27 JANUARY 2006

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, made some colourful new friends when she paid a visit to St Alban’s Cathedral in Hertfordshire this week. The Duchess was greeted by a throng of excited schoolchildren, all wearing vibrant homemade costumes, as she arrived for a traditional pageant on Thursday afternoon.

Cathedral Administrator Nicholas Bates describes the event:

“Every year on the Saturday after Saint Alban’s day (22nd June) we hold a national pilgrimage to the Saint’s Shrine. This starts with a procession across Verulamium Park tracing the route of Saint Alban’s last journey to his execution on the site of the Cathedral.

It is a procession of children and young people wearing huge Notting Hill type puppet costumes and carrying banners depicting Saint Alban, Saint Amphibalus (who converted Saint Alban to the faith), two roman soldiers (one who refused to carry out the execution and who was executed himself and the other who did the deed and whose eyeballs then fell out), the roses of the martyrs, panels from our rose window (representintg the flowers that burst into bloom as the saint passed by) and banners representing the waters of the River Ver which parted for Alban and the spring that appeared for him to drink from.

During Her Royal Highness’s visit, we re-enacted a small part of what we do at the pilgrimage.”

At left, a 25 cent piece from the Netherlands. I just discovered it in a small plastic bag of coins sitting on my desk. I think my sister purchased it at a flea market, and most of the coins were Canadian with Elizabeth II on them. But THIS particular coin, marked 1980 “Juliana Koningin der Nederlanden”.

Fascinating! What does everyone else think? I think this is a lovely piece for my royal collection, my first European monarchy collectable. The back has a crown, which I find to be an attractive feature:

Below, I show the photo of a Mercury head dime, apparently a collector’s item as well. This is from 1942.

Being the Queen of England brings with it many benefits, not the least of which is being able to have a top chef cook you the meal of your choice whenever you want. It seems Her Majesty will be submitting to the will of her subjects when she celebrates her 80th birthday on June 15, however.

More:
www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2006/01/23/queenelizabeth/

I didn’t realize that the link to the guestbook was technically broken. It led to the Bravenet main page, instead of my guestbook.

But that’s fixed now! So if you’d like to leave a message, please do so.

Buckingham Palace has announced plans to build a £2 million memorial to the Queen Mother.

Artists, architects and designers from around the world have been invited to submit designs, which will be judged by a panel and Prince Charles.

The winning design will be placed off The Mall, in London, near the statue of King George VI, the late Queen Mother’s husband and the Queen’s father.

[READ MORE @ Royal Representative In Other News...]