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  Listen to Prince Harrys Speech in Washington DC May 2012

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17986201

Prince Harry accepts Award with Brother William on his heart

 

 

Prince Harry praises soldiers as he collects award

Prince Harry called on Britain and the United States to do everything possible to look after wounded servicemen and women in a tribute to the sacrifices made by those serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In a speech delivered to the Atlantic Council last night, where he received an award for his work with Help for Heroes and other veteran’s charities, Prince Harry praised the courage of those whose lives had been changed by conflicts.

“So many lives have been lost and so many changed forever by the wounds that they have suffered in the course of their duties. They have paid a terrible price to keep us safe and free,” he said at the dinner in Washington.

“The very least we owe them is to make sure that they and their brave families have everything they need through their darkest days … for these selfless people, it is after the guns have fallen silent, the din of battle quietened, that the real fight begins.”

The 2012 Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership was awarded to the Prince at a reception in which the Secretary-General of the UN also accepted an award.

The Prince also attended a British embassy reception for Britons who took part in the Warrior Games for injured personnel in Colorado Springs.

Related Articles

• Prince Harry to receive award

  07 May 2012

Martin Colclough, a former soldier who has been assisting the team, said: “The whole team wanted to meet him … he’s a serviceman, he’s passionate about sport and he’s also a bloke who has been to the battlefield himself. It’s a huge thrill.”

Prince Harry is in the USA this week -- spreading cheer and making girls blush throughout the land.

The sexy red-headed (and single!) royal arrived in Washington, D.C., on Monday to accept a humanitarian leadership award (which Bono previously received) from the Atlantic Council at the Ritz-Carlton. The 27-year-old hottie received the award for the work he does with his bro, Prince William, to help wounded warriors and military veterans.

But, enough about that.

Harry's fans -- which included men, women and a whole bunch of screaming gals -- arrived hours before the AC event so that they could wait on the sidewalk and try to spot the young royal.

Some of the girls even admitted to doing crash diets, buying new outfits and sporting padded bras ... just in case the Prince caught a glimpse of them.

Welcome to America, Harry.

Prince Harry meets Jill Biden

By CAITLIN MCDEVITT |

 

(Photo Credit: Reuters)

Spotted: Prince Harry chatting with second lady Jill Biden at the British Ambassador’s residence in D.C. on Monday.

The two attended a reception honoring participants in the 2012 Warrior Games, an athletic competition for wounded, injured or ill military personnel.

In her remarks, Dr. Biden thanked the soldiers and recognized the prince — whom she met today for the first time — for his involvement with military families in the U.K., according to a pool report.

Prince Harry is in town to receive the Atlantic Council’s Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership this evening.

Read more about: Jill Biden, Prince Harry

 

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Diamond Jubilee New Testaments fly off the shelves

 

 

 

Celebrations to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee culminate over a four-day national holiday in June featuring a concert at Buckingham Palace and flotilla of boats on the Thames PA

A specially produced Diamond Jubilee New Testament has become a runaway success.

More than 400,000 copies have flown off the shelves since going on sale at the start of April.

The special editions were produced by the Church of England, HOPE and Biblica as a souvenir to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

They were created for churches to give away for free at schools, street parties and Diamond Jubilee events.

Dr Rachel Jordan, National Mission and Evangelism Adviser, Archbishops’ Council, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the response from local churches with a heart to give the New Testament away to those in their local communities.

"Many homes that don’t have a copy of the key Christian stories about Jesus Christ will now be given this wonderful gift so they can read and think about the Christian faith for themselves.”

Orders have come in from churches of all denominations and even from outside the UK, with sales reaching double what was expected.

The special editions had been published on a limited run, but due to the huge demand, the deadline for ordering has now been extended to noon on 14 May.

The New Testaments feature eight pages of images from the Coronation and the Queen's life, linking her 60-year reign and her Christian faith. There is a suggested reading section with Bible references on various topics and a clear guide to help readers understand the significance of Christ's birth, life, death and resurrection.

The text is the British New International Version 2011, which has been ‘donated’ by Biblica.

Mark Finnie, Church and Bible Engagement Director, Biblica, said: “Our passion is to distribute Bibles and New Testaments in creative and culturally engaging ways.

"We are delighted to be working with HOPE and the Archbishops’ Council to provide churches, schools and organisations with the Diamond Jubilee New Testament, in what is possibly the largest single distribution of scriptures within our country in living memory.”

Roy Crowne, Executive Director of the national mission movement HOPE, said: “We are thrilled with the response so far. We are making this souvenir New Testament available at cost price - so that churches can give them away as a lasting reminder of the Queen’s 60 years of faithful service to the country and Commonwealth.

"We hope that many more churches will use this opportunity to give this special gift to people in their communities as they celebrate the Diamond Jubilee.”

Copies can be ordered via email from lynn.robinson@biblica.com or by calling 028 9073 5875

 

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Carl Bernadotte, Prince Whose First Loyalty Was Love,

Dies at 95

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

He brought a bouquet of violets to meet her ship. She gave him a kiss.

Enlarge This Image

Patrick A. Burns/The New York Times

Prince Carl Johan and Kerstin Wijkmark on Feb. 19, 1946, the day that he lost his title and they married in New York City.

So The New York Times began the story of a prince who had renounced his royal title, when he was third in line for the throne, to marry a commoner. The newspaper mentionedher blue eyes, mink coat, gold scarf and 37 pieces of luggage. It said he looked almost like a college boy in his brown hat and tweed topcoat.

The February 1946 reunion of Kerstin Wijkmark and Prince Carl Johan mattered because when they married, a week later, Prince Carl Johan would lose his title as a Swedish prince and his standing in his court’s royal line of succession. That is what Swedish law, custom and public opinion mandated. Moreover, his family was furious.

The couple good-naturedly fended off a question about Miss Wijkmark’s status as a commoner.

“I don’t know exactly what that means,” she said.

“Neither do I,” said the prince.

After the marriage, the prince became a businessman in New York who preferred to be known as Mr. Carl J. Bernadotte. Five years later, the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg made him a count, as part of tradition dictating that other countries give noble titles to Swedish princes who had lost their succession rights.

Carl Johan Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg, died at 95 on Saturday, the Swedish royal court announced. He was the last surviving great-grandchild of Queen Victoria of England.

The love story of the prince and the commoner recalled the abdication of King Edward VIII of England in 1936 after he chose to marry the woman he loved, Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who had been married and divorced twice and was not considered an acceptable queen. King Edward, famously, chose love.

In Sweden, love regularly won out. In 1888, Count Bernadotte’s great-uncle married a commoner and lost his title. In 1932, his cousin Lennart did too. In 1934, his brother Sigvard followed suit.

Taking a slightly slyer approach was Count Bernadotte’s brother Bertil, who for more than 30 years carried on an affair with a commoner. As the years went by, nobody much cared whether they tied the knot.

By the time the king of Sweden himself, Carl XVI Gustaf, married the daughter of a German businessman in June 1976, the marriage prohibition had evaporated — as had virtually all the powers of the monarchy.

Six months later, Prince Bertil got married.

Prince Carl Johan Arthur Bernadotte was born on Oct. 31, 1916, at the royal palace in Stockholm, the fifth and youngest child of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf, who became king in 1950, and Crown Princess Margareta. After Count Bernadotte’s oldest brother, Gustaf, died in a plane crash in January 1947, Gustaf’s son, the future King Carl XVI Gustaf, became heir apparent.

Count Bernadotte’s other sibling was Princess Ingrid, who later became queen of Denmark.

Count Bernadotte’s mother, whose father, the Duke of Connaught, was the third son of Queen Victoria, died when he was 3. He grew up learning strict royal etiquette and attending school in the royal palace.

He served in the cavalry and infantry during World War II, rising through the ranks to lieutenant, then captain. He never finished the political science degree he started pursuing at Stockholm University before the war.

In an interview with The New Yorker in 1951, Mrs. Bernadotte, who worked as a journalist before and after her marriage, said there were two days a year when Swedes were prone to commit suicide: Christmas Eve and the summer solstice. “I met my husband on one of those suicide evenings,” she said. “We were both looking for a mutual friend who killed himself.”

The couple married at Riverside Church in Manhattan and had their reception at the “21” Club. Only one member of Count Bernadotte’s family congratulated him: Prince Vilhelm, his uncle. In New York, he worked as the representative of a Swedish trading firm and went on walks with Greta Garbo, a fellow Swede.

His wife, Kerstin, died in 1987. The next year, he married Countess Gunilla Wachtmeister, who survives him, as do his son, Christian, and his daughter, Monica.

One of Count Bernadotte’s adjustments to the life of a commoner came when he and his first bride rented an apartment in Manhattan. New York newspapers reported that they sued the landlord to void the lease because he had not “equipped it in a manner consistent with his tastes and social standing.”

HRH Prince Charles opens exhibition

at Lambeth Palace Library

The exhibition, Royal Devotion: Monarchy and the Book of Common Prayer, traces the close relationship between royalty and religion from medieval to modern times. In particular tells the story of the Book of Common Prayer and its importance in national life.

Prince Charles was shown around the exhibition by the Archbishop and the curators of the exhibition, Hugh Cahill from Lambeth Palace Library and Professor Sir Brian Cummings from the University of Sussex.

The Archbishop spoke to assembled guests [listen here], and Prince Charles replied [listen here], paying tribute to the "beauty of holiness" in the Book of Common Prayer.

The Prince rejected reservations about the "accessibility" of the words of the 1662 edition of the Church of England's service book, saying its value becomes clearer as people grow older and experience more in life.

"As somebody who was brought up on that prayer book - day after day, year after year, Sunday after Sunday, school worship after school worship, evening prayer, communion, everything - those words do sink into your soul in some extraordinary way," he told a group at Lambeth Palace.

"One of the things I have never understood is why there is such an anxiety about accessibility when in fact, if we think about it, we all get older and we are not all 18 or 16 forever.

"Even though you may not understand those words at that age, it is only when you get a bit older and you have lived through life and had all sorts of experiences and you have suffered, and you have survived perhaps, that you then realise just how valuable those forms of words are, just how valuable the sense of the sacred is in our lives.

"And how, when you are up against it, and you have terrible moments to endure or overcome, whether it is being in war or faced with some appalling difficulty, or even facing death, then those words, those wonderful words, come back to you, if you have been lucky enough to have absorbed them over your lifetime.

"So I do think that sense of the beauty of holiness is something of enormous importance."

The exhibition runs from Tuesday 1st May until Saturday 14th July 2012. Further information, including how to purchase tickets, is available here or at the Lambeth Palace Library website.

Enthronement of Malaysia’s 14th King

Click here to see more photos of the event

In a lavish ceremony steeped deep in tradition, Malaysia enthroned its 14th King Wednesday. Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah, age 84, went through the same ceremony back in the 1970s. The country has a rotating system where the Kings of the nine Malaysian states take turns spending five years as monarch.

During a televised ceremony, the Sultan, who is now known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or “He Who Is Made Lord”, was enthroned in the yellow carpet throne room of the new hilltop palace in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital.

Wearing black and yellow attire, the latest King was proclaimed as one by Prime Minister Najib Razak in front of the other Sultans, government ministers and foreign dignitaries.

He then was presented with a Quran which he kissed, and then with the royal long dagger – a symbol of power and authority – which the King drew and also kissed.

Following that, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong took the oath of office to fairly rule Malaysia, uphold the Islamic faith and ensure a just government.

Sultan Abdul Halim’s speech followed, where he called for equality in the multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. Malaysia is 60 percent Muslim, followed by Buddhists and Christians. It also has Malay, Chinese and Indian populations.

“All Malaysians have equal rights ….It is my wish to see all Malaysians gain from the country’s development.

He made similar comments during his installment back in December.

The monarch also said the people have to do their part in the development and history of their country and not rely on government initiatives.

“So, let us become righteous as demanded by our religion, a person of knowledge and nobility while being aware of and living up to obligations to the country,” he said.

“The competition in today’s world is very stiff and challenging. So the people should be prepared to shoulder their responsibilities and discharge their duties to the best of their ability.”

“The prosperity enjoyed does not come out of thin air. It was well planned, thought out and implemented by a hardworking Government from the previous to the present leadership,” he added.

Originally from the Kedah state in the north, Sultan Abdul Halim’s position will now be mostly ceremonial, although be highly respected by the Malaysian people. He will be the symbolic head of Islam, plus the nominal chief of the military.

Sources: AFP, The Star (Malaysia)

Camilla Duchess of Cornwall

 given Queen's highest award

© REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

The Queen has appointed Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, to the position of a Dame Grand Cross, the highest female rank in the Royal Victorian Order.

The honour comes on the day of the seventh wedding anniversary of Camilla and Prince of Wales.

Camilla and Charles wed on April 9, 2005 in a civil ceremony at the Guildhall in Windsor after spending a number of years as a couple.

Awards under the Royal Victorian Order are a personal gift from the Queen are given by the head of state to people who have served her or the monarchy in a personal way. They are bestowed independently of 10 Downing Street.

It is likely the award recognises the 64-year-old Duchess' hard work as a member of the monarchy during the past seven years, in which she has undertaken hundreds of royal engagements. 

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In Fact Her Majesty The Queen happens to be Supreme Governor of The Church of England AKA  Protestant Movement Most Royals Spend more time in church than most Clergy

 

Reverend Roger Hall becomes Tower's first Canon for 300 years

Chaplain to Her Majesty The Queen and the Tower of London is ‘intitulated’ as Canon of the Chapels Royal within the Tower of London by the Bishop of London

Press Release

The Reverend Canon Roger Hall MBE, Chaplain to Her Majesty The Queen and the Tower of London, has been ‘intitulated’ as Canon of the Chapels Royal within the Tower of London by the Bishop of London. He becomes the first Canon at the Tower since the 17th century.

From 1449, a Dean and two Canons were attached to the Tower of London’s St Peter ad Vincula, which is a Chapel Royal and ‘Royal Peculiar’ directly under the jurisdiction of the monarch; the Canonry was abolished in the reign of James II in 1685. The Bishop of London recently asked The Queen to reinstate the Canonry and a Royal Warrant was signed. The Chaplain was intitulated as a Canon by the Bishop in a service at the Tower of London on Maundy Thursday (5 April) during which he swore allegiance to The Queen and the Bishop, recited canonical oaths and received a blessing. The service took place in St John’s Chapel in the ancient White Tower (also known as the ‘Conqueror’s Chapel’ as it was built for William the Conqueror in 1078). The Chaplain is to be installed as Canon of the Chapels Royal within the Tower of London at St James’s Palace later this year.

The Chaplain, who has lived and worked at the Tower of London since September 2007, is currently leading a £1.5 million fundraising campaign for the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula to give the Chapel the care it deserves. The funds raised will enable new furniture, heating and lighting to be installed, as well as other improvements designed to bring the Chapel’s stories to life for its worshippers and visitors.

The Chapel Royal is parish church to the Tower of London and its congregation includes nearly 150 residents (mainly Yeoman Warders, otherwise known as ‘Beefeaters’, and their families), as well as staff and members of the local community who are welcome to attend the services. The Chapel has an extraordinary history; three queens of England – Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Jane Grey – and the remains of two saints of the Roman Catholic Church – Sir Thomas More and John Fisher – are buried in the Chapel’s environs. All visitors to the Tower of London can view the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula as part of a guided Yeoman Warder tour, seven days a week, 361 days a year.