The national memorial to the Queen Mother was unveiled by The Queen on February 23rd in the presence of three generations of the Royal Family.
The statue depicts the Queen’s mother at age 51, dressed in Garter robes and hat. Fifty-one was the Queen Mother’s age around the time of her husband King George VI’s death.
Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall has been invited by William and Harry to attend the memorial service marking the tenth anniversary their mother’s death.
This invitation is seen as proof that the Princes have fully accepted Camilla as a member of their intimate family circle, and want to include her in one of the most sensitive, life-changing events that they have ever experienced.
“William and I love her to bits. She’s made our father very, very happy, which is the most important thing.” – Harry on Camilla
Naturally, Diana’s siblings Earl Spencer, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, and Lady Jane Fellowes will be in attendance. It has been reported that the Princes’ uncle and aunts helped them draw up the guest list. But how will the public react to Camilla’s presence at Diana’s memorial? Your comments please.
The Queen has conveyed to the Holy See her deep sorrow on receiving the news of the death of His Holiness Pope John Paul II. Her Majesty remembers the untiring efforts of Pope John Paul II in promoting peace and goodwill throughout the world.
The Queen also remembers well the work of Pope John Paul II for Christian unity, including closer ties between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches and, in particular, His Holiness’s visit to Britain in 1982 – the first ever Papal visit.
The Prince of Wales attended the funeral of His Holiness on Friday, 8 April.
Born in Wadowice, Poland, on May 18, 1920, Karol Josef Wojtyla (voy TIH wah) was the son of a retired army officer and a school teacher. He studied literature and philosophy and later was a playwright and poet.
Wojtyla secretly studied theology during the Nazi occupation of Poland. By age 34 he had two doctorates and was a professor of ethics. A cardinal at 47, he led the only moral and social force in Poland that could counter communism.
In October 1978, Wojtyla became the first Slavic pope ever and the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. He took the name John Paul II. Within months of his election, the pope went to Poland for a June 1979 visit that some historians say helped end the Cold War.
“His secretary told me that was the great moment,” says Robert Moynihan, editor and publisher of the magazine Inside the Vatican. “There was a crowd of one million people, and he told them ‘You are men. You have dignity. Don’t crawl on your bellies.’ It was the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union.”
A few years later, in May 1981, Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca opened fire. The Pope was struck three times, and was rushed to Gemelli hospital in Rome. He would remain in hospital for nearly a month. Two and a half years later, Pope John Paul II went to the Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of Rome to visit Agca. He was there to forgive his would-be assassin.
“The obvious parallel would be Jesus forgiving people from the cross,” says the Rev. James Martin, associate editor of the Roman Catholic magazine America. “Forgiveness is really at the heart of the Christian message. … He was giving us, in his own way, a parable for our times.”
John Paul actually had pardoned Agca long before their meeting. He writes that he told his personal secretary, “I forgive the assassin,” as he was rushed to the hospital that day in 1981.
Later, he asked the faithful to “pray for my brother, whom I have sincerely forgiven.”
A charismatic man, Pope John Paul communicated his message in eight languages and traveled widely. But age and deteriorating health eventually forced the most traveled pope to cut back on his visits. He suffered from arthritis and Parkinson’s disease.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, paid a warm tribute to the life and ministry of Pope John Paul II, describing his last days as a ‘lived sermon’ for Eastertide about facing death with honesty and courage.
In a statement delivered in the precincts of Canterbury Cathedral, visited by Pope John Paul in 1982, Dr Williams said that the Pope’s life had been a demonstration of faith lived out. He praised the way in which the Pope had approached his own death with courage and acceptance.
“I think in these past few days, we’ve seen an extraordinary ‘lived sermon’ for Eastertide, about facing death with honesty and courage; facing death in the hope of a relationship which is not broken by death but continues beyond it. Pope John Paul showed his character in the way in which he met his death; clearly frustrated, clearly suffering andyet at every point accepting; facing his frailties and remaining courageous and hopeful. I feel there’s a certain appropriateness about the fact that he died within the Easter season – a time of the Church’s year which meant so much to him. It has been a season in which he was able to give a message to the whole of the Christian world, and in fact to the whole human world, that won’t be readily forgotten.”
Among those paying their respects at the Pope’s funeral will be HRH The Prince of Wales, Dr Rowan Williams, and Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Pope John Paul II
1920 – 2005
Princess Alice, aunt of Queen Elizabeth II and the oldest member of the British royal family, died peacefully in her sleep on Friday, Buckingham Palace said Saturday. She was 102.
A spokesman said the queen was greatly saddened by the death of her aunt. He said the queen “remembers with gratitude Princess Alice’s service to the monarchy and to the country.”
Born Lady Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott on Christmas Day, 1901, the princess married Henry, duke of Gloucester – the third son of King George V and brother of the queen’s father, King George VI – in 1935. After helping to lift morale on the home front during World War II, Princess Alice moved with her husband to Australia, where the duke was governor general from 1945 to 1947.
Back in Britain, she kept a busy schedule of charitable work and official duties until she was in her 90′s. She was the second member of the royal family to reach her centenary, after the Queen Mother Elizabeth, who died in March 2002 at the age of 101.
Princess Alice and her husband had two sons – William, who died in a flying accident in 1972, and Richard, the current duke of Gloucester.
The princess’s husband died in 1974. She is survived by her son and three grandchildren – Lady Davina, Lady Rose, and Alexander, Earl of Ulster.
