Wednesday 27 February 2013

New Life Peer

Martha Lane Fox CBE has been granted the title of Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho in the City of Westminster. Under the Life Peerage Act 1958 and will sit in the House of Lords as a Crossbencher.

KCVO for the Former Lord High Almoner

Her Majesty the Queen has appointed The Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) for his service as Lord High Almoner.

New Lord High Almoner

Her Majesty the Queen has appointed The Right Reverend Dr John Inge, Bishop of Worcester to the office of Lord High Almoner following the retirement of The Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch.

The Lord High Almoner’s duties are arrange and attended the Royal Maundy service for the sovereign. If the sovereign is unable to attend the Lord High Almoner represents them.

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Queen Revokes Honours

The Queen has accepted the Honours Forfeiture Committee’s advice regarding the cancellation and annulment of honours awarded to the Following.

Peter Andrew Nicholson to be stripped of an OBE awarded on 31st December 2004 after being convicted of fraud

Leslie William Smith to be stripped of an OBE awarded on 11th June 1994 after being convicted of sexual assault

David Russon to be stripped of an MBE awarded on 16th June 2001 after alleged inappropriate contact with children

Sunday 24 February 2013

Cressida Bonas a born to be Royal

Cressida Bonas is an English socialite born in 1989 daughter of 60’s it girl Lady Mary-Gaye Georgiana Lorna Curzon. Cressida was educated Stowe School in Buckinghamshire then on to Leeds University where she studied dance, following her graduation she now studies contemporary dance at The Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.

Cressida has recently been placed in the media spotlight because of her personnel relationship with Prince Harry of Wales third in line to the British throne. Cressida and Harry have been together since last summer and stayed in contact thought Harry’s latest deployment to Afghanistan during this time Cressida referred to herself as Harry’s girlfriend in waiting. Cressida and Harry were recently photographed by the media whilst on a ski trip in Switzerland increasing the likelihood of Cressida one day being a member of the British Royal Family.

Cressida is no stranger to titled nobility, she is Harry’s 8th cousin 1x removed on his mother’s side and 12th Cousin 1x removed on his father’s she is a descendant of some of the greatest noble family’s in British history.


Below are the lines of descent showing Cressida and Harry’s closest kinship

John Churchill 1st Duke of Marlborough
Lady Anne Churchill
Charles Spencer 3rd Duke of Marlborough
George Spencer 4th Duke of Marlborough
George Spencer-Churchill 5th Duke of Marlborough
George Spencer-Churchill 6th Duke of Marlborough
John Spencer-Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough
Lady Georgiana Spencer-Churchill
Francis Curzon 5th Earl Howe
Edward Curzon 6th Earl Howe
Lady Mary-Gaye Georgiana Lorna Curzon
Cressida Bonas

John Churchill 1st Duke of Marlborough
Lady Anne Churchill
Hon. John Spencer
John Spencer 1st Earl Spencer
George Spencer 2nd Earl Spencer
Frederick Spencer 4th Earl Spencer
Charles Spencer 6th Earl Spencer
Albert Spencer 7th Earl Spencer
John Spencer 8th Earl Spencer
Diana Princess of Wales
Prince Henry of Wales

Saturday 23 February 2013

New Aide-de-Camp to the Queen

Her Majesty the Queen has appointed Air Commodore Gerry M D Mayhew Aide-de-Camp to her household in succession to Air Commodore G D A Parker OBE after he was appointed Officer Commanding RAF Leuchars and Air Officer of Scotland.

Friday 22 February 2013

MVO for Royal Chauffeur

Her Majesty the Queen has appointed Mr Joseph Geoffrey Last RVM BEM a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) for his service as Head Chauffeur of the Royal Household.

Saturday 16 February 2013

New Deputy Lieutenants of the County of Wiltshire

Sarah Rose Troughton, Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire commissioned the following to become Deputy Lieutenants of the County of Wiltshire.
Mr Alan Fletcher
Mr Robert Ralph Scrymgeour Hiscox

Thursday 14 February 2013

New Lord Lieutenant for Warwickshire

Her Majesty the Queen has appointed Mr Timothy B Cox to become Lord-Lieutenant of Warwickshire when Sir Martin Dunne KCVO retires on the 30th of March 2013.

Monday 11 February 2013

Royal Visit to Italy

Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh have been invited by President Napolitano of Italy to visit Rome from Wednesday 6th March to Thursday 7th March 2013.

Pope resigns the Throne of St Peter

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has announced his resignation as Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church. The Pope is 85 years old and cited his advancing years have left him unable to fulfil the Duties of the Papacy. The announcement has come has a shock to the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope is the first to resign the Papacy since Pope Gregory XII in 1415. The Pope will formerly Retire on the 28th of February 2013 at 8pm Rome Time (7pm GMT). Following the pope’s retirement a Papal Conclave shall meet to elect a new Pontiff.

Friday 8 February 2013

New Deputy Lieutenants of the County of Northumberland

The Duchess of Northumberland, Lord-Lieutenant of Northumberland commissioned the following to become Deputy Lieutenants of the County of Northumberland.
Commander Andrew Sheldon Collier
Air Vice-Marshal David Anthony Hurrell CB AFC FRAeS

Thursday 7 February 2013

New Member of the United Kingdom Privy Council

Her Majesty the Queen approved the following person member of Her Majesty’s most Honourable Privy Council.
The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby

New Member of the United Kingdom Privy Council

Her Majesty the Queen approved the following person member of Her Majesty’s most Honourable Privy Council.
The Rt Hon Lord Justice Beatson

Monday 4 February 2013

King Richard III Found in a Car Park in Leicester

Today the University of Leicester announced DNA results on skeletal remains found whilst excavating the remains of Greyfriars church in the City of Leicester and confirmed there are King Richard III’s. This is the culmination of months of work carried out by the University of Leicester and other organisations.

The project started in August 2012 when the University of Leicester in partnership with Richard III Society and Leicester City Council commenced their search for the lost grave of King Richard III the last Plantagenet King of England.

Project Team were as Follows

Richard Buckley

Project Manager on the Greyfriars Dig and Director of the University of Leicester Archaeological Services

Mathew Morris

Fieldwork Director on the Greyfriars Dig and Archaeologist at University of Leicester Archaeological Services

Dr Jo Appleby

Lecturer in Bioarchaeology in the University of Leicester’s School of Archaeology and Ancient History

Dr Turi King

Lecturer in Genetics and Archaeology in the University of Leicester’s Department of Genetics

Professor Lin Foxhall

Head of the University of Leicester’s School of Archaeology and Ancient History and Professor of Greek Archaeology and History

Professor Kevin Schürer

The University of Leicester’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for Research and Enterprise

Dr John Ashdown-Hill

Historian and Author

Philippa Langley

Secretary of the Scottish Branch of the Richard III Society

Annette Carson

Author

Dominic Sewell

Expert in Medieval Horsemanship

Dr Tobias Capwell

Expert in Medieval and Renaissance Weapons

Dr Julian Boon

Chartered Forensic Psychologist at the University of Leicester

Professor Mark Lansdale

Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Leicester

Robert C Woosnam-Savage AMA

Curator of European Edged Weapons at the Royal Armouries Museum

How did Richard become King?

King Richard III ruled England from the 26th of June 1483 to 22nd August 1485 during the War of the Roses a conflict between two branches of the House of Plantagenet the House of York and the House of Lancaster both had Claims to the English Throne.

Richard was born in to the House of York he was the youngest brother of King Edward IV and Uncle to Edward V. Richard amassed a large amount of land and was appointed to some of the highest offices in the land. Following the death of his brother Edward IV Richard was appointed Lord Protector and regent to Edward V.

Edward V and his brother Prince Richard Duke of York stayed at the Tower of London to prepare for Edward’s Coronation which was repeatedly postponed. In the summer of 1483 the Princes disappeared and are never seen again, their later became known as the Princes in the Tower believe to have been murdered on whose orders we don’t know some believe Richard had them killed so he could inherit the throne others think that is false and was a lie spread by the Tudor Monarchs who succeeded him.

On the 25th of June 1483 the English Parliament pass an act called the Titulus Regius declaring Edward IV’s Marriage was invalided and his children illegitimate granting the Throne to Richard.

How did King Richard died and where he was buried?

King Richard was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field on the 22nd August 1485 where Richard and his Yorkist army fought Henry Tudor and is Lancastrians. The Lancastrians won the battle with Richard’s death Henry became King Henry VII. The Battle of Bosworth Field was the last battle in the war of the Roses. When Richard’s body was found it was stripped naked and placed on the back of a horse and sent to Leicester his body was displayed at Lancastrian Collegiate foundation of the Annunciation of Our Lady as a warning to his supporters. Then the Grey Friars of Leicester a group of Franciscan Monks of the Order of Friars Minor ask permission from King Henry VII if they could take Richard’s body and buried it in their church which he granted and also paid for a memorial to be placed over Richards grave.

How was King Richard III’s grave lost?

In November 1538 Greyfriars Church seized by the Crown as part of the Dissolution of the monasteries after dissolving the Friary the Church was dismantled and the Land sold. Subsequent building in the last 475 years meant the exact location of the grave was lost.

Finding Greyfriars Church

After searching the archives the team identified two potential areas of excavation:

1. Leicester City Council Social Services car park


2. The Former Alderman Newton’s School Playground

The team then use ground-penetrating radar to narrow the search before excavating. The team dig a total of four trenches in which they found the Greyfriars Church. The team found several sets of human remains including skeletal remains within the Choir of the Church were King Richard was believed to be buried. The skeleton ideal candidate to be Richard III now the team had to prove it.

Proving the Skeleton was King Richard

To prove that the Skeleton was King Richard samples of bone were sent for Radiocarbon dating the test show the bones were from AD1475-1530 the right time period but not absolute proof only DNA testing could prove it was Richard.

Scientists had to find Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) which is traceable but is only passed from mother to daughter males cannot pass on the Mitochondrial DNA so the hunt was on to find relations of King Richard who were from a female line only.

Finding King Richard’s family

In 2003 Dr John Ashdown-Hill had researched for Female only lines and found a relation of Richard through his sister Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter a Canadian named Michael Ibsen. Michael had the Mitochondrial DNA the Scientists were looking for and donated a sample as a male Michel cannot pass on the Mitochondrial DNA to his heirs so this female only line dies with him.

Michael’s Lineage

Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter

Anne St Leger

Catherine Manners

Barbara Constable

Margaret Babthorpe

Barbara Cholmley

Barbara Belasyse

Barbara Slingsby

Barbara Talbot

Barbara Yelverton

Barbara Calthorpe

Barbara Gough

Anne Spooner

Charlotte Vansittart Neale

Charlotte Vansittart Frere

Muriel Stokes

Joy M Brown

Michael Ibsen

Researchers then identified a second Female only line whose heir donated a sample of their DNA but wished to remain anonymous.

The DNA Test Results

Michael Ibsen and the anonymous persons DNA match proving they were related Scientists then compered their DNA to the Greyfriars Skeleton it matched Verifying the skeletal remains found within the Choir of the Church were King Richard III.

The Future Plans

Following today’s Announcement the Mayor of Leicester Sir Peter Soulsby declare their will be a permanent Richard III Visitors centre close to the Dig site were Richard was found and will be open by 2014. Sir Peter also confirmed that King Richard’s remains will be buried in Leicester cathedral in early 2014.

Friday 1 February 2013

New Deputy Lieutenants of the City of Edinburgh

On the 10th of January 2013, The Rt Hon Donald Wilson, Lord-Lieutenant of Edinburgh commissioned the following to become Deputy Lieutenants of the City of Edinburgh.
Sandra Cumming
Philip Young
Kingsley Thomas
Shami Khan