By Shafik Meghji 10 May 2021
A flash of green amid traffic-choked roads, elevated railway lines and anonymous high-rise apartment and office blocks, Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens is a well-kept but unremarkable south London park. When I visited on a sunny spring afternoon, wildflowers dotted the grass and shouts sounded from the football pitch. At the edge of the seven-acre park, mesmerised children gazed at a trio of freshly trimmed alpacas, residents of Vauxhall City Farm. In the distance loomed the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service, an ironically distinctive green-and-cream hulk on the south bank of the Thames.
It may not look it now, but this area was once home to the greatest entertainment venue in Georgian London. The original Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens was a centre of culture, spectacle, intrigue and scandal during the 18th and 19th Centuries, immortalised in paintings by artists such as Canaletto and William Hogarth and in novels like William Thack
The Queen should not have had to sit alone at the Duke of Edinburgh s funeral
The rules around church services are contradictory, make no sense and have been drawn up without any regard for spiritual and moral needs
19 April 2021 • 6:00am
The Queen was stoically following the rules, but they make little sense
Credit: Yui Mok/WPA Pool/Getty Images
Saturday’s funeral for the Duke of Edinburgh was moving and sublime. The only niggle was compelling a 94-year-old widow to sit alone in a chapel capable of holding hundreds. I’m sure the Queen, being a brilliant public servant, wanted both to obey the lockdown rules and be seen to obey them, to show that the Royal family can make a sacrifice, too. But that only brings me back to how wrong the rules are, not just in the letter but the principle.
Archyde
April 12, 2021 by archyde
Queen Elizabeth II and her family at Windsor in the spring of 1968. From left to right Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Anne, Prince Edward (Earl of Wessex), Prince Charles (Prince of Wales) the Queen and Prince Andrew (Duke of York) (Shutterstock)
On November 19, 1947, the eve of his wedding to Princess Elizabeth, Prince
Felipe received the title of “Duke of Edinburgh” from the hands of his future father-in-law, George VI. He also received the subsidiary titles of Earl of Merioneth and Baron of Greenwich, but
The title of Duke of Edinburgh is the one that was closest to him and how for 70 years he was recognized in the world.
The unusual history – and fascinating future – of the Duke of Edinburgh title
Prince Philip was easily the most distinguished of the title s holders; now the mantle is set to pass to his son, Prince Edward
The Duke of Edinburgh in 2007
Credit: Tim Graham
On November 19, 1947, the day before his marriage to Princess Elizabeth, Prince Philip received the title ‘The Duke of Edinburgh’ from his future father-in-law, George VI.
He was also given the subsidiary titles, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich, but it’s the title of Duke of Edinburgh that was closest to his heart.
It wasn’t as if Prince Philip was new to titles. In 1921, he was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, thanks to his patrilineal descent from George I of Greece and Christian IX of Denmark, and was in line to both thrones on his birth. In 1947, he renounced his Danish and Greek royal titles as a reflection of his almost inevitable future role as husband of the Queen of the United Kingdom.
This Day in History — March 12 jamaicaobserver.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jamaicaobserver.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.