Royal Family – Christmas 2017

My dad was in the United States Air Force when I was born, and I just happened to be born in RAF Lakenheath, so living in England as an adult felt like going home. I have always been a bit of a Royalist, just fascinated by the Royal Family and what the dynamic was like.

While my husband and I, with our three children, lived in England I wanted to be sure to see everything I could that was connected to the Royal Family (I may make a post about some of my favourite castles later). On our last Christmas while living abroad, I woke my two daughters up at 3:30am to drive an hour and a half to Sandringham Estate to see the Royal Family walk from their home to church and back again. It was everything I could have hoped it would be. Prince Harry had recently gotten engaged to Meghan Markle, so it was a big deal that she would be allowed to walk with the family that morning because protocol says that you must be married in order to do so. Duchess Kate was pregnant with her third child, we now know is Prince Louis, and she was looking fabulous!

I had thought that I’d edited the following images and had shared them long ago. When I went looking for them this morning, I couldn’t find them and was really saddened by that. It’s heartbreaking because this morning, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh passed away. I can’t imagine how his beloved wife, Queen Elizabeth is feeling right now because they have been married for the last 73 years and she’s known him since she was 13 years old. She’s been with this man longer than most people live these days. My heart breaks for this family because he was someone’s husband, father, grandfather. He wasn’t perfect, none of us are, but his imperfections were in the spotlight which magnifies them and makes it so much more difficult. I just hope that his family knows how much he loved them while he was alive.

Rest in God’s peace, Prince Philip
10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021