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William and Kate appoint their first Equerry

<![CDATA[large__7342537952The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have appointed their first equerry to their household earlier this year, The Courtier has discovered, another sign of an increasing yet inevitable focus on royal duties for the couple.
Captain Florian Graham-Watson, an officer from the Irish Guards, has been seconded to the Duke and Duchess’s household since the beginning of the year and even accompanied them on their recent tour of New Zealand and Australia.
The appointment is only a temporary one, which is why it wasn’t announced in the court circular – the Duke and Duchess seek to appoint a permanent equerry soon, officials tell us. The position only emerged this week when he was mentioned among the Duke and Duchess’s entourage for their engagements in France.
Equerries are appointed from the Armed services to help manage the affairs of members of the Royal Family both privately and in the planning and execution of day-to-day engagements.
Royal Marines to mount their first Queen’s Guard for decades
The Royal Marines are to mount The Queen’s Guard at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle for the first time in decades this month as the amphibious corps celebrates its 350th anniversary this year.
The last time the Marines mounted guard for The Queen appears to be in 1986 when 42 Commando founded the guard in London. According to the British Army, the Marines will found the guard both at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle on the 17th, 20th, 23rd, 26th and 29th, accompanied by the Royal Marines band.
Guest regiments are typically invited in around this time of the year to mount The Queen’s Guard to give the usually 5 regiments of foot guards a break and in respect of operational commitments they may have and also to allow the honour of guarding The Queen to be experienced by other regiments who may not ordinarily get the chance.
Prince Philip set to celebrate 93rd birthday
The Duke of Edinburgh will celebrate his 93rd birthday this Tuesday with a number of engagements scheduled for the day. Prince Philip, who last year became the oldest male member of the Royal Family in British history, will attend a Palace garden party in the afternoon with The Queen and other members of the Royal Family before a busy week including a visit to Germany to present medals to 4-Scots who are based in Fallingbostel.
He’s also set to chair the Senior Colonels’ conference at Buckingham Palace which the Prince of Wales, Duke of Kent, Duke of Cambridge and Earl of Wessex will also attend and will join The Queen on Horse Guards Parade on Saturday for Trooping the Colour where he’ll see Nijmegen Company of his regiment, the Grenadier Guards, troop their colour.
Despite only gradual reductions in the number of engagements the Duke carries out, the location of the engagements is becoming increasingly London-based.
Foreign Royals not invited to Felipe’s investiture
The Spanish royal court has been releasing new details about the investiture of the new King of Spain who is expected to take over from his father, King Juan Carlos, around the 18th of this month. Sources report that foreign royalty are not to be invited to the investiture ceremony which will take place in front of Spain’s legislature.
Monarchy in Spain has been suffering a drop in popularity recently as a result of various events and problems with members of the Spanish Royal Family. It is hoped the new king, who will succeed as King Felipe VI, will inject new life into the Monarchy and restore it to its former popularity along with his wife who will be Queen Letizia.
It’s believed the decision to play down Felipe’s investiture as king is a conscious one given the public ambivalence towards the monarchy at the moment. The focus of the Spanish royal court will be very much to establish a sense of continuity, dependency and security with Felipe on the throne as they try to restore public confidence in the monarchy in the coming months and years.
photo credit: aurélien. via photopin cc]]>