Prince George had a huge birthday yesterday. He got to spend time with almost all of his family and he got lots and lots of weird and wonderful gifts. Alas, I do not think anyone presented him with rabbit, bilby or guinea pig, but that’s just as well because George would have killed it within seconds. According to the Daily Mail, George’s birthday celebrations started at Buckingham Palace, where Kate brought George around to see his great-grandfather Prince Philip. Philip was not able to attend the Kensington Palace party later in the day, so Kate and George chilled out in Buckingham Palace for an hour, watching the Queen’s Guard play “Happy Birthday.” The nanny was along for the visit too.
Then Kate and George returned to KP and in the afternoon, the extended family came by. You can see the arrival photos here. The guest list included: the Queen, Carole and Michael Middleton (“who drove in through the palace gates shortly after 3pm in matching Range Rovers”), Pippa (she was “dropped off in a black taxi”), James Middleton (“zipped in driving a £60,000 convertible F-type Jaguar”), Zara Phillips and Prince Harry. Plus, some of George’s godparents. Prince Charles and Camilla did not make it because they were working.
Prince George had a party fit for a king on Tuesday. Celebrated by his grandparents, godparents and, to top it off, his great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth – as well as uncle Prince Harry – the royal infant marked his first birthday in style at the Kensington Palace home of his parents, William and Kate. Guests had all arrived by 4 p.m. London time when the Queen was whisked in from Kensington High Street’s entrance.
Those waiting for her inside the newly refurbished home were grandparents Carole and Michael Middleton and their children, Pippa and James, and godparents Zara and Mike Phillips and their daughter Mia, along with Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton and Emilia Jardine-Paterson.
George’s other grandparents, Prince Charles and Camilla, were away this week, visiting Scotland.
As for what was served, besides birthday cake, speculation ran high that there would be “Jam Pennies” – light jelly-filled sandwiches cut to the size of old penny pieces that were favored by the Queen when she was a baby and copied by royal kitchens ever since, according to chef Darren McGrady.
Another possibility were tiny egg sandwiches. “We would cut them into horse shapes or animal shapes. Even at the younger age the kids associated more with the looks than the taste,” McGrady told PEOPLE. “And we would add berries, like fresh strawberries to the table.”
Not that George has ever been short of gifts, but some guests were seen arriving with shiny presents. For her part, the Queen remained at the party for 50 minutes.
The Queen stayed 50 minutes? That would be about 45 minutes longer than I would be able to stay at a baby’s birthday party especially if there was no f–king cake for the adults (what the hell?!). I don’t imagine this would have been an enormously fun party, although I probably would have been able to spend a breezy 50 minutes just watching Carole Middleton try to engage Her Majesty in casual conversation. The Queen probably shut it down quickly. But yeah, it would be worth it just to see those two interact.
You can read more about some of George’s birthday presents here. I hope somebody brought him more butterflies to kill.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Pacific Coast News.
George is the cutest baby! I think he favors his Grandfather Middleton. It will be fun watching him grow up.
I could look at pictures of this kid all day…so damn cute.
I wish they would release some pics of George and Mia together. 2X the cute.
He’s a cutie.
I hope he had some fun.
My daughter is a few months older than him. She was so excited to see a butterfly in our yard recently. I told her what it was and she kept yelling butterfly and stomping her feet in excitement. Then my damn cat pounced and took it down. She was shocked and just kept looking around for it. Awkward
Oh dear. She sounds adorable.
Bwahaha! Too cute
OMG! I’m so sorry if she was traumatized….but that story just gave me the giggles. Thanks for brightening my evening! 😀
As for Georgie-Porgie, he does look at times like he’s about to punch someone in the face with those meaty little baby fists. Adorable bruiser. Can’t say much for his parents, but I’m sucked into a George post every. single. time. Gah!
“Prince Charles and Camilla did not make it because they were working.” You know, that thing George’s parents don’t do. /shade.
Kid birthday parties always make me feel out of place. It’s like that feeling when people sing “Happy Birthday” to you. What are you supposed to do? Stand there? Smile? Wave? Dress in drag and do the hula?
I hope George gets old enough to appreciate his great-grandma. They’re wonderful people in your life and teach you so much.
Edit: Removed personal account because l can’t remember if I’ve said it before and would rather not get yelled at this morning before I’ve had my coffee.
If repetition wasn’t allowed here, posting activity would dramatically decrease :).
LOL
I was yelled at for it before so I just stopped commenting for a few months. And then I said screw it.
I’ve nearly lost sleep over posting – but this is not a big deal, and I shouldn’t take myself so seriously!
MonicaQ
I’m so glad you’re back 🙂
Wolfpup
Of course you already know I love your posts 🙂
Ah, snarkers…(whew!)…thanks!
I wouldn’t mind a repost.
Has that dog been seen since that window picture was taken?
That George. Such a rascal.
Lupo is probably on a beach somewhere, drinking cocktails and waiting for George to cool down.
Caption:
George :- Don’t worry Lupo after the photographer is done I’ll play with you some more.
Lupo :- OMG…OMG!
Lupo looked frightened in the picture and George was staring at him. He may have killed Lupo.
Oh no! Lupo probably also has his own kitchen, and he is just hiding there.
Free Lupo!
there can only be one Top dog, The dog dont even make eye contact with PGtips. He’s too busy oh Hail to top gun
“George’s other grandparents, Prince Charles and Camilla, were away this week, visiting Scotland. ”
Yes, of course they were. Say about those two what you will but THEY WORK THEIR BUTTS OFF! So does the Queen. I’m not a UK citizen nor do I live there so what do I really care (not my taxes) if it’s a monarchy or a republic. I understand both arguments. But damn, nobody say that the older royals aren’t worth the money. These two yahoos? Eh. George is fantastic at distracting people from that though.
I’ve said before that I don’t think William will work until Charles takes the throne.
Which is a bad plan since Charles is getting old, I know he has good health and genes but the throne could pass from the queen to Will.
Plus he’s really hurting the image of the family. They have all seemed hard working until now
I don’t believe there’s a chance that William succeeds the Queen, even if Charles is King only for a few years. He will be King. And frankly, he’s earned it (as much as one can).
But yeah, William and the wife will try to delay a full schedule until George gets his A-levels I assume. Because a CHILD NEEDS ITS MOMMY! And that mom needs perfectly maintained locks. And of course she’ll have another kid. Oy, sounds exhausting to be royal.
What I don’t understand is, why is the Queen not going full George on those two? Because we know where that child got his temper. He won’t have it. And neither will the Queen. So what is going on?
before his bday party when was the last time the Queen has seen George in person?
I personally don’t know, but it does seem that William spends more time with his family than is widely reported. They seem to spend a good amount of time at Highgrove, and were at Balmoral last summer. Presumably George has been brought to BP or Windsor from time to time, although I can’t imagine HM has much time for babies.
The Queen probably sees him regularly but may not spend more than 10 minutes with him because she is busy and George is too over active right now for the elderly Queen. The Middletons on the other hand spend days with him as they are younger and act as baby sitters for Kate.
She Probably patted him politely in the head and he reached over drooled on her and THEN kicked her just to be sure
LOVE the image!
Hahaha! Love that image!
Haha best image ever.
that baby has more charisma than both of his parents put together!
He is such a cute baby. I can’t get enough George pictures/stories.
I was just wondering last night about Anne’s kids. I know they have no royal titles, and I think that was at their mother’s request. I’m sure their lives are a lot different from those of their royal cousins, and they don’t get nearly as much of the spotlight. They probably wouldn’t have anyway being so far removed from the line of succession. I wonder if, privately, Zara and Peter ever wished they had the titles, or if they’re both relieved not to have the burden. Zara particularly always seems fun. (Edward’s kids are Lord and Lady not Prince and Princess, too). I suppose if they wanted the titles, the monarchy could still bestow them?
They’ve got all the money and none of the responsibilities; what’s not to like?
They don’t really have “all the money” as it were, although there are most likely trust funds involved. They do not receive taxpayer-funding (Sovereign Grant), nor do they receive taxpayer-funded security. That’s probably a big reason why both Zara and Peter (and their families) moved back to live with Anne at Gatcombe Park. When they live off-site, they have to pay for security themselves. By living at Gatcombe, they get the benefit of all the security staff and security technology that Anne receives as a working royal.
I think if they really wanted titles, Earldoms would have been issued at the time of their weddings. I think in general they’re both people who just get on with it, although I’ve heard Peter isn’t above letting people know his lineage when it benefits him.
I also think it’s not unlikely that Zara will be made a Dame one day, which would be pretty fab.
I’ll be in the minority I suppose, but I think it’s crappy that Charles missed his first grandson’s first birthday,
He knew a year ago (haha) about this day. It’s not like they need the money and he couldn’t take a day off, he chose not to. Whatever message he is sending, it’s George who will know his grandfather missed his first birthday.
I see what you’re saying, but I think first birthday parties are for the adults. George won’t remember who was there. Lol
well, pics though.
my kids love to look at pics of their parties, events, etc.
I didn’t use “remember”, I used “know”. He’ll know they didn’t bother.
From what I’ve read, the royals typically don’t make a big thing out of kids’ early birthdays, for just the reason that the kid won’t remember them. George’s birthday party is unusual for them.
True, he’ll probably find out. You’re sweet to worry.
After reading how the queen left Charles in England for TWO YEARS while she lived the carefree life in Malta with Phillip, I believe Charles is stunted emotionally and just doesn’t have that sentimental chip needed to care about things like grandchildren’s birthdays.
Absolutely false. She visited Malta 4 times in 2 years. She was never carefree, she took the work with her the few times she was able to visit her husband while he was stationed away.
Notasu, the queen DID live in Malta from 1949 to 1951. Charles and Anne stayed in England and the queen supposedly visited frequently.
I’m not understanding where you’re getting this info. notasugarhere is right. The Queen was always working heavily and steadily. It’s not like she abandon Charles with the nannies to vacation almost continuously with her husband. Although, she wasn’t around Charles as a child like a stay at home mom would be.
Now if you want to talk about who left who alone to vacation and spend while ignoring work and family members… we can talk.
Thanks, FLORC. Earlier post disappeared. Check the official website of The British Monarchy, Accession and Coronation section.
“Princess Elizabeth also visited Malta four times while Prince Philip was stationed there on naval duties, and enjoyed the life of a naval wife and young mother.”
Liz and Phil were not warm, emotive parents, as Charles himself has said. His mom was not nurturing and was not prone to spend time with him. Phil was critical, stern and unrelenting. No question that little George will not have to deal with that as he grows up.
We don’t actually know what happens behind closed doors, as much as we speculate. We do know that Kate Middleton herself admitted that William wasn’t around much for the first six months of George’s life. How much time either of them spends with him is unknown.
@ original kay
I think you a exaggerating a little on this. My Grandma wasn’t there for my younger sisters first birthday and she does look as pictures 21 years later upset that my Grandma there or didn’t care. She more concerned about how cute she look at that age. Lol
I’ll give Charles a pass because he was in Scotland. The referendum for independence is in two months. I wonder if more royals will turn up in Scotland over the next few weeks.
That’s 10 minutes more than she spent with Charles during his entire childhood.
BURN!!
Media
Awesome!
But Charles looks so spoiled – indulgent, pampered and reveling in his “privilege”. I personally think that Williams choices reflect his father’s ideas, rather than the Queen’s.
Charles has a decent work ethic, but his said reason, for his dalliance,, outside his marriage to Diana, was due to his title: The Prince of Wales. That’s some major territory, that he reclaimed from past princes. I won’t hold it against him now, but that is some real entitled thinking; godlike even. Diana found royalty too much of a constraint, after seeing her marriage fail, and she wanted out. It seems that these are two themes, for William. He gets to play papa, and fly helicopters, just like us. All that is possible, for us, is to speculate about why he doesn’t want to be out and about. I do not understand the unresponsiveness to the public, while William decides. (Is he deciding, or are they just flipping the public?) I really can’t believe that Charles would be jealous. At this point, I don’t think that this couple will recapture the good press that they had. What a bad horse and pony show.
What happens to Kate’s blood, does it turn blue upon pregnancy, or does the magic happen, only for George. He’s a darling baby.
Lol.
Yeah, the picture depicting HM shaking Charles’ hand after an extended trip away. Brrrr. All you can do is pray they had loving nannies.
The Queen mum was his major source of love and support, in fact she over indulged him sometimes.
That explains a lot. He somehow seemed (to me) both petulant and spoiled at times in his life, but also insecure and craving of love.
Diana was a naturally warm and affectionate woman, so it’s not surprising that she was that way towards her children. Charles impresses me more though, because his own father wasn’t overtly affectionate. Perhaps he’s been too easy on William as a reaction to how cold and impossible to please his own father was.
Where does it say there wasn’t cake? It looks like they had cake in addition to the foods mentioned, per the article.
I was just about to make the same comment! Yes, the article definitely states that cake was served. I don’t know how anyone got any ideas to the contrary.
Plus Daily Mail claimed nanny Maria was bringing a special cake she had made that is a specialty in Spain.
And HM is served tea accompanied by an assortment of sweet and savory nibbles every day at 4pm. So I’m sure her usual was served on top of everything else. My favorite part of traditional English cuisine is their sweets. Is it sweets, pudding, dessert, what term would HM use?
Ha-ha, my non-U American upbringing is showing isn’t it.
most likely pudding – the brits use it for any kind of dessert, it was very confusing when I first moved there.
Pudding threw me for a loop too. I thought everybody in Harry Potter land had chocolate or vanilla pudding every night. They even had to eat it at school daily. I felt kind of sorry for them.
@lady D Omg that clears up so much!! I was always wondering that too about Harry Potter, good lord why do they loooove pudding so much? Haha!! Now it all makes sense
At first glance, I can’t tell Kate apart from Kathryn Bigelow.
Good eye. They do look a lot alike.
One has a brain, and works?
My remark wasn’t an invitation for Mean Girl comments.
William is starting to look more and more like his father, poor thing.
George is a little handful and so cute.
A someone who was babysat by my grandparents and still visits them almost every day, William’s side of the family seems so frickin cold. She stayed for 50 minutes? Charles didn’t even come? Horrible,
I don’t get the hate for the Middletons. They act like grandparents are supposed to. And they have a bussiness so they do REAL work. I’m sure we all know who George’s favourite grandparents will be.
Royals seem to think that they have a way of life, that is superior to commoners. We are told that we cannot imagine that life, and so everybody goes along and buys the idea that they are high and mighty. I agree with you, Spooky, what could be nicer than a grandma?
The queen is just a part of a ceremony; she is the main part, but she is also, just one of the players. I don’t see anything more to this job than ceremony.
Agree that I’ve never understood the dislike of the Middleton grandparents spending time with George. They are his grandparents with equal rights to him as the Windsors. William didn’t just marry Kate, he married into her family just as much as she did. However in some ways I do think Wills has been influenced by the fact that his in-laws are rich but live their lives with no other obligations as the Royals do but tough cookie, get out of the line to be King and he can have their lives.
“They act like grandparents are supposed to. And they have a bussiness so they do REAL work. ” Are you honestly comparing a Made in China (or Made in Mexico by child slave labour) mail order party tat company with being Head of State or future Head of State? And you think the party tat company is more important?
I think monarchy in the 21st sentury is insulting. People shouldn’t be put on a pedestal because they were born lucky. And getting pamepered and then shaking hands for an hour seems oh so hard. At least the party tat company is actual work.
IMO monarchy can be insulting, if people actually think the blood in their veins is somehow special. I think there can be a role for a neutral advisor, someone above politics who has the best interest of the people at heart. It doesn’t have to be a monarch, it could be someone like the Governor General of Canada.
BTW, what work has Kate Middleton done in her life? Not her mother but Kate Middleton. It was proven she didn’t work at the family party tat company. She lasted 9 months, 2-3 days a week as the accessories buyer. From what I can tell, she gets her hair done, goes shopping, goes on vacation, and decorates homes paid for by the taxpayers. And please, do not insult stay-at-home mothers by pretending that a woman with a dozen household staff including nanny and sub-nanny counts as a full-time SAHM.
If people truly understood how the rf became wealthy it would make the Middleton’s party business look like a non profit charity from heaven. At least Carole rolled up her sleeves and started the business from nothing. George will come to respect that as he grows older. The queen just happened to be born royal.
I admire the fact that she built a business. I’m appalled at the child slave labor and the environmental devastation of the type of company they run. Never said I approved of the way the BRF got where it is.
HM was born royal, never wanted the role, and rose to the challenge.
William was born royal, never wanted the role, and does everything he can to avoid his duty.
Perhaps George will inherit a work ethic from HM, Prince Philip, Charles, Diana, Uncle Henry, and Mrs. Middleton.
HM and Prince Philip did a good job instilling a work ethic in Charles. What level of work ethic did Mrs. Middleton instill in her eldest?
As if Charles was raised by anyone other than a nanny.
Phillip used to rant and rave to Charles about his poor work ethic. It is something that has to come from within even if it is taught. Even Phillip faced some criticism for not getting on with the work but eventually people self-correct. Maybe even William will.
God I love this baby. My son is 4 months younger than him and I just want to SQUEEZE baby George. That is all.
Does Kate not have any friends with kids? When was the last time anyone saw her out with some girlfriends?
From what I can find? February 2013 walking in the park.
I’m starting to miss Kate’s bum.
Should be any day now. It’s been a few weeks now, so…
I got a laugh out of the butterfly comment yesterday. He totes mashed it up and ate it. Or tried to anyway.
Completely random question for ArtHistorian if she wanders through this post today. At Graasten yesterday or today, QM is wearing a necklace made of sailing signal flags. I thought at first that it read, “Alexandra” in support of Alex (because of the bashing Alex is getting in the news right now). On second glance, it looks like it might spell out “Alexandria”. Any idea why?
Hi,
I haven’t seen that image – or heard anything about it. However, there was an earlier Alexandra in the family, the daughter of Christian IX, Queen of England, married to Edward VII.
As I understand it, the Countess Alexandra appears to be on good terms with her former in-laws, her ex-husband and his new wife. Prince Joachim and Princess Marie recently celebrated Alex’ 50th birthday with her, their children and her new husband.
The short of it: I don’t know. However, she wore the necklace to an official event in Graasten (riding at the ring), so it might have a significance relating to that. Or it might simply be a necklace with a nautical theme – both her late father and her husband enjoy sailing. I think that latter is the most likely – the Queen never comments on what is written about her family in the news, especially the tabloid. She even refrained from speaking out during the brouhaha a few years back when her husband whined about him not becoming king because he married a woman who became queen. I suspect she simply likes the necklace.
Thanks, AH! It was part of a photo opportunity yesterday or today with both of her sisters. She is wearing the necklace with a sailing-themed dress, so it matches the outfit. I thought it might be part of her theme dressing, like when she wears her Faberge egg necklace at Easter.
Interesting that the necklace spells out “Alexandria.” Alexandria is a coastal city, so I guess that fits with sailing, but I wonder what significance it has to QM. Or maybe she once owned a horse named Alexandria? I’m curious about things like that.
I think they are all on good terms, which is why I thought it might be some kind of show of support from QM. Countess Alexandra has been in the news lately, with people calling for the removal of her taxpayer-funded alimony.
QMII does like her theme dressing – and her sometimes wacky sartorial fancies!
She isn’t really that much into horses, that is her sister Princess Benedikte’s game – one of her daughters competes professionally in dressage, at the Olympics as well.
I know Alxedra has been in the news recently, but right now there’s a lot of focus on her ex-husband Prince Joachim. He has had to sell the estate Schackenborg that he inherited when he was 11. There’s a lot of debt in the estate and it has now been turned into a corporation with a board of trustees. The tabloids have written a lot about his debt, but the figures indicate that it is in the estate (modernization – it was very oldfashioned and in bad shape when he took over) and it is really really hard to run these old manour houses as farming businesses, often ebcause they have to sell of land to pay inheritance taxes. Schackenborg doesn’t really have enough acreage to turn a significant profit. Hopefully, the new corporation will turn it around. I also think that i must have been difficult for him to live on the other end of the country from his two eldest sons, who live with their mother in Copenhagen.
Since Prince G has been described as a bruiser, I hope he didn’t demolish any of the Queen’s items at BP 🙂
I would love to see the Queen tucking into some pepperoni and cheese pizza, then a cupcake with ice cream.
I wonder if you still have to curtsey to the Queen when she has been invited to a party.
I wondered the same thing SoCal. I also wonder if official protocol is expected which would mean Carole or anybody there, should not initiate a handshake or conversation with HM.
My guess is that EVERYONE curtsies to the Queen.
they all curtsey to the Queen in private.
Here you can see her grandson Peter with his wife Autumn Philips and the two daughters. It´s no official engagement. The Queen still sits in the car and Autumn has to curtsey
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/05/17/article-2631457-1DF3A7DA00000578-885_634x869.jpg
Oh, I had forgot about that moment with Peter and Autumn Phillips, thanks.
she has great hair i’ll give her that.
You mean she has great extensions/weave.
Notsosugar, 2:21
+1000 – Waity doolittle Cannot should not be taking PGeorge to BP for time with HM QE2.
Protection Officers should when he get older. PG bit from grands QE2 lesson on duty and responsibilities, something Waity doolittle knows nothing about.