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The 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
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