The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were married at Westminster Abbey

Members of The Royal Family including Her Majesty The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall attended the service at the Abbey, along with around 1,900 guests.

Thousands of people gathered to line the procession route, cheering the couple as they made their way to and from the Abbey.

The official wedding photographs for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, now known as The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The Couple are pictured in The Throne Room with (from left-to-right)back row: Master Tom Pettifer, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, The Bridegroom, The Bride, Mr. Michael Middleton, Mrs. Carole Middleton, Mr. James Middleton and Miss Philippa Middleton.
Front row: Miss Grace van Cutsem, Miss Eliza Lopes, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Queen, The Hon. Margarita Armstrong-Jones, The Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, Master William Lowther-Pinkerton.

Prince William arrived at the Abbey with Prince Harry, his Best Man. Prince William wore the uniform of Colonel of the Irish Guards, while Prince Harry wore the uniform of Captain of the Household Cavalry.

Catherine arrived with her father, Mr Michael Middleton at 11am.

Stepping out of the Rolls Royce Phantom VI, Catherine revealed her wedding dress, designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen.

After blessing Catherine’s wedding ring, The Archbishop of Canterbury said: “I pronounce that they be man and wife together, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

A number of musicians, including the Choir of Westminster Abbey, The Chapel Royal Choir, The London Chamber Orchestra, The Fanfare Team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force and The State Trumpeters of The Household Cavalry played music during and after the service.

The Bride, Bridegroom, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and Mr and Mrs Middleton, along with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Dean of Westminster, then entered the most sacred part of the Abbey – the Shrine of St. Edward the Confessor – to sign the register, officially binding their marriage.

On leaving the Abbey, crowds cheered as the couple proceeded in a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace, where members of The Royal Family stood on the balcony to watch the flypast over the palace.

The evening wedding reception was hosted by The Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace.

Following the marriage ceremony, Prince William and Catherine Middleton became known as The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, titles conferred on them by The Queen and announced by Buckingham Palace on the morning of the wedding.

The Couple are pictured in The Throne Room with (left-to-right)back row: The Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, The Bridegroom, The Bride, Master Tom Pettifer, Master William Lowther-Pinkerton.
Front row: Miss Grace van Cutsem, Miss Eliza Lopes, The Hon. Margarita Armstrong-Jones.
The portrait in the background of the photograph is Richard Colley Wellesley, Marquess Wellesley (1760-1842), c.1832 by Sir Martin Archer Shee (oil on canvas).

For the first time during a Royal Wedding, the service was live streamed on The Royal Channel, accompanied by live commentary from St. James’s Palace. The live stream features highlights of the wedding day, as well as the option to watch the wedding on replay for a limited amount of time.

The official wedding photographs for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, now known as The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The photographs were taken by Hugo Burnand.

The [republican] Age gives in!

Front page of The Saturday Age and the "Souvenir Edition" giving honour to TRH The Duke and The Duchess of Cambridge.

The Age's website on 30th April 2011.

Of course their editorials and opinion pieces were as vitriolic and nasty against the Monarchy as ever, but that does not sell. The editor knew exactly, what would attract readers - and buyers of their paper: Pretty pictures and the glamour of a Monarchy that unites peoples across the oceans.
Long live the Queen of Australia!
Long live the Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge!

Another ex-pat lectures us

If one would be as rude as republicans usually are, one could say, The Sunday Age’s new attack on the Monarchy came from a typical suspect. Kathy Lette’s photo in today’s paper showed a woman with short hair and long dingle dangly earrings. Sorry, the photo is not online, but the article is: Where there's a Wills …

However if you check her website you find, that Kathy Lette actually does not live in Australia: “She lives in London with her husband and two children and has just finished a stint as writer in Residence at London's Savoy Hotel.” But Fairfax media hide this fact, giving the impression of an Aussie writer publishing for other Aussies. The Sunday Age loves British authors who lecture the stupid Monarchists down under that they should grow up and do, what their senior teachers in the media keep telling them to accept. Of course it is rather impolite and ungentlemanly towards a lady who calls herself “a full time writer, demented mother” to point to her stereotype appearance, but considering what she wrote about our Royal Family, it seems rather adequate. Here are some quotes of her latest oeuvre with false and insulting accusations:

- does the prospect of a tree-hugging, pinstripe underpanted heir to the throne

- why has a pampered Pommy Prince [William] won our affection?

- In royal circles you're considered an exhibitionist if you wear open-toed sandals.

- British royals make the Addams Family look normal. What with the toe sucking, the bulimia, the affairs, the fancy dress Nazi uniforms, Andy's paedophile pals and Fergie and Sophie Wessex's cash-for-access scandals, the Windsors put the 'fun' into 'dysfunctional'

- it's time Australia had a Windsor-ectomy

Her claim ”...which is why recent polls have revealed a steady decline in support for the monarchy...” shows, how out of touch she is with Australia: The figures show a rise on the Monarchist and a decline on the republican side, with the latter having fallen far behind the figures of 1999, when they lost the referendum by 54 to 46%.

You have to feel sorry for the Fairfax media. They tried their best to find another writer than the usual three republican pens – and then they have to rely on someone who lives overseas and lectures the Aussies what is best for them. And fails to understand the reality.

Victoria's new Governor was sworn-in

"Ladies and Gentlemen. His Excellency, the Governor, has assumed office."

The Age could not help being cheeky in its report on the inauguration of The Queen’s new representative in Victoria, Alex Chernov: “[He] was sworn in as the state's 28th Governor with all the formality that monarchists would require for such an occasion.” Indeed they do!

Channel Ten was more solemn on this occasion and broadcast Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu’s remark on the Constitutional Monarchy which the Governor represents: “[...] because it reminds us all that the head of our government of state has an independent and respected arbiter who will act without fear or favour.” It goes without saying that ABC Victoria did not include this sentence in its reporting. Unlike the public broadcaster, Channel Ten also included the oath of Allegiance of the new Governor:



And the full Oath of Allegiance can be heard in this video:



Alex Chernov, AO, QC was born in Lithuania in 1938 to Russian parents. His grandfather had held a post there in the imperial administration. But when the Russian revolution came he returned to Russia to become a minister with the white administration, which had monarchist associations and was opposed by the Red Army.

Chernov's grandfather was eventually captured and murdered by the reds, so his grandmother returned to Lithuania. The sanctuary there was shattered when the Soviets moved in in 1940.

"Because of our association with the white government, our family was on what I call the hit list of the communist government. And when the Red Army marched into Lithuania, my family scrambled out and kept going south until they came to Australia," he said.

But his father never made it to safety. Like his father before him, he was murdered by the Red Army.

The family settled in Salzburg for four years, knowing they were safe from the Red Army as the city was in American hands following World War II. When he arrived in Australia as a postwar migrant in 1949 at the age of ten he couldn't speak a word of English.

Alex Chernov was created an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2007 Queen's birthday honours list for service to the law and education. After the Queen appointed him Governor he told The Age: "We live under the constitutional monarchy at the moment. That's the basis on which I was appointed. I'm happy to continue in that role."

In 59 seconds historian Dr Ray Wright explains the Westminster System in the following video . He was Usher of the Black Rod of the Victorian Parliament from 2000 to 2005:

Wreckage and bodies of Air France flight 447 found

This week wreckage and bodies of Air France flight 447 were found in the Atlantic Ocean. The Airbus A330-203 was on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, when it crashed into the Atlantic on 1st June 2009 killing all 228 passengers onboard. Debris of Flight 447 was found 3800-4000 metres below the surface by the Alucia search vessel. Investigators may be able to recover flight recorders, or black boxes that store detailed records of the pilots' conversations as well as technical information. According to the French Secretary of State for Transport, Thierry Mariani, the wreckage contains corpses of some of those on board.

The corps of the heir presumptive of the Brazilian throne, His Imperial and Royal Highness Dom Pedro Luiz de Orléans e Bragança, Prince of Brazil, was among the victims. His body had been found in 2009 and he was laid to rest in July 2009 next to his grandfather H.I.& R.H. Prince Pedro Henrique de Orléans e Bragança (13th September 1909 – 5th July 1981) at the cemetery of Vassouras.

In the Cathedral Nossa Senhora do Carmo in Rio de Janeiro the father of the deceased Prince Dom Pedro Luiz, H.I.&R.H. Prince Antonio de Orléans e Bragança and other members of Brazil's Imperial Family paid their last respect to the victims of flight AF447.

On 5th April 2011 the Australia Post issued this year's stamps to commemorate the Australian Queen's 85th birthday.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, celebrates her 85th birthday in 2011. Among the many artists who have painted Her Majesty’s portrait are Australians Brian Dunlop and Rolf Harris. The Queen sat for Brian Dunlop at Buckingham Palace to commemorate the sesquicentenary of the State of Victoria in 1984. Artist and entertainer Rolf Harris’ affectionate portrait was painted as a celebration of the Queen’s 80th birthday in 2006.


Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, was born at 2.40 am on 21st April 1926 in Mayfair, London, and celebrates her 85th birthday this year. Following tradition, the Australian Monarch’s birthday is celebrated every year on the first Monday in June, with the exception of Western Australia, where it occurs in late September or early October. To honour the Queen’s Birthday in Australia an annual ceremony is held at the Royal Military College at Duntroon in the Australian Capital Territory.