[United Kingdom] The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge both in military style for first military role as husband and wife

The Duchess of Cambridge will take on her first military role as a royal today as she hands out operational medals to members of the Irish Guards.

Alongside the Duke of Cambridge, who is Colonel of the Irish Guards, Kate will present medals to soldiers who have recently returned from serving in Afghanistan.

A royal aide said the Duchess was very pleased to be undertaking the role for a regiment 'so close to her husband's heart'.

The 1st Battalion Irish Guards returned in April from a six-month tour in Afghanistan where they were deployed to 22 different locations in Helmand Province, tasked with developing the Afghan Army.

Six soldiers returned home two weeks before the royal couple's wedding day and had ceremonial duties to perform in London on the day.

Before the medal parade, at Victoria Barracks in Windsor, William and Kate will meet privately with the families of three fallen servicemen and William will present them with posthumous Elizabeth Cross medals.

It is the first time that the couple have visited the regiment since William became Colonel of the Irish Guards in February.

He also wore the regiment's striking red uniform on his wedding day. William is the Irish Guards' first royal colonel and its Colonel-in-Chief is the Queen. The regiment was formed on April 1, 1900, by order of Queen Victoria is response to the courageous actions of Irish regiments in the Second Boer War.

The unit was heavily involved in the ceremonial duties but its servicemen are also fighting soldiers.

She seems to be wearing a military coated, very similar to this one found on Net-a-porter.

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Trooping the Colour 2011 - Part 1/8

[United Kingdom] Duke of Cambridge takes to The Mall on horseback

The Duke of Cambridge rode down The Mall from Buckingham Palace on a horse as he took part in a rehearsal for Trooping the Colour.

One day he will reign as King but today he was holding the reins of a distinctive mottled grey horse called Wellesley.

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Most of the tourists and onlookers will not have recognised the Duke, whose eyes were shaded by his

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Prince Josef-Emanuel of Liechtenstein turned 22

Today, May 7th, Prince Josef-Emanuel of Liechtenstein - son of Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg and Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein - celebrated his 22th birthday. As I have never really spoken about him here, I am sharing last years' news, when he lead the Trooping the Colour ceremony of 2010.

Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace under the orders of Lt. Josef von Liechtenstein on the occasion of the Trooping the Colour ceremony for the Queen of the United Kingdom.

Josef had the prestigious honor and responsibility to raise the guard at Buckingham Palace and presented the flag of his regiment to Her Majesty Queen of the United Kingdom, on the occasion of the anniversary parade in his honor, Saturday, June 12 in London.

After the ceremony, Prince Josef was joined by his parents Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg and Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein and his two sisters who attended the event at Wellington Barracks, headquarters of the regiment, to share this memorable day with the Prince.

Josef with his parents and sisters, Marie-Astrid and Maria-Anunciata

As Grand Duke Jean then Hereditary Grand Duke Henri did before him, Prince Josef received military training in preparation for the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK. After just one year of training and despite his young age, he was appointed an Officer before being admitted some time later in the regiment of Irish Guards. 

Promoted to lieutenant at age 21, Prince Josef is perpetuating a tradition that connects the Grand Ducal Court with the Irish Guards and that goes back more than 67 years. In serving the British army during the 2nd World War, his grandfather, Grand Duke Jean has indeed been himself the rank of Lieutenant in the same regiment before Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II gives the according to Colonel of the Irish Guards.

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[United Kingdom] [VIDEO] British troops rehearsing for the royal wedding

[Norway] Royal guards apologize to King Harald

A few members of Norway’s elite military unit known as the King’s Guards had some explaining to do this week, after they hid during an emergency drill to avoid reporting for duty. They have since apologized to both the king and the country.

The alarm rang at the end of the day on Monday, and Dagbladet.no reported that the guards didn’t know it was a drill. They thought it was the real thing, that something was threatening the life of a member of the royal family. Instead of spurring them into action, though, the alarm prompted some of the guards living at the royal guards’ barracks at Huseby in Oslo to hide in the bathroom and even under some beds.

“I must stress that double the number of guards who needed to show up, did so,” Major Roy Tore Ottesen confirmed to Dagbladet. “But there were several who tried to get away. There were some guards who hid under the beds.”

Ottesen made it clear that commanding officers know who was involved in the dereliction of duty, and that they were being questioned. He said the emergency drill such as the one carried out on Monday evening “is something we need to do, to uncover weaknesses in our routines.”

The alarm rang just past 7pm on Monday, when the guards involved thought they were off duty. It was over by 9pm and results left many officers upset, also those among the ranks of the retired.

“This is just horrible,” a royal guards veteran and head of their association Gardistforbund, Nils Egelien, told Dagbladet. “If they (those who hid from duty) are really part of the preparedness troop, they should have nothing to do with it.”

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Prince William helps saving a life just 48 hours after engagement announcement

Prince William went back to work after announcing his engagement to Kate Middleton on 16 November - and saved a man's life. The Prince, a flight lieutenant with the RAF Search and Rescue Force, co-piloted a Sea King helicopter through a storm and thick fog to save dad-of-two Greg Watkins, who suffered a heart attack 3,000ft up Mount Snowdon in North Wales. ‘If it wasn't for him and the rest of his crew, I'd be dead,' says Greg.

On Thursday, just 48 hours after facing the cameras with his bride-to-be, Wills helped perform the daring manoeuvre so that a member of the crew could be winched down to help the 45-year-old walker.

‘The winchman helped me out and on to a stretcher and whispered, "Prince William's just flown you here",' Greg tells the Sunday Mirror.

‘I looked up at him and just said: "Oh. Tell him thank you."'

Prince William and Kate's wedding is expected to be as early as March, after which Wills plans to continue serving with the Royal Air Force.

from Nowmagazine.co.uk

Prince William attended Remembrance day in Afghanistan while his family was back home

As the Last Post sounded at the Remembrance Day service in London, Prince William was thousands of miles away in Afghanistan remembering those killed in combat there. In what was described by the Royal Legion as a "huge gesture of respect and fellowship" he joined a military congregation in Helmand Province.

The Prince, a search and rescue pilot, laid a wreath at Camp Bastion. Attached was a note reading: "For Jo, Lex and all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country". He was a personal friend of 2nd Lt Joanna Dyer who was killed in the Afghan conflict three years ago. Major Lex Roberts, his platoon commander, died in Iraq in May 2007.

Back in Britain, under skies heavy with rain, the Queen led the nation's tributes to past and present servicemen, leaving her wreath at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. Young and old joined medalled war veterans, as well as political leaders and their wives, in the traditional two-minute silence that began at 11am on the first stroke of Big Ben.

They watched as 8,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen paraded solemnly through the streets in honour of their fallen comrades.

from Hellomagazine.com

[United-Kingdom] Prince Harry honours fallen comrades

Opening the first ever remembrance field dedicated to the men and women killed in the Afghan war, Prince Harry, was joined by a four-year-old called Melanie. The little girl was there with her father Lance Corporal Ram Patten, 31, who devised the March for Honour, which Harry launched following the Wiltshire ceremony. This involves servicemen walking a mile for every life lost in Afghanistan, eventually converging on London's Royal Albert Hall on Remembrance Day.

The march began on November 4, and included a stop at the Field of Remembrance in Lydiard Park, Wootton Bassett so that the Prince could launch it officially. Melanie hadn't seen her father since he set out on last week and jumped into his arms, refusing to leave his side all day. To her excitement, this meant she got to spend lots of time with the dashing royal who told her: "You look pretty" and complimented her on her coat.

Among those that Harry was there to remember was L/Cpl Jonathan Woodgate, 26, of the Household Cavalry, the Prince's own regiment, who was killed in Helmand province in March this year.

His father Tony said the Queen's grandson told him his son would be remembered as a "special chap". "I shall remember this moment forever," said Mr Woodgate. "It was very emotional."

from Hellomagazine.com