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Lilliana Marin
Aldwych is a closed station on the London Underground, located in the city of Westminster in central London. It was opened in 1907 with the name Strand. Disused parts of the station were used during both world wars to shelter artworks from  London's public galleries and museums from bombing. It is now a popular location for filming.

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Disused passageway with vintage 1959 posters, Notting Hill Gate tube station, London, 2010

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Emma De Rosso
Marie Tussaud era una donna di origini alsaziane. Aveva imparato l'arte di modellare la cera fin da piccola, creando i primi capolavori. Nel 1802 lascia Parigi per l'Inghilterra, portando con sé le sue opere, e da questa collezione nasce l'attuale museo delle cere di Londra.

La fondatrice, nata come Marie Grosholtz, arrivò spesso a faccia a faccia con la morte. Infatti, a Parigi, come lavoratrice prestigiosa della cera e, prima, come insegnante d'arte della sorella di Luigi XVI, i capi della Rivoluzione Francese le ordinarono di ricavare le maschere mortuarie dalle teste decapitate delle vittime della ghigliottina. Sposato un ingegnere civile, François Tussaud, Marie Tussaud arrivò a Londra nei primi anni del secolo XIX e, all'epoca della sua morte nel 1850, all'età di 89 anni, le sue opere in cera erano famose.

Suo nipote, Joseph Randall Tussaud, curò la loro sistemazione nel luogo attuale vicino a Baker Street nel 1884. Da allora la collezione si è mantenuta al passo con la società - buona, cattiva, dignitosa - e con le stelle. Adiacente c'è l'ex Planetario di Londra, dalla cupola in color verderame; fu inaugurato nel 1958 dal Duca di Edimburgo. Dal 2010 ospita l'attrazione Marvel Super Heroes 4D e fa parte del museo Madame Tussauds, dedicato ai personaggi famosi.

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Lilliana Marin

The mysterious green shelters that can be seen around London are rest places for London's taxi drivers. They date back to nineteenth century Britain when pubs were the only place for cabbies who drove horse-drawn carriages to shelter from the rain. This meant that they often got drunk. A newspaper owner in 1875 decided to set up a Cabman's shelter fund - a charity dedicated to funding shelters that would let taxi drivers get some hot food and coffee and so they wouldn't get drunk. Thirteen of these huts still exist today and are still private cafes for taxi drivers.

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Zerbi Matilda
London Is divided in two countries: the City of London and Greater London and both have their own mayor

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Giacomo Donegana
Notting Hill è un distretto residenziale di Londra, appartenente alla municipalità del Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. È situato nella parte occidentale della prima fascia urbana e, a partire dalla fine degli anni novanta del Novecento, è diventato un’area residenziale particolarmente richiesta ed esclusiva.

L'area è nota anche per la sua vocazione turistica poiché ospita la celebre Portobello Road, con il suo caratteristico mercato dell'usato e il festoso Carnevale Caraibico che si svolge annualmente nell'ultima settimana di agosto.

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The London Underground first opened in 1863!
The London Underground (also known as Tube) is a public transit system serving London and parts of adjacent counties.
Despite its name only 45% of the system is underground in tunnels
The system has 270 stations and 250 miles of track
The 11 lines handle up to 5 million passengers a day
A Central London Railway route diagram appears in a 1904 postcard.
Today's tube map is an evolution of that original design and the ideas are used by many metro around the world

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Platform 9 3/4 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

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Pall Mall became the first public street in the world to be artificially lit with gas. On 28 January 1807

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In London there are many restaurants. In this restaurants many students and young people work there to study and learn english.
And a lot of people go to London hoping for luck to open a restaurant.

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The London Eye is an observation wheel, the tallest in Europe! It's tall 135m and it sits on the shores of the River Thames.

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The London Eye, or the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It is Europe's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom with over three million visitors annually. It has made many appearances in popular culture.

The structure is 135 metres (443 ft) tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres (394 ft). When it opened to the public in 2000 it was the world's tallest Ferris wheel. Its height was surpassed by the 140 metres (459 ft) Sun of Moscow in 2022, the 160 metres (525 ft) Star of Nanchang in 2006, the 165 metres (541 ft) Singapore Flyer in 2008, the 167 metres (548 ft) High Roller ( Las Vegas) in 2014, and the 250 metres (820 ft) Ain Dubai in 2021. Supported by an A-frame on one side only, unlike these taller examples, the Eye is described by its operators as "the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel". The Eye offered the highest public viewing point in London until it was superseded by the 245-metre-high (804 ft) observation deck on the 72nd floor of The Shard in early 2013.

The London Eye adjoins the western end of Jubilee Gardens (previously the site of the former Dome of Discovery), on the South Bank of the River Thames between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge beside County Hall, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The nearest tube station is Waterloo.

Design and construction

Supported by an A-frame on one side only, the Eye is described by its operators as a cantilevered observation wheel

The London Eye was designed by the husband-and-wife team of Julia Barfield and David Marks of Marks Barfield Architects.

Mace was responsible for construction management, with Hollandia as the main steelwork contractor and Tilbury Douglas as the civil contractor. Consulting engineers Tony Gee & Partners designed the foundation works while Beckett Rankine designed the marine works.

Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners assisted The Tussauds Group in obtaining planning and listed building consent to alter the wall on the South Bank of the Thames. They also examined and reported on the implications of a Section 106 agreement attached to the original contract, and also prepared planning and listed building consent applications for the permanent retention of the attraction, which involved the co-ordination of an Environmental Statement and the production of a planning supporting statement detailing the reasons for its retention.

The spindle, hub, and tensioned cables that support the rim

The rim of the Eye is supported by tensioned steel cables and resembles a huge spoked bicycle wheel. The lighting was re-done with LED lighting from Color Kinetics in December 2006 to allow digital control of the lights as opposed to the manual replacement of gels over fluorescent tubes.

The wheel was constructed in sections which were floated up the Thames on barges and assembled lying flat on piled platforms in the river. Once the wheel was complete it was lifted into an upright position by a strand jack system made by Enerpac. It was first raised at 2 degrees per hour until it reached 65 degrees, then left in that position for a week while engineers prepared for the second phase of the lift. The project was European with major components coming from six countries: the steel was supplied from the UK and fabricated in The Netherlands by the Dutch company Hollandia, the cables came from Italy, the bearings came from Germany (FAG/Schaeffler Group), the spindle and hub were cast in the Czech Republic, the capsules were made by Poma in France (and the glass for these came from Italy), and the electrical components from the UK.

The London Eye was originally intended as a temporary attraction, with a five-year lease. In December 2001, operators submitted an application to Lambeth Council to give the London Eye permanent status, and the application was granted in July 2002.

On 5 June 2008 it was announced that 30 million people had ridden the London Eye since it opened.

Passenger capsules

The wheel's 32 sealed and air-conditioned ovoidal passenger capsules, designed and supplied by Poma, are attached to the external circumference of the wheel and rotated by electric motors. The capsules are numbered from 1 to 33, excluding number 13 for superstitious reasons. Each of the 10-tonne (11-short-ton) capsules represents one of the London Boroughs, and holds up to 25 people, who are free to walk around inside the capsule, though seating is provided. The wheel rotates at 26 cm (10 in) per second (about 0.9 km/h or 0.6 mph) so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes, giving a theoretical capacity of 1,600 passengers per hour. It does not usually stop to take on passengers; the rotation rate is slow enough to allow passengers to walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level. It is stopped to allow disabled or elderly passengers time to embark and disembark safely.

In 2009 the first stage of a £12.5 million capsule upgrade began. Each capsule was taken down and floated down the river to Tilbury Docks in Essex.

Ownership and branding

London Eye at twilight

The Eye on the South Bank of the Thames, with Jubilee Gardens (left) and County Hall (right) in the background

Marks Barfield (the lead architects), The Tussauds Group, and British Airways were the original owners of the London Eye. Tussauds bought out British Airways' stake in 2005 and then Marks Barfield's stake in 2006 to become sole owner.

In May 2007, the Blackstone Group purchased The Tussauds Group which was then the owner of the Eye; Tussauds was merged with Blackstone's Merlin Entertainments and disappeared as an entity. British Airways continued its brand association, but from the beginning of 2008 the name British Airways was dropped from the logo.

On 12 August 2009, the London Eye saw another rebrand, this time being called "The Merlin Entertainments London Eye". A refurbished ticket hall and 4D cinema experience were designed by architect Kay Elliott working with project designer Craig Sciba, and Simex-Iwerks as the 4D theatre hardware specialists. The film was written and directed by Julian Napier and produced by Phil Streather.

In February 2020, lastminute.com replaced Coca-Cola as the sponsor. Grammy Award-winning singer Meghan Trainor performed at the launch party on a boat overlooking the London Eye.

In March 2020, the wheel was illuminated blue every Thursday at 8pm in support of the National Health Service as part of the ' Clap for our Carers' campaign created during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Financial difficulties

Colourful London Eye near County Hall

On 25 May 2005, London mayor Ken Livingstone vowed that the landmark would remain in London. He also pledged that if the dispute was not resolved he would use his powers to ask the London Development Agency to issue a compulsory purchase order. The land in question is a small part of the Jubilee Gardens, which was given to the SBC for £1 when the Greater London Council was broken up.

The South Bank Centre and the British Airways London Eye agreed on a 25-year lease on 8 February 2006 after a judicial review over the rent dispute. The lease agreement meant that the South Bank Centre, a publicly funded charity, would receive at least £500,000 a year from the attraction, the status of which is secured for the foreseeable future. Tussauds also announced the acquisition of the entire one-third interests of British Airways and Marks Barfield in the Eye as well as the outstanding debt to BA. These agreements gave Tussauds 100% ownership and resolved the debt from the Eye's construction loan from British Airways, which stood at more than £150 million by mid-2005 and had been charging an interest rate of 25% per annum.

Critical reception

London Eye as a boat passes on the River Thames, with Big Ben in the background

Sir Richard Rogers, winner of the 2007 Pritzker Architecture Prize, wrote of the London Eye in a book about the project:

The Eye has done for London what the Eiffel Tower did for Paris, which is to give it a symbol and to let people climb above the city and look back down on it. Not just specialists or rich people, but everybody. That's the beauty of it: it is public and accessible, and it is in a great position at the heart of London.

Big City Review wrote that:

If you're an amateur or professional photographer, the London Eye delivers the chance to get breathtaking photos of the city of London. The ride moves so slow which enables one to have ample opportunity to shoot photos and video from all angles. When your [sic] done shooting your photos, the ride's slow speed lets you just sit back and take in the incredible views of London. From the time your carriage reaches the highest point your breath will have been take away. That is why the London Eye is worth visiting.

Transport links

The nearest London Underground station is Waterloo, although Charing Cross, Embankment, and Westminster are also within easy walking distance.

Connection with National Rail services is made at London Waterloo station and London Waterloo East station.

London River Services operated by Thames Clippers and City Cruises stop at the London Eye Pier.

References

External links

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The London Eye, or the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It is Europe's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom with over three million visitors annually. It has made many appearances in popular culture.

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More about the monument to the great Fire of London

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More about the monument to the great Fire of London

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Zerbi Matilda
It's more commonly called The Monument, was built between 1671 and 1677 in memory of the great London fire of 1666, designed by architect Christopher Wren

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Zerbi Matilda

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Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London and is one of five London bridges owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust founded in 1282. The bridge was constructed to give better access to the East End of London, which had expanded its commercial potential in the 19th century. The bridge was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales and Alexandra, Princess of Wales in 1894.

The bridge is 800 feet (240 m) in length and consists of two 213-foot (65 m) bridge towers connected at the upper level by two horizontal walkways, and a central pair of bascules that can open to allow shipping. Originally hydraulically powered, the operating mechanism was converted to an electro-hydraulic system in 1972. The bridge is part of the London Inner Ring Road and thus the boundary of the London congestion charge zone, and remains an important traffic route with 40,000 crossings every day. The bridge deck is freely accessible to both vehicles and pedestrians, whereas the bridge's twin towers, high-level walkways, and Victorian engine rooms form part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition.

Tower Bridge has become a recognisable London landmark. It is sometimes confused with London Bridge, about 0.5 miles (800 m) upstream, which has led to a persistent urban legend about an American purchasing the wrong bridge.

In the late 19th century, commercial development in the East End of London increased, leading to demand for a new river crossing downstream of London Bridge. A traditional fixed bridge at street level could not be built because it would cut off access by sailing ships to the port facilities in the Pool of London between London Bridge and the Tower of London.

A Special Bridge or Subway Committee chaired by Sir Albert Joseph Altman was formed in 1877 to find a solution. More than fifty designs were submitted, including one from civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette, which was rejected because of a lack of sufficient headroom. A design was not approved until 1884 when it was decided to build a bascule bridge. Sir John Wolfe Barry was appointed engineer and Sir Horace Jones the architect (who was also one of the judges). An Act of Parliament authorising construction was passed in 1885. It specified that the opening span would provide a clear width of 200 feet (61 m) and headroom of 135 feet (41 m). The design had to be in a Gothic style. Construction was funded by the Bridge House Estates, a charity established in 1282 for maintenance of London Bridge that subsequently expanded to cover Tower Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Southwark Bridge and the Millennium Bridge.

Barry designed a bridge with two bridge towers built on piers. The central span was split into two equal bascules or leaves, which could be raised to allow river traffic to pass. The two side spans were suspension bridges, with rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained in the bridge's upper walkways.

Construction started in 1886, with the foundation stone laid by the Prince of Wales on 21 June, and took eight years. Major contractors included Sir John Jackson (foundations), Armstrong, Mitchell and Company (hydraulics), William Webster, and Sir William Arrol & Co. 432 people worked on the site; E W Crutwell was the resident engineer for the construction.

Two piers, containing over 70,000 long tons (78,400 short tons; 71,123 t) of concrete, were sunk into the riverbed to support the construction. More than 11,000 long tons (12,320 short tons; 11,177 t) of steel were used in the framework for the towers and walkways, which were then clad in Cornish granite and Portland stone to protect the underlying steelwork.

Jones died in 1887, and George D. Stevenson took over the project. Stevenson replaced Jones's original brick façade with the more ornate Victorian Gothic style, which made the bridge a distinctive landmark and was intended to harmonise the bridge with the nearby Tower of London. The total cost of construction was £1,184,000 (equivalent to £143 million in 2021).

Tower Bridge was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by the Prince and Princess of Wales. The opening ceremony was attended by the Lord Chamberlain, the Lord Carrington and the Home Secretary, H. H. Asquith. An Act of Parliament stipulated that a tug boat should be on station to assist vessels in danger when crossing the bridge, a requirement that remained in place until the 1960s.

The bridge connected Iron Gate, on the north bank of the river, with Horselydown Lane, on the south - now known as Tower Bridge Approach and Tower Bridge Road, respectively. Until the bridge was opened, the Tower Subway - 0.25 mi (400 m) to the west - was the shortest way to cross the river from Tower Hill to Tooley Street in Southwark. Opened in 1870, Tower Subway was among the world's earliest underground ("tube") railways, but it closed after just three months and was reopened as a tolled pedestrian foot tunnel. Once Tower Bridge was open, the majority of foot traffic transferred to using the bridge, as there was no toll to cross. Having lost most of its income, the tunnel was closed in 1898.

The high-level open-air walkways between the towers gained a reputation for prostitutes and pickpockets. Since they were only accessible by stairs, the walkways were seldom used by regular pedestrians and were closed in 1910. The walkway reopened in 1982 as part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition.

During the Second World War, Tower Bridge was seen as a major transport link to the Port of London, and consequently was a target for enemy action. In 1940, the high-level span took a direct hit, severing the hydraulic mechanism and taking the bridge out of action. In April 1941, a parachute mine exploded close to the bridge, causing serious damage to the bascule, towers, and engine room. In 1942, a third engine was installed in case the existing ones were damaged by enemy action. It was a 150 hp horizontal cross-compound engine, built by Vickers Armstrong Ltd. at their Elswick works in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was fitted with a flywheel having a 9-foot (2.7 m) diameter and weighing 9 tons, and was governed to a speed of 30 rpm. The engine became redundant when the rest of the system was modernised in 1974 and was donated to the Forncett Industrial Steam Museum by the City of London Corporation.

The southern section of the bridge, in the London Borough of Southwark, was Grade I listed on 6 December 1949. The remainder of the bridge, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, was listed on 27 September 1973. In 1974, the original operating mechanism was largely replaced by a new electro-hydraulic drive system, designed by BHA Cromwell House, with the original final pinions driven by modern hydraulic motors.

In 1982, the Tower Bridge Exhibition opened, housed in the bridge's twin towers, the long-closed high-level walkways, and the Victorian engine rooms. The latter still houses the original steam engines and some of the original hydraulic machinery.

The bridge closed for a month in 2000 to repair the bascules and perform other maintenance. A computer system was installed to control the raising and lowering of the bascules remotely. However, the system proved unreliable, resulting in the bridge being stuck in the open or closed positions on several occasions during 2005 until its sensors were replaced.

In April 2008, authorities announced that the bridge would undergo a £4 million refurbishment that would take four years to complete. The work entailed stripping existing paint down to bare metal and repainting in blue and white. Before this, the bridge's colour scheme dated from 1977, when it was painted red, white, and blue for Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee. Its colours were subsequently restored to blue and white. Each section was enshrouded in scaffolding and plastic sheeting to prevent the old paint falling into the Thames and causing pollution. Starting in mid-2008, contractors worked on a quarter of the bridge at a time to minimise disruption, but some road closures were inevitable. The completed work should stand for 25 years. The renovation of the walkway interior was completed in mid-2009. The renovation of the four suspension chains was completed in March 2010 using a state-of-the-art coating system requiring up to six different layers of paint. A lighting system based on RGB LED luminaires was installed, concealed within the bridge superstructure, and attached without drilling holes, owing to the bridge's Grade I listing.

On 8 July 2012, as part of the London Olympics, the west walkway was transformed into a 200-foot-long (61 m) Live Music Sculpture by the British composer Samuel Bordoli. 30 classical musicians were arranged along the length of the bridge 138 feet (42 m) above the Thames behind the Olympic rings. The sound travelled backward and forwards along the walkway, echoing the structure of the bridge.

Following the Olympics, the rings were removed from Tower Bridge and replaced by the emblem of the Paralympic Games for the 2012 Summer Paralympics.

In 2016, Tower Bridge was closed to all road traffic from 1 October to 30 December. This was to allow structural maintenance work to take place on the timber decking, lifting mechanism and waterproofing the brick arches on the bridge's approaches. During this, the bridge was still open to waterborne traffic. It was open to pedestrians for all but three weekends when free ferry service was in operation.

The bridge is 800 feet (240 m) in length with two towers each 213 feet (65 m) high, built on piers. The central span of 200 feet (61 m) between the towers is split into two equal bascules, or leaves, which can be raised to an angle of 86 degrees to allow river traffic to pass. The bascules, weighing over 1,000 tons each, are counterbalanced to minimise the force required and allow raising in five minutes.

The two side spans are suspension bridges, each 270 feet (82 m) long, with the suspension rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained within the bridge's upper walkways. The pedestrian walkways are 143 feet (44 m) above the river at high tide and accessed by lifts and staircases.

One of the chimneys on the bridge connects to an old fireplace in a guardroom of the Tower of London. It is long-disused.

The original raising mechanism was powered by pressurised water stored in several hydraulic accumulators. The system was designed and installed by Hamilton Owen Rendel while working for Armstrong, Mitchell and Company of Newcastle upon Tyne. Water at a pressure of 750 psi (5.2 MPa) was pumped into the accumulators by a pair of stationary steam engines. Each drove a force pump from its piston tail rod. The accumulators each comprise a 20-inch (51 cm) ram which sits a very heavy weight to maintain the desired pressure.

The entire hydraulic system along with the gas lighting system was installed by William Sugg & Co Ltd. The gas lighting was initially by open-flame burners within the lanterns, but was soon updated to the later incandescent system.

In 1974, the original operating mechanism was largely replaced by a new electro-hydraulic drive system, designed by BHA Cromwell House. The only remaining parts of the old system are the final pinions, which fit into the racks on the bascules and were driven by hydraulic motors and gearing. Oil is now used in place of water as the new hydraulic fluid.

Some of the control mechanism for the signalling equipment has been preserved and is housed in the Tower Bridge's museum.

Tower Bridge is still a busy crossing of the Thames, used by more than 40,000 people (motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians) every day. The bridge is on the London Inner Ring Road, and is on the eastern boundary of the London congestion charge zone (drivers do not incur the charge by crossing the bridge).

From the outset, the high-level connection was a pedestrian route and was intended to allow pedestrian movement to continue while the bridge was open. This was closed in 1910 due to growing crime in this hidden area but was reopened in 1982 when a glass floor was also installed.

The bascules are raised about a thousand times a year. River traffic is now much reduced, but it still takes priority over road traffic. Today, 24 hours' notice is required before opening the bridge, and opening times are published in advance on the bridge's website; there is no charge for vessels to open the bridge.

The nearest London Underground tube stations to Tower Bridge are Tower Hill on the Circle and District lines, London Bridge on the Jubilee and Northern lines and Bermondsey on the Jubilee line, and the nearest Docklands Light Railway station is Tower Gateway. The nearest National Rail stations are at Fenchurch Street and London Bridge.

The Tower Bridge Exhibition is a display housed in the bridge's twin towers, the high-level walkways, and the Victorian engine rooms. It uses films, photos, and interactive displays to explain why and how Tower Bridge was built. Visitors can access the original steam engines that once powered the bridge bascules, housed in a building close to the south end of the bridge.

Although Tower Bridge is an undoubted landmark, professional commentators in the early 20th century were critical of its aesthetics. "It represents the vice of tawdriness and pretentiousness, and of falsification of the actual facts of the structure", wrote Henry Heathcote Statham, while Frank Brangwyn stated that "A more absurd structure than the Tower Bridge was never thrown across a strategic river".

Benjamin Crisler, the New York Times film critic, wrote in 1938: "Three unique and valuable institutions the British have that we in America have not: Magna Carta, the Tower Bridge and Alfred Hitchcock." Architectural historian Dan Cruickshank selected Tower Bridge as one of his four choices for the 2002 BBC television documentary series Britain's Best Buildings. The bridge and its surrounding landscape was depicted in an official BBC trailer for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup (in reference to London being one of the host cities).

Tower Bridge has been mistaken for the next bridge upstream, London Bridge. A popular urban legend is that in 1968, Robert P. McCulloch, the purchaser of the old London Bridge that was later shipped to Lake Havasu City in Arizona, believed that he was buying Tower Bridge. This was denied by McCulloch himself and has been debunked by Ivan Luckin, the vendor of the bridge.

A partial replica of Tower Bridge has been built in the city of Suzhou in China. The replica differs from the original in having no lifting mechanism and four separate towers. The Suzhou replica was renovated in 2019, giving it a new look that differs from the original London design.

On 10 August 1912, the pioneering stunt pilot Francis McClean flew between the bascules and the high-level walkways in his Short Brothers S.33 floatplane. McClean became a celebrity overnight because of the stunt, and went on to fly underneath London Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge and Waterloo Bridge.

On 3 August 1922, a 13-year-old boy fell off a slipway next to the south side of Tower Bridge. A man jumped into the Thames to save him, but both were pulled under a barge by Butler's Wharf and drowned.

In December 1952, the bridge opened while a number 78 double-decker bus was crossing from the south bank. At that time, the gateman would ring a warning bell and close the gates when the bridge was clear before the watchman ordered the raising of the bridge. The process failed while a relief watchman was on duty. The bus was near the edge of the south bascule when it started to rise; driver Albert Gunter made a split-second decision to accelerate, clearing a 3-foot (1 m) gap to drop 6 feet (2 m) onto the north bascule, which had not yet started to rise. There were no serious injuries. Gunter was given £ 10 (equivalent to £310 in 2021) by the City Corporation to honour his act of bravery.

On 5 April 1968, a Royal Air Force Hawker Hunter FGA.9 jet fighter from No. 1 Squadron made an unauthorised flight through Tower Bridge. Unimpressed that senior staff was not going to celebrate the RAF's 50th birthday with a flypast, the pilot flew at low altitude down the Thames without authorisation, past the Houses of Parliament, and continued towards the bridge. He flew beneath the walkway, at an estimated 300 miles per hour (500 km/h). He was placed under arrest upon landing, and discharged from the RAF on medical grounds without the chance to defend himself at a court martial.

On 31 July 1973, a single-engined Beagle Pup was twice flown under the pedestrian walkway of Tower Bridge by 29-year-old stockbroker's clerk Peter Martin. Martin, who was on bail following accusations of stock market fraud, then "buzzed" buildings in the city before flying north towards the Lake District, where he died when his aircraft crashed some two hours later.

In May 1997, the motorcade of United States President Bill Clinton was divided by the opening of the bridge. The Thames sailing barge Gladys, on her way to a gathering at St Katharine Docks, arrived on schedule and the bridge was opened for her. Returning from a Thames-side lunch at Le Pont de la Tour restaurant with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Clinton was less punctual and arrived just as the bridge was rising. The bridge opening split the motorcade in two, much to the consternation of security staff. A spokesman for Tower Bridge is quoted as saying: "We tried to contact the American Embassy, but they wouldn't answer the phone."

On 19 August 1999, Jef Smith, a Freeman of the City of London, drove a flock of two sheep across the bridge. He was exercising a claimed ancient permission, granted as a right to freemen, to make a point about the powers of older citizens and the way their rights were being eroded.

Before dawn on 31 October 2003, a Fathers 4 Justice campaigner climbed a 100-foot (30 m) tower crane near Tower Bridge at the start of a six-day protest dressed as Spider-Man. Fearing for his safety, and that of motorists should he fall, police cordoned off the area, closing the bridge and surrounding roads and causing widespread traffic congestion across the City and East London.

On 11 May 2009, six people were trapped and injured after a lift fell 10 feet (3 m) inside the north tower.

On 9 August 2021, the bridge remained open after a technical failure. The bridge had opened to let the Jubilee Trust Tall Ship through from 2 p.m. before getting stuck. The bridge was closed and reopened to traffic approximately 12 hours later.

Jepson, Tim; Porges, Larry (2014). London Book of Lists. The City's Best, Worst, Oldest, Greatest, and Quirkiest. National Geographic Society. ISBN 9781426213823.

Langmead, Donald; Garnaut, Christine (2001). Encyclopedia of Architectural and Engineering Feats. ABC-Clio. ISBN 978-1-576-07112-0.

Shaw, Michael (1986). No.1 Squadron. Ian Allan. p. 157.

Smith, Hubert Shirley (1953). The World's Great Bridges. Phoenix House. p. 153.

Stewart, Oliver (1964). Of Flight and Flyers - An Aerospace Anthology. Newnes. p. 40.

Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher; Keay, John; Keay, Julia (2008). The London Encyclopaedia (3rd ed.). Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-405-04924-5.

"Tower Bridge". Archive - the Quarterly Journal for British Industrial and Transport History. Lightmoor Press (3). 1994. ISSN 1352-7991.

Winchester, Clarence, ed. (13 July 1937). "Building the Tower Bridge". Wonders of World Engineering. London: Amalgamated Press. 1 (20): 575-580.

Television

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Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel.

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There were only six deaths in the Great Fire of London

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There were only six deaths in the Great Fire of London

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Zerbi Matilda

The Great Fire in 1666 devastated London. While the fire reduced large parts of the city to ruins, the verified death toll was only six people. However, the real number is unknown, as many more died from indirect causes. Monument, the 203ft stone obelisk located 203 ft away from where the fire broke out, commemorates those who died.

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Zerbi Matilda

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Zerbi Matilda e Anonimo
Big Ben is just one of two bells inside the clock tower.
The 96 meters high structure was built in the nineteenth century and its official name is Elizabeth Tower, given in 2012 on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the ascent to the throne of the queen

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È senza ombra di dubbio una delle star della capitale inglese. La grande campana dell'Elizabeth Tower, comunemente chiamata Big Ben, è una delle icone londinesi e la troviamo nell'altrettanto rappresentativo quartiere di Westminster. È difficile non notare la torre dell'orologio di Londra, soprattutto quando di sera le quattro facce del quadrante si illuminano!

La Torre dell'Orologio di Londra e la sua iconica campana sono attualmente in fase di ristrutturazione. I lavori strutturali per la conservazione della Elizabeth Tower sono iniziati nel 2017 e si prevede che termineranno nel 2021: bisogna quindi attendere ancora un po' prima che il Big Ben torni nuovamente in funzione. Anche i tour del Big Ben e della Elizabeth Tower sono attualmente sospesi e dovrebbero riprendere una volta completati gli interventi.

Cosa troverai in questo articolo

L'Orologio di Londra: Dall'incendio alla costruzione della "Clock Tower"

Il Palazzo di Westminster fu distrutto da un incendio nel 1834; poi, nel 1844 si decise di costruire nuovi edifici per il complesso delle Houses of Parliament, che includevano una torre ed un orologio.

Così, si decise per la costruzione di una Clock Tower sull'estremità settentrionale delle nuove Camere del Parlamento; l'astronomo reale decise che l'orologio dovesse avere un altissimo livello di precisione, ma gli orologiai di Westminster erano scettici sul fatto che si potesse ottenere tale precisione su di un orologio meccanico.

Fu allora che Edmund Beckett Denison accolse la sfida disegnando, nel 1851, il prototipo di orologio a pendolo che fu assemblato e completato da Edward John Dent e suo figlio.

Lo stesso Denison progettò anche la campana. Il primo tentativo fu una massiccia campana ad opera di Warner&Sons che si incrinò inesorabilmente; lo stesso metallo, però, venne fuso a Whitechapel e diede vita alla campana che sentiamo ancora oggi: Great Bell.

Una curiosità: Il Big Ben suonò per la prima volta il 31 maggio 1859, ed il suo suono caratteristico lo dobbiamo ad un piccolo danno causato dal martello troppo grosso!

Big Ben: da dove viene il suo nome?

Abbiamo detto che il nome ufficiale è Great Bell, ma se così è... da dove viene il nome Big Ben? A questo proposito ci sono due teorie. La prima è quella secondo la quale prenderebbe il nome da quello di Sir Benjamin Hall, il primo a commissionare i lavori, e che, essendo grande e grosso, veniva affettuosamente chiamato Big Ben.

La seconda teoria vede invece protagonista il campione di pesi massimi Benjamin Count, conosciuto anche come Big Ben, un soprannome che la società usò in seguito per tutto quello che era "pesante"... proprio come la nostra campana!

Ristrutturazione del Big Ben: Visita e tour guidati sospesi fino al 2021

Al momento la torre è in ristrutturazione ed è completamente coperta da impalcature e ponteggi, ad eccezione di uno dei quadranti dell'orologio che resta invece visibile. Per ora quindi, anche i tour guidati del Big Ben e della Elizabeth Tower sono sospesi e dovrebbero riprendere nel 2021 una volta terminati gli interventi. Allo stesso modo, la campana non suonerà fino al completamento dei lavori.

Vi ricordo che anche se non è possibile visitare il Big Ben, potete sempre prendere in considerazione di unirvi ad un tour guidato del Palazzo di Westminster, il palazzo del Parlamento che si trova proprio accanto alla torre dell'orologio di Londra.

Dove si trova il Big Ben? Cosa fare e cosa vedere nelle vicinanze?

Il Big Ben si trova sulla riva settentrionale del Tamigi, nel quartiere di Westminster, il più iconico e storico dei quartieri di Londra. La stazione della metro più vicina è Westminster (District, Circle e Jubilee Line); nelle vicinanze si trova anche la stazione metro di Embankment.

Innanzitutto, l'Elizabeth Tower è vicina al Palazzo di Westminster, sede del Parlamento del Regno Unito, e a pochi minuti di passeggiata dall' Abbazia di Westminster, l'imponente chiesa neoromanica dove sono stati incoronati i grandi sovrani e sono sepolti i più importanti personaggi della storia britannica.

Inoltre: il London Eye è a poco più di 5 minuti di cammino; Buckingham Palace e la Queen's Gallery si raggiungono in un quarto d'ora a piedi; una quindicina di minuti bastano anche per raggiungere la Tate Britain, la galleria d'arte britannica. E prendendo la metro da Westminster Station (linea Jubilee) si arriva in poco tempo a Baker Street, che per chi ama Sherlock Holmes è imperdibile! Anche Trafalgar Square e St. Jame's Park non sono lontani.

Tour e crociere da fare nel quartiere di Westminster

Un quartiere storico, con alcune tra le più note attrazioni di Londra: a Westminster c'è tanto da scoprire oltre al Big Ben, magari con un tour guidato, un giro in battello o in bus panoramico!
LE MIGLIORI ESPERIENZE E TOUR GUIDATI DA FARE A WESTMINSTER
5 curiosità sul Big Ben di Londra che forse non sapevi

E per concludere, leggete questi cinque aneddoti sul Big Ben che probabilmente non conoscevate:

Ogni quadrante ha sette metri di diametro, mentre le lancette dei minuti sono lunghe circa 4,2 m. e pesano circa 100 kg!

Una speciale lucina posta sopra l'orologio si illumina quando i membri del Parlamento sono in sessione.

Il Big Ben si è fermato raramente. Anche dopo che una bomba, durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, ha distrutto la Camera dei Comuni, il Big Ben ha continuato a battere le ore.

Il cronometraggio dell'orologio è regolato da una pila di monete poste sull'enorme pendolo. L'aggiunta di una moneta solleva la posizione del centro di massa del pendolo, riducendo la lunghezza effettiva dell'asta e quindi aumentando la velocità con cui esso oscilla. L'aggiunta o la rimozione di una monetina cambia la velocità dell'orologio.

Sul quadrante c'è scritto Domine salvam fac reginam nostram Victoriam primam, che in inglese vuol dire: O Lord, keep safe our Queen Victoria the First.

In collaborazione con:

In collaborazione con:

Vuoi alloggiare a due passi dal Big Ben e dalle più iconiche attrazioni di Londra? Dai uno sguardo alla nostra selezione di hotel a Westminster!

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Big Ben, la campana più grande dell'Elizabeth Tower

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È senza ombra di dubbio una delle star della capitale inglese. La grande campana dell'Elizabeth Tower, comunemente chiamata Big Ben, è una delle icone londinesi e la troviamo nell'altrettanto rappresentativo quartiere di Westminster. È difficile non notare la torre dell'orologio di Londra, soprattutto quando di sera le quattro facce del quadrante si illuminano!

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Fabrizio Gusmano

Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal entertaining, and a major tourist attraction.

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Carlo Fontana
With more than 140 hectars of land, Hyde Park is the largest park in central London. It is the great lung od the city and is an excellent recreation center for Londoners and tourists.

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Zerbi Matilda

London  has to be the numerous famous people that have lived there. Such as Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Sylvia Plath, Charles Dickens, Jimi Hendrix, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Florence Nightingale and 100’s of others. Blue plaques now hang where these people lived

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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Zerbi Matilda

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Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 - February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, The Colossus and Other Poems (1960) and (1965), and also The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her suicide in 1963. The Collected Poems was published in 1981, which included previously unpublished works. For this collection Plath was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 1982, making her the fourth to receive this honour posthumously.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Plath graduated from Smith College in Massachusetts and the University of Cambridge, England, where she was a student at Newnham College. She married fellow poet Ted Hughes in 1956, and they lived together in the United States and then in England. Their relationship was tumultuous and, in her letters, Plath alleges abuse at his hands. They had two children before separating in 1962.

Plath was clinically depressed for most of her adult life, and was treated multiple times with early versions of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). She ended her own life in 1963.

Sylvia Plath was born on October 27, 1932, in Boston, Massachusetts. Her mother, Aurelia Schober Plath (1906-1994), was a second-generation American of Austrian descent, and her father, Otto Plath (1885-1940), was from Grabow, Germany. Plath's father was an entomologist and a professor of biology at Boston University who wrote a book about bumblebees.

On April 27, 1935, Plath's brother Warren was born. In 1936 the family moved from 24 Prince Street in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, to 92 Johnson Avenue, Winthrop, Massachusetts. Plath's mother, Aurelia, with Plath's maternal grandparents, the Schobers, had lived since 1920 in a section of Winthrop called Point Shirley, a location mentioned in Plath's poetry. While living in Winthrop, eight-year-old Plath published her first poem in the Boston Herald's children's section. Over the next few years, Plath published multiple poems in regional magazines and newspapers. At age 11, Plath began keeping a journal. In addition to writing, she showed early promise as an artist, winning an award for her paintings from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in 1947. "Even in her youth, Plath was ambitiously driven to succeed."

Otto Plath died on November 5, 1940, a week and a half after Sylvia's eighth birthday, of complications following the amputation of a foot due to untreated diabetes. He had become ill shortly after a close friend died of lung cancer. Comparing the similarities between his friend's symptoms and his own, Otto became convinced that he, too, had lung cancer and did not seek treatment until his diabetes had progressed too far. Raised as a Unitarian, Plath experienced a loss of faith after her father's death and remained ambivalent about religion throughout her life. Her father was buried in Winthrop Cemetery in Massachusetts. A visit to her father's grave later prompted Plath to write the poem "Electra on Azalea Path".

After Otto's death, Aurelia moved her children and her parents to 26 Elmwood Road, Wellesley, Massachusetts, in 1942. Plath commented in "Ocean 1212-W", one of her final works, that her first nine years "sealed themselves off like a ship in a bottle-beautiful, inaccessible, obsolete, a fine, white flying myth". Plath attended Bradford Senior High School (now Wellesley High School) in Wellesley, graduating in 1950. Just after graduating from high school, she had her first national publication in the Christian Science Monitor.

Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts

In 1950, Plath attended Smith College, a private women's liberal arts college in Massachusetts. She excelled academically. While at Smith, she lived in Lawrence House, and a plaque can be found outside her old room. She edited The Smith Review. After her third year of college, Plath was awarded a coveted position as a guest editor at Mademoiselle magazine, during which she spent a month in New York City. The experience was not what she had hoped for, and many of the events that took place during that summer were later used as inspiration for her novel The Bell Jar.

She was furious at not being at a meeting the editor had arranged with Welsh poet Dylan Thomas - a writer whom she loved, said one of her boyfriends, "more than life itself". She hung around the White Horse Tavern and the Chelsea Hotel for two days, hoping to meet Thomas, but he was already on his way home. A few weeks later, she slashed her legs to see if she had enough "courage" to kill herself. During this time she was not accepted into a Harvard writing seminar with author Frank O'Connor. Following ECT for depression, Plath made her first medically documented suicide attempt on August 24, 1953, by crawling under the front porch and taking her mother's sleeping pills.

Sidgwick Hall at Newnham College

She survived this first suicide attempt, later writing that she "blissfully succumbed to the whirling blackness that I honestly believed was eternal oblivion". She spent the next six months in psychiatric care, receiving more electric and insulin shock treatment under the care of Ruth Beuscher. Her stay at McLean Hospital and her Smith Scholarship were paid for by Olive Higgins Prouty, who also recovered from a mental breakdown. According to Plath's biographer Andrew Wilson, Olive Higgins Prouty "would take Dr Tillotson to task for the badly managed ECT, blaming him for Sylvia's suicide attempt".

Plath seemed to make a good recovery and returned to college. In January 1955, she submitted her thesis The Magic Mirror: A Study of the Double in Two of Dostoyevsky's Novels, and in June graduated from Smith with an A.B., summa cum laude. She was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society, and had an IQ of around 160.

She obtained a Fulbright Scholarship to study at Newnham College, one of the two women-only colleges of the University of Cambridge in England, where she continued actively writing poetry and publishing her work in the student newspaper . At Newnham, she studied with Dorothea Krook, whom she held in high regard. She spent her first year winter and spring holidays traveling around Europe.

Plath's stay at McLean Hospital inspired her novel The Bell Jar

Plath met poet Ted Hughes on February 25, 1956. In a 1961 BBC interview (now held by the British Library Sound Archive), Plath describes how she met Hughes:

I'd read some of Ted's poems in this magazine and I was very impressed and I wanted to meet him. I went to this little celebration and that's actually where we met...Then we saw a great deal of each other. Ted came back to Cambridge and suddenly we found ourselves getting married a few months later...We kept writing poems to each other. Then it just grew out of that, I guess, a feeling that we both were writing so much and having such a fine time doing it, we decided that this should keep on.

Plath described Hughes as "a singer, story-teller, lion and world-wanderer" with "a voice like the thunder of God".

The couple married on June 16, 1956, at St George the Martyr, Holborn in London (now in the Borough of Camden) with Plath's mother in attendance, and spent their honeymoon in Paris and Benidorm. Plath returned to Newnham in October to begin her second year. During this time, they both became deeply interested in astrology and the supernatural, using ouija boards.

In June 1957, Plath and Hughes moved to the United States, and from September, Plath taught at Smith College, her alma mater. She found it difficult to both teach and have enough time and energy to write, and in the middle of 1958, the couple moved to Boston. Plath took a job as a receptionist in the psychiatric unit of Massachusetts General Hospital and, in the evening sat in on creative writing seminars given by poet Robert Lowell (also attended by the writers Anne Sexton and George Starbuck).

Both Lowell and Sexton encouraged Plath to write from her experience and she did so. She openly discussed her depression with Lowell and her suicide attempts with Sexton, who led her to write from a more female perspective. Plath began to consider herself as a more serious, focused poet and short story writer. At this time Plath and Hughes first met the poet W.S. Merwin, who admired their work and was to remain a lifelong friend. Plath resumed psychoanalytic treatment in December, working with Ruth Beuscher.

Chalcot Square, near Primrose Hill in London, Plath and Hughes' home from 1959

Plath and Hughes traveled across Canada and the United States, staying at the Yaddo artist colony in Saratoga Springs, New York in late 1959. Plath says that it was here that she learned "to be true to my own weirdnesses", but she remained anxious about writing confessionally, from deeply personal and private material. The couple moved back to England in December 1959 and lived in London at 3 Chalcot Square, near the Primrose Hill area of Regent's Park, where an English Heritage plaque records Plath's residence. Their daughter Frieda was born on April 1, 1960, and in October, Plath published The Colossus, her first collection of poetry.

In February 1961, Plath's second pregnancy ended in miscarriage; several of her poems, including "Parliament Hill Fields", address this event. In a letter to her therapist, Plath wrote that Hughes beat her two days before the miscarriage. In August she finished her semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar and immediately after this, the family moved to Court Green in the small market town of North Tawton. Nicholas was born in January 1962. In mid-1962, Plath and Hughes began to keep bees, which would be the subject of many Plath poems.

In August 1961, the couple rented their flat at Chalcot Square to Assia (née Gutmann) Wevill and David Wevill. Hughes was immediately struck with the beautiful Assia, as she was with him. In June 1962, Plath had a car accident which she described as one of many suicide attempts. In July 1962, Plath discovered Hughes had been having an affair with Assia Wevill; in September, Plath and Hughes separated.

Beginning in October 1962, Plath experienced a great burst of creativity and wrote most of the poems on which her reputation now rests, writing at least 26 of the poems of her posthumous collection during the final months of her life. In December 1962, she returned alone to London with their children, and rented, on a five-year lease, a flat at 23 Fitzroy Road-only a few streets from the Chalcot Square flat. William Butler Yeats once lived in the house, which bears an English Heritage blue plaque for the Irish poet. Plath was pleased by this fact and considered it a good omen.

The northern winter of 1962-1963 was one of the coldest in 100 years; the pipes froze, the children-now two years old and nine months-were often sick, and the house had no telephone. Her depression returned but she completed the rest of her poetry collection, which would be published after her death (1965 in the UK, 1966 in the US). Her only novel, The Bell Jar, was published in January 1963, under the pen name Victoria Lucas, and was met with critical indifference.

Before her death, Plath tried several times to take her own life. On August 24, 1953, she overdosed on sleeping pills, then, in June1962, she drove her car off the side of the road into a river, which she later said was an attempt to take her own life.

In January1963, Plath spoke with John Horder, her general practitioner, and a close friend who lived near her. She described the current depressive episode she was experiencing; it had been ongoing for six or seven months. While for most of the time she had been able to continue working, her depression had worsened and become severe, "marked by constant agitation, suicidal thoughts and inability to cope with daily life". Plath struggled with insomnia, taking medication at night to induce sleep, and frequently woke up early. She lost 20pounds (9 kg). However, she continued to take care of her physical appearance and did not outwardly speak of feeling guilty or unworthy.

23 Fitzroy Road, near Primrose Hill, London, where Plath died by suicide

Horder prescribed her an anti-depressant, a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, a few days before her suicide. Knowing she was at risk with two young children, he says he visited her daily and made strenuous efforts to have her admitted to a hospital; when that failed, he arranged for a live-in nurse.

Hughes claimed in a hand-written note to the literary critic Keith Sagar, discovered in 2001, that the anti-depressants prescribed were a "key factor" in Plath's suicide. He said Plath had previously had an adverse reaction to some prescribed pills she had taken when they lived in the USA. When they moved back to England the pills were sold under a different name, and although Hughes does not name the pills explicitly, he claimed they were prescribed by a new doctor who had no idea of the negative side-effects for Plath.

Commentators have argued that because anti-depressants may take up to three weeks to take effect, her prescription from Horder would not have taken full effect, however, side effects of anti-depressants can begin immediately.

The nurse was due to arrive at nine on the morning of February 11, 1963, to help Plath with the care of her children. Upon arrival, she could not get into the flat but eventually gained access with the help of a workman, Charles Langridge. They found Plath dead with her head in the oven, having sealed the rooms between her and her sleeping children with tape, towels and cloths. She was 30years old.

Plath's intentions have been debated. That morning, she asked her downstairs neighbor, art historian Trevor Thomas (1907-1993), what time he would be leaving. She also left a note reading "Call Dr.Horder", including the doctor's phone number. It is argued Plath turned on the gas at a time when Thomas would have been able to see the note (although the escaping gas had seeped downstairs and also rendered Thomas unconscious while he slept). However, in her biography Giving Up: The Last Days of Sylvia Plath, Plath's friend Jillian Becker wrote, "According to Mr.Goodchild, a police officer attached to the coroner's office, [Plath] had thrust her head far into the gas oven and had really meant to die." Horder also believed her intention was clear. He stated that "No one who saw the care with which the kitchen was prepared could have interpreted her action as anything but an irrational compulsion." Plath had described the quality of her despair as "owl's talons clenching my heart".

In his 1972 book on suicide, The Savage God, friend and critic Al Alvarez claimed that Plath's suicide was an unanswered cry for help, and spoke, in a BBC interview in March2000, about his failure to recognize Plath's depression, saying he regretted his inability to offer her emotional support: "I failed her on that level. I was thirtyyears old and stupid. What did I know about chronic clinical depression? She kind of needed someone to take care of her. And that was not something I could do."

Plath's grave at Heptonstall church, West Yorkshire

Following Plath's death

An inquest was held on February 15 and gave a ruling of suicide as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. Hughes was devastated; they had been separated for six months, due to his affair with Assia Wevill. In a letter to an old friend of Plath from Smith College, he wrote "That's the end of my life. The rest is posthumous." Wevill also committed suicide, using a gas stove, six years later.

Plath's gravestone, in Heptonstall's parish churchyard of St Thomas the Apostle bears the inscription that Hughes chose for her: "Even amidst fierce flames the golden lotus can be planted." Biographers attribute the source of the quote to the Hindu text the Bhagavad Gita or to the 16th-century Buddhist novel Journey to the West written by Wu Cheng'en.

Plath's daughter Frieda Hughes is a writer and artist. On March 16, 2009, Plath's son Nicholas Hughes hanged himself at his home in Fairbanks, Alaska, following a history of depression.

Plath wrote poetry from the age of 8, her first poem appearing in the Boston Traveller. By the time she arrived at Smith College, she had written over 50 short stories, and her work had been published in numerous magazines. At Smith, she majored in English literature and won all the major prizes in writing and scholarship, including literary prizes for her poetry. Additionally, she received a summer editor position at the young women's magazine Mademoiselle, and, on her graduation in 1955, she won the Glascock Prize for " Two Lovers and a Beachcomber by the Real Sea". Later, she wrote for the university publication .

Nights, I squat in the cornucopia
Of your left ear, out of the wind,

Counting the red stars and those of plum-color.
The sun rises under the pillar of your tongue.
My hours are married to shadow.
No longer do I listen for the scrape of a keel
On the blank stones of the landing.

from "The Colossus",
The Colossus and Other Poems, 1960

By the time Heinemann published her first collection, The Colossus and Other Poems in the UK in late 1960, Plath had been short-listed several times in the Yale Younger Poets book competition and had her work printed in , The Spectator and The Times Literary Supplement. All the poems in The Colossus had been printed in major U.S. and British journals, and she had a contract with The New Yorker. It was, however, her 1965 collection Ariel, published posthumously, on which Plath's reputation essentially rests. "Often, her work is singled out for the intense coupling of its violent or disturbed imagery and its playful use of alliteration and rhyme."

The Colossus received largely positive UK reviews, highlighting Plath's voice as new and strong, individual and American in tone. Peter Dickinson at called the collection "a real find" and "exhilarating to read", full of "clean, easy verse". Bernard Bergonzi at the Manchester Guardian wrote the book was an "outstanding technical accomplishment" with a "virtuoso quality". From the point of publication, she became a presence on the poetry scene. The book was published in America in 1962 to less-glowing reviews. While her craft was generally praised, her writing was viewed by some critics at the time as more derivative of other poets.

Plath's semi-autobiographical novel-her mother wanted to block publication-was published in 1963 and in the US in 1971. Describing the compilation of the book to her mother, she wrote, "What I've done is to throw together events from my own life, fictionalising to add color-it's a pot boiler really, but I think it will show how isolated a person feels when he is suffering a breakdown... I've tried to picture my world and the people in it as seen through the distorting lens of a bell jar". She described her novel as "an autobiographical apprentice work which I had to write in order to free myself from the past". Plath dated a Yale senior named Dick Norton during her junior year. Norton, upon whom the character of Buddy in The Bell Jar is based, contracted tuberculosis and was treated at the Ray Brook Sanatorium. While visiting Norton, Plath broke her leg skiing, an incident that was fictionalized in the novel. Plath also used the novel to highlight the issue of women in the workforce during the 1950s. She strongly believed in women's abilities to be writers and editors while society forced them to fulfill secretarial roles:

Now with me, writing is the first delight in life. I want time and money to write, both very necessary. I will not sacrifice my time to learn shorthand because I do not want any of the jobs which shorthand would open up, although those jobs are no doubt very interesting for girls who want them. I do not want the rigid hours of a magazine or publishing job. I do not want to type other people's letters and read their manuscripts. I want to type my own and write my own. So secretarial training is out for me. That I know. (Sylvia Plath's letter to her mother, 10 Feb 1955)

In 1963, after The Bell Jar was published, Plath began working on another literary work, titled Double Exposure, which was never published. According to Ted Hughes in 1979, Plath left behind a typescript of "some 130 pages", but in 1995 he spoke of just "sixty, seventy pages". Olwyn Hughes wrote in 2003 that the typescript may have consisted of the first two chapters, and did not exceed sixty pages.

The posthumous publication of in 1965 precipitated Plath's rise to fame. The poems in Ariel mark a departure from her earlier work into a more personal arena of poetry. Robert Lowell's poetry may have played a part in this shift as she cited Lowell's 1959 book Life Studies as a significant influence, in an interview just before her death. The impact of Ariel was dramatic, with its dark and potentially autobiographical descriptions of mental illness in poems such as " Tulips", " Daddy" and " Lady Lazarus". Plath's work is often held within the genre of confessional poetry and the style of her work compared to other contemporaries, such as Lowell and W.D. Snodgrass. Plath's close friend Al Alvarez, who wrote about her extensively, said of her later work: "Plath's case is complicated by the fact that, in her mature work, she deliberately used the details of her everyday life as raw material for her art. A casual visitor or unexpected telephone call, a cut, a bruise, a kitchen bowl, a candlestick-everything became usable, charged with meaning, transformed. Her poems are full of references and images that seem impenetrable at this distance, but which could mostly be explained in footnotes by a scholar with full access to the details of her life." Many of Plath's later poems deal with what one critic calls the "domestic surreal" in which Plath takes everyday elements of life and twists the images, giving them an almost nightmarish quality. Plath's poem "Morning Song" from Ariel is regarded as one of her finest poems on freedom of expression of an artist.

Plath's fellow confessional poet and friend Anne Sexton commented: "Sylvia and I would talk at length about our first suicide, in detail and in depth-between the free potato chips. Suicide is, after all, the opposite of the poem. Sylvia and I often talked opposites. We talked death with burned-up intensity, both of us drawn to it like moths to an electric lightbulb, sucking on it. She told the story of her first suicide in sweet and loving detail, and her description in The Bell Jar is just that same story." The confessional interpretation of Plath's work has led to some dismissing certain aspects of her work as an exposition of sentimentalist melodrama; in 2010, for example, Theodore Dalrymple asserted that Plath had been the "patron saint of self-dramatisation" and of self-pity. Revisionist critics such as Tracy Brain have, however, argued against a tightly autobiographical interpretation of Plath's material. On January 16, 2004, The Independent newspaper in London published an article that ranked Ariel as the 3rd best book of modern poetry among 'The 10 Best Modern Poetry Books.'

In 1971, the volumes Winter Trees and Crossing the Water were published in the UK, including nine previously unseen poems from the original manuscript of Ariel. Writing in New Statesman, fellow poet Peter Porter wrote:

Crossing the Water is full of perfectly realised works. Its most striking impression is of a front-rank artist in the process of discovering her true power. Such is Plath's control that the book possesses a singularity and certainty which should make it as celebrated as The Colossus or Ariel.

The Collected Poems, published in 1981, edited and introduced by Ted Hughes, contained poetry written from 1956 until her death. Plath posthumously was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. In 2006, Anna Journey, then a graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University, discovered a previously unpublished sonnet written by Plath titled "Ennui". The poem, composed during Plath's early years at Smith College, was published in the online journal .

Plath's letters were published in 1975, edited and selected by her mother Aurelia Plath. The collection Letters Home: Correspondence 1950-1963 came out partly in response to the strong public reaction to the publication of The Bell Jar in America. Plath began keeping a diary from the age of 11 and continued doing so until her suicide. Her adult diaries, starting from her first year at Smith College in 1950, were published in 1982 as The Journals of Sylvia Plath, edited by Frances McCullough, with Ted Hughes as consulting editor. In 1982, when Smith College acquired Plath's remaining journals, Hughes sealed two of them until February 11, 2013, the 50th anniversary of Plath's death.

During the last years of his life, Hughes began working on a fuller publication of Plath's journals. In 1998, shortly before his death, he unsealed the two journals, and passed the project onto his children by Plath, Frieda and Nicholas, who passed it on to Karen V. Kukil, who finished her editing in December 1999. In 2000 Anchor Books published The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath. More than half of the new volume contained newly released material; the American author Joyce Carol Oates hailed the publication as a "genuine literary event". Hughes faced criticism for his role in handling the journals: He claims to have destroyed Plath's last journal, which contained entries from the winter of 1962 up to her death. In the foreword of the 1982 version, he writes "I destroyed [the last of her journals] because I did not want her children to have to read it (in those days I regarded forgetfulness as an essential part of survival)."

And here you come, with a cup of tea
Wreathed in steam.
The blood jet is poetry,
There is no stopping it.
You hand me two children, two roses.

from "Kindness", written February 1, 1963. Ariel

As Hughes and Plath were legally married at the time of her death, Hughes inherited the Plath estate, including all her written work. He has been condemned repeatedly for burning Plath's last journal, saying he "did not want her children to have to read it". Hughes lost another journal and an unfinished novel, and instructed that a collection of Plath's papers and journals should not be released until 2013. He has been accused of attempting to control the estate for his own ends, although royalties from Plath's poetry were placed into a trust account for their two children, Frieda and Nicholas.

Plath's gravestone has been repeatedly vandalized by those aggrieved that "Hughes" is written on the stone; they have attempted to chisel it off, leaving only the name "Sylvia Plath". When Hughes' mistress Assia Wevill killed herself and their four-year-old daughter Shura in 1969, this practice intensified. After each defacement, Hughes had the damaged stone removed, sometimes leaving the site unmarked during repair. Outraged mourners accused Hughes in the media of dishonouring her name by removing the stone. Wevill's death led to claims that Hughes had been abusive to both Plath and Wevill.

Radical feminist poet Robin Morgan published the poem "Arraignment", in which she openly accused Hughes of the battery and murder of Plath. Her book Monster (1972) "included a piece in which a gang of Plath aficionados are imagined castrating Hughes, stuffing his penis into his mouth and then blowing out his brains". Hughes threatened to sue Morgan. The book was withdrawn by the publisher Random House, but it remained in circulation among feminists. Other feminists threatened to kill Hughes in Plath's name and pursue a conviction for murder. Plath's poem "The Jailor", in which the speaker condemns her husband's brutality, was included in Morgan's 1970 anthology Sisterhood Is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women's Liberation Movement.

In 1989, with Hughes under public attack, a battle raged in the letters pages of The Guardian and The Independent. In The Guardian on April 20, 1989, Hughes wrote the article "The Place Where Sylvia Plath Should Rest in Peace": "In the years soon after [Plath's] death, when scholars approached me, I tried to take their apparently serious concern for the truth about Sylvia Plath seriously. But I learned my lesson early...If I tried too hard to tell them exactly how something happened, in the hope of correcting some fantasy, I was quite likely to be accused of trying to suppress Free Speech. In general, my refusal to have anything to do with the Plath Fantasia has been regarded as an attempt to suppress Free Speech...The Fantasia about Sylvia Plath is more needed than the facts. Where that leaves respect for the truth of her life (and of mine), or for her memory, or for the literary tradition, I do not know."

Still the subject of speculation and opprobrium in 1998, Hughes published Birthday Letters that year, his own collection of 88 poems about his relationship with Plath. Hughes had published very little about his experience of the marriage and Plath's suicide, and the book caused a sensation, being taken as his first explicit disclosure, and it topped bestseller charts. It was not known at the volume's release that Hughes had terminal cancer and would die later that year. The book won the Forward Poetry Prize, the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, and the Whitbread Poetry Prize. The poems, written after Plath's death, in some cases long after, try to find a reason why Plath took her own life.

In October 2015, the BBC Two documentary Ted Hughes: Stronger Than Death examined Hughes' life and work; it included audio recordings of Plath reciting her own poetry. Their daughter Frieda spoke for the first time about her mother and father.

Love set you going like a fat gold watch.
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry
Took its place among the elements.

Sylvia Plath's early poems exhibit what became her typical imagery, using personal and nature-based depictions featuring, for example, the moon, blood, hospitals, fetuses, and skulls. They were mostly imitation exercises of poets she admired such as Dylan Thomas, W. B. Yeats and Marianne Moore. Late in 1959, when she and Hughes were at the Yaddo writers' colony in New York State, she wrote the seven-part "Poem for a Birthday", echoing Theodore Roethke's Lost Son sequence, though its theme is her own traumatic breakdown and suicide attempt at 20. After 1960 her work moved into a more surreal landscape darkened by a sense of imprisonment and looming death, overshadowed by her father. The Colossus is filled with themes of death, redemption and resurrection. After Hughes left, Plath produced, in less than two months, the 40 poems of rage, despair, love, and vengeance on which her reputation mostly rests.

Plath's landscape poetry, which she wrote throughout her life, has been described as "a rich and important area of her work that is often overlooked...some of the best of which was written about the Yorkshire moors". Her September 1961 poem "Wuthering Heights" takes its title from the Emily Brontë novel, but its content and style is Plath's own particular vision of the Pennine landscape.

It was Plath's publication of Ariel in 1965 that precipitated her rise to fame and helped establish her reputation as one of the 20th century's best poets. As soon as it was published, critics began to see the collection as the charting of Plath's increasing desperation or death wish. Her dramatic death became her most famous aspect and remains so. Time and Life both reviewed the slim volume of Ariel in the wake of her death. The critic at Time said: "Within a week of her death, intellectual London was hunched over copies of a strange and terrible poem she had written during her last sick slide toward suicide. 'Daddy' was its title; its subject was her morbid love-hatred of her father; its style was as brutal as a truncheon. What is more, 'Daddy' was merely the first jet of flame from a literary dragon who in the last months of her life breathed a burning river of bile across the literary landscape...In her most ferocious poems, 'Daddy' and 'Lady Lazarus', fear, hate, love, death and the poet's own identity become fused at black heat with the figure of her father, and through him, with the guilt of the German exterminators and the suffering of their Jewish victims. They are poems, as Robert Lowell says in his preface to Ariel, that 'play Russian roulette with six cartridges in the cylinder'." On January 16, 2004, The Independent in London published an article which ranked Ariel as the third best book of modern poetry among its T10 Best Modern Poetry Books.

Some in the feminist movement saw Plath as speaking for their experience, as a "symbol of blighted female genius". Writer Honor Moore describes Ariel as marking the beginning of a movement, Plath suddenly visible as "a woman on paper", certain and audacious. Moore says: "When Sylvia Plath's Ariel was published in the United States in 1966, American women noticed. Not only women who ordinarily read poems, but housewives and mothers whose ambitions had awakened ... Here was a woman, superbly trained in her craft, whose final poems uncompromisingly charted female rage, ambivalence, and grief, in a voice with which many women identified." Some feminists threatened to kill Hughes in Plath's name.

Smith College, Plath's alma mater, holds her literary papers in the Smith College Library.

The United States Postal Service introduced a postage stamp featuring Plath in 2012. An English Heritage plaque records Plath's residence at 3 Chalcot Square, in London.

In 2018, The New York Times published an obituary for Plath as part of the Overlooked history project.

Plath's voice is heard in a BBC documentary about her life, recorded in London in late 1962. Of the BBC recording Elizabeth Hardwick wrote:

I have never before learned anything from a poetic reading, unless the clothes, the beard, the girls, the poor or good condition of the poet can be considered a kind of knowledge. But I was taken aback by Sylvia Plath's reading. It was not anything like I could have imagined. Not a trace of the modest, retreating, humorous Worcester, Massachusetts, of Elizabeth Bishop; nothing of the swallowed plain Pennsylvania of Marianne Moore. Instead these bitter poems-"Daddy", "Lady Lazarus", "The Applicant", "Fever 103°"-were beautifully read, projected in full-throated, plump, diction-perfect, Englishy, mesmerizing cadences, all round and rapid, and paced and spaced. Poor recessive Massachusetts had been erased. "I have done it again!" Clearly, perfectly, staring you down. She seemed to be standing at a banquet like Timon, crying, "Uncover, dogs, and lap!"

Gwyneth Paltrow portrayed Plath in the biopic (2003). Despite criticism from Elizabeth Sigmund, a friend of Plath and Hughes, that Plath was portrayed as a "permanent depressive and possessive person", she conceded that "the film has an atmosphere towards the end of her life which is heartbreaking in its accuracy". Frieda Hughes, now a poet and painter, who was age 2 when her mother died, was angered by the making of entertainment featuring her parents' lives. She accused the "peanut crunching" public of wanting to be titillated by the family's tragedies. In 2003, Frieda reacted to the situation in the poem "My Mother" in :

Now they want to make a film
For anyone lacking the ability
To imagine the body, head in oven,
Orphaning children

... they think
I should give them my mother's words
To fill the mouth of their monster,
Their Sylvia Suicide Doll

The Colossus and Other Poems (1960, William Heinemann)

Ariel (1965, Faber and Faber)

Three Women: A Monologue for Three Voices (1968, Turret Books)

Crossing the Water (1971, Faber and Faber)

Winter Trees (1971, Faber and Faber)

The Collected Poems (1981, Faber and Faber)

Selected Poems (1985, Faber and Faber)

Ariel: The Restored Edition (2004, Faber and Faber)

The Bell Jar, under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas" (novel, 1963, Heinemann)

Letters Home: Correspondence 1950-1963 (1975, Harper & Row, US; Faber and Faber, UK)

Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams: Short Stories, Prose, and Diary Excerpts (1977, Faber and Faber)

The Journals of Sylvia Plath (1982, Dial Press)

The Magic Mirror (1989), Plath's Smith College senior thesis

The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, edited by Karen V. Kukil (2000, Anchor Books)

I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life.

The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Volume 1, edited by Peter K. Steinberg and Karen V. Kukil (2017, Faber and Faber)

The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Volume 2, edited by Peter K. Steinberg and Karen V. Kukil (2018, Faber and Faber)

Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom (2019, Faber and Faber)

Children's books

The Bed Book, illustrated by Quentin Blake (1976, Faber and Faber)

The It-Doesn't-Matter Suit (1996, Faber and Faber)

Mrs. Cherry's Kitchen (2001, Faber and Faber)

Collected Children's Stories (UK, 2001, Faber and Faber)

1. ^ Kean, Danuta (April 11, 2017). "Unseen Sylvia Plath letters claim domestic abuse by Ted Hughes". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 15, 2020. The letters are part of an archive amassed by feminist scholar Harriet Rosenstein seven years after the poet's death, as research for an unfinished biography.

2. ^ Catlett, Lisa Firestone Joyce (1998). "The Treatment of Sylvia Plath". Death Studies. 22 (7): 667-692. doi:10.1080/074811898201353. ISSN 0748-1187. PMID 10342971 - via EBSCO.

3. ^ (Subscription or Brown, Sally; Taylor, Clare L. (2017). "Plath [married name Hughes], Sylvia". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37855. UK public library membership required.)

4. "Sylvia Plath". Academy of American Poets. February 4, 2014. Archived from the original on February 4, 2017.

5. ^ Plath, Sylvia (1977) [1962]. "Ocean 1212-W". Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams: And Other Prose Writings. London: Faber and Faber. p. 130. ISBN 0-571-11120-3.

6. Wilson, Andrew (February 2, 2013). "Sylvia Plath in New York: 'pain, parties and work'". The Guardian.

7. ^ Steinberg, Peter K. (Summer 2010). ""They Had to Call and Call": The Search for Sylvia Plath" (PDF). Plath Profiles. 3. ISSN 2155-8175. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 22, 2017.

8. ^ Runco, Mark A.; Pritzker, Steven R., eds. (1999). Encyclopedia of Creativity, Two-Volume Set. Academic Press. p. 388. ISBN 978-0122270758. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019.

9. ^ Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath - a marriage examined. From The Contemporary Review. Essay by Richard Whittington-Egan 2005 accessed July 9, 2010

10. Cooper, Brian (June 2003). "Sylvia Plath and the depression continuum". J R Soc Med. 96 (6): 296-301. doi:10.1177/014107680309600613. PMC . PMID 12782699.

11. ^ "Drugs a 'key factor' in Plath's suicide, claimed Hughes | Books | The Guardian". theguardian.com.

12. ^ Cheng'en Wu, translated and abridged by Arthur Waley (1942) Monkey: Folk Novel of China. UNESCO collection, Chinese series. Grove Press.

13. ^ Jernigan, Adam T. (January 1, 2014). "Paraliterary Labors in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar: Typists, Teachers, and the Pink-Collar Subtext". Modern Fiction Studies. 60 (1): 1-27. doi:10.1353/mfs.2014.0010. OCLC 5561439112. S2CID 162359742.

14. ^ Plath, Sylvia (1979). Ted Hughes (ed.). Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams (2nd ed.). London: Faber and Faber. p. vii, cited in Ferretter 2009, p. 15

15. ^ Heinz, Drue (Spring 1995). "Ted Hughes, The Art of Poetry No. 71". The Paris Review. Spring 1995 (134): 98, cited in Ferretter 2009, p. 15

16. Olwyn Hughes, Corrections of ^ Diane Middlebrook's Her Husband. Emory University Libraries: Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL), Olwyn Hughes Papers 1956-1997, box 2, folder 20 - cited in Ferretter 2009, p. 15

17. ^ The Paris Review Interviews: "The Art of Poetry No. 15. Anne Sexton". Interview by Barbara Kevles. Issue 52, Summer 1971 Archived June 13, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Accessed July 15, 2010

18. ^ Nadeem Azam (2001). "'Ted Hughes: A Talented Murderer' December 11, 2001". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018.

19. "Sorrows of a Polygamist" Archived October 28, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, London Review of Book. March 17, 2016

20. ^ Hughes, Ted (April 20, 1989). "The Place Where Sylvia Plath Should Rest in Peace". The Guardian. London.

21. ^ "BBC Two - Ted Hughes: Stronger Than Death". BBC. October 10, 2015. Archived from the original on December 17, 2016.

22. ^ Strangeways, Al; Plath, Sylvia (Autumn 1996). "'The Boot in the Face': The Problem of the Holocaust in the Poetry of Sylvia Plath" (PDF). Contemporary Literature. 37 (3): 370-390. doi:10.2307/1208714. JSTOR . S2CID 164185549. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 12, 2020.

23. ^ Moore, Honor (March 2009). "After Ariel: Celebrating the poetry of the women's movement". Boston Review. Archived from the original on July 11, 2017.

24. ^ Padnani, Amisha (March 8, 2018). "Remarkable Women We Overlooked in Our Obituaries". The New York Times.

25. ^ Malcolm, Janet (August 15, 1993). "The Mystery of Sylvia Plath". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021.

Brain, Tracy. "The Indeterminacy of the Plath Canon". In Helle (2007), pp. 17-38.

Dalrymple, Theodore (2010). Spoilt Rotten: The Toxic Cult of Sentimentality. London: Gibson Square Books. ISBN 978-1-906142-61-2.

Ferretter, Luke (2009). Sylvia Plath's Fiction: A Critical Study (1st ed.). Edinburgh University Press. doi:10.3366/edinburgh/9780748625093.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-7486-2509-3. JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctt1r25c0.

Hughes, Frieda (2004). Foreword. Ariel: The Restored Edition. By Plath, Sylvia. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-06-073259-8. Archived from the original on May 27, 2017 - via British Library.

Kirk, Connie Ann (2004). Sylvia Plath: A Biography. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-33214-2.

Morgan, Robin (1970). Sisterhood Is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women's Liberation Movement. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-45240-2.

Peel, Robin. "The Political Education of Sylvia Plath". In Helle (2007), pp. 39-64.

Wagner-Martin, Linda, ed. (1988). Sylvia Plath (Critical Heritage). London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203709191. ISBN 0-415-00910-3.

Axelrod, Steven Gould. (1992). Sylvia Plath: The Wound and the Cure of Words. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University. ISBN 0-8018-4374-X.

Bawer, Bruce (2007). "Chapter 1: On Sylvia Plath and Confessional Poetry". In Bloom, Harold (ed.). Sylvia Plath. Bloom's Literary Criticism. pp. 7-20. ISBN 9781438121710.

Clark, Heather (2011). The Grief of Influence: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199558193. OCLC 718024305.

Clark, Heather L. (2020). Red Comet: The short life and blazing art of Sylvia Plath (First ed.). New York: Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-96116-7. OCLC 1128061536.

Egeland, M. (2014). "Before and After a Poet's Suicide: The Reception of Sylvia Plath". International Journal of the Book. 11 (3): 27-36. doi:10.18848/1447-9516/CGP/v11i03/37023.

Hayman, Ronald. (1991). The Death and Life of Sylvia Plath. Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol Publishing. ISBN 1-55972-068-9.

Hemphill, Stephanie. (2007). Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-83799-X.

Kyle, Barry. (1976). Sylvia Plath: A Dramatic Portrait; Conceived and Adapted from Her Writings. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-10698-6.

Malcolm, Janet. (1995). The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. New York: Vintage. ISBN 0-679-75140-8.

Miceli, Barbara (2016). "Sylvia Plath beyond the Confessional Poetry: A Close Reading of the Poem "On the Decline of Oracles"". Polifemo. Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione IULM (11-12): 111-123.

Middlebrook, Diane. (2003). Her Husband: Hughes and Plath - a Marriage. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-03187-9

Meyers, Jeffrey (June-July 2014). "Plath's rapist". The London Magazine: 137-144.

Oates, Joyce Carol (November 24, 2015). "Essays on Plath".

Parker, James (June 2013). "Why Sylvia Plath haunts us". The Culture File. The Omnivore. The Atlantic. 311 (5): 34, 36.

Steinberg, Peter K. (2004). Sylvia Plath. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Chelsea House. ISBN 0-7910-7843-4.

Tabor, Stephen. (1988). Sylvia Plath: An Analytical Bibliography. London: Mansell. ISBN 0-7201-1830-1.

Taylor, Tess (February 12, 2013). "Reading Sylvia Plath 50 Years After Her Death Is A Different Experience". NPR.

Wadsworth, F. B.; Vasseur, J.; Damby, D. E. (2017). "Evolution of vocabulary in the poetry of Sylvia Plath". Digital Scholarship in the Humanities. 32 (3): 660-671.

Wagner, Erica. (2002). Ariel's Gift: Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, and the Story of Birthday Letters. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-32301-3.

Wagner-Martin, Linda. (2003). Sylvia Plath: A Literary Life. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-63114-5.

Peter K. Steinberg's A celebration, this is

Plath profile from American Academy of Poets

Sylvia Plath drawings at The Mayor Gallery The Daily Telegraph

Works by Sylvia Plath at Faded Page (Canada)

Sylvia Plath at the British Library

Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath collection at University of Victoria, Special Collections

Sylvia Plath collection, 1952-1989, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University Libraries

Harriet Rosenstein research files on Sylvia Plath, 1910-2018, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University Libraries

Sylvia Plath Collection at the Mortimer Rare Book Collection, Smith College Special Collections

Matthies, Gesa (2016). The Lady in the Book - Sylvia Plath, portraits. France. Archived from the original on September 14, 2018.

Gesa Matthies (2016). The lady in the book. Ana Films.

BBC profile and video. BBC archive. Plath reading "Lady Lazarus" from Ariel (sound file) Archived February 24, 2018, at the Wayback Machine

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Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 - February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, The Colossus and Other Poems (1960) and (1965), and also The Bell Jar , a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her suicide in 1963.

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Zerbi Matilda
First on our list of facts about London is the cultural diversity. As one of the most diverse cities in the world, London houses over 8 million residents, who collectively speak over 300 languages, including Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien and of course English.

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Zerbi Matilda
1.265 billion people use the London Underground every year. That’s slightly more than the population of India! No wonder it’s so hard to get a seat. According to TFL, the most popular station is Waterloo, which sees 100.3 milion of people every year

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Carlo Fontana
The British Army had a tradition of adopting features of enemy uniforms, as a trophy. At the Battle of Waterloo (1815) the 1st Foot Guards repulsed Napoleon’s Imperial Guard and were awarded the bearskin and the title Grenadier Guards to commemorate their victory.

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Zerbi Matilda
Big Bus Tours

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Not sure where to eat in London? We don't blame you. The city is home to over 20,000 eateries, and around 72 of them are Michelin-starred.

Some of London's best restaurants are so well-known, they've gained A-list status across the globe. Here's our pick of the ones you have to visit...

THE RITZ

You can't go wrong with dining at London's most famous hotel. Just the palace-style décor alone will make you feel like you're among royalty. The Michelin-starred fare includes dishes like native lobster, dover sole and fillet of deer, while desserts include chocolate soufflé and poached rhubarb. And, if you head there on a Friday or Saturday, you'll enjoy live music and dancing along with your meal.

This famous Covent Garden restaurant is all about style and glamour, with stained glass windows and contemporary art fixtures. It's an A-list favourite too - everyone from Kate Moss and the Beckhams, to Elton John and even the Royal Family. So if you fancy some star spotting, this is the place to be. The menu pairs modern British dishes like shepherd's pie, with Asian-influenced options like Korean spiced barbecued ribs. There's something for all tastes.

This trendy Notting Hill venue regularly appears on the 'world's best restaurant' list. It's the proud owner of two Michelin stars, and serves modern European cuisine and wild English game. Firm favourites include the flame grilled mackerel with smoked eel, and for dessert the brown sugar tart with stem ginger ice cream. Pick the tasting menu to take the full flavour journey.
Blue Tour, Stop: Notting Hill
theledbury.com
The inspiration for the menu at this famous eatery came from the kitchen archives at Hampton Court Palace and old cookbooks from the British Library. So, you're guaranteed a classic British experience here, with flavour combinations dating back to the 14 th-century. Main courses include spiced squab pigeon and powdered duck breast, while the dessert offerings include brown bread ice cream and spring tart. Finish off with a good old British cheese platter for the perfect finale.

London heritage meets European glamour at this iconic restaurant, which is still fairly new on the city's culinary scene. The rich and varied dishes include oysters, steak tartare and grilled halibut. But, it's not just about lunch and dinner here. The all-day menu boasts a fancy breakfast option, afternoon tea and even late-night snacks too.

Red Tour, Stop: Green Park Underground thewolseley.com

This restaurant is housed in the iconic OXO Tower building on the South Bank. You'll enjoy views of St Paul's and the other famous City of London landmarks while you dine. British seasonal produce is used in the menu here, dishes like free range chicken with carrot crumble and Marinda tomato tart to tuck into. The impressive wine list will wow you too - with hundreds of options for you to choose from.

If you're a bit of a history buff, you'll love Rules. It's London's oldest restaurant which was established back in 1798 by Thomas Rule. Charles Dickens, Laurence Olivier and Charlie Chaplin are just some of the famous folk who have graced this place with their presence. The heritage restaurant offers game dishes, oysters, pies and puddings, so you'll be in for a hearty meal.

Seasonal British ingredients are used to create the modern Indian dishes at this colonial-style restaurant. While London lines up loads of Indian restaurants for you to choose from, Gymkhana is one of the best. You'll find a combination of Indian classics and unique ingredients here, like pig's cheek vindaloo and Kesar Pista Chicken Chops. The sibling trio who run this place also own trendy restaurant Hoppers, which specializes in Sri Lankan street food.

This family-owned restaurant fuses nature with elegance for a unique dining experience. Step into this venue and you'll be greeted with an array of plants and flowers at every corner. The fare here has a distinct 'freshly-picked' feel with dishes like spring pea and courgette ragu, heritage radishes and artichoke alla romana to try. Don't miss the signature Petersham rose petal prosecco too.

Dine in London's tallest building to enjoy both sophisticated fare and amazing views of the city. It's located on the 32 nd floor of the Shard and specialises in grilled and rotisserie dishes. Think bbq black cod, grilled dover sole and free range chicken for the mains. And, new york cheesecake, chocolate truffles and brownie sundaes for dessert. Yum.

You'll taste the very best of London's food scene if you tick just one of these restaurants off your list. And once you've done dinner, don't forget to sample a full English breakfast, a Sunday lunch and an afternoon tea, too. You'll need fuel for all that sightseeing, after all...

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Most famous restaurants in London | Big Bus Tours

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Not sure where to eat in London? We don't blame you. The city is home to over 20,000 eateries, and around 72 of them are Michelin-starred. Some of London's best restaurants are so well-known, they've gained A-list status across the globe. Here's our pick of the ones you have to visit...

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Zerbi Matilda

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Modern bearskins are fabricated from pelts taken from Canadian bears culled for population control purposes.  Around 100 new bearskin caps are needed every year.
The black bears are killed under licence by native Inuit hunters in a Canadian government programme to keep numbers under control.
💂🏻‍♀️💂🏻‍♀️💂🏻‍♀️

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It is an area where open-air public speaking, debate, and discussion are allowed.

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Zerbi Matilda
London's Most Unusual Traditions and Events

Peter Pan Cup.

Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Festival.

Bankside Twelfth Night.

Annual Sheep Drive Across London Bridge.

Guy Fawkes Night.

Ravens at the Tower of London.

State Opening of Parliament.

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Emma De Rosso
This tour takes you to two impressive sites of English history and culture. With a skip-the-line privilege, visit and enter Westminster Abbey, a magnificent gothic church that has been the venue of English and British monarch coronations since William the Conqueror in 1066. It has also been the venue for royal weddings (like for Prince William and Kate Middleton's) and funerals (like for Princess Diana's). Next, you'll go see the venerable halls of the Houses of Parliament. Known formally as the Palace of Westminster, this is where the House of Commons and House of Lords (the two houses of parliament, thus the nickname) come to convene. You'll also see the 11th-century Westminster Hall, the Queen's Robing room, and the opulent House of Lords. Book your tickets now for a deep dive into these two London landmarks.

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Emma De Rosso
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613.

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Emma De Rosso
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613.

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Zerbi Matilda
Here the First moderna umbrella appeared, the First traffic light and the first top hat worn by John Hetherington.
Rhino that he attracted so much attention to himself that while he was walking ti Sto James's park, a stone's throw from Buckingham Palace, he was arresterà for disturbing public peace. 😲

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Zerbi Matilda

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Zerbi Matilda

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Some of London landmarks have affectionate nicknames!

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Some of London landmarks have affectionate nicknames!

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Lilliana Marin
It may be a part of the famous British sense of humour, or a clever marketing ploy by the developers, but Londoners like to use nicknames for some of the buildings and landmarks in centre London.

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Lilliana Marin
Nicknamed the Walkie Talkie because of it's top-heavy shape it looks like an old Walkie Talkie or a cellphone

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Lilliana Marin

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Lilliana Marin
It's officially known as the Lee Valley VeloPark or the Olympic cycle track

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Lilliana Marin

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Lilliana Marin

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Lilliana Marin

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Giacomo Pisani
London Black Taxicabs are famous in all over the world.
They began providing taxicab service in the early 17th century.
In the beginning they were a small horse-drawn carriage, but in the coming years they will become "electric black cabs".

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Giacomo Pisani
Tower of London is a castle started building in 1066.
It is located inside the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Until the middle of the last century it was used as a prison, today it is world heritage of humanity.
On the inside, the jewels of the crown are kept.

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Francesco Livio

Londinium was established as a civilian town by the Romans about four years[8] after the invasion of AD 43. London, like Rome, was founded on the point of the river where it was narrow enough to bridge and the strategic location of the city provided easy access to much of Europe. Early Roman London occupied a relatively small area, roughly equivalent to the size of Hyde Park. In around AD 60, it was destroyed by the Iceni led by their queen Boudica. The city was quickly rebuilt as a planned Roman town and recovered after perhaps 10 years, the city growing rapidly over the following decades.


During the 2nd century Londinium was at its height and replaced Colchester as the capital of Roman Britain (Britannia). Its population was around 60,000 inhabitants. It boasted major public buildings, including the largest basilica north of the Alps, temples, bath houses, an amphitheatre and a large fort for the city garrison. Political instability and recession from the 3rd century onwards led to a slow decline.


At some time between AD 180 and AD 225, the Romans built the defensive London Wall around the landward side of the city. The wall was about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long, 6 metres (20 ft) high, and 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) thick. The wall would survive for another 1,600 years and define the City of London's perimeters for centuries to come. The perimeters of the present City are roughly defined by the line of the ancient wall.


Londonium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from across the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.[9]


In the late 3rd century, Londinium was raided on several occasions by Saxon pirates.[10] This led, from around 255 onwards, to the construction of an additional riverside wall. Six of the traditional seven city gates of London are of Roman origin, namely: Ludgate, Newgate, Aldersgate, Cripplegate, Bishopsgate and Aldgate (Moorgate is the exception, being of medieval origin).


By the 5th century, the Roman Empire was in rapid decline and in AD 410, the Roman occupation of Britannia came to an end. Following this, the Roman city also went into rapid decline and by the end of the 5th century was practically abandoned.

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The tower of London is a historic castle on the north bank of the river Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of tower hamlets separated from the easter edge of the city of London by the open space known as Tower hill. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The castle was used as a prison since at least 1100. The tower has served as the home of the Royal Mint and the home of The Crown jewels of the United Kingdom. The tower of London is inhabited by protector crows and their presence is tied to the fate of the crown: if the crows will die or fly away the crown will fall down

Alessandro Severini

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Zerbi Matilda

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Zerbi Matilda

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Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 - 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states over the course of her lifetime and remained the monarch of 15 realms by the time of her death. Her reign of over 70 years is the longest of any British monarch and the longest verified reign of any female head of state in history.

Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother Edward VIII, making the ten-year-old Princess Elizabeth the heir presumptive. She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, and their marriage lasted 73 years until his death in 2021. They had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.

When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth-then 25 years old-became queen of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (known today as Sri Lanka), as well as head of the Commonwealth. Elizabeth reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and the United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities and withdrawal from the European Union. The number of her realms varied over time as territories gained independence and some realms became republics. As queen, Elizabeth was served by more than 170 prime ministers across her realms. Her many historic visits and meetings included state visits to China in 1986, to Russia in 1994, and to the Republic of Ireland in 2011, and meetings with five popes and fourteen US presidents.

Significant events included Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond, and Platinum jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, and 2022, respectively. Although she faced occasional republican sentiment and media criticism of her family-particularly after the breakdowns of her children's marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992, and the death in 1997 of her former daughter-in-law Diana-support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom remained consistently high throughout her lifetime, as did her personal popularity. In September 2022, Elizabeth died aged 96 at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and was succeeded by her eldest son, Charles III.

Elizabeth was born on 21 April 1926, the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and his wife, Elizabeth, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). Her father was the second son of King George V and Queen Mary, and her mother was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. She was delivered at 02:40 ( GMT) by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfather's London home, 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair. The Anglican Archbishop of York, Cosmo Gordon Lang, baptised her in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace on 29 May, and she was named Elizabeth after her mother; Alexandra after her paternal great-grandmother, who had died six months earlier; and Mary after her paternal grandmother. She was called "Lilibet" by her close family, based on what she called herself at first. She was cherished by her grandfather George V, whom she affectionately called "Grandpa England", and her regular visits during his serious illness in 1929 were credited in the popular press and by later biographers with raising his spirits and aiding his recovery.

Elizabeth's only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930. The two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature, and music. Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margaret's childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeth's love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, and her attitude of responsibility. Others echoed such observations: Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as "a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant." Her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as "a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved". Elizabeth's early life was spent primarily at the Yorks' residences at 145 Piccadilly (their town house in London) and Royal Lodge in Windsor.

Heir presumptive

During her grandfather's reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the British throne, behind her uncle Edward and her father. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, as Edward was still young and likely to marry and have children of his own, who would precede Elizabeth in the line of succession. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second in line to the throne, after her father. Later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeth's father became king, taking the regnal name George VI. Since Elizabeth had no brothers, she became heir presumptive. If her parents had subsequently had a son, he would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession, which was determined by the male-preference primogeniture in effect at the time.

Elizabeth received private tuition in constitutional history from Henry Marten, Vice-Provost of Eton College, and learned French from a succession of native-speaking governesses. A Girl Guides company, the 1st Buckingham Palace Company, was formed specifically so she could socialise with girls her age. Later, she was enrolled as a Sea Ranger.

In 1939, Elizabeth's parents toured Canada and the United States. As in 1927, when they had toured Australia and New Zealand, Elizabeth remained in Britain since her father thought she was too young to undertake public tours. She "looked tearful" as her parents departed. They corresponded regularly, and she and her parents made the first royal transatlantic telephone call on 18 May.

Second World War

In September 1939, Britain entered the Second World War. Lord Hailsham suggested that Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret should be evacuated to Canada to avoid the frequent aerial bombings of London by the . This was rejected by their mother, who declared, "The children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the King will never leave." The princesses stayed at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, until Christmas 1939, when they moved to Sandringham House, Norfolk. From February to May 1940, they lived at Royal Lodge, Windsor, until moving to Windsor Castle, where they lived for most of the next five years. At Windsor, the princesses staged pantomimes at Christmas in aid of the Queen's Wool Fund, which bought yarn to knit into military garments. In 1940, the 14-year-old Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast during the BBC's Children's Hour, addressing other children who had been evacuated from the cities. She stated: "We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers, and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well."

In 1943, Elizabeth undertook her first solo public appearance on a visit to the Grenadier Guards, of which she had been appointed colonel the previous year. As she approached her 18th birthday, Parliament changed the law so that she could act as one of five counsellors of state in the event of her father's incapacity or absence abroad, such as his visit to Italy in July 1944. In February 1945, she was appointed an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service with the service number 230873. She trained and worked as a driver and mechanic and was given the rank of honorary junior commander (female equivalent of captain at the time) five months later.

At the end of the war in Europe, on Victory in Europe Day, Elizabeth and Margaret mingled incognito with the celebrating crowds in the streets of London. Elizabeth later said in a rare interview, "We asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves. I remember we were terrified of being recognised ... I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief."

During the war, plans were drawn to quell Welsh nationalism by affiliating Elizabeth more closely with Wales. Proposals, such as appointing her Constable of Caernarfon Castle or a patron of Urdd Gobaith Cymru (the Welsh League of Youth), were abandoned for several reasons, including fear of associating Elizabeth with conscientious objectors in the Urdd at a time when Britain was at war. Welsh politicians suggested she be made Princess of Wales on her 18th birthday. Home Secretary Herbert Morrison supported the idea, but the King rejected it because he felt such a title belonged solely to the wife of a Prince of Wales and the Prince of Wales had always been the heir apparent. In 1946, she was inducted into the Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.

Elizabeth went on her first overseas tour in 1947, accompanying her parents through southern Africa. During the tour, in a broadcast to the British Commonwealth on her 21st birthday, she made the following pledge: "I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong." The oft-quoted speech was written by Dermot Morrah, a journalist for .

Elizabeth met her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, in 1934 and again in 1937. They were second cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark and third cousins through Queen Victoria. After meeting for the third time at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in July 1939, Elizabeth-though only 13 years old-said she fell in love with Philip, who was 18, and they began to exchange letters. She was 21 when their engagement was officially announced on 9 July 1947.

The engagement attracted some controversy. Philip had no financial standing, was foreign-born (though a British subject who had served in the Royal Navy throughout the Second World War), and had sisters who had married German noblemen with Nazi links. Marion Crawford wrote, "Some of the King's advisors did not think him good enough for her. He was a prince without a home or kingdom. Some of the papers played long and loud tunes on the string of Philip's foreign origin." Later biographies reported that Elizabeth's mother had reservations about the union initially and teased Philip as " the Hun". In later life, however, she told the biographer Tim Heald that Philip was "an English gentleman".

Before the marriage, Philip renounced his Greek and Danish titles, officially converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Anglicanism, and adopted the style Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, taking the surname of his mother's British family. Shortly before the wedding, he was created Duke of Edinburgh and granted the style His Royal Highness. Elizabeth and Philip were married on 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey. They received 2,500 wedding gifts from around the world. Elizabeth required ration coupons to buy the material for her gown (which was designed by Norman Hartnell) because Britain had not yet completely recovered from the devastation of the war. In post-war Britain, it was not acceptable for Philip's German relations, including his three surviving sisters, to be invited to the wedding. Neither was an invitation extended to the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII.

Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Charles, in November 1948. One month earlier, the King had issued letters patent allowing her children to use the style and title of a royal prince or princess, to which they otherwise would not have been entitled as their father was no longer a royal prince. A second child, Princess Anne, was born in August 1950.

Following their wedding, the couple leased Windlesham Moor, near Windsor Castle, until July 1949, when they took up residence at Clarence House in London. At various times between 1949 and 1951, the Duke of Edinburgh was stationed in the British Crown Colony of Malta as a serving Royal Navy officer. He and Elizabeth lived intermittently in Malta for several months at a time in the hamlet of Gwardamanġa, at Villa Guardamangia, the rented home of Philip's uncle Lord Mountbatten. Their two children remained in Britain.

Accession and coronation

As George VI's health declined during 1951, Elizabeth frequently stood in for him at public events. When she visited Canada and Harry S. Truman in Washington, DC, in October 1951, her private secretary Martin Charteris carried a draft accession declaration in case the King died while she was on tour. In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of the British colony of Kenya. On 6 February, they had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of Elizabeth's father. Philip broke the news to the new queen. She chose to retain Elizabeth as her regnal name, and was therefore called Elizabeth II. The numeral offended some Scots, as she was the first Elizabeth to rule in Scotland. She was proclaimed queen throughout her realms, and the royal party hastily returned to the United Kingdom. Elizabeth and Philip moved into Buckingham Palace.

With Elizabeth's accession, it seemed possible that the royal house would take her husband's name, in line with the custom for married women of the time. Lord Mountbatten advocated for House of Mountbatten, and Philip suggested House of Edinburgh, after his ducal title. The British prime minister, Winston Churchill, and Elizabeth's grandmother Queen Mary favoured the retention of the House of Windsor. Elizabeth issued a declaration on 9 April 1952 that the royal house would continue to be Windsor. Philip complained, "I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children." In 1960, the surname Mountbatten-Windsor was adopted for Philip and Elizabeth's male-line descendants who do not carry royal titles.

Amid preparations for the coronation, Princess Margaret told her sister she wished to marry Peter Townsend, a divorcé 16 years Margaret's senior with two sons from his previous marriage. Elizabeth asked them to wait for a year; in the words of her private secretary, "the Queen was naturally sympathetic towards the Princess, but I think she thought-she hoped-given time, the affair would peter out." Senior politicians were against the match and the Church of England did not permit remarriage after divorce. If Margaret had contracted a civil marriage, she would have been expected to renounce her right of succession. Margaret decided to abandon her plans with Townsend. In 1960, she married Antony Armstrong-Jones, who was created Earl of Snowdon the following year. They were divorced in 1978. She did not remarry.

Despite the death of Queen Mary on 24 March 1953, the coronation went ahead as planned on 2 June, as Mary had requested. The coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey was televised for the first time, with the exception of the anointing and communion. On Elizabeth's instruction, her coronation gown was embroidered with the floral emblems of Commonwealth countries.

Continuing evolution of the Commonwealth

Elizabeth's realms (light red and pink) and their territories and protectorates (dark red) at the beginning of her reign in 1952

From Elizabeth's birth onwards, the British Empire continued its transformation into the Commonwealth of Nations. By the time of her accession in 1952, her role as head of multiple independent states was already established. In 1953, Elizabeth and her husband embarked on a seven-month round-the-world tour, visiting 13 countries and covering more than 40,000 miles (64,000 km) by land, sea and air. She became the first reigning monarch of Australia and New Zealand to visit those nations. During the tour, crowds were immense; three-quarters of the population of Australia were estimated to have seen her. Throughout her reign, Elizabeth made hundreds of state visits to other countries and tours of the Commonwealth; she was the most widely travelled head of state.

In 1956, the British and French prime ministers, Sir Anthony Eden and Guy Mollet, discussed the possibility of France joining the Commonwealth. The proposal was never accepted, and the following year France signed the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community, the precursor to the European Union. In November 1956, Britain and France invaded Egypt in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to capture the Suez Canal. Lord Mountbatten said Elizabeth was opposed to the invasion, though Eden denied it. Eden resigned two months later.

The governing Conservative Party had no formal mechanism for choosing a leader, meaning that it fell to Elizabeth to decide whom to commission to form a government following Eden's resignation. Eden recommended she consult Lord Salisbury, the lord president of the council. Lord Salisbury and Lord Kilmuir, the lord chancellor, consulted the British Cabinet, Churchill, and the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, resulting in Elizabeth appointing their recommended candidate: Harold Macmillan.

The Suez crisis and the choice of Eden's successor led, in 1957, to the first major personal criticism of Elizabeth. In a magazine, which he owned and edited, Lord Altrincham accused her of being "out of touch". Altrincham was denounced by public figures and slapped by a member of the public appalled by his comments. Six years later, in 1963, Macmillan resigned and advised Elizabeth to appoint Alec Douglas-Home as the prime minister, advice she followed. Elizabeth again came under criticism for appointing the prime minister on the advice of a small number of ministers or a single minister. In 1965, the Conservatives adopted a formal mechanism for electing a leader, thus relieving the Queen of her involvement.

In 1957, Elizabeth made a state visit to the United States, where she addressed the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of the Commonwealth. On the same tour, she opened the 23rd Canadian Parliament, becoming the first monarch of Canada to open a parliamentary session. Two years later, solely in her capacity as Queen of Canada, she revisited the United States and toured Canada. In 1961, she toured Cyprus, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Iran. On a visit to Ghana the same year, she dismissed fears for her safety, even though her host, President Kwame Nkrumah, who had replaced her as head of state, was a target for assassins. Harold Macmillan wrote, "The Queen has been absolutely determined all through ... She is impatient of the attitude towards her to treat her as ... a film star ... She has indeed ' the heart and stomach of a man' ... She loves her duty and means to be a Queen." Before her tour through parts of Quebec in 1964, the press reported extremists within the Quebec separatist movement were plotting Elizabeth's assassination. No attempt was made, but a riot did break out while she was in Montreal; Elizabeth's "calmness and courage in the face of the violence" was noted.

Elizabeth gave birth to her third child, Prince Andrew, in February 1960, which was the first birth to a reigning British monarch since 1857. Her fourth child, Prince Edward, was born in March 1964.

On 21 October 1966, the Aberfan disaster in Wales saw 116 children and 28 adults killed when a colliery spoil tip collapsed, engulfing Pantglas Junior School and the surrounding houses in the village. The Queen was criticised for waiting eight days before deciding to visit the village, and her delay in visiting the scene was a mistake that she later regretted.

Acceleration of decolonisation

The 1960s and 1970s saw an acceleration in the decolonisation of Africa and the Caribbean. More than 20 countries gained independence from Britain as part of a planned transition to self-government. In 1965, however, the Rhodesian prime minister, Ian Smith, in opposition to moves towards majority rule, unilaterally declared independence while expressing "loyalty and devotion" to Elizabeth, declaring her " Queen of Rhodesia". Although Elizabeth formally dismissed him, and the international community applied sanctions against Rhodesia, his regime survived for over a decade. As Britain's ties to its former empire weakened, the British government sought entry to the European Community, a goal it achieved in 1973.

Elizabeth toured Yugoslavia in October 1972, becoming the first British monarch to visit a communist country. She was received at the airport by President Josip Broz Tito, and a crowd of thousands greeted her in Belgrade.

In February 1974, the British prime minister, Edward Heath, advised Elizabeth to call a general election in the middle of her tour of the Austronesian Pacific Rim, requiring her to fly back to Britain. The election resulted in a hung parliament; Heath's Conservatives were not the largest party but could stay in office if they formed a coalition with the Liberals. When discussions on forming a coalition foundered, Heath resigned, and Elizabeth asked the Leader of the Opposition, Labour's Harold Wilson, to form a government.

A year later, at the height of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, the Australian prime minister, Gough Whitlam, was dismissed from his post by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, after the Opposition-controlled Senate rejected Whitlam's budget proposals. As Whitlam had a majority in the House of Representatives, Speaker Gordon Scholes appealed to Elizabeth to reverse Kerr's decision. She declined, saying she would not interfere in decisions reserved by the Constitution of Australia for the Governor-General. The crisis fuelled Australian republicanism.

Silver Jubilee

In 1977, Elizabeth marked the Silver Jubilee of her accession. Parties and events took place throughout the Commonwealth, many coinciding with her associated national and Commonwealth tours. The celebrations re-affirmed Elizabeth's popularity, despite virtually coincident negative press coverage of Princess Margaret's separation from her husband, Lord Snowdon. In 1978, Elizabeth endured a state visit to the United Kingdom by Romania's communist leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu, and his wife, Elena, though privately she thought they had "blood on their hands". The following year brought two blows: one was the unmasking of Anthony Blunt, former Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, as a communist spy; the other was the assassination of her uncle-in-law Lord Mountbatten by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

According to Paul Martin Sr., by the end of the 1970s, Elizabeth was worried the Crown "had little meaning for" Pierre Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister. Tony Benn said Elizabeth found Trudeau "rather disappointing". Trudeau's supposed republicanism seemed to be confirmed by his antics, such as sliding down banisters at Buckingham Palace and pirouetting behind Elizabeth's back in 1977, and the removal of various Canadian royal symbols during his term of office. In 1980, Canadian politicians sent to London to discuss the patriation of the Canadian constitution found Elizabeth "better informed ... than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats". She was particularly interested after the failure of Bill C-60, which would have affected her role as head of state.

Press scrutiny and Thatcher premiership

During the 1981 Trooping the Colour ceremony, six weeks before the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, six shots were fired at Elizabeth from close range as she rode down The Mall, London, on her horse, Burmese. Police later discovered the shots were blanks. The 17-year-old assailant, Marcus Sarjeant, was sentenced to five years in prison and released after three. Elizabeth's composure and skill in controlling her mount were widely praised. That October, Elizabeth was the subject of another attack while on a visit to Dunedin, New Zealand. Christopher John Lewis, who was 17 years old, fired a shot with a .22 rifle from the fifth floor of a building overlooking the parade but missed. Lewis was arrested, but instead of being charged with attempted murder or treason was sentenced to three years in jail for unlawful possession and discharge of a firearm. Two years into his sentence, he attempted to escape a psychiatric hospital with the intention of assassinating Charles, who was visiting the country with Diana and their son Prince William.

From April to September 1982, Elizabeth's son Andrew served with British forces in the Falklands War, for which she reportedly felt anxiety and pride. On 9 July, she awoke in her bedroom at Buckingham Palace to find an intruder, Michael Fagan, in the room with her. In a serious lapse of security, assistance only arrived after two calls to the Palace police switchboard. After hosting US president Ronald Reagan at Windsor Castle in 1982 and visiting his California ranch in 1983, Elizabeth was angered when his administration ordered the invasion of Grenada, one of her Caribbean realms, without informing her.

Intense media interest in the opinions and private lives of the royal family during the 1980s led to a series of sensational stories in the press, pioneered by tabloid. As Kelvin MacKenzie, editor of The Sun, told his staff: "Give me a Sunday for Monday splash on the Royals. Don't worry if it's not true-so long as there's not too much of a fuss about it afterwards." Newspaper editor Donald Trelford wrote in The Observer of 21 September 1986: "The royal soap opera has now reached such a pitch of public interest that the boundary between fact and fiction has been lost sight of ... it is not just that some papers don't check their facts or accept denials: they don't care if the stories are true or not." It was reported, most notably in The Sunday Times of 20 July 1986, that Elizabeth was worried that Margaret Thatcher's economic policies fostered social divisions and was alarmed by high unemployment, a series of riots, the violence of a miners' strike, and Thatcher's refusal to apply sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa. The sources of the rumours included royal aide Michael Shea and Commonwealth secretary-general Shridath Ramphal, but Shea claimed his remarks were taken out of context and embellished by speculation. Thatcher reputedly said Elizabeth would vote for the Social Democratic Party-Thatcher's political opponents. Thatcher's biographer, John Campbell, claimed "the report was a piece of journalistic mischief-making". Reports of acrimony between them were exaggerated, and Elizabeth gave two honours in her personal gift-membership in the Order of Merit and the Order of the Garter-to Thatcher after her replacement as prime minister by John Major. Brian Mulroney, Canadian prime minister between 1984 and 1993, said Elizabeth was a "behind the scenes force" in ending apartheid.

In 1986, Elizabeth paid a six-day state visit to the People's Republic of China, becoming the first British monarch to visit the country. The tour included the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China, and the Terracotta Warriors. At a state banquet, Elizabeth joked about the first British emissary to China being lost at sea with Queen Elizabeth I's letter to the Wanli Emperor, and remarked, "fortunately postal services have improved since 1602". Elizabeth's visit also signified the acceptance of both countries that sovereignty over Hong Kong would be transferred from the United Kingdom to China in 1997.

By the end of the 1980s, Elizabeth had become the target of satire. The involvement of younger members of the royal family in the charity game show It's a Royal Knockout in 1987 was ridiculed. In Canada, Elizabeth publicly supported politically divisive constitutional amendments, prompting criticism from opponents of the proposed changes, including Pierre Trudeau. The same year, the elected Fijian government was deposed in a military coup. As monarch of Fiji, Elizabeth supported the attempts of Governor-General Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau to assert executive power and negotiate a settlement. Coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka deposed Ganilau and declared Fiji a republic.

Turbulent 1990s and annus horribilis

In the wake of coalition victory in the Gulf War, Elizabeth became the first British monarch to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress in May 1991.

On 24 November 1992, in a speech to mark the Ruby Jubilee of her accession to the throne, Elizabeth called 1992 her annus horribilis (a Latin phrase, meaning "horrible year"). Republican feeling in Britain had risen because of press estimates of Elizabeth's private wealth-contradicted by the Palace-and reports of affairs and strained marriages among her extended family. In March, her second son, Prince Andrew, separated from his wife, Sarah, and Mauritius removed Elizabeth as head of state; her daughter, Princess Anne, divorced Captain Mark Phillips in April; angry demonstrators in Dresden threw eggs at Elizabeth during a state visit to Germany in October; and a large fire broke out at Windsor Castle, one of her official residences, in November. The monarchy came under increased criticism and public scrutiny. In an unusually personal speech, Elizabeth said that any institution must expect criticism, but suggested it might be done with "a touch of humour, gentleness and understanding". Two days later, John Major announced plans to reform the royal finances, drawn up the previous year, including Elizabeth paying income tax from 1993 onwards, and a reduction in the civil list. In December, Prince Charles and his wife, Diana, formally separated. At the end of the year, Elizabeth sued The Sun newspaper for breach of copyright when it published the text of her annual Christmas message two days before it was broadcast. The newspaper was forced to pay her legal fees and donated £200,000 to charity. Elizabeth's solicitors had taken successful action against The Sun five years earlier for breach of copyright after it published a photograph of her daughter-in-law the Duchess of York and her granddaughter Princess Beatrice.

In January 1994, Elizabeth broke the scaphoid bone in her left wrist as the horse she was riding at Sandringham tripped and fell. In October 1994, she became the first reigning British monarch to set foot on Russian soil. In October 1995, Elizabeth was tricked into a hoax call by Montreal radio host Pierre Brassard impersonating Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien. Elizabeth, who believed that she was speaking to Chrétien, said she supported Canadian unity and would try to influence Quebec's referendum on proposals to break away from Canada.

In the year that followed, public revelations on the state of Charles and Diana's marriage continued. In consultation with her husband and John Major, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury ( George Carey) and her private secretary ( Robert Fellowes), Elizabeth wrote to Charles and Diana at the end of December 1995, suggesting that a divorce would be advisable.

In August 1997, a year after the divorce, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. Elizabeth was on holiday with her extended family at Balmoral. Diana's two sons, Princes William and Harry, wanted to attend church, so Elizabeth and Philip took them that morning. Afterwards, for five days, the royal couple shielded their grandsons from the intense press interest by keeping them at Balmoral where they could grieve in private, but the royal family's silence and seclusion, and the failure to fly a flag at half-mast over Buckingham Palace, caused public dismay. Pressured by the hostile reaction, Elizabeth agreed to return to London and address the nation in a live television broadcast on 5 September, the day before Diana's funeral. In the broadcast, she expressed admiration for Diana and her feelings "as a grandmother" for the two princes. As a result, much of the public hostility evaporated.

In October 1997, Elizabeth and Philip made a state visit to India, which included a controversial visit to the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre to pay her respects. Protesters chanted "Killer Queen, go back", and there were demands for her to apologise for the action of British troops 78 years earlier. At the memorial in the park, she and Philip laid a wreath and stood for a 30‑second moment of silence. As a result, much of the fury among the public softened, and the protests were called off. That November, Elizabeth and her husband held a reception at Banqueting House to mark their golden wedding anniversary. Elizabeth made a speech and praised Philip for his role as a consort, referring to him as "my strength and stay".

In 1999, as part of the process of devolution within the UK, Elizabeth formally opened newly established legislatures for Wales and Scotland: the National Assembly for Wales at Cardiff in May, and the Scottish Parliament at Edinburgh in July.

Golden Jubilee

On the eve of the new millennium, Elizabeth and Philip boarded a vessel from Southwark, bound for the Millennium Dome. Before passing under Tower Bridge, Elizabeth lit the National Millennium Beacon in the Pool of London using a laser torch. Shortly before midnight, she officially opened the Dome. During the singing of Auld Lang Syne, Elizabeth held hands with Philip and British prime minister Tony Blair.

In 2002, Elizabeth marked her Golden Jubilee, the 50th anniversary of her accession. Her sister and mother died in February and March, respectively, and the media speculated on whether the Jubilee would be a success or a failure. She again undertook an extensive tour of her realms, beginning in Jamaica in February, where she called the farewell banquet "memorable" after a power cut plunged King's House, the official residence of the governor-general, into darkness. As in 1977, there were street parties and commemorative events, and monuments were named to honour the occasion. One million people attended each day of the three-day main Jubilee celebration in London, and the enthusiasm shown for Elizabeth by the public was greater than many journalists had anticipated.

Greeting NASA employees at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland, May 2007

In 2003, Elizabeth sued the Daily Mirror for breach of confidence and obtained an injunction which prevented the outlet from publishing information gathered by a reporter who posed as a footman at Buckingham Palace. The newspaper also paid £25,000 towards her legal costs. Though generally healthy throughout her life, in 2003 she had keyhole surgery on both knees. In October 2006, she missed the opening of the new Emirates Stadium because of a strained back muscle that had been troubling her since the summer.

In May 2007, citing unnamed sources, The Daily Telegraph reported that Elizabeth was "exasperated and frustrated" by the policies of Tony Blair, that she was concerned the British Armed Forces were overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that she had raised concerns over rural and countryside issues with Blair. She was, however, said to admire Blair's efforts to achieve peace in Northern Ireland. She became the first British monarch to celebrate a diamond wedding anniversary in November 2007. On 20 March 2008, at the Church of Ireland St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, Elizabeth attended the first Maundy service held outside England and Wales.

Elizabeth addressed the UN General Assembly for a second time in 2010, again in her capacity as Queen of all Commonwealth realms and Head of the Commonwealth. The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, introduced her as "an anchor for our age". During her visit to New York, which followed a tour of Canada, she officially opened a memorial garden for British victims of the 9/11 attacks. Elizabeth's 11-day visit to Australia in October 2011 was her 16th visit to the country since 1954. By invitation of the Irish president, Mary McAleese, she made the first state visit to the Republic of Ireland by a British monarch in May 2011.

Diamond Jubilee and longevity

Elizabeth's 2012 Diamond Jubilee marked 60 years on the throne, and celebrations were held throughout her realms, the wider Commonwealth, and beyond. She and her husband undertook an extensive tour of the United Kingdom, while her children and grandchildren embarked on royal tours of other Commonwealth states on her behalf. On 4 June, Jubilee beacons were lit around the world. On 18 December, she became the first British sovereign to attend a peacetime Cabinet meeting since George III in 1781.

Elizabeth, who opened the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, also opened the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in London, making her the first head of state to open two Olympic Games in two countries. For the London Olympics, she played herself in a short film as part of the opening ceremony, alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond. On 4 April 2013, she received an honorary BAFTA for her patronage of the film industry and was called "the most memorable Bond girl yet" at the award ceremony.

Opening the Borders Railway on the day she became the longest-reigning British monarch, 2015. In her speech, she said she had never aspired to achieve that milestone.[196]

On 3 March 2013, Elizabeth stayed overnight at King Edward VII's Hospital as a precaution after developing symptoms of gastroenteritis. A week later, she signed the new Charter of the Commonwealth. Because of her age and the need for her to limit travelling, in 2013 she chose not to attend the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting for the first time in 40 years. She was represented at the summit in Sri Lanka by Prince Charles. On 20 April 2018, the Commonwealth heads of government announced that Charles would succeed her as Head of the Commonwealth, which she stated was her "sincere wish". She underwent cataract surgery in May 2018. In March 2019, she gave up driving on public roads, largely as a consequence of a car crash involving her husband two months earlier.

Elizabeth surpassed her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, to become the longest-lived British monarch on 21 December 2007, and the longest-reigning British monarch and longest-reigning queen regnant and female head of state in the world on 9 September 2015. She became the oldest current monarch after King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died on 23 January 2015. She later became the longest-reigning current monarch and the longest-serving current head of state following the death of King Bhumibol of Thailand on 13 October 2016, and the oldest current head of state on the resignation of Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe on 21 November 2017. On 6 February 2017, she became the first British monarch to commemorate a sapphire jubilee, and on 20 November, she was the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum wedding anniversary. Philip had retired from his official duties as the Queen's consort in August 2017.

COVID-19 pandemic

On 19 March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United Kingdom, Elizabeth moved to Windsor Castle and sequestered there as a precaution. Public engagements were cancelled and Windsor Castle followed a strict sanitary protocol nicknamed "HMS Bubble".

Virtual meeting with Cindy Kiro during the pandemic, October 2021

On 5 April, in a televised broadcast watched by an estimated 24 million viewers in the UK, she asked people to "take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again." On 8 May, the 75th anniversary of VE Day, in a television broadcast at 9 pm-the exact time at which her father George VI had broadcast to the nation on the same day in 1945-she asked people to "never give up, never despair". In October, she visited the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Wiltshire, her first public engagement since the start of the pandemic. On 4 November, she appeared masked for the first time in public, during a private pilgrimage to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey, to mark the centenary of his burial. In 2021, she received her first and second COVID-19 vaccinations in January and April respectively.

Prince Philip died on 9 April 2021, after 73 years of marriage, making Elizabeth the first British monarch to reign as a widow or widower since Queen Victoria. She was reportedly at her husband's bedside when he died, and remarked in private that his death had "left a huge void". Due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place in England at the time, Elizabeth sat alone at Philip's funeral service, which evoked sympathy from people around the world. In her Christmas broadcast that year, which was ultimately her last, she paid a personal tribute to her "beloved Philip", saying, "That mischievous, inquiring twinkle was as bright at the end as when I first set eyes on him".

Despite the pandemic, Elizabeth attended the 2021 State Opening of Parliament in May, and the 47th G7 summit in June. On 5 July, the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the UK's National Health Service, she announced that the NHS would be awarded the George Cross to "recognise all NHS staff, past and present, across all disciplines and all four nations". In October 2021, she began using a walking stick during public engagements for the first time since her operation in 2004. Following an overnight stay in hospital on 20 October, her previously scheduled visits to Northern Ireland, the COP26 summit in Glasgow, and the 2021 National Service of Remembrance were cancelled on health grounds. On Christmas Day 2021, while she was staying at Windsor Castle, 19-year-old Jaswant Singh Chail broke into the gardens using a rope ladder and carrying a crossbow with the aim of assassinating Elizabeth in revenge for the Amritsar massacre. Before he could enter any buildings, he was arrested and detained under the Mental Health Act. In 2023, he pled guilty to attempting to injure or alarm the sovereign.

Platinum Jubilee

Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee began on 6 February 2022, marking 70 years since she acceded to the throne on her father's death. On the eve of the date, she held a reception at Sandringham House for pensioners, local Women's Institute members and charity volunteers. In her accession day message, Elizabeth renewed her commitment to a lifetime of public service, which she had originally made in 1947.

Later that month, Elizabeth had "mild cold-like symptoms" and tested positive for COVID-19, along with some staff and family members. She cancelled two virtual audiences on 22 February, but held a phone conversation with British prime minister Boris Johnson the following day amid a crisis on the Russo-Ukrainian border, following which she made a donation to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. On 28 February, she was reported to have recovered and spent time with her family at Frogmore. On 7 March, Elizabeth met Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau at Windsor Castle, in her first in-person engagement since her COVID diagnosis. She later remarked that COVID infection "leave[s] one very tired and exhausted ... It's not a nice result".

Elizabeth was present at the service of thanksgiving for Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey on 29 March, but was unable to attend the annual Commonwealth Day service that month or the Royal Maundy service in April, due to "episodic mobility problems". She missed the State Opening of Parliament in May for the first time in 59 years. (She did not attend the 1959 and 1963 state openings as she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, respectively.) In her absence, Parliament was opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge as counsellors of state.

During the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Elizabeth was largely confined to balcony appearances and missed the National Service of Thanksgiving. For the Jubilee concert, she took part in a sketch with Paddington Bear that opened the event outside Buckingham Palace. On 13 June, she became the second-longest reigning monarch in history among those whose exact dates of reign are known, with 70 years, 127 days reigned-surpassing King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. On 6 September, she appointed her 15th British prime minister, Liz Truss, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. This marked the only time she did not receive a new prime minister at Buckingham Palace during her reign. No other British reign had seen so many prime ministers. The Queen's last public message was issued on 7 September to her Canadian people, in the aftermath of the Saskatchewan stabbings.

Elizabeth never planned to abdicate, though she took on fewer public engagements as she grew older and Prince Charles took on more of her duties. The Queen told Canadian governor-general Adrienne Clarkson in a meeting in 2002 that she would never abdicate, saying "It is not our tradition. Although, I suppose if I became completely gaga, one would have to do something". In June 2022, Elizabeth met the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who "came away thinking there is someone who has no fear of death, has hope in the future, knows the rock on which she stands and that gives her strength."

On 8 September 2022, Buckingham Palace released a statement which read: "Following further evaluation this morning, the Queen's doctors are concerned for Her Majesty's health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision. The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral." Her immediate family rushed to Balmoral to be by her side. She died peacefully at 15:10 BST at the age of 96, with two of her children, Charles and Anne, by her side. Her death was announced to the public at 18:30, setting in motion Operation London Bridge and, because she died in Scotland, Operation Unicorn. Elizabeth was the first monarch to die in Scotland since James V in 1542. Her death certificate recorded her cause of death as " old age".

On 12 September, Elizabeth's coffin was carried up the Royal Mile in a procession to St Giles' Cathedral, where the Crown of Scotland was placed on it. Her coffin lay at rest at the cathedral for 24 hours, guarded by the Royal Company of Archers, during which around 33,000 people filed past the coffin. It was taken by air to London on 13 September. On 14 September, her coffin was taken in a military procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where Elizabeth lay in state for four days. The coffin was guarded by members of both the Sovereign's Bodyguard and the Household Division. An estimated 250,000 members of the public filed past the coffin, as did politicians and other public figures. On 16 September, Elizabeth's children held a vigil around her coffin, and the next day her eight grandchildren did the same.

Elizabeth's coffin on the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy, during the procession to Wellington Arch

Elizabeth's state funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on 19 September, which marked the first time that a monarch's funeral service had been held at the Abbey since George II in 1760. More than a million people lined the streets of central London, and the day was declared a holiday in several Commonwealth countries. In Windsor, a final procession involving 1,000 military personnel took place, which 97,000 people witnessed. Elizabeth's fell pony, and two royal corgis, stood at the side of the procession. After a committal service at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Elizabeth was interred with her husband Philip in the King George VI Memorial Chapel later the same day, in a private ceremony attended by her closest family members.

Beliefs, activities, and interests

Elizabeth rarely gave interviews, and little was known of her political opinions, which she did not express explicitly in public. It is against convention to ask or reveal the monarch's views. When Times journalist Paul Routledge asked her about the miners' strike of 1984-85 during a royal tour of the newspaper's offices, she replied that it was "all about one man" (a reference to Arthur Scargill), with which Routledge disagreed. Routledge was widely criticised in the media for asking the question and claimed that he was unaware of the protocols. After the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Prime Minister David Cameron was overheard saying that Elizabeth was pleased with the outcome. She had arguably issued a public coded statement about the referendum by telling one woman outside Balmoral Kirk that she hoped people would think "very carefully" about the outcome. It emerged later that Cameron had specifically requested that she register her concern.

Elizabeth had a deep sense of religious and civic duty, and took her Coronation Oath seriously. Aside from her official religious role as Supreme Governor of the established Church of England, she worshipped with that church and with the national Church of Scotland. She demonstrated support for inter-faith relations and met with leaders of other churches and religions, including five popes: Pius XII, John XXIII, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. A personal note about her faith often featured in her annual Christmas Message broadcast to the Commonwealth. In 2000, she said:

To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example.

Elizabeth was patron of more than 600 organisations and charities. The Charities Aid Foundation estimated that Elizabeth helped raise over £1.4 billion for her patronages during her reign. Her main leisure interests included equestrianism and dogs, especially her Pembroke Welsh Corgis. Her lifelong love of corgis began in 1933 with Dookie, the first corgi owned by her family. Scenes of a relaxed, informal home life were occasionally witnessed; she and her family, from time to time, prepared a meal together and washed the dishes afterwards.

Media depiction and public opinion

In the 1950s, as a young woman at the start of her reign, Elizabeth was depicted as a glamorous "fairytale Queen". After the trauma of the Second World War, it was a time of hope, a period of progress and achievement heralding a "new Elizabethan age". Lord Altrincham's accusation in 1957 that her speeches sounded like those of a " priggish schoolgirl" was an extremely rare criticism. In the late 1960s, attempts to portray a more modern image of the monarchy were made in the television documentary Royal Family and by televising Prince Charles's investiture as Prince of Wales. Elizabeth also instituted other new practices; her first royal walkabout, meeting ordinary members of the public, took place during a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1970. Her wardrobe developed a recognisable, signature style driven more by function than fashion. In public, she took to wearing mostly solid-colour overcoats and decorative hats, allowing her to be seen easily in a crowd.

At Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee in 1977, the crowds and celebrations were genuinely enthusiastic; but, in the 1980s, public criticism of the royal family increased, as the personal and working lives of Elizabeth's children came under media scrutiny. Her popularity sank to a low point in the 1990s. Under pressure from public opinion, she began to pay income tax for the first time, and Buckingham Palace was opened to the public. Although support for republicanism in Britain seemed higher than at any time in living memory, republican ideology was still a minority viewpoint, and Elizabeth herself had high approval ratings. Criticism was focused on the institution of the monarchy itself, and the conduct of Elizabeth's wider family, rather than her own behaviour and actions. Discontent with the monarchy reached its peak on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, although Elizabeth's personal popularity-as well as general support for the monarchy-rebounded after her live television broadcast to the world five days after Diana's death.

In November 1999, a referendum in Australia on the future of the Australian monarchy favoured its retention in preference to an indirectly elected head of state. Many republicans credited Elizabeth's personal popularity with the survival of the monarchy in Australia. In 2010, Prime Minister Julia Gillard noted that there was a "deep affection" for Elizabeth in Australia and that another referendum on the monarchy should wait until after her reign. Gillard's successor, Malcolm Turnbull, who led the republican campaign in 1999, similarly believed that Australians would not vote to become a republic in her lifetime. "She's been an extraordinary head of state", Turnbull said in 2021, "and I think frankly, in Australia, there are more Elizabethans than there are monarchists". Similarly, referendums in both Tuvalu in 2008 and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2009 saw voters reject proposals to become republics.

Polls in Britain in 2006 and 2007 revealed strong support for the monarchy, and in 2012, Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee year, her approval ratings hit 90 per cent. Her family came under scrutiny again in the last few years of her life due to her son Andrew's association with convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre amidst accusations of sexual impropriety, and her grandson Harry and his wife Meghan's exit from the working royal family and subsequent move to the United States. Polling in Great Britain during the Platinum Jubilee, however, showed support for maintaining the monarchy and Elizabeth's personal popularity remained strong. As of 2021 she remained the third most admired woman in the world according to the annual Gallup poll, her 52 appearances on the list meaning she had been in the top ten more than any other woman in the poll's history.

Elizabeth was portrayed in a variety of media by many notable artists, including painters Pietro Annigoni, Peter Blake, Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy, Terence Cuneo, Lucian Freud, Rolf Harris, Damien Hirst, Juliet Pannett and Tai-Shan Schierenberg. Notable photographers of Elizabeth included Cecil Beaton, Yousuf Karsh, Anwar Hussein, Annie Leibovitz, Lord Lichfield, Terry O'Neill, John Swannell and Dorothy Wilding. The first official portrait photograph of Elizabeth was taken by Marcus Adams in 1926.

Titles, styles, honours, and arms

Titles and styles

Elizabeth held many titles and honorary military positions throughout the Commonwealth, was sovereign of many orders in her own countries and received honours and awards from around the world. In each of her realms, she had a distinct title that follows a similar formula: Queen of Saint Lucia and of Her other Realms and Territories in Saint Lucia, Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories in Australia, etc. In the Isle of Man, which is a Crown Dependency rather than a separate realm, she was known as Lord of Mann. Elizabeth was also styled Defender of the Faith.

From 21 April 1944 until her accession, Elizabeth's arms consisted of a lozenge bearing the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom differenced with a label of three points argent, the centre point bearing a Tudor rose and the first and third a cross of St George. Upon her accession, she inherited the various arms her father held as sovereign. Elizabeth also possessed royal standards and personal flags for use in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, and elsewhere.

1. As monarch, Elizabeth was ^ Supreme Governor of the Church of England. She was also a member of the Church of Scotland.

2. Her godparents were: King George V and Queen Mary; Lord Strathmore; ^ Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (her paternal great-granduncle); Princess Mary, Viscountess Lascelles (her paternal aunt); and Lady Elphinstone (her maternal aunt).

3. Television coverage of the coronation was instrumental in boosting the medium's popularity; the number of ^ television licences in the United Kingdom doubled to 3million, and many of the more than 20million British viewers watched television for the first time in the homes of their friends or neighbours. In North America, almost 100million viewers watched recorded broadcasts.

4. The ^ Sunday Times Rich List 1989 put her number one on the list with a reported wealth of £5.2 billion (approximately £13.8 billion in today's value), but it included state assets like the Royal Collection that were not hers personally. In 1993, Buckingham Palace called estimates of £100 million "grossly overstated". In 1971, Jock Colville, her former private secretary and a director of her bank, Coutts, estimated her wealth at £2 million (equivalent to about £14 million in 1993).

5. The only previous state visit by a British monarch to Russia was made by ^ King Edward VII in 1908. The King never stepped ashore, and met Nicholas II on royal yachts off the Baltic port of what is now Tallinn, Estonia. During the four-day visit, which was considered to be one of the most important foreign trips of Elizabeth's reign, she and Philip attended events in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

References

Bibliography

Crawford, Marion (1950), The Little Princesses, Cassell & Co.

Louda, Jiří; Maclagan, Michael (1999) [1981], Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe (2nd ed.), London: Little, Brown, ISBN 978-0-3168-4820-6

Mitchell, James (2003), "Scotland: Cultural Base and Economic Catalysts", in Hollowell, Jonathan (ed.), Britain Since 1945, Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 109-125, doi:10.1002/9780470758328.ch5, ISBN 978-0-6312-0967-6

Nicolson, Harold (1952), King George the Fifth: His Life and Reign, Constable & Co.

Tomaszewski, Fiona K. (2002), A Great Russia: Russia and the Triple Entente, 1905-1914, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-2759-7366-7, archived from the original on 13 January 2023

External links

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Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 - 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states over the course of her lifetime and remained the monarch of 15 realms by the time of her death.

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Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (born Henry Charles Albert David; 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, and is sixth in the line of succession to the British throne.

Harry was educated at Wetherby Preparatory School, Ludgrove School and Eton College. He spent parts of his gap year in Australia and Lesotho. He then underwent officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a cornet (i.e. second lieutenant) into the Blues and Royals, serving temporarily with his brother, Prince William, and completed his training as a troop leader. In 2007-08, he served for over ten weeks in Helmand, Afghanistan, but was pulled out after an Australian magazine revealed his presence there. He returned to Afghanistan for a 20-week deployment in 2012-13 with the Army Air Corps. He left the army in June 2015.

Harry launched the Invictus Games in 2014 and remains patron of its foundation. He also gives patronage to several other organisations, including the HALO Trust, the London Marathon Charitable Trust, and Walking With The Wounded. On 19 May 2018, he married the American actress Meghan Markle. Hours before the wedding, his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II conferred on him the titles Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel, all in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The couple's son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, was born on 6 May 2019.

Harry was born in the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London, on 15 September 1984 at 4:20 pm as the second child of Charles, Prince of Wales- heir apparent to Queen Elizabeth II-and Diana, Princess of Wales. He was baptised with the names Henry Charles Albert David, on 21 December 1984, at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie.

His parents announced their second son's name would officially be Prince Henry Charles Albert David, but that he would be known as Harry to his family and friends. As the prince grew up, he was referred to by Kensington Palace, and therefore the Press and the public at large, as Prince Harry. As a son of the Prince of Wales, he was called Prince Henry of Wales. Diana wanted Harry and his older brother, Prince William, to have a broader range of experiences than previous royal children. She took them to venues that ranged from Disney World and McDonald's to AIDS clinics and homeless shelters. Harry began accompanying his parents on official visits at an early age; his first overseas tour was with his parents to Italy in 1985.

Harry's parents divorced in 1996. His mother died in a car crash in Paris the following year. Harry and William were staying with their father at Balmoral at the time, and the Prince of Wales told his sons about their mother's death. At his mother's funeral, Harry, then 12, accompanied his father, brother, paternal grandfather, and maternal uncle, Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, in walking behind the funeral cortège from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey. In a 2017 interview with The Daily Telegraph, the prince acknowledged that he sought counselling after two years of "total chaos" while struggling to come to terms with the death of his mother.

Like his father and brother, Harry was educated at independent schools. He started at London's Jane Mynors' nursery school and the pre-preparatory Wetherby School. Following this, he attended Ludgrove School in Berkshire. After passing the entrance exams, he was admitted to Eton College. The decision to place Harry at Eton went against the past practice of the Mountbatten-Windsors to send children to Gordonstoun, which Harry's grandfather, father, two uncles, and two cousins had attended. It did, however, see Harry follow in the Spencer family footsteps, as both Diana's father and brother attended Eton.

In June 2003, Harry completed his education at Eton with two A-Levels, achieving a grade B in art and D in geography, having decided to drop history of art after AS level. He excelled in sports, particularly polo and rugby union. One of Harry's former teachers, Sarah Forsyth, has asserted that Harry was a "weak student" and that staff at Eton conspired to help him cheat on examinations. Both Eton and Harry denied the claims. While a tribunal made no ruling on the cheating claim, it "accepted the prince had received help in preparing his A-level 'expressive' project, which he needed to pass to secure his place at Sandhurst."

After school, Harry took a gap year, during which he spent time in Australia working (as his father had done in his youth) on a cattle station, and participating in the Young England vs Young Australia Polo Test match. He also travelled to Lesotho, where he worked with orphaned children and produced the documentary film The Forgotten Kingdom.

Sandhurst; Blues and Royals; deployment to Afghanistan

Harry entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 8 May 2005, where he was known as Officer Cadet Wales, and joined the Alamein Company. In April 2006, Harry completed his officer training and was commissioned as a Cornet ( second lieutenant) in the Blues and Royals, a regiment of the Household Cavalry in the British Army. On 13 April 2008, when he reached two years' seniority, Harry was promoted to lieutenant.

In 2006, it was announced that Harry's unit was scheduled to be deployed in Iraq the following year. A public debate ensued as to whether he should serve there. Defence Secretary John Reid said that he should be allowed to serve on the front line of battle zones. Harry agreed saying, "If they said 'no, you can't go front line' then I wouldn't drag my sorry ass through Sandhurst and I wouldn't be where I am now." The Ministry of Defence and Clarence House made a joint announcement on 22 February 2007 that Harry would be deployed with his regiment to Iraq, as part of the 1st Mechanised Brigade of the 3rd Mechanised Division - a move supported by Harry, who had stated that he would leave the army if he was told to remain in safety while his regiment went to war. He said: "There's no way I'm going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country."

The head of the British army at the time, General Sir Richard Dannatt, said on 30 April 2007 that he had personally decided that Harry would serve with his unit in Iraq, and Harry was scheduled for deployment in May or June 2007, to patrol the Maysan Governorate. By 16 May, however, Dannatt announced that Harry would not serve in Iraq; concerns included Harry being a high-value target (as several threats by various groups had already been made against him) and the dangers the soldiers around him would face should any attempt be made on his life or if he was captured. Clarence House made public Harry's disappointment with the decision, though he said he would abide by it.

In early June 2007, it was reported that Harry had arrived in Canada to train alongside soldiers of the Canadian Forces and British Army, at CFB Suffield, near Medicine Hat, Alberta. It was said that this was in preparation for a tour of duty in Afghanistan, where Canadian and British forces were participating in the NATO-led Afghan War.

This was confirmed in February of the following year, when the British Ministry of Defence revealed that Harry had been secretly deployed as a Forward Air Controller to Helmand Province in Afghanistan for the previous ten weeks. The revelation came after the media - notably, German newspaper and Australian magazine - breached the blackout placed over the information by the Canadian and British authorities. It was later reported that Harry helped Gurkha troops repel an attack from Taliban insurgents, and performed patrol duty in hostile areas while in Afghanistan.

His tour made Harry the first member of the Royal Family to serve in a war zone since his uncle, Prince Andrew, flew helicopters during the Falklands War. For his service, his aunt, Princess Anne, presented Harry with an Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan at the Combermere Barracks in May 2008.

In October 2008, it was announced that Harry was to follow his brother, father and uncle in learning to fly military helicopters. After passing the initial aptitude test, he was to undertake a month-long course; if he passed that, he would begin full flight training in early 2009.

Harry had to pass his flying assessment at the Army Air Corps Base (AAC), Middle Wallop, the result of which would determine whether he would continue on to train as a pilot of the Apache, Lynx, or Gazelle helicopter. Having reached the requisite standard, Harry attended the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury, where he joined his brother.

Prince Charles presented him with his flying brevet (wings) on 7 May 2010 at a ceremony at the Army Air Corps Base (AAC), Middle Wallop. Harry had let it be known he intended to fly Apache attack helicopters if he was successful in passing the rigorous Apache training course. This would allow him to see active military service again on the frontline in Afghanistan.

In June 2011, Clarence House announced that on completion of his training conversion course to use Apache helicopters in the war arena, Harry would be available for deployment, including in current operations in Afghanistan, as an Apache helicopter pilot. The final decision rested with the Ministry of Defence's senior commanders, including principally the Chief of the Defence Staff in consultation with the wishes of Harry, the Prince of Wales, and the Queen. In October, he was transferred to a US military base in California to complete his helicopter gunship training. This final phase included live-fire training and "environmental and judgment training" at naval and air force facilities in California and Arizona. Most of those completing the two-month Apache training were deployed to the front lines in Afghanistan. In the same month, it was reported that Harry was said to be a natural pilot who was top of his class in the extensive training he had undertaken at the Naval Air Facility, El Centro, California; while training in Southern California, he spent time in San Diego. In November 2011, Harry returned to England. He went to Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk, in the east of England, to complete his training to fly Apache helicopters.

On 7 September 2012, Harry arrived at Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan as part of the 100-strong 662 Squadron, 3 Regiment, Army Air Corps, to begin a four-month combat tour as a co-pilot and gunner for an Apache helicopter. On 10 September, within days of arriving in Afghanistan, it was reported that the Taliban had threatened his life. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid spoke to Reuters and was quoted as saying: "We are using all our strength to get rid of him, either by killing or kidnapping." He added, "We have informed our commanders in Helmand to do whatever they can to eliminate him."

On 21 January 2013, it was announced that Harry was returning from a 20-week deployment in Afghanistan, where he served as an Apache co-pilot/gunner. On 8 July 2013, the Ministry of Defence announced that Harry had successfully qualified as an Apache aircraft commander. Harry compared operating the Apache's weapons systems in Afghanistan to playing video games.

On 17 January 2014, the Ministry of Defence announced that Harry had completed his attachment to 3 Regiment Army Air Corps, and would take up a staff officer role, SO3 (Defence Engagement), in HQ London District. His responsibilities would include helping to co-ordinate significant projects and commemorative events involving the Army in London. He was based at Horse Guards in central London.

On 6 March 2014, Harry launched Invictus Games, a Paralympic-style sporting event for injured servicemen and women, which was held on 10-14 September 2014. Harry met British hopefuls for the Invictus Games at Tedworth House in Wiltshire for the start of the selection process on 29 April 2014. On 15 May 2014, Harry attended a ticket sale launch for Invictus Games at BT Tower, from where he tweeted on the Invictus Games' official Twitter account as the president of the Games. To promote the Games, he was interviewed by BBC Radio 2's Chris Evans along with two Invictus Games hopefuls. He said: "This (Invictus Games) is basically my full-time job at the moment, making sure that we pull this off." The show aired on 31 July 2014. Harry later wrote an article in The Sunday Times about his experiences in Afghanistan: how they had inspired him to help injured personnel and how, after the trip to the Warrior Games, he had vowed to create the Invictus Games. Harry and officials attended the British Armed Forces Team announcement for Invictus Games at Potters Field Park in August 2014. As president of the Invictus Games, he attended all events related to the Games from 8 to 14 September 2014.

In January 2015, it was reported that Harry would take a new role in supporting wounded service personnel by working alongside members of the London District's Personal Recovery Unit for the MOD's Defence Recovery Capability scheme to ensure that wounded personnel have adequate recovery plans. The palace confirmed weeks later that the scheme was established in partnership with Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion.

In late January 2015, Harry visited The Battle Back Centre set up by the Royal British Legion, and Fisher House UK at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. A partnership between Help for Heroes, the Fisher House Foundation and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) Charity created the Centre. Fisher House Foundation is one of the Invictus Games' sponsors.

In February and March 2015, Harry visited Phoenix House in Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, a recovery centre run by Help for Heroes. He also visited Merville Barracks in Colchester, where Chavasse VC House Personnel Recovery Centre is located, run by Help for Heroes in partnership with the Ministry of Defence and Royal British Legion.

On 17 March 2015, Kensington Palace announced that Harry would leave the Armed Forces in June. Before then, he would spend four weeks throughout April and May at army barracks in Darwin, Perth and Sydney whilst seconded to the Australian Defence Force (ADF). After leaving the Army, while considering his future, he would return to work in a voluntary capacity with the Ministry of Defence, supporting Case Officers in the Ministry's Recovery Capability Programme. He would be working with both those who administer and receive physical and mental care within the London District area.

On 6 April 2015, Harry reported for duty to Australia's Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin at the Royal Military College, Duntroon in Canberra, Australia. Harry flew to Darwin later that day to begin his month-long secondment to the ADF's 1st Brigade. His visit included detachments to NORFORCE as well as to an aviation unit. While in Perth, he trained with Special Air Service Regiment (SASR), participating in the SASR selection course, including a fitness test and a physical training session with SASR selection candidates. He also joined SASR members in Perth for live-fire shooting exercises with numerous Special Forces weapons at a variety of ranges. Harry completed an insertion training exercise using a rigid-hull inflatable boat. In Sydney, he undertook urban operations training with the 2nd Commando Regiment. Training activities included remotely detonating an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and rappelling from a building. He also spent time flying over Sydney as co-pilot of an Army Black Hawk helicopter and participated in counter-terrorism training in Sydney Harbour with Royal Australian Navy clearance divers.

Harry's attachment with the ADF ended on 8 May 2015, and on 19 June 2015 he resigned his short service commission.

Since leaving active service with the army, Harry has been closely involved with the armed forces through the Invictus Games, honorary military appointments and other official engagements. On 19 December 2017 he succeeded his grandfather Prince Philip as the Captain General of the Royal Marines. In May 2018, he was promoted to the substantive ranks of Lieutenant Commander of the Royal Navy, Major of the British Army and Squadron Leader of the Royal Air Force.

On 6 January 2009, the Queen granted Harry and William their own royal household. Previously, William and Harry's affairs had been handled by their father's office at Clarence House in central London. The new household released a statement announcing they had established their own office at nearby St James's Palace to look after their public, military and charitable activities.

In March 2012, Harry led an official visit to Belize as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. He continued to the Bahamas and Jamaica, where the Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, was considering severing ties between Jamaica and the constitutional monarchy. He then visited Brazil to attend the GREAT Campaign.

Between 9 and 15 May 2013, he made an official visit to the United States. The tour promoted the rehabilitation of injured American and UK troops, publicised his own charities and supported British interests. It included engagements in Washington, DC, Colorado, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. He met survivors of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey. In October 2013, he visited Australia for his first official visit to the country and attended the International Fleet Review at Sydney Harbour. He also paid a visit to the Australian SAS HQ in Perth.

In May 2014, he visited Estonia and Italy. In Estonia, he visited Freedom Square in the capital Tallinn to honour fallen Estonian soldiers. He also attended a reception at the Estonian Parliament and a NATO military exercise. In Italy, Harry attended commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the Monte Cassino battles, in which Polish, Commonwealth and British troops fought. On 6 November 2014, he opened the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey, a task usually performed by Prince Philip.

Before reporting for duty to the Australian Defence Force (ADF), Harry visited the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on 6 April 2015. On 7 May 2015, he made a farewell walkabout at the Sydney Opera House and visited Macquarie University Hospital. On 24-25 April 2015, he joined his father in Turkey to attend commemorations of the centenary of the Gallipoli Campaign.

He visited Nepal 19-23 March 2016. He stayed until the end of March 2016 to help rebuild a secondary school with Team Rubicon UK, and visited a Hydropower Project in Central Nepal.

In April 2018, he was appointed Commonwealth youth ambassador. Also that month, Harry became a patron of Walk of America, a campaign which brings together a number of veterans who will take part in a 1,000-mile expedition across the US in mid-2018. The Prince was appointed the president of the Queen's Commonwealth Trust, which focuses on projects involving children and welfare of prisoners, in April. Also in April 2018, Harry was selected as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by magazine.

In April 2019, it was announced that he was working on a documentary series about mental health together with Oprah Winfrey, which is set to air in 2020.

At the age of 21, Harry was appointed a Counsellor of State and began his duties in that capacity. In 2006, he was in Lesotho to visit Mants'ase Children's Home near Mohale's Hoek, which he first toured in 2004. Along with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, he launched Sentebale: The Princes' Fund for Lesotho, a charity to aid children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. He has granted his patronage to organisations including WellChild, Dolen Cymru, and MapAction.

Sport has been a way that Harry has helped charities and other organisations. This has included training as a Rugby Development Officer for the Rugby Football Union in 2004 and coaching students in schools to encourage them to learn the sport. He is the patron of the Rugby Football League, Rugby League's governing body in England. Like his brother and father, he has participated in polo matches to raise money for charitable causes.

As patron of Walk of Britain, he walked with the team on 30 September and 20 October 2015. On 28 October 2015, he carried out one day of engagements in the US. He launched the Invictus Games Orlando 2016 with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden at Fort Belvoir. He later attended an Invictus Games board meeting and a reception to celebrate the launch at the British Ambassador's Residence.

In September 2009, William and Harry set up The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry to enable the princes to take forward their charitable ambitions. In June 2019, it was announced that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would split from the charity and establish their own charity foundation by the end of 2019. The couples will reportedly collaborate on mutual projects, such as the mental health initiative Heads Together. In July 2019, Harry and Meghan's new charity was registered in England and Wales under the title "Sussex Royal The Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex".

To raise awareness for HIV testing, Harry took a test live on the royal family Facebook page on 14 July 2016. He later attended the 21st International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, on 21 July 2016. On World Aids Day, Harry and Rihanna helped publicise HIV testing by taking the test themselves.

In July 2018, the Elton John AIDS Foundation announced that the Duke of Sussex and British singer Elton John were about to launch a global coalition called MenStar that would focus "on treating HIV infections in men". During his trip to Angola in 2019, the Duke visited the Born Free to Shine project in Luanda, an initiative by First Lady Ana Dias Lourenço which aims to "prevent HIV transmission from mothers to babies" through education, medical testing and treatment. He also met HIV+ youth and teenagers during his visit.

On 27 December 2017, Harry was officially appointed the new president of African Parks, a conservation NGO. He previously spent three weeks in Malawi with African Parks where he joined a team of volunteers and professionals to carry out one of the largest elephant translocations in history. The effort to repopulate areas decimated due to poaching and habitat loss moved 500 elephants from Liwonde and Majete National Parks to Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve.

In March 2019 Prince Harry gave a speech at WE Day UK, an annual event powered by We Charity to inspire young people to become more active towards global social and environmental change. He discussed mental health, climate change and the importance of social participation. Harry attended a Google summit in August 2019 and gave a speech on the importance of tackling climate change in Sicily. He explained that he and Meghan plan to have no more than 2 children to help sustain the environment. Later that month, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were criticised by environmental campaigners for using private jets regularly when taking their personal trips abroad, which would leave more carbon footprint per person compared to commercial planes. The criticism was in line with the reactions the royal family faced in June 2019, after it was revealed that they "had doubled [their] carbon footprint from business travel." In September, the Duke launched Travalyst during his visit to the Netherlands after two years of development. The initiative is set "to encourage sustainable practices in the travel industry" and "tackle climate change and environmental damage", in collaboration with a number of companies.

During his visit to the Luengue-Luiana National Park in Angola in September 2019, the Duke unveiled an initiative by the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy to help with protecting "an ancient elephant migration route" by proving safe passage for them in the forest.

Harry enjoys playing many sports, including competitive polo, skiing, and motocross. He is a supporter of Arsenal Football Club. Harry is also a keen Rugby Union fan and supported England's bid to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Harry earned a reputation in his youth for being rebellious, leading the tabloid press to label him a "wild child". At age 17 he was seen smoking cannabis and partaking in underage drinking with his friends, and clashing physically with paparazzi outside nightclubs. He was photographed at Highgrove House at a "Colonial and Native" themed costume party wearing a Nazi German Afrika Korps uniform with a swastika armband. He later issued a public statement apologising for his behaviour.

In January 2009, the British tabloid, the News of the World, revealed a video made by Harry three years earlier in which he referred to a Pakistani fellow officer cadet as "our little Paki friend" and called a soldier wearing a cloth on his head a " raghead". These terms were described by Leader of the Opposition David Cameron as "unacceptable", and by The Daily Telegraph as "racist". A British Muslim youth organisation called Harry a "thug". Clarence House immediately issued an apology from Harry, who stated that no malice was intended in his remarks. Former British MP and Royal Marine, Rod Richards, said that such nicknames were common amongst military comrades, stating "in the Armed Forces people often used to call me Taffy. Others were called Yankie, Oz or Kiwi or whatever. I consider Paki as an abbreviation for Pakistani. I don't think on this occasion it was intended to be offensive."

While on holiday in Las Vegas in August 2012, Harry and an unknown young woman were photographed naked in a Wynn Las Vegas hotel room, reportedly during a game of strip billiards. The pictures were leaked by American celebrity website TMZ on 21 August 2012, and reported worldwide by mainstream media on 22 August 2012. The photographs were shown by the American media, but British media were reluctant to publish them. Royal aides suggested Clarence House would contact the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) if British publications used the pictures. St James's Palace confirmed that Harry was in the photographs, saying that he was essentially a victim whose privacy had been invaded and contacted the PCC upon hearing that a number of British newspapers were considering publishing the photographs. On 24 August 2012, The Sun newspaper published the photographs.

Polls conducted in the United Kingdom in November 2012 showed Harry to be the third-most popular member of the royal family, after William and the Queen.

In May 2019, Splash News issued a formal apology to Harry and his wife for sending photographers to their Cotswolds residence, which put their privacy at risk. The agency also agreed to pay a "substantial" sum of damages and legal costs associated with the case. In September 2019, Harry and Meghan employed the libel lawyers Schillings to represent them in a High Court claim against The Mail on Sunday over alleged misuse of private information, infringement of copyright and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018. A Mail on Sunday spokesman said the paper stood by the story and would defend the case "vigorously". Later in October, it was announced that Harry had sued , the Daily Mirror and the now-defunct News of the World "in relation to alleged phone-hacking".

Chelsy Davy, the daughter of Zimbabwean, South Africa-based businessman Charles Davy, was referred to as Harry's girlfriend in an interview conducted for his 21st birthday, and Harry said he "would love to tell everyone how amazing she is but once I start talking about that, I have left myself open.... There is truth and there is lies and unfortunately I cannot get the truth across." Davy was present when Harry received his Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan and also attended his graduation ceremony when he received his flying wings from his father. In early 2009, it was reported the pair had parted ways after a relationship that had lasted for five years.

In May 2012, Harry was introduced to Cressida Bonas, granddaughter of Edward Curzon, 6th Earl Howe, by his cousin Princess Eugenie. On 30 April 2014, it was reported that the couple had parted amicably.

On 8 November 2016, Kensington Palace confirmed that Harry was "a few months" into a relationship with American actress Meghan Markle, in a statement from the prince asking for the "abuse and harassment" of Markle and her family to end. In September 2017, they made their first public appearance at an official royal engagement, the opening ceremonies of the Invictus Games in Toronto.

On 27 November 2017, Clarence House and Kensington Palace announced that Harry and Markle were engaged. The engagement announcement prompted much comment about the possible social significance of Meghan Markle becoming a mixed-race royal. The couple married at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 19 May 2018.

The Duke and Duchess initially lived at Nottingham Cottage in London, in the grounds of Kensington Palace. The couple later moved to Frogmore Cottage in the Home Park of Windsor Castle. The couple drew criticism in 2019 when it was revealed that Frogmore Cottage had been renovated for them at a cost of £2.4 million "to the taxpayer". Their office was moved to Buckingham Palace. As part of setting up their separate office or 'court' in 2019, the Duke and Duchess created an Instagram social media account, which broke the record for fastest account to reach 1 million followers.

On 6 May 2019, the couple welcomed their first child, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, who is seventh in line to the throne.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

1984-2018: His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales

2018-present: His Royal Highness The Duke of Sussex

On the morning of his wedding he was granted by the Queen the Dukedom of Sussex, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, first conferred in 1801 upon Prince Augustus Frederick, the sixth son of King George III, referring to the English county. At the same time he was also granted two subsidiary titles, both also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom: Earl of Dumbarton, a recreated ancient title formerly in the Peerage of Scotland, and Baron Kilkeel, a new title providing the Prince with a nominal territorial link to Northern Ireland, one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom. He is known familiarly as Prince Harry.

Before his marriage, Harry used Wales as his surname for military purposes and was known as Captain Harry Wales in such contexts.

On 4 June 2015, as part of the 2015 Special Honours, Harry was knighted by his grandmother, the Queen, for "services to the sovereign", being appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO).

United Kingdom

Orders

Medals

Foreign honours

Fellowships

Canada

United Kingdom

Harry's charitable efforts have been recognised three times by the international community. In December 2010, the German charity Ein Herz für Kinder ("A Heart for Children") awarded him the Golden Heart Award, in recognition of his "charitable and humanitarian efforts". On 7 May 2012, the Atlantic Council awarded him its Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership Award. In August 2018, the Royal Canadian Legion granted him the 2018 Founders Award for his role in founding the Invictus Games.

Notes

On his 18th birthday, Harry was granted his own personal coat of arms, consisting of the Arms of the Sovereign in right of the United Kingdom with a Label for difference.[214][215]

Granted

15 September 2002

Crest

On a Coronet of Crosses and Fleurs-de-lys a Lion statant guardant Or, crowned with a like Coronet and differenced by a Label as in the Arms.

Escutcheon

The Royal Arms differenced by a Label of five points Argent, the first, third and fifth points charged with an Escallop Gules.

Supporters

As with the Royal Arms differenced by a like Coronet and Label.

Orders

the circlet of the Royal Victorian Order

Banner

The Royal Standard of the United Kingdom labelled for difference as in his arms. (In Scotland: )

Symbolism

As he is the grandchild of the sovereign, Harry's coat of arms displays a label of five points.[214] The escallops (seashells) allude to his mother Diana, Princess of Wales,[214] whose Spencer coat of arms includes three Escallops Argent.

Agnatically, Harry is a member of the House of Glücksburg, a cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg, one of Europe's oldest royal houses. Harry's paternal grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, issued letters patent on 8 February 1960 declaring his father to be a member of the House of Windsor.

Ancestors of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

1. "New controversial Princess Diana play asks 'Is James Hewitt Prince Harry's real father?'". Mirror Group. 28 December 2014.

2. ^ "A Royal Brush with the Olympics". BBC America. July-August 2012. Archived from the original on 11 October 2013. He's not an Olympian, but Prince Harry is a top tier athlete, playing competitive polo and rugby. While attending Sandhurst Military Academy Harry played polo for the army, and in 2004 trained as a Rugby Development Officer for the Rugby Football Union

3. ^ "Prince Harry volunteers for Army helicopter pilot selection". Ministry of Defence. 27 October 2008. Archived from the original on 1 November 2008.

4. "^ Prince Harry 'driving wedge between forces and Afghan locals'". The Daily Telegraph. 22 January 2013.

5. "^ Taliban retaliate after Prince Harry compares fighting to a video game", The Guardian, 22 January 2013.

6. "No. 62328". ^ The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 June 2018. pp. 10856-10862.

7. ^ Markle, Meghan (August 17, 2015). "I'm More Than An 'Other'". Elle UK. Archived from the original on November 4, 2016. My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American ... I have come to embrace [this and] say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident, mixed-race woman.

8. ^ Gregory Katz, Associated Press (27 November 2017). "Britain not fazed by mixed-race fiancee for Prince Harry". ABC News. Archived from the original on 27 November 2017.

9. ^ Vickers, Hugo (18 May 2018). "St George's Chapel: Inside the Windsor Castle venue for tomorrow's royal wedding". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235.

10. ^ Department of Canadian Heritage. "2009 Official Royal Visit - Ontario (Toronto, Hamilton and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ottawa, Petawawa)". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on 5 November 2009.

11. Michel Huberty, L'Allemagne dynastique, Volume 7, Giraud, 1994, ISBN 2-901138-07-1, ISBN 978-2-901138-07-5

12. Williamson, D. (1981) ^ The Ancestry of Lady Diana Spencer Genealogist's Magazine vol. 20 (no. 6) pp. 192-199 and vol. 20 (no. 8) pp. 281-282.

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Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (born Henry Charles Albert David; 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, and is sixth in the line of succession to the British throne.

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Prince William & Kate: The Duke & Duchess Of Cambridge Latest News - HELLO!

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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have shared a series of pictures from their latest engagement, which took place at the Aga Khan Centre in London on...

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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (born Rachel Meghan Markle; August 4, 1981), is an American-born member of the British royal family and former actress.

Markle was raised in Los Angeles, California and has a mixed ethnic heritage. During her studies at Northwestern University, she began playing small roles in television series and films. From 2011 to 2017, she played Rachel Zane on the American legal drama . She is an outspoken feminist and has addressed issues of gender inequality, and her lifestyle website The Tig featured a column profiling influential women. She represented international charity organizations and received recognition for her fashion and style, releasing a line of clothing in 2016.

Markle was married to actor and producer Trevor Engelson from 2011 until their divorce in 2013. In 2017, she announced her engagement to Prince Harry, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, and she moved to London. She retired from acting, closed her related social media accounts, and started undertaking public engagements as part of the British royal family. She became Duchess of Sussex upon her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018. They have a son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.

Family and education

Rachel Meghan Markle was born on August 4, 1981 in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Doria Ragland, is a former social worker and yoga instructor living in View Park-Windsor Hills, California. Markle has often described having a very close friendship with her mother. Her father, Thomas Markle Sr., lives in Rosarito, Mexico, and is a retired television director of photography and lighting director whose profession resulted in his young daughter often visiting the set of Married...with Children. Markle's parents divorced when she was six years old. Her older paternal half-siblings are Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle Jr., from whom she is reportedly estranged.

Markle described her heritage in a 2015 essay for : "My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I'm half black and half white .... While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that. To say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman." She is descended on her mother's side from slaves in Georgia, and from European settlers on her father's side.

Markle grew up in Hollywood. She was educated at private schools, beginning at age two at the Hollywood Little Red Schoolhouse. Nick News with Linda Ellerbee profiled her successful campaign at age 11 to get Procter & Gamble to change a national television commercial that she viewed as sexist. She was raised as a Protestant, although she attended Immaculate Heart High School, an all-girl Catholic private school in Los Angeles. She then attended Northwestern University, where she joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and participated in community service and charity projects. She also served an internship at the American embassy in Buenos Aires, and studied for one semester in Madrid, known in the United States as "junior year abroad". She received a bachelor's degree from the Northwestern University School of Communication in 2003, with a double major in theater and international studies.

Acting and blogging

Early in her career, Markle worked as a freelance calligrapher and taught bookbinding to support herself between acting jobs. Her first on-screen appearance was a small role as a nurse in an episode of the daytime soap opera General Hospital. Markle had small guest roles on the television shows Century City (2004), The War at Home (2006), and (2006). She also took on several contract acting and modeling jobs, including a stint as a "briefcase girl" on the US game show Deal or No Deal. She appeared in Fox's series as Junior Agent Amy Jessup in the first two episodes of its second season. Markle had some difficulty getting roles early in her career. In 2015, she wrote: "Being 'ethnically ambiguous', as I was pegged in the industry, meant I could audition for virtually any role ... Sadly, it didn't matter: I wasn't black enough for the black roles and I wasn't white enough for the white ones, leaving me somewhere in the middle as the ethnic chameleon who couldn't book a job."

In July 2011, Markle joined the cast of the USA Network show . Her character, Rachel Zane, began as a paralegal and eventually became an attorney. She completed work on the seventh season in late 2017. According to a critique in The Irish Times, Markle "actively re-positioned" her character from ingénue to "the show's moral conscience" and gave viewers the unique portrayal of a daughter whose African-American father is in a position to help her career and advance her "desire to crack both racial and gender glass ceilings". While working on Suits, Markle lived for nine months each year in a rented house in the Seaton Village neighborhood of Toronto. magazine estimated that Markle was paid $50,000 per episode, amounting to an annual salary of about $450,000.

In 2014, Markle founded the lifestyle website The Tig, where she wrote about food, fashion, beauty, and travel, and profiled inspirational women. As the website grew, Markle brought in experts such as dieticians, make-up artists, and fitness and yoga instructors. The website's audience consisted primarily of the fans of Markle and Suits. Markle reinforced The Tig's messages of self-love, positivity, and spirituality on social media, reaching 3 million followers on Instagram, 800,000 on Facebook, and 350,000 on Twitter. She closed The Tig in April 2017, taking all of its articles offline, and deleted her social media accounts in January 2018. It was estimated that, as a lifestyle blogger, Markle earned about $80,000 annually from endorsements and sponsorships.

Personal life

Markle began a relationship with actor and producer Trevor Engelson in 2004. They were married in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, on September 10, 2011, and concluded a no-fault divorce in August 2013, citing irreconcilable differences. Markle's subsequent relationship with celebrity chef and restaurateur Cory Vitiello lasted almost two years, ending in May 2016.

In June 2016, Markle began a relationship with Prince Harry, whom she had met on a blind date set up by a mutual friend. At the time, he was fifth in line to the British throne; his grandmother is Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and 15 other Commonwealth realms, as well as Head of the Commonwealth. In November, the British royal family's communications secretary released an official statement that addressed sexism, racism, and defamatory stories directed toward Markle. In September 2017, Markle and Prince Harry appeared together in public for the first time at an official royal engagement at the Invictus Games in Toronto.

Markle's engagement to Prince Harry was announced on November 27, 2017, by Clarence House and Kensington Palace. The announcement prompted generally positive comments about the possible social significance of a mixed-race member of the royal family. Markle announced that she would retire from acting, and began the process of becoming a British citizen. In preparation for the wedding, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, baptized Markle and confirmed her into the Church of England on March 6, 2018. The private ceremony, performed with water from the River Jordan, took place in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace. The marriage ceremony was held on May 19 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

After the wedding, the Duke and Duchess originally lived at Nottingham Cottage in London, on the grounds of Kensington Palace. The couple later moved to the more than two centuries-old, Frogmore Cottage in the Home Park of Windsor Castle. The Crown Estate refurbished the cottage at a cost of £2.4 million, paid out of the Sovereign Grant, with the couple picking up expenses beyond restoration and ordinary maintenance. Their office was moved to Buckingham Palace. On May 6, 2019, the Duchess gave birth to Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, who is seventh in line to the throne.

Public role

Markle was politically vocal before joining the British royal family. She backed Hillary Clinton during the 2016 United States presidential election and described Clinton's opponent, Donald Trump, as " misogynistic" and "divisive". The same year, when the referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union resulted in 51.9% of voters being in favor of Brexit, Markle expressed her disappointment on Instagram and posted a placard saying: "If EU leave me now, you take away the biggest part of me." This, as well as her recommendation of Noam Chomsky's book Who Rules the World?, led Emine Sar of The Guardian to conclude that Markle would become "the most leftwing member of the royal family". Members of the royal family are politically neutral by convention, and Dickie Arbiter, former press secretary to Prince Charles, expects the Duchess to follow suit. Historian Robert Lacey said she was the most "feisty and spiky" person to marry into the royal family since her grandfather-in-law Prince Philip.

After the engagement, Markle's first official public appearance with Prince Harry was at a World AIDS Day walkabout in Nottingham on December 1, 2017. Markle and Harry marked International Women's Day by attending an event in Birmingham hosted by the Stemettes. Along with the Queen and other members of the royal family, she attended the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on March 12. The couple made their first visit to Northern Ireland on March 23. Markle carried out a total of 26 public engagements prior to the wedding.

The Duchess's first official engagement after the wedding came on May 22 when she and her husband celebrated the charity work of his father, Prince Charles. Her first trip abroad at the request of the British government was to Dublin, Ireland, in July 2018. The Duchess takes part in her husband's work as youth ambassador to the Commonwealth, which includes overseas tours. The first such trip was to Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand in October 2018. Despite the dwindling support for the monarchy in Australia, the couple were greeted by crowds in Sydney, and the announcement of the Duchess's pregnancy hours after their arrival was received enthusiastically by the public and media. During their visit to Morocco in February 2019, the Duke and Duchess focused on projects centered on "women's empowerment, girls' education, inclusivity and encouragement of social entrepreneurship".

In 2018, Time magazine included Markle on its list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, and placed her on its shortlist for Person of the Year. She was also chosen as one of the most influential women in the United Kingdom by British Vogue magazine. As part of setting up their separate office or 'court' in 2019, the Duke and Duchess created an Instagram social media account, which broke the record for fastest account to reach 1 million followers. In August 2019, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were criticized by environmental campaigners for using private jets regularly when taking their personal trips abroad, which would leave more carbon footprint per person compared to commercial planes. The criticism was in line with the reactions the royal family faced in June 2019, after it was revealed that they "had doubled [their] carbon footprint from business travel."

The Duchess and her family made an official tour of Southern African countries in September 2019. Speaking in Cape Town's Nyanga township, she stated that "On one personal note, may I just say that while I am here with my husband as a member of the royal family, I want you to know that for me, I am here as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of color, and as your sister. I am here with you and am here for you." The Duke and Duchess attended a woman's self-defense class encouraging women to take action to combat the widespread violence against women.

In 2019, Meghan and Harry employed the libel lawyers Schillings to represent them in a High Court claim against The Mail on Sunday over alleged misuse of private information, infringement of copyright and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018. A Mail on Sunday spokesman said the paper stood by the story and would defend the case "vigorously".

Fashion and style

As editor-in-chief of The Tig, Markle became known for her fashion sense. She released two fashion collections with Canadian clothing company Reitmans in 2015 and 2016. The lines were based on her personal style and that of her Suits character, described as "aspirational girl next door", and quickly sold out.

Markle has cited Emmanuelle Alt as her style inspiration. In an interview with , the Duchess said that she favored "that French way of styling, where if your outfit is pulled together, then something's got to be dishevelled-your hair, your make-up". In her youth, Markle's "sensibility had always been relaxed California girl style" consisting of jeans, cut-offs and flip-flops. She usually prefers "streamlined dresses" with "neutral colors" and bateau necklines, and likes "monochromatic and tonal dressing". She has worn outfits and ensembles by a wide variety of fashion designers.

In December 2017, Markle caused a surge in interest in Scottish retailer Strathberry after carrying one of their handbags to a public event shortly after her engagement. This was reported as an indication that her fashion choices would produce her own version of the Kate effect. After Markle and Prince Harry's first appearance as a couple, brands Mackage, Birks, R&R Jewelers, Crown Jewelers and Everlane noted an upswing in their website hits and sales. It has been speculated that Markle's effect would be greater, as she has a strong appeal in America. She caused a boost in the sales of yellow gold in the first quarter of 2018 in the United States.

In 2018, named the Duchess on its list of Britain's best dressed people, praising her for redefining "modern royal style with every subsequent appearance". Following the announcement of her pregnancy, the Duchess appeared in a Karen Gee dress that resulted in the breakdown of the designer's website. She was ranked one of the best dressed women in 2018 by fashion website Net-a-Porter, and was nominated for the 2018 Teen Choice Awards in the category Choice Style Icon. In 2019, British brand Reiss reported a growth in profits, after the Duchess was seen wearing a mini-dress by them on International Women's Day.

Charity work

Markle was a counselor for international charity One Young World. At the 2014 summit in Dublin, she spoke on the topics of gender equality and modern-day slavery. Also in 2014, she toured Afghanistan and Spain with the United Service Organizations.

In 2016, Markle became a global ambassador for World Vision Canada, traveling to Rwanda for the Clean Water Campaign. In 2016, after a trip to India focused on raising awareness for women's issues, she penned an op-ed for Time magazine concerning stigmatization of women in regard to menstrual health. She has also worked with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women as an Advocate. The Duchess is a vocal feminist and intends to use her role as a member of the royal family to continue supporting women's rights and social justice. In 2017, Markle joined Prince Harry in teaming up with the charity Elephants Without Borders to assist with the conservation efforts taking place in Botswana.

Markle became interested in the Hubb Community Kitchen, run by the survivors of Grenfell Tower fire, in January 2018. She visited the kitchen regularly throughout 2018, and suggested that the displaced women publish a cookbook to obtain funding for it. Together: Our Community Cookbook, her first charity project as Duchess of Sussex, was announced in September.

In February 2018, she attended the first annual forum of The Royal Foundation; she became the foundation's fourth patron, alongside Prince Harry, his brother Prince William, and sister-in-law Catherine, after her marriage into the royal family. In June 2019, it was announced that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would split from the charity and establish their own charity foundation by the end of 2019. However, the couples will reportedly collaborate on mutual projects, such as the mental health initiative Heads Together. In July 2019, Harry and Meghan's new charity was registered in England and Wales under the title "Sussex Royal The Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex".

Her patronage of the Royal National Theatre, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, Smart Works, and Mayhew reflects her earlier interests in the arts, access to education, women's empowerment, and animal well-being, respectively. The Duchess was appointed the vice president of the Queen's Commonwealth Trust, which focuses on projects involving children and welfare of prisoners, in March 2019.

In 2019, the Duchess became a contributor and guest editor for the September issue of British Vogue and highlighted the works of 15 women from different areas, who were described as "Forces for Change". In the same issue, it was revealed that she had collaborated with a number of British fashion houses and stores to launch a capsule collection, called The Smart Set, in September 2019 to benefit the charity Smart Works, of which she is a patron. The collection seeks to help "unemployed and disadvantaged women", through selling items "on a one-for-one basis, meaning an item is donated for each item purchased". Taking advantage of "the Meghan effect" (driving consumer purchases), in 10 days the collection provided a years worth of clothes for the charity. In October 2019, the Duchess voiced a Public Health England announcement with other members of the royal family for the "Every Mind Matters" program.

Titles, styles, and arms

Upon her marriage to Prince Harry, Meghan became a princess of the United Kingdom entitled to the style of Royal Highness, as well as Duchess of Sussex, Countess of Dumbarton and Baroness Kilkeel. She is styled as "Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex", and she is the first person to hold that title.

Notes

Meghan bears the arms of her husband impaled with her own. Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms, the senior officer of the College of Arms, helped the Duchess with the design, which was approved by the Queen.[145][146]

Adopted

May 25, 2018

Coronet

Coronet of a child of the heir apparent[145]

Escutcheon

Quarterly 1st and 4th Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or armed and langed Azure (England), 2nd Or a lion rampant Gules armed and langued Azure within a double tressure flory counterflory (Scotland), 3rd Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (Ireland), the whole differenced by a label of five points Argent, the first, third and fifth points charged with an escallop Gules (Prince Harry); Impaled with a shield Azure a feather bendwise Argent quilled Or between two bendlets Or all between two like feathers Argent quilled Or (Markle).[147]

Supporters

On the dexter side the lion used as a supporter by the Duke of Sussex and to the sinister a songbird Argent wings spread, unguled Or and gorged with the coronet of the Duke of Sussex.

Compartment

Below the shield, a mount of grass with golden poppies and wintersweet in flower.

Symbolism

The blue background of the shield represents the Pacific Ocean off the California coast, while the two golden rays across the shield are symbolic of the sunshine of the Duchess's home state. The three quills represent communication and the power of words. Beneath the shield on the grass sits a collection of golden poppies, California's state flower, and wintersweet, which grows at Kensington Palace. The songbird with wings elevated as if flying and an open beak represents the power of communication.[145][146]

Filmography

Television

Authored articles

Markle, Meghan (May 2015). "It's All Enough". Darling Magazine., republished online, November 6, 2018.

Markle, Meghan (July 2015). "I'm More Than An 'Other'". ELLE., republished online, December 22, 2016.

Markle, Meghan (November 9, 2016). "With Fame Comes Opportunity, But Also A Responsibility". ELLE.

Markle, Meghan (March 8, 2017). "How Periods Affect Potential". Time.

HRH The Duchess of Sussex, "Foreword," in: The Hubb Community Kitchen (2018). Together: Our Community Cookbook. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-1529102925. OCLC 1055685147.

HRH The Duchess of Sussex (July 29, 2019). "HRH The Duchess of Sussex Introduces The September Issue In Her Own Words". Vogue (British ed.).

HRH The Duchess of Sussex (July 31, 2019). "HRH The Duchess of Sussex Shares A New Smart Works Initiative". Vogue (British ed.).

References

External links

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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (born Rachel Meghan Markle; August 4, 1981), is an American-born member of the British royal family and former actress. Markle was raised in Los Angeles, California and has a mixed ethnic heritage.

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the Thames is not the only river in London

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the Thames is not the only river in London

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Zerbi Matilda
the Thames may also be the most famous river in London, but it is not the only one. In fact, under the city, another twenty rivers flow and one of these, the Tyburn, passes right under Buckingham palace. Did you know?

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Zerbi Matilda

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LADY DIANA
Princess Diana (born Diana Frances Spencer; July 1, 1961–August 31, 1997) was the consort of Charles, Prince of Wales. She was the mother of Prince William, actually in line for the throne after his father, Diane's former husband, and of Prince Harry.
On august 30,1997,she died in a tragic car accident. Just after midnight the car spun out of control in a Paris tunnel and crashed.

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Lilliana Marin

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Zerbi Matilda

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Hogwarts express, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,  Orlando, Florida,  4K

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Giacomo Donegana

La colonna di Nelson (in inglese Nelson's Column), è un monumento che si trova a Trafalgar Square, a Londra, nel Regno Unito

Eretta per commemorare Horatio Nelson, caduto nel 1805 nella battaglia di Trafalgar, la colonna venne costruita tra il 1840 e il 1843 basandosi su un progetto di William Railton e ad un costo di 47,000 sterlinera, nel Regno Unito

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Giacomo Donegana
La bandiera del Regno Unito è chiamata Union Flag o, nel linguaggio comune, Union Jack. La bandiera attuale fu adottata nel 1801 in seguito all'atto di unione con il quale il Regno di Gran Bretagna e il Regno d'Irlanda si univano a formare il Regno Unito di Gran Bretagna e Irlanda, tuttavia è la versione modificata della precedente bandiera del regno (istituita nel 1606) ed è anche stata la bandiera rappresentativa dell'Impero britannico.

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Giacomo Pisani
In the Metropolitan area of London there are about 100 major cemeteries.
One of the most interesting is that of Highgate founded in 1839.
Today is also a natural reserve of great beauty that houses 270 species of animals, including about foxes.
The most famous "resident" is Karl Marx; then, among others, the famous writer George Eliot (Marie Ann Evans), Malcom McLaren, that was manger of legendary Sex Pistols and George Micheal.
In the West section, scenes from the film "Dorian Gray" (Oliver Parker's 2009 film) were shot: this section is well known for the vampire legend of HighGate too.

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Zerbi Matilda

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The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack has been in existence since 1606, when England and Scotland merged, but changed to its current form in 1801 when Ireland joined the United Kingdom

In 1606, when England and Scotland were both ruled by one monarch (James I), the first Union Jack flag was created by merging the English flag (the red cross of Saint George on a white background) with the Scottish flag (the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew on a blue background).

Then, in 1801, the addition of Ireland to the United Kingdom added the Irish flag (the red Saint Patrick's cross) to the Union Jack.

The crosses on the flags relate to the patron saints of each entity - St. George is the patron saint of England, St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland.

While no one is quite certain where the term "Union Jack" originated, there are many theories. "Union" is thought to come from the union of the three flags into one. As for "Jack," one explanation states that for many centuries a "jack" referred to a small flag flown from a boat or ship and perhaps the Union Jack was used there first.

Others believe that "Jack" could come from the name of James I or from a soldier's "jack-et." There are plenty of theories, but, in truth, the answer is that no one knows for sure where "Jack" came from.

The Union Jack, which is most properly called the Union Flag, is the official flag of the United Kingdom and has been in its current form since 1801.

The Union Jack is also incorporated into the flags of four independent countries of the British Commonwealth - Australia, Fiji, Tuvalu, and New Zealand.

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The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the flag of the United Kingdom.

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Giacomo Donegana
Il primo apparecchio telefonico fu brevettato nel 1889 da William Gray. Si dice che l'idea della creazione di un apparecchio telefonico pubblico gli venne quando sua moglie fu colta da un malore, e nessuno nei dintorni gli lasciò usare il proprio telefono. Il primo brevetto di quest'apparecchio era molto semplice; il telefono funzionava normalmente, ma inserendo una moneta questa avrebbe fatto suonare un campanella informando del pagamento l'operatore che metteva quindi in contatto il cliente alla persona desiderata. Ovviamente stiamo parlando ancora di sistemi in cui i collegamenti venivano eseguiti a mano dagli operatori incaricati. Gray comunque approvato il brevetto aprì una sua azienda e cominciò ad installare questi apparecchi in molte città. Nel giro di qualche anno questa invenzione arrivò anche in Europa. Le famosissime cabine rosse londinesi ad esempio furono introdotte nel Regno Unito nel 1924. Poi man mano vennero introdotte negli altri paesi.

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Zerbi Matilda
The Cathedral of Saint Paul, better known by the English name of Saint Paul Cathedral or more briefly Saint Paul, is one of the two Anglican cathedrals of London (the other is that of Southwark), in Ludgate Hill, in the City. The mother church of the Anglican diocese of London, the imposing building is considered the masterpiece of architect Christopher Wren. It is the first religious building by size in Great Britain.

Among the most famous events that took place here are the funeral of Admiral Nelson, that of the Duke of Wellington, that of Sir Winston Churchill and that of Margaret Thatcher; the jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria; i te deum for the end of the first and second world wars; the marriage between Prince Charles and Princess Diana; the Festival of Britain lunch; the celebrations for the jubilees of Queen Elizabeth II (silver, gold, diamonds and the queen's 80th and 90th birthdays).

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About

While children across London are eagerly waiting to unwrap their presents, members of the Serpentine Swimming Club are preparing to swim their traditional 100-yard (91-metre) Christmas Day race.

Swimmers have met in London's Hyde Park on Christmas morning since 1864 to compete in the Christmas Day swim. The first Christmas Day swimming race was won by H. Coulter. He won a gold medal, which became the customary prize for the winner.

J.M. Barrie and The Peter Pan Cup

Novelist J.M. Barrie donated the first Peter Pan Cup in 1904, the same year that his play Peter Pan made its debut on the London stage. Like the fictional boy who never grew up, the race has taken on a legendary appeal.

Serpentine Swimming Club

The Serpentine Swimming Club is one of the oldest swimming clubs in the country. The club holds races every Saturday morning, with the distance depending on the temperature of the water.

The Race

The Peter Pan Cup is only open to members of the Serpentine Swimming Club who have qualified during the season. The icy Serpentine waters are usually below 4C (40F) degrees in the winter, so swimmers must become acclimatised over a period of time.

The race on 25 December usually starts at 9am and takes place on the south bank of the lake, close to the Serpentine Cafe. Spectators are welcome, but you're advised to wrap up warm!

Find more things to do on Christmas Day in London.

Venue Details &amp; Map

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While children across London are eagerly waiting to unwrap their presents, members of the Serpentine Swimming Club are preparing to swim their traditional 100-yard (91-metre) Christmas Day race. Swimmers have met in London's Hyde Park on Christmas morning since 1864 to compete in the Christmas Day swim.

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Pearly Queens and Kings Harvest Festival

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Pearly Queens and Kings Harvest Festival

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Zerbi Matilda

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Pearly Kings and Queens, known as pearlies, are an organised charitable tradition of working class culture in London, England.

The practice of wearing clothes decorated with mother-of-pearl buttons is first associated with Henry Croft (1861-1930), an orphan street sweeper who collected money for charity. At the time, London costermongers (street traders) were in the habit of wearing trousers decorated at the seams with pearl buttons that had been found by market traders. In the late 1870s, Croft adapted this to create a pearly suit to draw attention to himself and aid his fund-raising activities. In 1911 an organised pearly society was formed in Finchley, north London.

Croft's funeral in January 1930 was attended by 400 followers and received national media coverage. In 1934 a memorial, referring to him as "The original Pearly King", was unveiled in St Pancras Cemetery, and in a speech to mark the occasion he was said to have raised £5,000 for those suffering in London's hospitals.

The pearlies are now divided into several active groups. Croft's founding organisation is called the Original London Pearly Kings and Queens Association. It was reformed in 1975 and holds the majority of the original pearly titles which are City of London, Westminster, Victoria, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Shoreditch, Islington, Dalston and Hoxton. Other groups have also been established over the years. The oldest is the Pearly Guild, which began in 1902. Modern additions include the London Pearly Kings and Queens Society, which started in 2001 and the Pearly Kings and Queens Guild. Despite the rivalries, each group is associated with a church in central London and is committed to raising money for London-based charities. A parade of real-life Pearly Kings and Queens was featured at the 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony.

History of the Pearlies The Pearly Families - The Hitchen Family - Pearly King City of London

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Pearly Kings and Queens, known as pearlies, are an organised charitable tradition of working class culture in London, England. The practice of wearing clothes decorated with mother-of-pearl buttons is first associated with Henry Croft (1861-1930), an orphan street sweeper who collected money for charity.

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Zerbi Matilda

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Twelfth Night at Bankside is a modern New Year celebration involving many ancient elements associated with the season, and is now well established having run for over 25 years. The Holly Man, bedecked in greenery, arrives over the Millennium Bridge to the accompaniment of Wassailers and mummers who perform a traditional hero/combat play featuring St George. After the play, cakes are given out and those who find the concealed bean and pea in their cakes are crowned King and Queen for the day; a procession then makes its way to the George Inn on Borough High Street for more dancing, mulled wine,the Kissing Wishing Tree and storytelling. What more could you want from a winter festival?

Helpful Hints

The festival is free and goes ahead whatever the weather, as you can tell from the photos of a very wet 2016 performance. The Holly Man formerly arrived by boat but now he uses the Bridge instead.

It's always held near to Twelfth Night / January 6th but depending on how the holidays fall it can be on a Sunday or Monday (in 2010 it was Sunday 3rd, in 2011 Monday 3rd, in 2012 Sunday 8th January, 2013 Sunday 6th, 2014 Sunday 5th). The time also varies a little as the arrival depends on the tide.

In 2020 it will be on Sunday 5th January (to be confirmed).

Click here for the event website : http://www.thelionspart.co.uk/twelfthnight/index.html

View this location on the map.

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London Bankside Twelfth Night Celebrations

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Twelfth Night at Bankside is a modern New Year celebration involving many ancient elements associated with the season, and is now well established having run for over 25 years. The Holly Man, bedecked in greenery, arrives over the Millennium Bridge to the accompaniment of Wassailers and mummers who perform a traditional hero/combat play featuring St George.

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A group of at least six captive ravens are resident at the Tower of London. Their presence is traditionally believed to protect The Crown and the tower; a superstition holds that "if the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it". Some historians, including the Tower's official historian believe the "tower's raven mythology is likely to be a Victorian flight of fantasy".
The earliest known reference to captive ravens at the Tower is an illustration from 1883.
Historically, wild ravens were common throughout Britain, even in towns, the tower being within their natural range. When they were exterminated from much of their traditional range, including London, they could only exist at the tower in captivity and with official support. The Tower ravens are tended to by an official Ravenmaster. Local legend puts the origin of the captive raven population at the time of King Charles II (reigned 1660–85). Some of the ravens at the tower were specially bred in Somerset.

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Zerbi Matilda

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About the Woolmen's Company Charitable Trust

Other academic awards are made to students studying veterinary procedures and systems in support of sheep welfare; and the use of wool, textiles, fashion and design. Currently we support courses at Heriot Watt, Huddersfield, the Scottish Agricultural College and Harper Adams, but this list is under regular review.

Shearing Medals and Prizes are awarded by the Master at the five major UK agricultural shows - the Royal Ulster Show, the Bath and West Show, the Great Yorkshire Show, the Royal Highland Show and the Royal Welsh Show.

Legacies and Donations
Please contact the Clerk if you would like to leave a legacy to The Trust or make charitable donations - see Contacts on Home Page.

Please follow the link for more information
sheepdriveteamenquiries@woolmen.com
Event Information - Sheep Drive

Reporting time and place

All applicants will receive an email confirming receipt of their application; successful applicants will receive a second email telling them where and when to report to the Registration Desk on the north end of the bridge outside Fishmongers Hall. At the registration desk they will be given their station and an update on timings (which may change throughout the day) and a label identifying their group. A marshal will collect them and take them to their start point on the bridge. The sheep will be brought to them and they will drive the sheep to the next station, where they relinquish the sheep to the next participants or to a shepherd. Please do not bring your own sheep! Please do not bring dogs! If you have to bring a dog, it must be kept on a lead at all times and kept away from the sheep runs and the sheep pens. The confirmation email also contains useful information about handling sheep, health and safety, animal welfare, spectators, the presentation of certificates, photography.

Cancellation

In the unlikely event that the Sheep Drive is cancelled for reasons beyond our control, after we have paid administrative costs, we will be happy to return your donation less a proportion to cover these costs.

Event Information - Livery Fair 2019

Please contact this address for all issues relating to the Livery Fair and Sheep Drive
sheepdriveteamenquiries@woolmen.com
Please contact this address for Sponsorship Enquiries
Sponsorship@woolmen.com
More information about London Bridge

For more information about London Bridge, follow the link https://sheepdrive.london/london-bridge/
WE HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR DAY ON LONDON BRIDGE

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Other academic awards are made to students studying veterinary procedures and systems in support of sheep welfare; and the use of wool, textiles, fashion and design. Currently we support courses at Heriot Watt, Huddersfield, the Scottish Agricultural College and Harper Adams, but this list is under regular review.

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Zerbi Matilda

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Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Fireworks Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain, involving bonfires and fireworks displays. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605 O.S., when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords. The Catholic plotters had intended to assassinate Protestant king James I and his parliament. Celebrating that the king had survived, people lit bonfires around London. Months later, the Observance of 5th November Act mandated an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot’s failure.

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Zerbi Matilda

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The Ravens at the Tower of London, England

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The ravens at Her Majesty's Palace and Fortress The Tower of London in England

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Zerbi Matilda

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The State Opening of Parliament is a ceremonial event which formally marks the beginning of a session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It includes a speech from the throne known as the King's (or Queen's) Speech. The event takes place in the House of Lords chamber on the first day of a new session, which is usually in May or June, and traditionally in November, but can occur at any time of year depending on the timing of General Elections and parliamentary session start dates. It takes place in front of both Houses of Parliament. The monarch, wearing the Imperial State Crown, reads a speech that has been prepared by his or her government outlining its plans for that parliamentary year. The most recent ceremony was held on 7 November 2023.

Queen Elizabeth II opened every session of Parliament during her reign, except in 1959, 1963, and 2022. In 1959 and 1963, she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward respectively and those two sessions were opened by Lords Commissioners, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury ( Geoffrey Fisher in 1959 and Michael Ramsey in 1963), empowered by the Queen. The Lord Chancellor ( Viscount Kilmuir in 1959 and Lord Dilhorne in 1963) read the Queen's Speech on those occasions. The Queen also missed the 2022 State Opening on the advice of her doctors. That session was opened by her son Charles, Prince of Wales and her grandson Prince William, Duke of Cambridge who, in their capacity as Counsellors of State, were empowered to do so by Letters Patent issued by the Queen for the occasion, the Prince of Wales reading the Queen's Speech (from the consort's throne) on behalf of his mother.

The State Opening of Parliament is a ceremony filled with historical ritual and symbolic significance for the governance of the United Kingdom. In one place are assembled the members of all three branches of government, of which the Monarch is the authority and nominal head in each part: the Crown-in-Parliament (the Monarch, together with the House of Commons and the House of Lords) constitutes the legislature; the King- (or Queen-) in-Council, His (or Her) Majesty's Ministers (who are members of one or other House, and members of the Monarch's Privy Council) constitute the executive; the King- (or Queen-) on-the-Bench, consisting of His or Her Majesty's Judges, although not members of either House, are summoned to attend and represent the judiciary. Therefore, the State Opening demonstrates the governance of the United Kingdom but also the separation of powers. The importance of international relations is also represented through the presence in the Chamber of the corps diplomatique.

The State Coach carrying the Imperial State Crown, which is visible through the central window.

The coach carrying the maces, which are to be carried by the Sergeants-at-Arms in procession.

The ceremonial surrounding the opening of parliament can be broken down into several parts (the following descriptions refer to the full ceremonial of the event; for occasions when, for various reasons, reduced ceremonial has been used, see below):

First, the cellars of the Palace of Westminster are searched by the Yeomen of the Guard in order to prevent a modern-day Gunpowder Plot. The Plot of 1605 involved a failed attempt by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill the Protestant King James I and aristocracy. Since that year, the cellars have been searched, now largely, but not only, for ceremonial purposes. This is supervised by the Lord Great Chamberlain, and the Yeomen are paid for their services with a small glass of port wine.

Peers and peeresses assemble in the House of Lords. The Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal wear their Parliament robes for the occasion. They are joined by senior representatives of the judiciary, who sit on woolsacks in the centre of the Chamber, and members of the diplomatic corps, who are seated behind the Bishops. The Commons assemble in their own chamber, wearing ordinary day dress, and begin the day, as any other, with prayers. Beforehand the Speaker's Procession takes place in the usual way: preceded by a doorkeeper, the Serjeant at Arms, leads the Speaker of the House of Commons from his official residence to the Commons Chamber, followed by his trainbearer, chaplain and secretary. In the Central Lobby, a police inspector makes the traditional cry of "Hats off, strangers", instructing those assembled to remove their hats in deference to the highest-ranking commoner in the realm.

On the morning of the State Opening, the Treasurer, Comptroller and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household (all of whom are government whips) assemble with other senior members of the Royal Household at Buckingham Palace, carrying their ceremonial white staves of office. The Treasurer and Comptroller, along with other senior members of the Royal Household, accompany the monarch in the carriage procession; but the Lord Chamberlain does not join them. Instead, on behalf of the monarch, he remains at Buckingham Palace keeping one MP (the Vice-Chamberlain) "hostage" for the duration of the state opening, by tradition as a surety for the safe return of the monarch. The hostage MP is well entertained until the successful conclusion of the ceremony, when they are released upon the safe return of the monarch. The Vice-Chamberlain's imprisonment is now purely ceremonial, though they do remain under guard; originally, it guaranteed the safety of the Sovereign as they entered a possibly hostile Parliament. The tradition is said to stem from the time of Charles I, who had a contentious relationship with Parliament and was eventually beheaded in 1649 during the Civil War between the monarchy and Parliament (a copy of Charles I's death warrant is displayed in the robing room used by the monarch as a ceremonial reminder of what can happen to a monarch who attempts to interfere with Parliament); however it has been suggested that the custom in its present form is of much more recent origin (mention of hostage-taking only dating back to the 1960s or 70s). In 1845, by contrast, the Lord Chamberlain's routine absence from the State Opening was said to be due to 'the department over which his lordship presides not being acknowledged in His Majesty's Palace at Westminster' (where the Lord Great Chamberlain instead has the equivalent authority).

Hostage MPs in recent years (all of whom were serving as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household at the time) have included:

Before the arrival of the sovereign, the Imperial State Crown is brought to the Palace of Westminster, together with the Great Sword of State and the Cap of Maintenance, in their own carriage (usually Queen Alexandra's State Coach). The King's Bargemaster and Watermen accompany it, acting as footmen (a reminder of past times when the regalia were brought from the Tower of London by river). On arrival at the Sovereign's Entrance, under the Victoria Tower, the Crown is passed by the Bargemaster to the Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office, under the watchful eye of the Crown Jeweller. The regalia are then carried to be displayed in the Royal Gallery. Also in the procession, usually in King Edward VII's Town Coach, are the two maces (separate from the three used by parliament) which are carried by the Serjeants-at-Arms of the Royal Household who escort the regalia in procession.

King Edward VIII surrounded by heralds of the College of Arms on his only State Opening of Parliament, on 3 November 1936.

The monarch travels to the Palace of Westminster from Buckingham Palace in a state coach (since 2014, the Diamond Jubilee State Coach), arriving at the Sovereign's Entrance under the Victoria Tower; the monarch is usually accompanied by his or her consort and sometimes by other members of the royal family. Senior members of the Royal Household follow in other carriages, and members of the armed forces line the processional route from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster. At the monarch's arrival, the national anthem is played, a gun salute is sounded in Green Park and the Royal Standard is hoisted in place of the Union Flag at the top of the Victoria Tower (where it remains until the monarch departs). The monarch is greeted on arrival by the Lord Great Chamberlain (who has oversight of the royal areas of the Palace of Westminster) and the Earl Marshal (who has responsibility for State ceremonial), before proceeding to the Robing Room, where he or she puts on the Parliament Robe of State and the Imperial State Crown. A procession is formed of heralds, Great Officers of State and members of the Royal Household, and when all is ready a fanfare is sounded and the monarch proceeds in State through the Royal Gallery to the House of Lords. Directly ahead of the monarch walk two peers: one (nowadays usually the Leader of the House of Lords) carrying the Cap of Maintenance, and the other (nowadays generally a retired senior military officer) carrying the Great Sword of State. Once seated on the throne, the monarch, wearing the Imperial State Crown, instructs the House by saying, "My Lords, pray be seated"; his or her consort takes their seat on the throne to the sovereign's left and other members of the royal family may be seated elsewhere on the dais (for instance the Prince of Wales may be seated on a chair of state on a lower portion of the dais to the monarch's right).

Changes are sometimes made to suit the requirements of particular monarchs at particular times; for example in October 2019, the Queen attended in the usual ceremonial robes of state, but did not wear the Imperial State Crown; instead it was carried ahead of her in the procession and placed alongside the throne on a table.

Royal summons of the Commons to the Lords' chamber

Sarah Clarke (Black Rod) knocks on the chamber door, October 2019

Motioned by the monarch, the Lord Great Chamberlain raises his white staff of office to signal the official known as Black Rod to summon the House of Commons. Black Rod turns and, under the escort of the Door-keeper of the House of Lords, proceeds to the Members' Lobby of the House of Commons, and reaches the doors of the Commons.

On Black Rod's approach, the Doorkeeper of the Commons orders that the doors are slammed shut against them, symbolising the rights of parliament and its independence from the monarch. The Usher of the Black Rod then strikes with the end of their ceremonial staff (the Black Rod) three times on the closed doors of the Commons Chamber, and is then admitted (there is a mark on the door of the Commons showing the repeated indentations made by Black Rods over the years).

Leading 17th-century parliamentarian John Hampden is one of the Five Members annually commemorated

This ritual is strongly associated with the occasion when (in 1642) King Charles I stormed into the House of Commons in an unsuccessful attempt to arrest five Members of Parliament, including the celebrated English patriot and leading parliamentarian John Hampden. (Since that time, no British monarch has entered the House of Commons when it is sitting.) The door-closing ritual, however, predates the 1640s, and although it has long since come to symbolise the independence of the Lower House, its primary purpose (according to Erskine May) is for the Commons to establish Black Rod's identity. (Once this has been achieved, Black Rod cannot be refused admission, and all other business of whatever kind in the House must cease.)

The doors having been opened, the Chief Door-keeper of the House of Commons introduces Black Rod. At the bar, Black Rod bows to the Speaker before proceeding to the table, bowing again, and announcing the command of the monarch for the attendance of the Commons, in the following words:

Mr/Madam Speaker, The King/Queen commands this honourable House to attend His/Her Majesty immediately in the House of Peers.

For a number of years, a tradition developed for this command to be greeted with a defiant topical comment by republican-leaning Labour MP Dennis Skinner, upon which, with some mirth, the House rose to make its way to the Lords' Chamber. This customary intervention was omitted by Mr Skinner in 2015, claiming that he had "bigger fish to fry than uttering something", due to a dispute over seating with the Scottish Nationalists. Skinner resumed the practice in 2016, until he was unseated in 2019.

The Speaker proceeds to attend the summons at once. The Serjeant-at-Arms picks up the ceremonial mace and, with the Speaker and Black Rod, leads the Members of the House of Commons as they walk, in pairs, towards the House of Lords. By custom, the members saunter, with much discussion and joking, rather than formally process. The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition followed by The Deputy Prime Minister, First Secretary of State or another member of the government and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition usually walk side by side, leading the two lines of MPs. The Commons then arrive at the Bar of the House of Lords. The only people required to bow are the House of Commons Speaker, Commons Clerk, senior Lords official Black Rod and the Serjeant-at-Arms. No person who is not a member of the Upper House may pass the Bar unbidden when it is in session; a similar rule applies to the Commons. They remain standing at the Bar during the speech.

King Charles III, at the time the Prince of Wales, reading the speech on behalf of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

The monarch reads a prepared speech, known as the " Speech from the Throne" or the "King's/Queen's Speech", outlining the Government's agenda for the coming year. The speech is written by the Prime Minister and their cabinet members, and reflects the legislative agenda for which the Government seeks the agreement of both Houses of Parliament. It is traditionally written on goatskin vellum, and presented on bended knee for the monarch to read by the Lord Chancellor, who produces the scroll from a satchel-like bag. Traditionally, rather than turning their back on the Sovereign, which might appear disrespectful, the Lord Chancellor walks backwards down the steps of the throne, continuing to face the monarch. Lord Irvine of Lairg, the Lord Chancellor at the time, sought to break the custom and applied successfully for permission to turn his back on the sovereign and walk down the steps forwards. The next Lord Chancellor, Jack Straw, continued the former tradition but succeeding Lords Chancellor have chosen to walk forwards.

The whole speech is addressed to "My Lords and Members of the House of Commons", with one significant exception that the monarch says specifically, "Members of the House of Commons, estimates for the public services will be laid before you", since the budget is constitutionally reserved to the Commons.

The monarch reads the entire speech in a neutral and formal tone, implying neither approval nor disapproval of the proposals of their Government: the monarch makes constant reference to "My Government" when reading the text. After listing the main bills to be introduced during the session, the monarch states: "Other measures will be laid before you", thus leaving the government scope to introduce bills not mentioned in the speech. The monarch mentions any state visits they intend to make and also any planned state visits of foreign heads of state to the United Kingdom during the parliamentary session. The monarch concludes the speech in saying:

"My Lords and Members of the House of Commons, I pray that the blessing of Almighty God may rest upon your counsels".

Traditionally, the members of both houses of Parliament listen to the speech respectfully, showing neither approval or dissent towards its contents before it is debated in each house. This silence, however, was broken in 1998, when Queen Elizabeth II announced the government's plan of abolishing the right of hereditary peers to automatically sit in the House of Lords. A few Labour members of the House of Commons cried "yes" and "hear", prompting several of the Lords to shout "no" and "shame". The Queen continued delivering her speech without any pause, ignoring the intervention. The conduct of those who interrupted the speech was strongly criticised at the time.

The Queen returns to Buckingham Palace in the Irish State Coach via Whitehall and Horse Guards in 2008.

The return procession crossing Horse Guards Parade in 2015.

Following the speech, the monarch and his or her retinue leave the chamber. The monarch bows to both sides of the House of Peers and then leaves the chamber, in the reverse order of the usual procession, before the Commons bow again and return to their Chamber.

After the departure of the monarch from the palace, each Chamber proceeds to the consideration of an "Address in Reply to His/ Her Majesty's Gracious Speech." But first, each House considers a bill to symbolise their right to deliberate independently of the monarch. In the House of Lords, the bill is called the Select Vestries Bill, while the Commons equivalent is the Outlawries Bill. The bills are considered for the sake of ceremony only, and do not make any actual legislative progress. For the address in reply, a chosen member moves "That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, as follows". The following is the form used in the House of Lords and is nearly identical to that used in the House of Commons:

Most Gracious Sovereign, We, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, beg leave to thank Your Majesty for the most gracious Speech which Your Majesty has addressed to both Houses of Parliament.

The first speech of the debate in the Commons is, by tradition, a humorous one given by a member selected in advance. The consideration of the address in reply to the Throne Speech is the occasion for a debate on the Government's agenda. The debate on the Address in Reply is spread over several days. On each day, a different topic, such as foreign affairs or finance, is considered. The debate provides an indication of the views of Parliament regarding the government's agenda.

Following this debate, a vote is taken on the Government Programme. This vote is treated as a vote of no confidence and losing this vote will automatically trigger a general election. When the Fixed-term Parliaments Act was in force, a general election was not automatically triggered if the vote was lost.

Since 1901, the monarch has opened Parliament in person on all but six occasions. In 1929 and 1935 King George V was too ill to attend; in 1951 King George VI was too ill to attend; in 1959 and 1963 Queen Elizabeth II was pregnant and did not attend. In each of these years Lords Commissioners were appointed to preside over the opening, with the speech being read by the Presiding Commissioner (namely the Lord Chancellor). The speech was prefaced with the words:

"My Lords and Members of the House of Commons, We are commanded to deliver to you His/Her Majesty's Speech in His/Her Majesty's own words".

In 2022, when the Queen was absent on the day due to 'episodic mobility problems', the heir-apparent to the throne and his elder son (the then Prince of Wales, now Charles III, and the Duke of Cambridge) were appointed to open Parliament as Counsellors of State, with the Prince of Wales reading the speech from the consort's throne on this occasion.

"Dressed down" State Openings

On certain occasions through history, some ceremonial aspects of the State Opening have been scaled back for specific reasons (including plague in 1593, threats of assassination in 1679, and war in 1939-1945).

On three occasions in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II (in March 1974, June 2017 and December 2019), the State Opening has been conducted in a "dressed-down" manner, due to the snap general elections held in those years. On these occasions the Queen attended in day dress, rather than the traditional ceremonial robes of state; the Imperial State Crown was carried in front of the Queen, rather than worn; inside the Palace, there were reduced numbers in the procession; and outside, motor cars were used in place of horse-drawn carriages, no military escort accompanied them. Otherwise, the ceremony remained largely the same.

In 2021, the ceremony was also scaled down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Queen arrived by car at Westminster, and seating was restricted - 74 were allowed in the Lords Chamber, whilst 34 further MPs and peers were able to participate from the gallery. The Queen also attended in day dress. To prevent the spread of the virus, mask-wearing and testing was enforced, and the Lord Chancellor did not directly pass the speech to the Queen, but placed it on a table next to the throne.

The State Opening in May 2022 also took place with reduced ceremonial, due to the Queen suffering 'episodic mobility problems' (which eventually led to her being absent on the day).

Throughout the twentieth century (including in wartime) the State Opening took place on an annual basis, with the following exceptions:

There were two State Openings in 1914 (and no State Opening in 1915);

There were two State Openings in 1921 (and no State Opening in 1923);

There were two State Openings in 1924 (and no State Opening in 1925);

There were two State Openings in 1948 (and no State Opening in 1949).

On 24 June, it was announced that in order to secure the passing of the Parliament Bill, there would be a short session from 14 to 24 September, followed by an adjournment, then a new session from 26 October. On 14 September, the King opened Parliament with a very brief speech (just 74 words), announcing that the only business of the session would be the bill to amend the Parliament Act. On 24 September, it adjourned as planned, and the new session was again opened by the King on 26 October. The two weeks in September formed Parliament's shortest modern session.

There were two State Openings in 1974.

In the twenty-first century the State Opening continued on an annual basis, with the following exceptions:

There was no State Opening in 2011, as it was cancelled to ease the pressure for the planned introduction of legislation for fixed-term Parliaments;

There was no State Opening in 2018, as it was cancelled to lengthen the timeframe for the passing of Brexit-related legislation.

There were two State Openings in 2019 (and no State Opening in 2020).

The Opening of Parliament began out of practical necessity. By the late 14th century, the manner in which the King gathered his nobles and representatives of the Commons had begun to follow an established pattern. First of all, Peers' names were checked against the list of those who had been summoned, and representatives of the Commons were checked against the sheriffs' election returns. The Peers were robed and sat in the Painted Chamber at Westminster; the Commons were summoned, and stood at the Bar (threshold) of the Chamber. A speech or sermon was then given (usually by the Lord Chancellor) explaining why Parliament had been summoned, after which the Lords and Commons went separately to discuss the business in hand. The monarch normally presided, not only for the Opening but also for the deliberations which followed (unless prevented by illness or other pressing matters).

In the Tudor period, the modern structure of Parliament began to emerge, and the monarch no longer attended during normal proceedings. For this reason, the State Opening took on greater symbolic significance as an occasion for the full constitution of the State (Monarch, Lords and Commons) to be seen. In this period, the parliamentary gathering began to be preceded by an open-air State Procession (which often attracted large numbers of onlookers): the Monarch, together with Household retinue, would proceed in State from whichever royal residence was being used, first to Westminster Abbey for a service (usually a Mass of the Holy Ghost, prior to the Reformation), and thence on foot (accompanied by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in their robes) to the Palace of Westminster for the Opening itself.

Opening of Parliament by Henry VIII at Blackfriars in 1523; a contemporary illustration from the Wriothesley Garter Book

The Wriothesley Garter Book, a 1523 illustration by Thomas Wriothesley, depicts King Henry VIII seated in Parliament in that year. It shows a remarkable visual similarity between State Openings of the 16th and 21st centuries. In both cases, the monarch sits on a throne before the Cloth of Estate, crowned and wearing a crimson robe of state; at his right hand sit Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor, with arms above under a cardinal's hat, and William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, with arms above. Behind stands Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of London. The Cap of Maintenance and Sword of State are borne by peers standing before the monarch on the left and right respectively; the Lord Great Chamberlain stands alongside, bearing his white wand of office, near the Garter King of Arms in his tabard displaying the royal arms (Thomas Wriothesley himself, the illustrator). Members of the Royal retinue are arrayed behind the King (top right). In the main body of the Chamber, the Bishops are seated on benches to the King's right wearing their parliamentary robes, with the Mitred Abbots behind them. The Lords Temporal are seated to the King's left and on the cross-bench, the status of peers is indicated by the number of miniver bars (white fur edged with gold oak-leaf lace) on their peerage robes: 4 for a duke, 3½ for a marquess, 3 for an earl, 2½ for a viscount, and 2 for a baron. Thus there are 2 dukes, both wearing ducal coronets, the first holding a Marshal's Baton, thus he is the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal of England. William Weston, Prior of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, premier baron in the roll of peers, dressed in black, sits at the end of the cross-bench. The judges (red-robed and coifed) are on the woolsacks in the centre (two Chief Justices, eight judges, and four Serjeants-at-Law), and behind them kneel the clerks (with quills and inkpots). At the bottom of the picture members of the House of Commons can be seen behind the Bar of the House, with Thomas More, Speaker of the House of Commons, in the centre, wearing his black and gold robe of state.

The Mitred Abbots were removed from Parliament at the time of the Reformation.

Since that time the ceremonial has evolved, but not dramatically. In 1679 neither the procession nor the Abbey service took place, due to fears of a Popish Plot; although the procession was subsequently restored, the service in the Abbey was not. The monarch's role in the proceedings changed over time: early on, the monarch would say some introductory words, before calling upon the Lord Chancellor (or Lord Keeper) to address the assembly. James I, however, was accustomed to speak at greater length himself, and sometimes dispensed with the Chancellor's services as spokesman. This varying pattern continued in subsequent reigns (and during the Commonwealth, when Cromwell gave the speech), but from 1679 onwards it became the norm for the monarch alone to speak. Since then, the monarch (if present) has almost invariably given the speech, with the exception of George I (whose command of English was poor) and Victoria (after the death of Prince Albert). A dramatic change was occasioned by the destruction of the old Palace of Westminster by fire in 1834; however, the new palace was designed with the ceremony of the State Opening very much in mind, and the modern ceremony dates from its opening in 1852. The entire State Opening of Parliament was filmed and televised for the first time in 1958.

In 1998, adjustments were made to the ceremonial inside Parliament to shorten the proceedings. The heralds, instead of processing with the monarch, arrived at Parliament earlier and had a separate procession. The number of court officials in the procession was reduced, including one of the ladies in waiting and the Crown Equerry. Also omitted were the three Heads of the Armed Services, represented instead by the Chief of the Defence Staff. Silver Stick in Waiting (the Commander of the Household Cavalry) no longer processed, although Gold Stick-in-Waiting (the honorary Colonel of the Household Cavalry) retained a place.

The opening of the Parliament of Canada in 1920.

Similar ceremonies are held in other Commonwealth realms. The governor-general or, in the case of Australia's states and Canada's provinces, the relevant governor or lieutenant governor, respectively, usually delivers the speech from the throne. On occasion, the monarch may open these parliaments and deliver the speech him or herself. In both Australia and Canada, the last time this occurred was in 1977. In New Zealand, the monarch last opened parliament personally in February 1990.

In Malaysia, the Parliament of Malaysia also conducts an annual State Opening, usually in March, presided over by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. However, parliament is opened in the lower house (the Dewan Rakyat) rather than the upper house (the Dewan Negara), thus the sitting is conducted by its Speaker. Additionally, as there is no equivalent to the Lord Chancellor, the speech is presented to the Monarch by the Prime Minister.

In India, the President of India opens Parliament with an address similar to the Speech from the Throne. This is also the case in Commonwealth Republics with a non-executive Presidency such as Malta, Mauritius and Singapore.

King Haakon VII delivering the Speech from the Throne in Stortinget in 1950.

In the Netherlands a similar ceremony is held on the third Tuesday in September, which is called Prinsjesdag in the Netherlands. Article 65 of the constitution states that "A statement of the policy to be pursued by the Government is given by or on behalf of the King before a joint session of the two Houses of the States General that is held every year on the third Tuesday in September or on such earlier date as may be prescribed by Act of Parliament." In Norway, the King is required by Article 74 of the constitution to preside over the opening of the Storting after it had been declared to be legally constituted by the president of the Storting. After he delivers the Speech from the Throne, outlining the government's policies for the coming year, a member of the government reads the Report on the State of the Realm, an account of the government's achievements of the past year.

In Sweden a similar ceremony as the British was held until 1974, when the constitution was changed. The old opening of state was in Sweden called Riksdagens högtidliga öppnande ("The solemn opening of the Riksdag") and was, as the British, full of symbolism. After the abolition of the old state opening, the opening is now held in the Riksdag but in the presence of the monarch and his family. It is still the King who officially opens the parliament. After the opening of parliament the King gives a speech followed by the Prime Minister's declaration of government.

In Israel, a semi-annual ceremony, attended by the President, opens the winter and summer sessions of the Knesset. Though in the past he was a guest sitting in the Knesset's upper deck, the President now attends the ceremony from the speaker's podium and gives his own written address regarding the upcoming session. In the first session of each legislative period of the Knesset, the President has the duty of opening the first session himself and inaugurating the temporary Knesset speaker, and then conducting the inauguration process of all of the Knesset members.

In some countries with presidential or similar systems in which the roles of head of state and head of government are merged, the chief executive's annual speech to the legislative branch is imbued with some of the ceremonial weight of a parliamentary state opening. The most well-known example is the State of the Union Address in the United States. Other examples include the State of the Nation Address in the Philippines, a former American dependency. These speeches differ from a State Opening in at least two respects, however: they do not in fact open the legislative session, and they are delivered by the chief executive on his or her own behalf. In Poland, the President of Poland delivers his speech to the and the Senate at the First Sitting of these Houses, which is similar to Speech from the Throne. It is rather a custom than a law. Most Presidents of Poland delivered the Speech to the Parliament. The exception was in 2007, when President Lech Kaczyński, instead of addressing the Sejm, watched the First Sitting of the 6th term Sejm from the Presidential box in the Press gallery. The President of Mexico used to be constitutionally obliged to deliver a speech, similar to the American State of the Union, until 2006 when President Vicente Fox was impeded by the opposition parties from entering the Congress building for his sixth and final speech. Since that incident, the Constitution no longer requires the President's presence at the opening of Congress.

1. ^ Torrance, David (2022). State Opening of Parliament - history and ceremonial (PDF). London: House of Commons Library.

2. ^ "Queen to miss State Opening of Parliament - Prince of Wales to read speech instead". Sky News. 9 May 2022.

3. ^ Walpole, Jennifer; Kelly, Richard (10 October 2008). "The Whip's Office" (PDF). House of Commons Library.

4. Over this robe is worn the collar and George of the ^ Order of the Garter; the George used is a larger than usual gold representation of St. George slaying a dragon and heavily set with diamonds made for George III.

5. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 24-25.; Bagley, John Joseph; Lewis, A. S. (1977). Lancashire at War: Cavaliers and Roundheads, 1642-51: a Series of Talks Broadcast from BBC Radio Blackburn. Dalesman. p. 15.

6. ^ Gani, Aisha (27 May 2015). "Dennis Skinner explains lack of Queen's speech quip: 'I was fighting Scots Nats'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.

7. ^ "Watch Dennis Skinner zing the Queen's Speech by shouting 'Hands off the BBC!'". Daily Mirror. 18 May 2016.

8. ^ Companion to the Standing Orders and guide to the Proceedings of the House of Lords , 2.07

9. ^ "Theresa May cancels 2018 Queen's Speech to give more time to push through Brexit laws". The Independent. 18 June 2017. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022.

10. Cobb, H.S., 'The Staging of Ceremonies of State in the House of Lords' in ^ The Houses of Parliament: History, Art, Architecture London: Merrell 2000.

11. ^ See catalogue entry, royal collection

12. Catalogue entry from 'Royal Treasures, A Golden Jubilee Celebration', London, 2002. per catalogue entry, royal collection ^ [1]

13. Cannadine, D., 'The Palace of Westminster as Palace of Varieties' in ^ The Houses of Parliament: History, Art, Architecture London: Merrell 2000

14. ^ "The State Opening of Parliament - A Perspective from the Archives" Archived 1 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine, www.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2015-09-21

15. ^ "Display of royal memorabilia". New Zealand Parliament. 29 April 2011. During her first eagerly awaited tour over the summer of 1953-4 Parliament was summoned for a special short session in January to allow her to open Parliament and deliver the Speech from the Throne. She again opened a special session of Parliament in February 1963. She also opened Parliament in March 1970 and February 1974. In February 1977 she opened another special session at the same time as formally opening the Beehive (the Executive Wing). More recently she has opened Parliament in February 1986 and February 1990.

Newsreel footage

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The State Opening of Parliament is a ceremonial event which formally marks the beginning of a session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It includes a speech from the throne known as the King's (or Queen's) Speech.

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Zerbi Matilda
The National Gallery of London is a concentration of unique works of art, a treasure trove of pictorial wonders through which the history of European painting is told, from the 13th to the 19th century. A tour of the "National" corridors is certainly one of the things to do in London. A close encounter with the greatest masters of all times: Giotto, Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, Raphael, Bruegel, Rembrandt, Turner, Renoir, Van Gogh, Velázquez and many others.
An impressive collection of masterpieces, one of the richest on an international level, so much so that the National Gallery can rightly be considered one of the most prestigious art galleries in the world.
The particularity of the London art gallery is in the permanent exhibition of the entire collection of European paintings (over two thousand) kept in it, whose strengths are the Dutch painting, the Spanish painting of the seventeenth century and the Italian Renaissance.
A little history of the National Gallery
The history of the National Gallery began in 1824 when the British government purchased 38 canvases from the private collection of Russian-born banker Angerstein. The paintings in question formed the initial nucleus of the first national collection inaugurated in the same year in the collector's residence. Later, with the arrival of other acquisitions, the museum headquarters was moved to the new classically inspired building with the characteristic dome and the majestic portico overlooking Trafalgar Square. The Gallery was opened to the public in 1838. Apart from some reworking due to the need to make room for the increasing number of works, and post-war modernization, the gallery did not undergo any exceptional changes until 1990 when the Sainsbury was added Wing, the wing built on the eastern side in a modern style but harmoniously integrated into the museum complex.
A museum heritage of rare value and beauty
The splendid art collection in the gallery is divided into four sections, each dedicated to a particular historical period:
The Sainsbury Wing (1260-1510)
The West Wing (1520-1600)
The North Wing (1600-1700)
The East Wing (1700-1920)

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Giulia Rainini

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Giulia Rainini

The Welsh Corgi, sometimes known as just a Corgi  is a small type of herding dog that originated in Wales, United Kingdom. Two separate breeds are recognized: the Pembroke Welsh Corgi and the Cardigan Welsh Corgi. Historically, the Pembroke has been attributed to the influx of dogs alongside Flemish weavers from around the 10th century, while the Cardigan is attributed to the dogs brought with Norse settlers, in particular a common ancestor of the Swedish Vallhund. A certain degree of interbreeding between the two types has been suggested to explain the similarities between the two.
The Pembroke is the more popular breed of the two, with the Cardigan Welsh Corgi appearing on The Kennel Club's list of Vulnerable Native Breeds. There are several physical differences between the two types according to the breed standards: the Cardigan is larger overall, both in weight and in height. Traditionally, the tails were of different shapes, but docking had previously been used. With regards to their health, according to a 2004 survey, they both had similar lifespans, although kidney or urethral conditions are more likely in the Pembrokes. Furthermore, Pembroke Corgis were more likely to have eye problems than the Cardigan breed. The Pembroke Welsh Corgi gained its popularity over the Cardigan Welsh Corgi because Queen Elizabeth II preferred the Pembroke. The favored corgis had longer bodies, thick coats of fur, and some are born without a tail.[5] Welsh Corgis have a strong association with Queen Elizabeth II, who has personally owned more than 30 dogs, either Pembrokes or Corgi-Dachshund crosses (known as dorgis).

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Bruno Abbate

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In London, the summers are short, comfortable, and partly cloudy and the winters are long, very cold, windy, and mostly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 39°F (4°C) to 74°F (23°C) and is rarely below 30°F (-1°C) or above 84°F (29°C).

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All four Beatles gathered at EMI Studios on the morning of Friday 8 August 1969 for one of the most famous photo shoots of their career. Photographer Iain Macmillan took the iconic image that adorned their last-recorded album, Abbey Road.
A policeman held up the traffic as Macmillan, from a stepladder positioned in the middle of the road, took six shots as the group walked across the zebra crossing just outside the studio.
The Beatles crossed the road a number of times while Macmillan photographed them. 8 August was a hot day in north London, and for four of the six photographs McCartney walked barefoot; for the other two he wore sandals.

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Cabbie’s Curios: London’s Smallest Statue

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Cabbie’s Curios: London’s Smallest Statue

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Zerbi Matilda

Not far from the northern end of London Bridge, in the capital’s historic centre, you’ll find a short street called ‘Philpot Lane.’

Named after Sir John Philpot (Lord Mayor of London between 1378-1379), Philpot Lane links Eastcheap and Fenchurch Street.

It is also home to London’s tiniest public statue; ‘The Two Mice Eating Cheese.’

These two small fellows can be found half-way up a building which sits on the south-eastern corner of Philpot Lane, just by the junction with Eastcheap.

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Lilliana Marin

Hail a black cab in London and you can be assured that the driver will know the shortest and quickest route to your destination without the aid of a navigator. It doesn't matter if you give a street name, a famous landmark or a hotel they will know exactly where it is! This is because London Taxi drivers need to pass the 'Knowledge' a test which is amongst the hardest in the world. It has been described as like having an atlas imprinted into your brain. They have to learn 320 basic routes, 25,000 streets and approximately 20,000 landmarks and places of interest. It takes an average of 2 to 4 years to learn the knowledge.

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Lilliana Marin

North London's Alexandra Palace represents a unique milestone in not only British history, but worldwide history as well - as it hosted the first ever television broadcast in 1935. It has led to the palace being known as 'the birthplace of TV'

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Sky Gardens at the Walkie Talkie Building

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Sky Gardens at the Walkie Talkie Building

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Lilliana Marin

These are public gardens at the top of the Walkie Talkie building providing free and amazing views over London

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Lilliana Marin

The operating theatre, located near the Shard, was built in 1751 before the use of aesthetics and antiseptics! On floor was sawdust to absorb the blood from the patients!

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Lilliana Marin
An old nickname for the shortest underground line is 'The Drain'.
the name comes either from the way it flushes commuters from Waterloo to the Square Mile without stopping, or else because of leaky tunnels.

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Zerbi Matilda

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An operating theater (also known as an operating room ( OR), operating suite, or operation suite) is a facility within a hospital where surgical operations are carried out in an aseptic environment.

Historically, the term "operating theatre" referred to a non-sterile, tiered theater or amphitheater in which students and other spectators could watch surgeons perform surgery. Contemporary operating rooms are devoid of a theatre setting, making the term "operating theater" a misnomer. There are only two old-style operating theaters left, both of which are preserved as part of museums.

Operating rooms are spacious, easy to clean in a cleanroom, and well-lit, typically with overhead surgical lights, and may have viewing screens and monitors. Operating rooms are generally windowless and feature controlled temperature and humidity. Special air handlers filter the air and maintain a slightly elevated pressure. Electricity support has backup systems in case of a black-out. Rooms are supplied with wall suction, oxygen, and possibly other anesthetic gases. Key equipment consists of the operating table and the anesthesia cart. In addition, there are tables to set up instruments. There is storage space for common surgical supplies. There are containers for disposables. Outside the operating room is a dedicated scrubbing area that is used by surgeons, anesthetists, ODPs (operating department practitioners), and nurses prior to surgery. An operating room will have a map to enable the terminal cleaner to realign the operating table and equipment to the desired layout during cleaning.

Several operating rooms are part of the operating suite that forms a distinct section within a health-care facility. Besides the operating rooms and their wash rooms, it contains rooms for personnel to change, wash, and rest, preparation and recovery rooms(s), storage and cleaning facilities, offices, dedicated corridors, and possibly other supportive units. In larger facilities, the operating suite is climate- and air-controlled, and separated from other departments so that only authorized personnel have access.

Operating room equipment

The operating table in the center of the room can be raised, lowered, and tilted in any direction.

The operating room lights are over the table to provide bright light, without shadows, during surgery.

The anesthesia machine is at the head of the operating table. This machine has tubes that connect to the patient to assist them in breathing during surgery, and built-in monitors that help control the mixture of gases in the breathing circuit.

The anesthesia cart is next to the anesthesia machine. It contains the medications, equipment, and other supplies that the anesthesiologist may need.

Sterile instruments to be used during surgery are arranged on a stainless steel table.

An electronic monitor (which records the heart rate and respiratory rate by adhesive patches that are placed on the patient's chest).

The pulse oximeter machine attaches to the patient's finger with an elastic band aid. It measures the amount of oxygen contained in the blood.

Automated blood pressure measuring machine that automatically inflates the blood pressure cuff on patient's arm.

An electrocautery machine uses high frequency electrical signals to cauterize or seal off blood vessels and may also be used to cut through tissue with a minimal amount of bleeding.

If surgery requires, a heart-lung machine or other specialized equipment may be brought into the room.

Advances in technology now support hybrid operating rooms, which integrate diagnostic imaging systems such as MRI and cardiac catheterization into the operating room to assist surgeons in specialized neurological and cardiac procedures.

Surgeon and assistants' equipment

People in the operating room wear PPE (personal protective equipment) to help prevent bacteria from infecting the surgical incision. This PPE includes the following:

Similar to normal cleanrooms, germless.

A protective cap covering their hair

Masks over their lower face, covering their mouths and noses with minimal gaps to prevent inhalation of plume or airborne microbes

Shades or glasses over their eyes, including specialized colored glasses for use with different lasers. a fiber-optic headlight may be attached for greater visibility

Sterile gloves; usually latex-free due to latex sensitivity which affects some health care workers and patients

Long gowns, with the bottom of the gown no closer than six inches to the ground.

Protective covers on their shoes

If x-rays are expected to be used, lead aprons/neck covers are used to prevent overexposure to radiation

The surgeon may also wear special glasses that help him/her to see more clearly. The circulating nurse and anesthesiologist will not wear a gown in the OR because they are not a part of the sterile team. They must keep a distance of 12-16 inches from any sterile object, person, or field.

Early operating theatres in an educational setting had raised tables or chairs at the center for performing operations surrounded by steep tiers of standing stalls for students and other spectators to observe the case in progress. The surgeons wore street clothes with an apron to protect them from blood stains, and they operated bare-handed with unsterilized instruments and supplies.[citation needed ]

The University of Padua began teaching medicine in 1222. It played a leading role in the identification and treatment of diseases and ailments, specializing in autopsies and the inner workings of the body. In 1884 German surgeon Gustav Neuber implemented a comprehensive set of restrictions to ensure sterilization and aseptic operating conditions through the use of gowns, caps, and shoe covers, all of which were cleansed in his newly invented autoclave. In 1885 he designed and built a private hospital in the woods where the walls, floors and hands, arms and faces of staff were washed with mercuric chloride, instruments were made with flat surfaces and the shelving was easy-to-clean glass. Neuber also introduced separate operating theaters for infected and uninfected patients and the use of heated and filtered air in the theater to eliminate germs. In 1890 surgical gloves were introduced to the practice of medicine by William Halsted. Aseptic surgery was pioneered in the United States by Charles McBurney.

Surviving operating theaters

The oldest surviving operating theater is thought to be the 1804 operating theatre of the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. The 1821 Ether Dome of the Massachusetts General Hospital is still in use as a lecture hall. Another surviving operating theaters is the Old Operating Theatre in London. Built in 1822, it is now a museum of surgical history. The theater at the University of Padua, in Italy, inside Palazzo Bo was constructed and used as a lecture hall for medical students who observed the dissection of corpses, not surgical operations. It was commissioned by the anatomist Girolamo Fabrizio d'Acquapendente in 1594.

In the "Homer's Triple Bypass" episode of The Simpsons, Homer Simpson has an operation performed on him in an operating theater.

In Lemony Snicket's The Hostile Hospital, Count Olaf disguises his henchmen as doctors and tries to perform a "cranioectomy" (decapitation) on Violet Baudelaire for a live audience in an operating theater.

Many scenes of the Cinemax series , set in the fictional Knickerbocker Hospital in New York City in 1900 and 1901, are set in the hospital's operating theatre, which has tiered seating surrounding the operating table from which other surgeons, students, or just interested spectators can watch the surgical procedures.

In The Terminal Man a large number of hospital staff watch an experimental epilepsy surgery being performed, while one of the spectators explains the procedure.

In the episode "The Junior Mint," Jerry and Kramer witness a surgery being performed from the seats of an operating theater. The patient's health seems to take a turn for the worse after Jerry accidentally drops a Junior Mint candy from his seat into the patient's open chest cavity.

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An operating theater (also known as an operating room ( OR), operating suite, or operation suite) is a facility within a hospital where surgical operations are carried out in an aseptic environment. Historically, the term "operating theatre" referred to a non-sterile, tiered theater or amphitheater in which students and other spectators could watch surgeons perform surgery.

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Zerbi Matilda
There's also a film about the Queen's dogs: "Queen's Corgi", in italian "Rex, Un cucciolo a palazzo"

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Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, England and one of the Royal Parks of London. It is the largest of the four Royal Parks. The park is divided in two by the Serpentine Lake.
The park was established by Henry VIII in 1536 when he took the land from Westminster Abbey and used it as a hunting ground. It opened to the public in 1637 and quickly became popular, particularly for May Day parades.

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Aurora Saccenti

London is the capital of the United Kingdom; it is the largest city in Europe. It has 8 million inhabitants.
In London there are many objet d’art and attractions.

1. Buckingham Palace: Buckingham palace is official queen’s residence. It is really big, it has 600 rooms and 52 bedroom. Its bigger attraction is the changing of the guard.