Who is Princess Anne?

I was interested in this Princess because her children are not in line to the throne

and I wanted to know why.

Princess Anne (full name Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise) is the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning British monarch. She is also known as Anne, Princess Royal and Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal. Princess Anne is also the current Admiral and Chief Commandant of Women in the Royal Navy.

As a member of the royal family, Princess Anne is expected to attend official engagements. In 2017, Anne was ‘crowned’ the hardest-working royal of the year with 455 official appearances at English events and 85 overseas – more than Will and Harry combined, and more than the Queen herself.

Anne is an active philanthropist as well – it’s estimated that she’s a part of more than 200 charities in some capacity. This includes Save the Children (where Princess Anne is the president), The Princess Royal Trust for Carers (which she founded), and The WISE Campaign (of which she is a Royal Patron).

This is one busy Princess.

Outside of her royal life, Princess Anne is also a talented equestrian. She won a title at the European Eventing Championship at the young age of 21. Anne was also acknowledged by BBC voters as the 1971 ‘Sports Personality of the Year’. She was even part of the British team for the Olympic games in 1976.

Princess Anne was born on August 15, 1950. She is 69 years old,

and a Leo in the western zodiac.

Princess Anne lives in Gatcombe Park in the Gloucestershire county. Her brother, Prince Charles of Wales (and father to Prince William and Prince Harry) has a country home about six miles away in Doughton. She also spends some time at St James’ Palace in Westminster.

Princess Anne’s house, Gatcombe Park

Princess Anne married her first husband, Mark Phillips, in a televised wedding ceremony in 1973. Phillips declined the courtesy title of ‘earl’. Since children’s titles are inherited from their father, this means that Mark and Princess Anne’s kids (and their grandchildren, by extension) were born without royal titles.

The marriage lasted 19 years. Princess Anne and Mark Phillips divorced in 1992, after almost three years of separation. The couple has two children together, Peter and Zara. Phillips also has a daughter named Felicity from an extramarital affair and another daughter named Stephanie from his second marriage.

Around the time that her separation was announced, Princess Anne met Timothy Laurence, an officer of the British Royal Navy. The two tied the knot in December 1992.

They are still married today and do not have children together.

Unlike her grand first wedding, Anne and Timothy wed in a private ceremony with just 30 attendees. At the time, the Church of England did not allow divorcees with living ex-spouses to get married, so they had to hold the ceremony at a church in Scotland.

Princess Anne and Timothy Laurence

 Princess Anne’s Children:

Peter Phillips

Full name: Peter Mark Andrew Phillips

Date of birth: November 15, 1977 (42 years old)

Zara Phillips

Full name: Zara Anne Elizabeth Tindall

Date of birth: May 15, 1981 (39 years old)

Princess Anne’s Grandchildren

Savannah Phillips

Full name: Savannah Anne Kathleen Phillips

Date of birth: December 29, 2010 (10 years old)

Parents: Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly

Princess Anne’s granddaughter Savannah Phillips

 

Princess Anne’s second granddaughter, Isla Phillips

Isla Phillips

Full name: Isla Elizabeth Phillips

Date of birth: March 29, 2012 (8 years old)

Parents: Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly

Princess Anne’s granddaughter, Mia Tindall

Mia Tindall

Full name: Mia Grace Tindall

Date of birth: January 17, 2014 (6 years old)

Parents: Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall

Zara Tindall’s baby daughter Lena during the Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park, Gloucestershire. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday August 2, 2019. Photo credit should read: Steve Parsons/PA Wire

Lena Tindall

Full name: Lena Elizabeth Tindall

Date of birth: June 18, 2018 (2 year old)

Parents: Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall

Princess Anne: The Lesser-Known Royal

Princess Anne may not have the most media coverage, but she’s an invaluable member of the royal family. Her children, although they weren’t born with titles, grew up to be outstanding citizens – and we’re sure her grandchildren will too.

My Notes:

So, my question is answered, partly. But, why did Mark Phillips decline a title of EARL?

I don’t have a clue. I would want my children to be heir to that Throne. Maybe, that’s why

Princess Anne finally divorced him. I’m only guessing.

By Barbara KisKis

July 29, 2020

The Rose Garden

 The Garden’s

most famous
occupant,

the ROSE.

 

The relationship between this plant and the White
House is entwined with virtually every president to occupy the residence,
whether they bred roses, used roses for flower displays, or enjoyed the
scent of roses when walking in the garden. Roses even adorn columns and
pilasters on the exterior of the White House, carved by skilled Scottish
stonemasons during the building’s construction at the end of the eighteenth
century. The rose’s place in the canon of American horticulture, as well
as its recognition as the national floral emblem of the United States of
America, confirms its requisite nature and gravity with respect to the
Garden’s plant palette.

 Melania Trump, is making plans to renovate the ROSE GARDEN.

A Trump administration official told the Times the garden refurbishment is financed by private donors, with support from the National Park Service. Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s Chief of Staff.

“Preserving the history and beauty of the White House and its grounds is a testament to our nation’s commitment to the care of this landscape and our dedication to American ideals, safeguarding them for our children and their children for generations to come,” the first lady said in a statement, which was included in the White House’s announcement.

Mrs. Trump said the redesign will increase the garden’s “beauty and functionality” and blend the past with the present in “complete harmony.”

“Protecting the historic integrity of the White House landscape is a considerable responsibility, and we will fulfill our duty as custodians of the public trust,” she wrote in the opening of a detailed report on the project, which is expected to be completed in about three weeks.

Mrs. Trump said the plan will return the Rose Garden to its original 1962 footprint.

President John F. Kennedy was so inspired by the gardens he saw during a 1961 state visit to France, and other stops in Europe, that he enlisted his friend Rachel Lambert Mellon to design the outdoor space by the Oval Office.

Inspiration came to Mellon as she walked along New York’s Fifth Avenue on a cold October afternoon in 1961, she wrote for the White House Historical Association.

First ladies are largely in charge of ensuring upkeep of the White House and its grounds, and they often endeavor to leave something behind for future presidential families to enjoy.

Michelle Obama planted a produce garden on the South Lawn that Mrs. Trump has continued.

My notes:

 ” Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose. ” was written by Gertrude Stein

in 1913 and still has a special meaning to me. I look forward to seeing the updated

version of the ROSE GARDEN.

By Barbara Kiskis

July 28, 2020

The Jacqueline Kennedy Garden

(The White House sous-chef clips rosemary to use in an upcoming dinner in 2007)

The Jacqueline Kennedy Garden is located at the White House south of the East Colonnade. The garden balances the Rose Garden on the west side of the White House Complex.

Some History:

Edith Carow Roosevelt, who had established her “Colonial Garden” on the site of the present Rose Garden, oversaw a similar but less formal planting on the east side, the site of the present Jacqueline Kennedy Garden. The origins of the Garden’s present form initially began in 1913 with First Lady Ellen Louise Axson Wilson, at the time taking to calling it the East Garden, which saw Mrs. Wilson’s design featuring a modest central lily pond. However, this work on the Garden was not completed until after the first lady had died in 1914, resulting in an area 36 by 19 meters (118×62 feet).

In the nearly half a century which followed, the grounds to the White House fell into disrepair. When the Kennedy administration came to office the ill-kempt state of the gardens drew the focus of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, who worked with Rachel Lambert Mellon and Perry Wheeler on the redesign and replanting of the entire Rose and East Gardens. By the time of President Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963, the Rose Garden had been completed, while revitalization on the East Garden was still a work in progress. To further honor Jacqueline Kennedy’s contributions to the White House and its grounds, her immediate successor, First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, renamed the East Garden as the “Jacqueline Kennedy Garden” during a ceremony on 22 April 1965.

The Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, like the Rose Garden, is based on a traditional 18th century American garden.

Rachel Lambert Mellon created a space with a more defined central lawn, bordered by flower beds planted in a French style, but largely using American botanical specimens. Though more formal than the previous East Garden, the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden pays tribute to Beatrix Farrand’s work in its use of a more organic structure, planting m

The garden has a large fescue grass panel in the center and is framed on the north and south sides by a holly hedge. The East Colonnade, located on the garden’s north side, is lined by a row of linden trees. Planting beds, bordered by boxwoods, are filled with tulips, pansies and grape hyacinth. Rosemary, thyme, and other herbs, planted under the eight American holly trees, are regularly used by the White House chefs.

Like the Rose Garden, the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden is used for events. The president uses the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden for awards ceremonies. Both Lady Bird Johnson and Pat Nixon favored use of the garden for parties and teas.

First Lady Hillary Clinton exhibited contemporary sculpture in the garden.

 

 

( The garden 1966 )

My notes: When I was researching the ROSE GARDEN, I found this article

about the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, which I knew little to nothing about.

I hope you are enlightened, too, because I LOVE GARDENS, especially  the ones

with ROSES.

By Barbara KisKis

July 28, 2020

The Presidential Gardens

Can you image the planting a presidential garden—the whole nation is awaiting your bulbs to bloom. But from Thomas Jefferson’s far-flung horticultural obsessions to the Kennedys’ ravishing rose garden (devised by design icon Bunny Mellon, of course), the presidential gardens have long captivated the public imagination.

Here are  facts about the  WHITE HOUSE GARDENS.

1. At Mount Vernon, George Washington’s Virginia home, the president planted so many roses that it took 12 days each June to pick the petals, which his wife, Martha, distilled into rosewater.

2. Despite his reputation as an impassioned horticulturist, Thomas Jefferson actually scaled back the presidential gardens, an act he felt would reinforce his ideas about small government. He cut off more than 70 acres that were part of the presidential palace, designating the area as a more democratic public common.

3. Dolly Madison was not inclined to garden—in those days, it was considered a pastime for men—but she may have invented the flower crown. “I will avail myself of your offer to chuse me a facinating Headdress,” she wrote to her friend Phoebe Pemberton Morris, who lived in Philadelphia. “It must be of large size—I enclose you 20$ my darling, & you will add to the Bonit or Turbin, some artificial Flower or fruit for the Head.”

4. James Madison, on the other hand, planted the first documented presidential vegetable garden. At the time, presidents paid the expenses of feeding guests out of their own pockets, and Madison’s list of seeds to purchase included several varieties of cabbages and radishes, as well as carrots, beets, parsnips, broccoli, and more.

5. John Quincy Adams had a thing for trees. “In Baltimore he picked up acorns from a white oak on the battleground at North Point, fought just after the White House had been burned, and brought them back to plant in his nursery,” writes McDowell. “He collected chestnuts and elm samaras, planted them, and monitored their growth.”

6. John Watt, the head gardener during Abraham Lincoln’s administration, and Mary Lincoln became enmeshed in garden-related fraud. To support her expensive shopping habit, Watt would often pad the bills to give her a little extra spending money, meaning the manure fund often assisted with the acquisition of china, crystal, wallpaper, carpets, and paint.

7. During the Clinton administration, a series of sculptures was installed in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden in homage to Bill and Hillary’s first date, in which they walked through a Henry Moore exhibition in a sculpture yard. The eight works by American sculptors—all drawn from regional museums—had to be cleared by the Secret Service and needed to withstand strong winds created by helicopters landing nearby.

8. Under president Woodrow Wilson, during World War I, a herd of twenty Hampshire sheep kept the White House lawn closely shorn while much of the nation’s workforce was off at war. Ninety-eight pounds of wool—a commodity in high demand—was shorn from that flock and auctioned to benefit the American Red Cross.

9. During the Obama administration, White House carpenter Charlie Brandt created the first White House beehives on record. The colonies—which are strapped down to withstand turbulence from Marine One—produced 140 pounds of honey in their first year.

10. Irvin Williams, head gardener during the first Bush administration, created inventive ways of keeping pests from entering the garden: Fertilizer laced with Louisiana hot sauce discouraged moles and voles, and baskets of Georgia peanuts were strapped to tree trunks to distract marauding squirrels from the precisely planted tulip bulbs. Squirrels, however, had long been welcome on the grounds; in the 1920s one was so tame that members of the press corps nicknamed him Pete. Sixty years later, Ronald Reagan brought acorns from Camp David on a regular basis to feed the squirrels in the Rose Garden.

11. When the Kennedys asked Bunny Mellon to re-envision the East Garden, she came up with a design inspired by a whimsical scene in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland where Alice and the Queen of Hearts play croquet in a rose garden using live flamingos for mallets.

 

By Barbara KisKis

July 28, 2020

Thanks to the wonderful article in Architectural Digest for listing these facts.

“With this ring…”

 

Princess Beatrice’s secret royal wedding broke with tradition in many ways 

— including with her choice of wedding ring!

Since the Queen Mother’s wedding in 1923, the royal family

has been using Welsh gold for their wedding bands.

Recent royal brides Princess Eugenie, and Meghan Markle

both followed the nearly 100-year tradition, as did Kate Middleton when she married Prince William in 2011.

But when Beatrice’s husband-to-be

Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

was designing her ring, he chose platinum over gold.

“We designed the ring in platinum because we wanted it to aesthetically match 

and entwine with the engagement ring,” British jeweler Shaun Leane tells PEOPLE.

“The rings have been made for each other and there’s a romance in that.”

The wedding ring, which curves around the top of the Victorian and Art Deco-inspired platinum-and-diamond engagement ring (also designed by the groom),

features over 0.5 karats of the “purest and highest quality diamonds.”

The two rings were designed over the course of “five or six” meetings with Edoardo,

known as “Edo” by friends and family, some four months

before he proposed to Beatrice in September of last year.

“I design the engagement ring and then I do sketches of what the 

wedding ring could be and then it’s usually commissioned later

 using one of the drawings,” Leane says.

While Leane has never met Beatrice (although they have swapped texts),

he says she may have been involved in the latter stages of the design.

 

“I’m sure she was part of the process but I didn’t deal with Beatrice,”

he says. “Edo and I initially designed both rings just the two of us.”

I fall for these “love” stories. Hope you do, too.

By Barbara KisKis

July 21, 2020

Princess Beatrice Wedding

Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

stand in the doorway of The Royal Chapel of All Saints

at Royal Lodge, Windsor,

after their wedding on July 18, 2020

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip stand

alongside Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

outside The Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor.

 

I have to admit, I LOVE ROYAL WEDDINGS…I have been waiting 2 days to view these

photos and I am not disappointed. First off, Princess Beatrice’s remade wedding gown

is by far my favorite. I think the dress and her tiara are the real story. And the fact that their wedding was kept SECRET, is an interesting twist.

Story of her dress has a history…

 

Queen Elizabeth II arriving at the Odeon in London’s Leicester Square

for the Lawrence of Arabia film premiere on December 10, 1962. The Queen is wearing

the same Peau De Soie taffeta dress by Norman Hartnell

that was worn by Beatrice on Friday.

Beatrice wore a vintage dress by Norman Hartnell, on loan from Her Majesty The Queen. This gown is made using Peau De Soie taffeta in shades of ivory, complete with perfectly puffed organza sleeves (added for Beatrice’s service), and finished off beautifully with some intricate diamante embellishment to the bodice.

Beatrice’s dress was remodeled by Angela Kelly and Stewart Parvin and the changes breathe a new lease of life into this archival piece. Princess Beatrice completed her bridal look with the Queen Mary diamond fringe tiara.

GLITTERING HISTORY OF BEA’S DIAMOND TIARA

The Queen Mary diamond fringe tiara

The Queen allowed

her 31-year-old granddaughter, Princess Beatrice,

to wear the same tiara she wore

at her own wedding in 1947.

The Queen Mary diamond fringe tiara, fashioned in 1919 from a necklace given

to the current Queen’s grandmother by Queen Victoria, is a treasured heirloom.

It was lent to the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, as her ‘something borrowed’.

But two hours before the ceremony, a hairdresser securing Elizabeth’s veil with the tiara snapped part of it.

The tiara was rushed to maker Garrard’s London workshop where

it was hurriedly welded back together and returned just in time.

The tiara was also loaned to Princess Anne for her wedding to Mark Phillips

in 1973, but has rarely been seen in public since.

PRECIOUS HEIRLOOM: Queen Mary wearing the tiara in 1926

 

The chapel is on the grounds of the Royal Lodge,

where the Duke and Duchess of York have been staying in lockdown.

The wedding bridged three Royal generations – with Princess Beatrice becoming a stepmother to Edo’s son Wolfie, four,

who acted as both best man and page boy alongside his two young cousins.

Beatrice’s sister Eugenie, 30, was maid of honour.

Prince Andrew walked his daughter down the aisle.

(His photo was not included in photos released)

A small party was held afterwards at Royal Lodge, Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York’s Windsor home, with many of the 20 guests staying overnight – some in glamping pods outdoors.

Princess Beatrice follows Royal Myrtle tradition for her stunning bridal bouquet, made by master florist behind younger sister Eugenie’s wedding display, before laying them on the grave of the Unknown Warrior.

 Princess Beatrice upheld royal tradition as sprigs of myrtle were included in her breathtaking bridal bouquet.

Describing Princess Beatrice’s bouquet, a royal representative said: ‘Princess Beatrice carried a bouquet of trailing jasmine, pale pink and cream sweet peas, royal porcelain ivory spray roses, pink o’hara garden roses, pink wax flower and baby pink astible.

The tradition of carrying myrtle began after Queen Victoria was given a nosegay containing myrtle by Prince Albert’s grandmother during a visit to Gotha in Germany.

I can almost SMELL her bouquet.

Reverend Anthony Ball, Canon of Westminster, prepares to place Princess Beatrice’s bridal bouquet on the Unknown Warrior’s Grave, in-keeping with royal tradition.

The bridal bouquet is placed on the Unknown Warrior’s Grave by royal brides as a touching tribute to the fallen of the First World War and international military conflicts since.

This was first completed by the Queen Mother when she married King George VI in 1923.

Very touching…

The Shakespeare sonnet was read by the groom’s mother at the wedding.

Maybe, someday a Princess becomes a Queen…

This princess, is ninth-in-line for the throne.

By Barbara KisKis

July 19, 2020

San Gabriel Mission Fire

California firefighters are investigating the origin of a fire

that destroyed a historic 249-year-old Catholic church.

In the early morning hours Saturday, firefighters responded to a fire

at the San Gabriel Mission where they found a massive blaze engulfing

the roof and front entrance of the church, San Gabriel Fire Department

fire captain Antonio Negrete told CNN.

The church sits about 11 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

When firefighters made a forced entry into the church

in an attempt to put out the blaze, portions of the roof

and ceiling began to fall, he said.

About 80 firefighters from 12 fire agencies fought the blaze

for nearly three hours, Negrete added.

“During the initial stages of the fire attack, firefighters were able to remove 

historical artifacts and some artwork from the path of the blaze,”

fire chief Steven Wallace told CNN.

“Once the heavy fire in the roof was knocked down, firefighters

re-entered the old church and made a valiant stand to cut off the

horizontal spread of the fire near the altar area, sparing items that date back

to the late 1700s.”

 

The attached Mission Museum was also saved from the fire.

The building sustained heavy damage to the roof, with considerable smoke

and water damage to the sanctuary area, according to Wallace.

No one was inside the church at the time of the fire

and no firefighters were injured putting out the blaze.

The church was undergoing renovations to mark its upcoming 

250th anniversary celebration when the fire broke out.

The church has been at the center of a controversy surrounding statues

of St. Junipero Serra

– seen as symbols of violence and oppression to indigenous populations — which have been toppled by activists across California.

“One of the factors investigators are taking into account is the recent vandalism to the statues of the saint, specifically in the Los Angeles region,” Fire Captain Negrete said.

Following the toppling of Serra statues across California, the San Gabriel Mission

relocated their bronze statue of Serra, which stood outside the church entrance

since the 1980s,”to a more appropriate location, out of public view,”

they announced before the fire.

( bronze statue of Serra before it was moved )

Considered by historians to be the most important base of operations for the Spanish conquest of California, San Gabriel was the fourth of 21 missions established in the state, and one of the grandest. At its height in 1829, the mission had 50,000 livestock, 160,000 grapevines, and 2,300 fruit trees, said Philip Ethington, professor of history and political science and chair of the history department at USC.

The San Gabriel Mission is also considered sacred ground among the Catholic faithful and has been the site of countless baptisms, weddings and funerals, with some families reporting connections that date back generations.

Barbara’s notes:

You have to ask yourself…why?

Why, are they burning statues, churches and desecrating cemeteries ?

I think we all know why…but maybe, a better question is when will it stop?

After our election in November?

Time will tell.

Can we say it’s yet another “construction accident” just like Notre Dame.

(April 15, 2019)

This Mission was also under reconstruction; preparing for it’s

upcoming 250th anniversary celebration.

By BARBARA KISKIS

July 13, 2020

 

Back story of Melania’s dress

I was searching for the story behind Melania’s icon dress that she wore

at Mt. Rushmore

and this morning, I found it. Here it is:

Some lucky design students at Central Saint Martins got the opportunity of a lifetime last year when Alexander McQueen enlisted their help to contribute in the making of its Spring 2020 collection.

Worn by British model Stella Tennant, Look 10 consisted

of a white sleeveless midi dress featuring

abstract line drawings of “dancing girls” that were done

by the aforementioned students.

(All of their names were credited in the show notes.)

Alexander McQueen gave PAPER a behind-the-scenes look

at the making of this dress.

The students’ dancing girl sketches were done on long white sheets during a life-drawing class led by fashion illustrator Julie Verhoeven

at the brand’s flagship store in London.

Afterwards, creative director Sarah Burton enlisted the entire McQueen staff

to hand-embroider and stitch over the sketches of a single ivory linen dress.

The Stitch School, a group that fosters community through needlework,

provided the teams in London and Paris with specialist tables

and looms so that every single person could contribute in the making of this look.

Tennant’s dress went on to inspire the dancing girls embroideries in Look 12:

a blue linen dress with an open neckline and short, bulbous sleeves.

Between the school kids and her entire staff collaborating on this dress,

it all amounted to the sense community spirit

and togetherness that Burton championed this season.

As she wrote in her show notes back then,

“I love the idea of people having the time to make things together, 

the time to meet and talk together, the time to reconnect to the world.”

 

You can view and shop the entire Spring 2020 collection on the brand’s website.

 

 

By Barbara KisKis

July 5, 2020

News story from PAPER

Photos by Alexander McQueen

 

Melania at Mount Rushmore

For a visit to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota ahead of the July 4th weekend, 

First Lady Melania Trump chose a statement look from the Paris, France runways.

Melania Trump, on Friday evening, joined President Trump

for an Independence Day ceremony at Mount Rushmore wearing

a Spring 2020 Ready-to-Wear sleeveless,

ivory linen round-neck Alexander McQueen dress.

The frock, seen on the runway on model Stella Tennant,

features an asymmetric draped skirt with a stitched “Dancing Girls” print in black.

The garment retails for $3,840.

Mrs. Trump wore the McQueen dress with a pair of patent leather

black Christian Louboutin stilettos — a signature of the First Lady’s —

and a thin black leather belt.

The meanies on TWITTER took to making rude remarks about Melania’s dress:

*All eyes were on Melania Trump’s Alexander McQueen dress at a Fourth of July event — because it looked like someone had drawn on it with a sharpie.

*Many declared the knee-length frock looked as though Donald had scribbled on it with a sharpie!

*“Donald Trump got bored and drew all over Melania’s white dress with a sharpie

on Air Force One,” one user wrote,

while another joked, “Will somebody please take that sharpie away from him!

Now he’s drawing on Melania’s dress.”

NOTES FROM WRITER: ( me)

Those remarks are cruel to our FIRST LADY and the reason I included them

was because I read those sort of comments daily on Twitter. It’s sad they have to attack

her for whatever she says or does. I’m just sick of it.

Now, about her dress; IT’S A BOLD STATEMENT for 4th of July weekend. I don’t understand the dancing girls motif on her dress. Is she sending a message?

By BARBARA KISKIS

July 4, 2020

 

Most images are by Getty

Fashion notes from Breitbart News