossrail 2 development, Tooting railway station Mitcham Eastfields railway station Balham railway station Haydons Road railway station Totterdown Fields estate was designated a conservation area, on the 19 September 1978
13.
Windsor Castle
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Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is notable for its association with the English and later British royal family. The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror, since the time of Henry I, it has been used by the reigning monarch and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. Inside the castle walls is the 15th-century St Georges Chapel, considered by the historian John Martin Robinson to be one of the achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic design. Gradually replaced with stone fortifications, the castle withstood a siege during the First Barons War at the start of the 13th century. Edwards core design lasted through the Tudor period, during which Henry VIII and Elizabeth I made increasing use of the castle as a royal court and centre for diplomatic entertainment. Windsor Castle survived the period of the English Civil War, when it was used as a military headquarters for Parliamentary forces. At the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II rebuilt much of Windsor Castle with the help of the architect Hugh May, Queen Victoria made a few minor changes to the castle, which became the centre for royal entertainment for much of her reign. Windsor Castle was used as a refuge for the family during the Luftwaffe bombing campaigns of the Second World War. It is a popular tourist attraction, a venue for hosting state visits, today, more than 500 people live and work in Windsor Castle, making it the largest inhabited castle in the world. Windsor Castle occupies 13 acres, and combines the features of a fortification, a palace, the present-day castle was created during a sequence of phased building projects, culminating in the reconstruction work after a fire in 1992. It is in essence a Georgian and Victorian design based on a medieval structure, since the 14th century, architecture at the castle has attempted to produce a contemporary reinterpretation of older fashions and traditions, repeatedly imitating outmoded or even antiquated styles. Although there has some criticism, the castles architecture and history lends it a place amongst the greatest European palaces. At the heart of Windsor Castle is the Middle Ward, a formed around the motte or artificial hill in the centre of the ward. The motte is 50 feet high and is made from chalk originally excavated from the surrounding ditch, the Round Tower is in reality far from cylindrical, due to the shape and structure of the motte beneath it. The western entrance to the Middle Ward is now open, the eastern exit from the ward is guarded by the Norman Gatehouse. Wyatville redesigned the exterior of the gatehouse, and the interior was later converted in the 19th century for residential use. The Upper Ward of Windsor Castle comprises a number of major buildings enclosed by the bailey wall
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Dean of Windsor
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The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the Canons of St Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle, England. The Dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as primus inter pares, the post of dean of Wolverhampton was assimilated to the deanery of Windsor, around 1480. Dean and Canons of Windsor Fasti Wyndesorienses, The deans and canons of Windsor, historical monographs relating to St. Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle Volume 8. Sidney Leslie Ollard British History Online – A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 2 – Deans of Windsor
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Urs Schwarzenbach
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Urs Ernst Schwarzenbach, CStJ is a UK-based Swiss financier. In April 2015, the Sunday Times estimated his net worth at £1.0 billion Urs Schwarzenbach was born in Thalwil in 1948 and he is the son of a print shop owner. Schwarzenbach set up Interexchange, the largest foreign exchange dealership in Switzerland. Through its success, he has well over £300m of property in the UK,123,000 acres in Australia, a palace in Morocco, £17m of assets in the aviation field. He also has his own team, the Black Bears. He personally backed the racing-themed restaurant Café Grand Prix in Mayfair, London, in 2005, Schwarzenbach was estimated to be worth around £900m but, according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2012, he was ranked 87th with an estimated worth of circa £850m. In 2007, Schwarzenbach outbid other foreign buyers to acquire Culham Court, the latest creation is a maze requiring the planting of 20,000 mature yew bushes, and this is just part of the 20-year plan that has been devised for the gardens and grounds. Another property acquired for £2m in 2010, and situated on raised ground that overlooks Culham Court, is set to be demolished, symm, the Oxford-based building company undertaking all the work on the Culham estate, now sponsors the Hambleden Horse Trials. In 2008, it was reported in the press that Schwarzenbach had bought nearby Fawley Court for £22 million, in 2012 the Schwarzenbachs revoked their consent for the permissive footpath that had run alongside the Thames in front of Culham Court as part of The Thames Path for many years. In 2013/14, Schwarzenbach was investigated by the FCA for alleged VAT fraud totalling some ten million Swiss francs and art trafficking. Under Swiss law, owners of artworks do not have to pay import charges until works of art are formally brought into the country, i. e. they come out of storage and are officially transferred. On Tuesday 16 April 2013, Schwarzenbachs Hotel Dolder in Zurich and this action was simultaneous with a raid on nearby Galerie Gmurzynska on the suspicion of supplying the five-star Hotel Dolder with imported artworks valuing 75M Swiss Francs without paying duty. The Swiss authorities seized a number of documents during their raid. The case has been covered in several outlets including Die Welt. Schwarzenbach eventually admitted the charge and also accepted to pay the VAT amounting to ten million CHF, however, by October 2016 he was still objecting to pay the fine of 4 million Swiss francs. He owns the Dolder Grand, a 5-star Zurich hotel, which cost him SFr 440 million, Schwarzenbach owns about 50,000 hectares of farmland in New South Wales, Australia, through his Romani Pastoral Company. Most of this is between Harden and Jugiong, and includes the polo estate Garangula, as well as Redbank and he owns Palais Layadi, a 19th-century palace set in a 4,000 square meter compound in Marrakech, since at least 2008. Schwarzenbach lives at Culham Court near Henley-on-Thames and sponsored the rowing gallery of the River and he owns other estates and farms in England, a 10,000 acre sporting estate in Scotland and the largest country estate on the Isle of Wight
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Baptismal clothing
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Baptismal clothing is apparel worn by Christian proselytes during the ceremony of baptism. White clothes are worn because the person being baptized is fresh like the driven manna. For adults, the robe is a long, sleeved garment, similar to the Western alb, a woman may also cover her head with a white veil. For infant baptisms, the robe may be a white gown and bonnet, and these garments are placed on the newly baptized immediately after coming up out of the waters of baptism. Amen. and the choir sings, Vouchsafe unto me the robe of light, O Thou who clothest Thyself with light as with a garment, Christ our God, plenteous in mercy. In Orthodox theology the baptismal robe symbolizes the Garments of Light with which Adam, baptism is believed to cleanse the believer of all the sinful defilements both of original sin and personal sins and the white garment is symbolic of this. During the ektenia before baptism, the deacon prays That he may preserve this baptismal garment, referring not so much to the material garment as to the spiritual cleansing it represents. The newly baptized will traditionally wear their baptismal garment for eight days and these are special days of prayer and fasting, at the end of which they return to the church for the Removal of the Robe on the Eighth Day and ablutions. Maintain the shield of his faith unassailed by the enemy and he then sprinkles the newly baptized with water and washes all of the places the chrism was applied, and performs the tonsure. Someone who has been baptized as an adult will often be buried in their baptismal robe, in the Roman Catholic Church, most of those born into the faith are baptized as infants. They are in fact the normal, or at least best, the moment of progression to shorter dresses was known as shortcoating, which usually coincided with the beginning of crawling, which was difficult in a long robe, or at five to six months of age. Christening gowns are made of fine white linen or cotton fabric, and may be trimmed with tucks, lace, whitework embroidery. Baptismal gowns often have matching bonnets, and may become family heirlooms, the Anglican church grew from its mother the Church of England and includes the Episcopal Church in the United States. It views itself as the continuation of the early apostolic and later medieval universal church. Many of the traditions are therefore the same as the Roman Catholic. The modern church allows for much diversity, but usually the clothing is white for the infant or young child. A wide variety of practices are found in the spectrum of Protestantism, some mainstream Protestant churches practice infant baptism, and thus make use of the christening gown, while others encourage or practice exclusive adult baptism. In some of the churches, special white clothing may be worn by both the person being baptized and the person performing the baptism
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Victoria, Princess Royal
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Victoria, Princess Royal was German Empress and Queen of Prussia by marriage to German Emperor Frederick III. She was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland and Prince Albert and she was the mother of Wilhelm II, German Emperor. Criticised for this attitude and her English origins, Victoria suffered the ostracism of the Hohenzollerns and this isolation increased after the arrival of Otto von Bismarck to power in 1862. Victoria was Empress and Queen of Prussia for only a few months, Frederick III died in 1888 – just 99 days after his accession – from laryngeal cancer and was succeeded by their son William II, who had much more conservative views than his parents. After her husbands death, she became known as Empress Frederick. The Empress Dowager then settled in Kronberg im Taunus, where she built a castle, Friedrichshof, increasingly isolated after the weddings of her younger daughters, Victoria died of breast cancer a few months after her mother in 1901. These give an insight into the life of the Prussian court during 1858-1900. Princess Victoria was born on 21 November 1840 at Buckingham Palace and she was named after her mother, Queen Victoria, the only child of George IIIs fourth eldest son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Her father was Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the second and younger son of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, as a daughter of the sovereign, Victoria was automatically a British princess with the title Her Royal Highness, styled HRH The Princess Victoria. On 19 January 1841, the Queen created Victoria Princess Royal, Victoria was then styled HRH The Princess Royal. In addition, she was heiress presumptive to the throne of the United Kingdom, to her family, she was known simply as Vicky or Pussy. She was baptised in the Throne Room of Buckingham Palace on 10 February 1841 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lily font was commissioned especially for the occasion of her christening. Her godparents were Queen Adelaide, King Leopold I of Belgium, Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, The Duke of Sussex, The Duchess of Gloucester, the royal couple decided to give their children as complete an education as possible. In fact, Queen Victoria, who succeeded her uncle, King William IV, at the age of 18, believed that she herself had not been sufficiently prepared for the government affairs. For his part, Prince Albert, born in the small Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, had received a careful education, thanks to his uncle, Leopold I. Therefore, shortly after the birth of Victoria, Prince Albert wrote a memoir detailing the tasks and duties of all those involved with the royal children. Another 48-page document, written a year and a half later by the Baron Stockmar, intimate of the royal couple, unfortunately, the royal couple had only a very vague idea of the proper educational development of a child. Queen Victoria, for example, believed that the fact that her baby sucked bracelets was a sign of deficient education, according to Hannah Pakula, biographer of the future German Empress, the first two governesses of the princess were therefore particularly well chosen
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Queen Victoria
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Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne aged 18, after her fathers three brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. The United Kingdom was already a constitutional monarchy, in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments, publicly, Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together, after Alberts death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and it was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover and her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father. Victorias father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, until 1817, Edwards niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Her death in 1817 precipitated a crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent. In 1818 he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl and Feodora —by her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen and her brother Leopold was Princess Charlottes widower. The Duke and Duchess of Kents only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 a. m. on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace and she was baptised Alexandrina, after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina, Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Dukes eldest brother, George, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent married on the same day in 1818, but both of Clarences daughters died as infants. Victorias father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old, a week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son, George IV. The Duke of York died in 1827, when George IV died in 1830, he was succeeded by his next surviving brother, William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive
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Girlguiding
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Girlguiding is the operating name of The Guide Association, previously named The Girl Guides Association and is the national guiding organisation of the United Kingdom. It is the UK’s largest girl-only youth organisation, in local groups – called ‘units’ - girls complete badges and challenges that cover topics from circus skills, stargazing and scientific investigation, to first aid, camping and community action. Each year, the organisation publishes the Girls Attitudes Survey, which surveys the views of girls and young women on topics such as image, career aspirations. Guiding began in the UK in 1910, when Robert Baden-Powell, founder of The Boy Scouts Association, the Guide Association was a founding member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 1928. Girlguiding is supported by around 100,000 volunteers, following the origin of the Boy Scouts in 1907 many girls took up Scouting. Guiding was introduced to respond to the demand, in 1910 Robert Baden-Powell formed the Girl Guides and asked his sister Agnes to look after the Girl Guides organisation. A few years later Baden-Powells new wife Olave became involved and, the name Guides was chosen from Baden-Powells military background, Guides had operated in the north-west frontier in India, their main task was to go on hazardous expeditions. These men had particularly influenced Baden-Powell as they continued training minds, as a result, Baden Powell decided Girl Guides would be a suitable name for the pioneering young womens movement he wished to establish. In 1914 Rosebuds were established for girls aged 8–10, this name was changed to Brownies. Two years later in 1916 the first Senior Guide groups were formed,1943 saw the establishment of the Trefoil Guild for members over 21 who wished to remain a part of the movement but couldnt remain active with a unit. The section for the youngest members of the association, Rainbows, was introduced in 1987 for girls aged 5–7, Girlguiding has remained a member of NCVYS ever since. In 1964, a Working Party was established to review and update the whole programme of the association and these recommendations were implemented in 1968 and included new uniforms, badges and awards across all the sections of the association. Land, Sea and Air Rangers were merged into a single Ranger section, Girls are organised into sections by age. These are Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and The Senior Section, Rainbow Guides or Rainbows are aged from 5 to 7 year old, except in Northern Ireland where girls can join from age 4. Activities are organised around work the four areas of the Rainbow Jigsaw – Look, Learn, Laugh, in the UK the girls used to wear a tabard in one of the colours of the Rainbow, now the newer uniform is worn. There is a cap, cycle shorts, hoodie, jogging bottoms. Each girl makes a promise on joining a Rainbow unit and must be able to understand and this Promise is a simpler version of the one all members make. The Rainbow Jigsaw is used in the unit via the Rainbow Roundabout, the Rainbows themselves choose an activity from one of each of the four Jigsaw areas
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South Africa
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South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country in Africa. South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and it is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, the remaining population consists of Africas largest communities of European, Asian, and multiracial ancestry. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a variety of cultures, languages. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the recognition of 11 official languages. The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup détat, however, the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. During the 20th century, the black majority sought to recover its rights from the dominant white minority, with this struggle playing a role in the countrys recent history. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalising previous racial segregation, since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups have held political representation in the countrys democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the Rainbow Nation to describe the multicultural diversity. The World Bank classifies South Africa as an economy. Its economy is the second-largest in Africa, and the 34th-largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, South Africa has the seventh-highest per capita income in Africa. However, poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed, nevertheless, South Africa has been identified as a middle power in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence. The name South Africa is derived from the geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation the country was named the Union of South Africa in English, since 1961 the long form name in English has been the Republic of South Africa. In Dutch the country was named Republiek van Zuid-Afrika, replaced in 1983 by the Afrikaans Republiek van Suid-Afrika, since 1994 the Republic has had an official name in each of its 11 official languages. Mzansi, derived from the Xhosa noun umzantsi meaning south, is a name for South Africa. South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological and human fossil sites in the world, extensive fossil remains have been recovered from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has termed the Cradle of Humankind
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Driving (horse)
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It encompasses a wide range of activities from pleasure driving, to harness racing, to farm work, horse shows, and even International combined driving competition sanctioned by the FEI. The term in harness often is used to describe a horse being driven, for horse training purposes, driving may also include the practice of long-lining, wherein a horse is driven without a cart by a handler walking behind or behind and to the side of the animal. This technique is used in the stages of training horses for riding as well as for driving. Horses, mules and donkeys are driven in harness in many different ways, for working purposes, they can pull a plow or other farm equipment designed to be pulled by animals. In many parts of the world they still pull carts, wagons, horse-drawn boats or logs for basic hauling and they may draw carriages at ceremonies, such as when the British monarch is Trooping the Colour, as well as in parades or for tourist rides. Horses can race in harness, pulling a very lightweight cart known as a sulky. Draft horse showing, Most draft horse performance competition is done in harness, draft horses compete in both single and multiple hitches, judged on manners and performance. Carriage driving, using somewhat larger two or four wheeled carriages, often restored antiques, pulled by a horse, a tandem or four-in-hand team. Pleasure competitions are judged on the turnout/neatness or suitability of horse, nearly any breed of horse can be trained for pleasure driving. Fine harness, Also called formal driving, horses are hitched to a light four-wheeled cart and shown in a manner that emphasizes flashy action and dramatic performance. Refined pony breeds and certain light saddle horse breeds noted for their action are most often seen in fine harness, roadsters are shown at two types of trot, known as road gait and at speed. A team is more than one animal used together for draft, the animals may be arranged in various ways. While a single animal is placed between two shafts, a pair is usually hitched side by side with a single pole between them. A troika is a team hitched in a row of three, the center horse in shafts and each of the other two hitched on either side. A tandem hitch has one animal in shafts, then one or more others hitched ahead of the first in single file. Larger teams are usually in pairs, with four, six or even more animals overall, sometimes other arrangements are used, such as the unicorn, and the pickaxe. Teams larger than six are generally limited to situations where large loads must be hauled over difficult ground, for example, eight-ox plowing teams were once common on the heavy soils of southern England, as were very large ox teams used in 19th century South Africa. Twenty-mule teams were used in the century for hauling ore in California
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Royal Windsor Horse Show
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The Royal Windsor Horse Show is a horse show held annually since 1943 for five days in May or June in Windsor Home Park. The show is the one in the United Kingdom to host international competition for dressage, show jumping, carriage driving. In addition, there are over 130 showing classes, Royal Windsor Horse Show was special in 2016 as The Queen celebrated her 90th birthday celebrations. Royal Windsor Horse Show official site Media related to Royal Windsor Horse Show at Wikimedia Commons
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St Mary's School, Ascot
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St Marys School Ascot is a Roman Catholic independent day and boarding school for girls in South Ascot, Berkshire, England. It is a member of the Girls Schools Association and it was named 2016 Public School of the Year at the annual Tatler Schools Awards. St Marys School was founded by the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the school chapel was built in 1885 and funded by Cecilia Marshall, and the First Mass was celebrated there on 2 July 1896. The Chapel is dedicated to Our Lady of Humility and St Cecilia and it was consecrated by Bishop John Baptist Cahill in 1906. Since 1984, it has been run by the St Marys School Ascot Trust, in 1998 the school had its first lay Headmistress, Mrs Mary Breen. Only one liturgical staff member remains, Father Dermot, the schools chaplain, in 2006, the school opened its new sports centre, named the Orchard Centre after the Catholic family from which the schools two previous headmistresses came. The Centre was opened by ballerina Darcey Bussell, a Performing Arts Centre has also been built named the Rose Theatre. In 2015, St Marys became the first school in the UK to use vein matching for keeping track of pupil attendance, St Marys has enjoyed success in the GCSE and A Levels examinations. In the 2010 GCSEs, girls achieved a 100% pass rate and placed 27th in a Daily Mail survey ranking according to % of GCSEs awarded A* and A grades and it was listed in The Independents top 100 schools for 2012 based on the most recent A Levels results. As St Marys is a Catholic school, girls are required to attend chapel, throughout the Liturgical year the whole school community gather together to celebrate Feast Days and Holy Days of Obligation. Spiritual retreats are organised for each year. Most pupils at St Marys are boarders and only full boarding is available, the house system is based on the boarding programme and each house has a mix of boarders and day girls. Each girl between Year 7 and Lower 6th belongs to one of the five main houses - Babthorpe, Bedingfeld, Poyntz, Rookwood, only girls in Upper Sixth are members of the Mary Ward house. Each house has a captain, vice-captain and other leadership roles who are elected by house pupils, the Heads of House are the first point of contact for girls and parents and most also teach at the school. All Heads of House have an office in the body of the school. Every house organises activities and social events on the weekends, which parents are encouraged to attend
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Ascot, Berkshire
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Ascot /ˈæskɒt/ is a small town in East Berkshire, England,6 miles south of Windsor,4 miles east of Bracknell and 25 miles west of London. It is most notable as the location of Ascot Racecourse, home of the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting, the town comprises three areas, Ascot itself, North Ascot and South Ascot. It is in the parish of Sunninghill and Ascot. Ascot is in the district administered by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, the Church of England parish church of All Saints, Ascot Heath is a red brick Gothic Revival building designed by T. H. The east window of its chancel is a Jesse window with stained glass made by C. E. Kempe & Co in 1907, above it is a rose window by Hardman & Co. The Church of England parish church of All Souls, South Ascot is another red-brick Gothic Revival building and it was designed by J. L. Pearson and built in 1896–97. It has a tower with a pyramidal roof. Its nave has aisles of four bays, the ceilings of the chancel, baptistery and the crossing under the tower are rib vaulted. All Souls is a Grade II* listed building, Ascot Priory was founded in 1861 for the Society of the Most Holy Trinity. It has buildings designed by the architects Charles Buckeridge, William Butterfield, George Gilbert Scott, the Roman Catholic church of St Francis is also a red-brick Gothic Revival building. It was designed by the Roman Catholic priest and architect A. J. C, scoles, built in 1889 and has an apsidal chancel. Papplewick is also based in Ascot, the local state secondary school in the Ascot area is Charters School in nearby Sunningdale, which received a Grade 1 Outstanding assessment from the Schools watchdog Ofsted in 2009. Facilities tend to be geared towards the racecourse, but there is a range of shops in the wide High Street. Most of the facilities one would expect to find in a small town are here, including a supermarket, petrol station. Most buildings are post-war with flats above the ground floor retail space, heatherwood Hospital was at the western edge of the town. As a consequence of the frequent service on line, Ascot is now a commuter centre with its residents in both directions. The centrepiece of Ascots year is held in June, Royal Ascot is without doubt the worlds most famous race meeting, the royal family attend the meeting, arriving each day in a horse-drawn carriage. It is an event in the British social calendar
25.
Letters patent
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Letters patent can be used for the creation of corporations or government offices, or for the granting of city status or a coat of arms. Letters patent are issued for the appointment of representatives of the Crown, such as governors and governors-general of Commonwealth realms, in the United Kingdom they are also issued for the creation of peers of the realm. A particular form of letters patent has evolved into the modern patent granting exclusive rights in an invention. e, the opposite of letters patent are letters close, which are personal in nature and sealed so that only the recipient can read their contents. Letters patent are thus comparable to other kinds of open letter in that their audience is wide, letters patent are so named from the Latin verb pateo, to lie open, exposed, accessible. The originators seal was attached pendent from the document, so that it did not have to be broken in order for the document to be read. Thus letters patent do not equate to a letter but rather to any form of document, deed, contract, letter, despatch, edict, decree. Letters patent are a form of open or public proclamation and an exercise of extra-parliamentary power by a monarch or president. Prior to the establishment of Parliament, the monarch ruled absolutely by the issuing of his written orders. They can thus be contrasted with the Act of Parliament, which is in effect an order by Parliament. No explicit government approval is contained within letters patent, only the seal or signature of the monarch, in their original form they were simply written instructions or orders from the sovereign, whose order was law, which were made public to reinforce their effect. According to the United Kingdom Ministry of Justice, there are 92 different types of letters patent. The Patent Rolls are made up of copies of English royal letters patent. In 1634, during the Thirty Years War, the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II became convinced that his general Albrecht von Wallenstein was plotting treason, on 24 January 1634 the Emperor signed a secret patent removing him from his command. Finally an open patent, charging Wallenstein with high treason, was signed on 18 February, in the patent, Ferdinand II ordered to have Wallenstein brought under arrest to Vienna, dead or alive. On the basis of patent, several of Wallensteins officers assassinated him and were rewarded by the Emperor. The form of patent for creating peerages has been fixed by the Crown Office Order 1992. Part III of the schedule lays down nine pro forma texts for creating various ranks of the peerage, lords of appeal in ordinary, gender-specific differences are highlighted in italics. In Commonwealth realms, letters patent are issued under the powers of the head of state
26.
Royal Highness
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Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes other than monarchs and their female consorts. When used as a form of address, spoken or written. When used as a reference, it is gender-specific and, in plural. Holders of the style Royal Highness generally rank below holders of the style Imperial Highness, by the 17th century, all local rulers in Italy adopted the style Highness, that was once used by kings and emperors only. Thus, the first use of the style Royal Highness was recorded in 1633, gaston, Duke of Orléans, younger son of King Henry IV of France, encountered the style in Brussels and assumed it himself. His children later used the style, considering it their prerogative as grandchildren of France, by the 18th century, Royal Highness had become the prevalent style for members of a continental reigning dynasty whose head bore the hereditary title of king or queen. The titles of members of non-hereditary rulers were less clear. Even in the cases of the titles, they usually only exist as courtesies. The chiefly appellation Kabiyesi is likewise used as the equivalent of the HRH, the title of Archduke or Archduchess of Austria was known to be complemented with the style of Royal Highness to all of the members of the House of Habsburg and later the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. The title of Prince/Princess of the Netherlands with the style of H. R. H. is or may be granted by law to the following classes of persons. The heir apparent to the throne, the spouse of the heir apparent. The children of the monarch, other than the heir apparent, the children of the heir apparent. A Prince/Princess of Orange-Nassau who is not also a Prince/Princess of the Netherlands is addressed as His/Her Highness without the predicate royal and that is the case for example of the children of Princess Margriet, younger daughter of the late Queen Juliana. In the British monarchy the style of Royal Highness is associated with the rank of prince or princess and this is especially important when a prince has another title such as Duke by which he or she would usually be addressed. In the United Kingdom, letters patent dated 21 August 1996 stated that the wife of a member of the Royal Family loses the right to the style of HRH in the event of their divorce. It was for this reason that when the Prince and Princess of Wales divorced, she ceased to be Royal Highness, and was styled Diana, Princess of Wales. Almost a year before, according to the claim of writer Tina Brown. The Princess of Wales is said to have replied, My title is a lot older than yours and she noted that the Spencer family, the family she was born to, is older than the House of Windsor
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Buckingham Palace
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Buckingham Palace is the London residence and administrative headquarters of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and it has been a focal point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and mourning. It was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a residence for Queen Charlotte. During the 19th century it was enlarged, principally by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, Buckingham Palace became the London residence of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The palace chapel was destroyed by a German bomb during World War II, the original early 19th-century interior designs, many of which survive, include widespread use of brightly coloured scagliola and blue and pink lapis, on the advice of Sir Charles Long. King Edward VII oversaw a partial redecoration in a Belle Époque cream, many smaller reception rooms are furnished in the Chinese regency style with furniture and fittings brought from the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and from Carlton House. The palace has 775 rooms, and the garden is the largest private garden in London, the state rooms, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public each year for most of August and September and on some days in winter and spring. In the Middle Ages, the site of the palace formed part of the Manor of Ebury. The marshy ground was watered by the river Tyburn, which flows below the courtyard. Where the river was fordable, the village of Eye Cross grew, ownership of the site changed hands many times, owners included Edward the Confessor and his queen consort Edith of Wessex in late Saxon times, and, after the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror. William gave the site to Geoffrey de Mandeville, who bequeathed it to the monks of Westminster Abbey, in 1531, King Henry VIII acquired the Hospital of St James from Eton College, and in 1536 he took the Manor of Ebury from Westminster Abbey. These transfers brought the site of Buckingham Palace back into royal hands for the first time since William the Conqueror had given it away almost 500 years earlier, various owners leased it from royal landlords and the freehold was the subject of frenzied speculation during the 17th century. By then, the old village of Eye Cross had long fallen into decay. Needing money, James I sold off part of the Crown freehold, clement Walker in Anarchia Anglicana refers to new-erected sodoms and spintries at the Mulberry Garden at S. Jamess, this suggests it may have been a place of debauchery. Eventually, in the late 17th century, the freehold was inherited from the property tycoon Sir Hugh Audley by the great heiress Mary Davies, possibly the first house erected within the site was that of a Sir William Blake, around 1624. The next owner was Lord Goring, who from 1633 extended Blakes house and he did not, however, obtain the freehold interest in the mulberry garden. Unbeknown to Goring, in 1640 the document failed to pass the Great Seal before King Charles I fled London and it was this critical omission that helped the British royal family regain the freehold under King George III. The improvident Goring defaulted on his rents, Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington obtained the mansion and was occupying it, now known as Goring House, Arlington House rose on the site—the location of the southern wing of todays palace—the next year
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Provinces and territories of Canada
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Canadas geography is divided into administrative divisions known as provinces and territories that are responsible for delivery of sub-national governance. Over its history, Canadas international borders have changed several times, the ten provinces are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. Several of the provinces were former British colonies, Quebec was originally a French colony, the three territories are Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon, which govern the rest of the area of the former British North America. Together, the provinces and territories make up the worlds second-largest country by area, the powers flowing from the Constitution Act are divided between the federal government and the provincial governments to exercise exclusively. In modern Canadian constitutional theory, the provinces are considered to be co-sovereign divisions, the territories are not sovereign, but simply part of the federal realm, and have a commissioner who represents the federal government. Notes, There are three territories in Canada, unlike the provinces, the territories of Canada have no inherent sovereignty and have only those powers delegated to them by the federal government. They include all of mainland Canada north of latitude 60° north and west of Hudson Bay, the following table lists the territories in order of precedence. Prior to Confederation, Ontario and Quebec were united as the Province of Canada, over the following years, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island were added as provinces. The Hudsons Bay Company controlled large swathes of western Canada referred to as Ruperts Land and the North-Western Territory until 1870, subsequently, the area was re-organized into the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. The remaining Arctic islands were transferred by Britain to Canada in 1880,1898 saw the Yukon Territory, later renamed simply as Yukon, carved from the parts of the Northwest Territories surrounding the Klondike gold fields. On September 1,1905, a portion of the Northwest Territories south of the 60th parallel north became the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 1912, the boundaries of Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba were expanded northward, Manitobas to the 60° parallel, Ontarios to Hudson Bay, in 1907, Newfoundland acquired dominion status. In the middle of the Great Depression in Canada with Newfoundland facing a period of economic crisis. In 2001, it was officially renamed Newfoundland and Labrador, in 1903, the Alaska Panhandle Dispute fixed British Columbias northwestern boundary. This was one of two provinces in Canadian history to have its size reduced. In 1999, Nunavut was created from the portion of the Northwest Territories. Yukon lies in the portion of The North, while Nunavut is in the east. All three territories combined are the most sparsely populated region in Canada, covering 3,921,739 km2 in land area and they are often referred to as a single region, The North, for organisational and economic purposes
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Manitoba
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Manitoba is a province at the longitudinal centre of Canada. It is one of the three provinces and Canadas fifth-most populous province with its estimated 1.3 million people. Manitoba covers 649,950 square kilometres with a varied landscape. Aboriginal peoples have inhabited what is now Manitoba for thousands of years, in the late 17th century, fur traders arrived in the area when it was part of Ruperts Land and owned by the Hudsons Bay Company. In 1869, negotiations for the creation of the province of Manitoba led to an uprising of the Métis people against the Government of Canada. The rebellions resolution led to the Parliament of Canada passing the Manitoba Act in 1870 that created the province, Manitobas capital and largest city, Winnipeg, is Canadas eighth-largest census metropolitan area. Winnipeg is the seat of government, home to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, four of the provinces five universities and all four of its professional sports teams are in Winnipeg. The name Manitoba is believed to be derived from the Cree, the name derives from Cree manitou-wapow or Ojibwa manidoobaa, both meaning straits of Manitou, the Great Spirit, a place referring to what are now called The Narrows in the centre of Lake Manitoba. It may also be from the Assiniboine for Lake of the Prairie, the lake was known to French explorers as Lac des Prairies. Thomas Spence chose the name to refer to a new republic he proposed for the south of the lake. Métis leader Louis Riel also chose the name, and it was accepted in Ottawa under the Manitoba Act of 1870 and it adjoins Hudson Bay to the northeast, and is the only prairie province to have a saltwater coastline. The Port of Churchill is Canadas only Arctic deep-water port and the shortest shipping route between North America and Asia, Lake Winnipeg is the tenth-largest freshwater lake in the world. Hudson Bay is the worlds second-largest bay, Manitoba is at the heart of the giant Hudson Bay watershed, once known as Ruperts Land. It was a area of the Hudsons Bay Company, with many rivers. The province has a saltwater coastline bordering Hudson Bay and more than 110,000 lakes, Manitobas major lakes are Lake Manitoba, Lake Winnipegosis, and Lake Winnipeg, the tenth-largest freshwater lake in the world. Some traditional Native lands and boreal forest on Lake Winnipegs east side are a proposed UNESCO World Heritage Site. Manitoba is at the centre of the Hudson Bay drainage basin, with a volume of the water draining into Lake Winnipeg. This basins rivers reach far west to the mountains, far south into the United States, major watercourses include the Red, Assiniboine, Nelson, Winnipeg, Hayes, Whiteshell and Churchill rivers
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Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
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The present, and 25th, Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba is Janice Filmon, who has served in the role since 19 June 2015. The Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba is vested with a number of duties and is also expected to undertake various ceremonial roles. In 1919, the Manitoba legislature voted in favour of The Initiative and Referendum Act, Lieutenant Governor George Johnson was called upon to use his reserve powers in March 1988. Johnson thereafter dissolved the legislature and called an election and the premier, Howard Pawley, Pawley felt that he could hand over the premiership to whoever succeeded him as party leader. The NDP failed to win the election, regardless, monarchy in the Canadian provinces Government of Manitoba Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
31.
George I of Greece
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George I was King of Greece from 1863 until his assassination in 1913. Originally a Danish prince, George was born in Copenhagen, and he was only 17 years old when he was elected king by the Greek National Assembly, which had deposed the unpopular former king Otto. His nomination was both suggested and supported by the Great Powers, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Second French Empire and he married the Russian grand duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia, and became the first monarch of a new Greek dynasty. Two of his sisters, Alexandra and Dagmar, married into the British, King Edward VII and Tsar Alexander III were his brothers-in-law and King George V and Tsar Nicholas II were his nephews. Georges reign of almost 50 years was characterized by territorial gains as Greece established its place in pre-World War I Europe, Britain ceded the Ionian Islands peacefully, while Thessaly was annexed from the Ottoman Empire after the Russo-Turkish War. Greece was not always successful in its ambitions, it was defeated in the Greco-Turkish War. During the First Balkan War, after Greek troops had captured much of Greek Macedonia, compared to his own long tenure, the reigns of his successors Constantine, Alexander, and George II proved short and insecure. George was born at the Yellow Palace, an 18th-century town house at 18 Amaliegade and he was the second son of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. Although he was of blood, his family was relatively obscure. In 1852, however, Georges father was designated the heir presumptive to the childless King Frederick VII of Denmark, Georges siblings were Frederick, Alexandra, Dagmar, Thyra and Valdemar. Georges mother tongue was Danish, with English as a second language and he was also taught French and German. He embarked on a career in the Royal Danish Navy, while Frederick was described as quiet and extremely well-behaved, George was lively and full of pranks. Many Greeks, seeking closer ties to the pre-eminent world power, Great Britain, rallied around Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. British prime minister Lord Palmerston believed that the Greeks were panting for increase in territory, hoping for a gift of the Ionian Islands, which were then a British protectorate. The London Conference of 1832, however, prohibited any of the Great Powers ruling families from accepting the crown, the Greeks nevertheless insisted on holding a plebiscite in which Prince Alfred received over 95% of the 240,000 votes. There were 93 votes for a Republic and 6 for a Greek, with Prince Alfreds exclusion, the search began for an alternative candidate. Eventually, the Greeks and Great Powers winnowed their choice to Prince William of Denmark, aged only 17, he was elected King of the Hellenes on 30 March 1863 by the Greek National Assembly under the regnal name of George I. Paradoxically, he ascended a royal throne before his father, who became King of Denmark on 15 November the same year, there were two significant differences between Georges elevation and that of his predecessor, Otto
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Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
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Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was the seventh child and fourth son of King George I of Greece and Olga Constantinovna of Russia. He was a grandson of Christian IX of Denmark and father of Prince Philip and he began military training at an early age, and was commissioned as an officer in the Greek army. His command positions were substantive appointments rather than honorary, and he saw service in the Balkan Wars, in 1913, his father was assassinated and Andrews elder brother, Constantine, became king. Dissatisfaction with his brothers neutrality policy during World War I led to his brothers abdication and most of the royal family, including Andrew, was exiled. On their return a few later, Andrew saw service in the Greco-Turkish War, but the war went badly for Greece. He was exiled for a time in 1922, and spent most of the rest of his life in France. By 1930, he was estranged from his wife, Princess Alice of Battenberg and his only son, Prince Philip, served in the British navy during World War II, while all four of his daughters were married to Germans, three of whom had Nazi connections. Separated from his wife and son by the effects of the war and he had seen neither of them since 1939. Prince Andrew was born at the Old Royal Palace in Athens on February 2,1882 and he was taught English by his caretakers as he grew up, but in conversations with his parents he refused to speak anything but Greek. He also spoke German, Danish, Russian, and French and he attended cadet school and staff college at Athens, and was given additional private tuition in military subjects by Panagiotis Danglis. Despite his short-sightedness, Andrew joined the army as a officer in May 1901. In 1902, Prince Andrew met Princess Alice of Battenberg at the coronation of her grand-uncle and his aunts husband, King Edward VII, Princess Alice was a daughter of Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. They fell in love, and the year, on 6 October 1903. The following day two religious wedding services were performed, one Lutheran in the Evangelical Castle Church, and another Greek Orthodox in the Russian Chapel on the Mathildenhöhe, Prince and Princess Andrew had five children, all of whom later had children of their own. In 1909, the situation in Greece led to a coup détat, as the Athens government refused to support the Cretan parliament. A group of dissatisfied officers formed a Greek nationalist Military League that eventually led to Prince Andrews resignation from the army and the rise to power of Eleftherios Venizelos. A few years later, at the outbreak of the Balkan Wars in 1912, Andrew was reinstated in the army as a lieutenant colonel in the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, and placed in command of a field hospital. During the war, his father was assassinated and Andrew inherited a villa on the island of Corfu, in 1914, Andrew held honorary military posts in both the German and Russian empires, as well as Prussian, Russian, Danish and Italian knighthoods
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Olga Constantinovna of Russia
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Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia, later Queen Olga of the Hellenes, was the wife of King George I of Greece and, briefly in 1920, regent of Greece. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is her grandson, a member of the Romanov dynasty, she was the daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg. She spent her childhood in Saint Petersburg, Poland and the Crimea, at first, she felt ill at ease in the Kingdom of Greece, but she quickly became involved in social and charitable work. She founded hospitals and help centers, but her attempt to promote a new, more accessible, on the assassination of her husband in 1913, Olga returned to Russia. When the First World War broke out, she set up a hospital in Pavlovsk Palace. She was trapped in the palace after the Russian Revolution of 1917, until the Danish embassy intervened, Olga could not return to Greece as her son, King Constantine I, had been deposed. In October 1920, she returned to Athens on the illness of her grandson. After his death, she was appointed regent until the restoration of Constantine I the following month. After the defeat of the Greeks in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–22 the Greek royal family were exiled and Olga spent the last years of her life in the United Kingdom, France. Olga was born at Pavlovsk Palace near Saint Petersburg on 3 September 1851 and she was the second child and elder daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich and his wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra, a former princess of Saxe-Altenburg. Through her father, Olga was a granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I and her childhood was spent at her fathers homes, including Pavlovsk Palace and estates in the Crimea. Her father was a brother of Alexander II, and her mother was considered one of the most intelligent and elegant women of the court. Olga was particularly close to her brother, Nicholas, and was one of the few members of the imperial family to keep in touch with him after he was banished to Tashkent. As a child, Olga was described as a simple and chubby little girl with a broad face, unlike her younger sister, Vera, she had a calm temperament, but she was also extremely shy. For example, when interrogated by her tutors during lessons, she burst into tears, in 1862, Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich was appointed viceroy of Russian Poland by his brother and moved to Warsaw with his wife and children. The stay in Poland proved difficult for the Grand Duke, who was the victim of a nationalist assassination attempt the day after his arrival in the Polish capital. Although Constantine embarked on a program of liberalization and re-instated Polish as an official language, finally, an uprising in January 1863 and the radicalization of the separatists pushed the Tsar to recall his brother in August. Olgas difficult experiences in Poland marked her profoundly, the young King George I of Greece visited Russia in 1863 to thank Olgas uncle Tsar Alexander II for his support during Georges election to the throne of Greece
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Prince Louis of Battenberg
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Although born in Austria, and brought up in Italy and Germany, he enrolled in the United Kingdoms Royal Navy at the age of fourteen. However, Louis welcomed assignments that provided opportunities for him to acquire the skills of war, posts on royal yachts and tours arranged by the Queen and Edward actually impeded his progress, as his promotions were perceived as royal favours rather than deserved. After a naval career lasting more than forty years, in 1912 he was appointed First Sea Lord and he changed his name and relinquished his German titles, at the behest of King George V, in 1917. He married a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and was the father of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, consort of Queen Elizabeth II, is his grandson. Louis was born as Ludwig Alexander von Battenberg in Graz, Styria, shortly after Louiss birth, his father was stationed with the Austro-Hungarian Army of occupation in Northern Italy during the Second Italian War of Independence. Louiss early years were spent either in the north of Italy or at Prince Alexanders two houses in Hesse, the castle of Heiligenberg in Jugenheim, and the Alexander Palace in Darmstadt. Because his mother spoke French to him and he had an English governess, among the visitors entertained at Heiligenberg were Prince Alexanders relations, the Russian imperial family, and his cousin, Prince Louis of Hesse. He was admitted by the Board of Admiralty without the production of a medical certificate and he was enlisted as a naval cadet aboard HMS Victory, Nelsons old flagship, then used as a permanently moored training ship. As part of the tour, Louis accompanied them on a visit to Egypt. As was traditional, the Khedive bestowed honours on the party, in April, he received the Osmanie from the Ottoman Sultan. Louis returned to Britain in May 1869, in June he joined HMS Royal Alfred, the flagship of the North America and West Indies Station, becoming a midshipman in October. In 1875, again at the invitation of the Prince of Wales, he joined HMS Serapis, Louis sketched some of the events of the tour and his drawings were published in the Illustrated London News. He was promoted to lieutenant on 15 May 1876, in addition to acting as the Dukes equerry, Louis continued his naval duties. He did not enjoy the position, as the Duke was rather touchy and Louiss cabin was infested with rats, the Sultan toured the Mediterranean from July 1876. In late February–early March 1878, Louis was still serving on the Sultan as it lay in the Bosphorus during the Russo-Turkish War. On 24 August 1880, Louis was posted to HMS Inconstant, the flagship of the Flying Squadron, which included HMS Bacchante on which Princes Albert Victor and George were serving. The ship sailed to South America, South Africa, Australia, Fiji, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, seven months after Louis left Britain on the voyage, actress Lillie Langtry allegedly bore him an illegitimate daughter, Jeanne Marie. Langtry was also a mistress of the Prince of Wales
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Princess Alice of Battenberg
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Princess Alice of Battenberg, later Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, was the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and mother-in-law of Queen Elizabeth II. A great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, she grew up in Germany, England, after marrying Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark in 1903, she lived in Greece until the exile of most of the Greek royal family in 1917. In 1930, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and committed to a sanatorium in Switzerland, thereafter, after her recovery, she devoted most of her remaining years to charity work in Greece. She stayed in Athens during the Second World War, sheltering Jewish refugees, for which she is recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Israels Holocaust memorial institution, Yad Vashem. After the war, she stayed in Greece and founded an Orthodox nursing order of nuns known as the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and her remains were transferred to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem in 1988. Alice was born in the Tapestry Room at Windsor Castle in Berkshire in the presence of her great-grandmother and she was the eldest child of Prince Louis of Battenberg and his wife Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. Her mother was the eldest daughter of Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and her father was the eldest son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine through his morganatic marriage to Julia von Hauke, Princess of Battenberg. Her three younger siblings, Louise, George, and Louis, later became Queen of Sweden, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven and she was christened Victoria Alice Elizabeth Julia Marie in Darmstadt on 25 April 1885. Alice spent her childhood between Darmstadt, London, Jugenheim, and Malta and her mother noticed that she was slow in learning to talk, and became concerned by her indistinct pronunciation. Eventually, she was diagnosed with congenital deafness after her grandmother identified the problem, with encouragement from her mother, Alice learned to both lip-read and speak in English and German. Educated privately, she studied French, and later, after her engagement and her early years were spent in the company of her royal relatives, and she was a bridesmaid at the marriage of George, Duke of York and Mary of Teck in 1893. A few weeks before her birthday she attended the funeral of Queen Victoria in St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle. Princess Alice met and fell in love with Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and they married in a civil ceremony on 6 October 1903 at Darmstadt. The following day, there were two religious marriage ceremonies, one Lutheran in the Evangelical Castle Church, and one Greek Orthodox in the Russian Chapel on the Mathildenhöhe and she adopted the style of her husband, becoming Princess Andrew. All of Prince and Princess Andrews children later had children of their own, after their marriage, Prince Andrew continued his career in the military and Princess Andrew became involved in charity work. In 1908, she visited Russia for the wedding of Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, while there, she talked with her aunt, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna, who was formulating plans for the foundation of a religious order of nurses. Princess Andrew attended the laying of the stone for her aunts new church. Later in the year, the Grand Duchess began giving away all her possessions in preparation for a spiritual life
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Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine
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Her mother died while her brother and sisters were still young, which placed her in an early position of responsibility over her siblings. She was perceived by her family as liberal in outlook, straightforward, practical, during World War I, she and her husband abandoned their German titles and adopted the British-sounding surname of Mountbatten, which was simply a translation into English of the German Battenberg. Two of her sisters – Elisabeth and Alix, who had married into the Russian imperial family – were killed by communist revolutionaries and she was the maternal grandmother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort of Queen Elizabeth II. Victoria was born on Easter Sunday at Windsor Castle in the presence of her maternal grandmother and she was christened in the Lutheran faith in the arms of the Queen on 27 April. Her early life was spent at Bessungen, a suburb of Darmstadt, there, she shared a room with her younger sister, Elisabeth, until adulthood. She was privately educated to a standard and was, throughout her life. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, military hospitals were set up in the grounds at Darmstadt. She remembered the intense cold of the winter, and being burned on the arm by hot soup, in 1872, Victorias eighteen-month-old brother, Friedrich, was diagnosed with haemophilia. The following year, Friedrich fell from a window onto stone steps and it was the first of many tragedies to beset the Hesse family. In early November 1878, Victoria contracted diphtheria, Elisabeth was swiftly moved out of their room and was the only member of the family to escape the disease. For days, Victorias mother, Princess Alice, nursed the sick, but she was unable to save her youngest daughter, Victorias sister Marie, just as the rest of the family seemed to have recovered, Princess Alice fell ill. She died on 14 December, the anniversary of the death of her father, as the eldest child, Victoria partly assumed the role of mother to the younger children and of companion to her father. She later wrote, My mothers death was an irreparable loss and my childhood ended with her death, for I became the eldest and most responsible. At family gatherings, Victoria had often met Prince Louis of Battenberg, who was her first cousin once removed, Prince Louis had adopted British nationality and was serving as an officer in the Royal Navy. In the winter of 1882, they met again at Darmstadt, after a brief postponement because of the death of her maternal uncle, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, Victoria married Prince Louis on 30 April 1884 at Darmstadt. Her father did not approve of the match, in his view Prince Louis had little money and would deprive him of his daughters company, however, Victoria was of an independent mind and took little notice of her fathers displeasure. Remarkably, Victorias father secretly married the same evening his mistress, Countess Alexandrine Hutten-Czapska, the wife of Alexander von Kolemine. Over the next sixteen years, Victoria had four children, They lived in a succession of houses at Chichester, Sussex, Walton-on-Thames, when Prince Louis was serving with the Mediterranean Fleet, she spent some winters in Malta
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George V
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George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. He was the son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. From the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession behind his father and his own brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. From 1877 to 1891, George served in the Royal Navy, on the death of his grandmother in 1901, Georges father became King-Emperor of the British Empire, and George was created Prince of Wales. He succeeded his father in 1910 and he was the only Emperor of India to be present at his own Delhi Durbar. His reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, the Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, in 1924 he appointed the first Labour ministry and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognised the dominions of the Empire as separate, independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations. He had health problems throughout much of his reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son. George was born on 3 June 1865, in Marlborough House and he was the second son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Albert Edward and Alexandra. His father was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and he was baptised at Windsor Castle on 7 July 1865 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Longley. As a younger son of the Prince of Wales, there was expectation that George would become king. He was third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother, George was only 17 months younger than Albert Victor, and the two princes were educated together. John Neale Dalton was appointed as their tutor in 1871, neither Albert Victor nor George excelled intellectually. For three years from 1879, the brothers served on HMS Bacchante, accompanied by Dalton. They toured the colonies of the British Empire in the Caribbean, South Africa and Australia, and visited Norfolk, Virginia, as well as South America, the Mediterranean, Egypt, Dalton wrote an account of their journey entitled The Cruise of HMS Bacchante. Between Melbourne and Sydney, Dalton recorded a sighting of the Flying Dutchman, after Lausanne, the brothers were separated, Albert Victor attended Trinity College, Cambridge, while George continued in the Royal Navy. He travelled the world, visiting many areas of the British Empire, during his naval career he commanded Torpedo Boat 79 in home waters then HMS Thrush on the North America station, before his last active service in command of HMS Melampus in 1891–92. From then on, his rank was largely honorary
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George VI
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George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth, known as Albert until his accession, George VI was born in the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria, and was named after his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort. As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his life in the shadow of his elder brother. He attended naval college as a teenager, and served in the Royal Navy, in 1920, he was made Duke of York. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, in the mid-1920s, he had speech therapy for a stammer, which he never fully overcame. Georges elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII upon the death of their father in 1936, however, later that year Edward revealed his desire to marry divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that for political and religious reasons he could not marry a divorced woman, Edward abdicated in order to marry, and George ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor. During Georges reign, the break-up of the British Empire and its transition into the Commonwealth of Nations accelerated, the parliament of the Irish Free State removed direct mention of the monarch from the countrys constitution on the day of his accession. The following year, a new Irish constitution changed the name of the state to Ireland, from 1939, the Empire and Commonwealth – except Ireland – was at war with Nazi Germany. War with Italy and Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively, though Britain and its allies were ultimately victorious in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union rose as pre-eminent world powers and the British Empire declined. After the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, George remained king of countries, but relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948. Ireland formally declared itself a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949, George adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. He was beset by problems in the later years of his reign. He was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Elizabeth II, George was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria. His father was Prince George, Duke of York, the second and eldest-surviving son of the Prince and his mother was the Duchess of York, the eldest child and only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Teck. His birthday was the 34th anniversary of the death of his great-grandfather, Albert, uncertain of how the Prince Consorts widow, Queen Victoria, would take the news of the birth, the Prince of Wales wrote to the Duke of York that the Queen had been rather distressed. Two days later, he again, I really think it would gratify her if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her. Consequently, he was baptised Albert Frederick Arthur George at St. Mary Magdalenes Church near Sandringham three months later, within the family, he was known informally as Bertie
