British Royal Family! I know we all chitter-chat about the amount of work you do or do not do, but I need y’all to take just ONE DAY OFF for me. Wait, no. That’s not true. What am I saying? Leave the house all the time! At the very least, you give us something to talk about that’s not the current hellfire landscape of the universe. (Although, while I’m here: Of late, the comments on royals posts have gotten a tiny bit hot. That happens from time to time — it certainly happened back when Wills and Kate were first married, when I also had to make this exact same disclaimer — but from my perspective as your host, I am going to sidebar for a sec to ask that everyone please: Be cool. Y’all are welcome to disagree with us, or with each other, and I welcome a feisty discussion and all your feedback, but sometimes we drift from a warm simmer to a raging boil and I’d love it if we could concentrate on…maintaining a pleasant level of heat? I lost my metaphor there. Anyway! Thank you!)
TO KATE! I did not realize this event was happening, which made for a thrilling moment this morning when I was leisurely zipping through Instagram instead of getting out of bed and her photo floated past me and I realized that I was on a deadline. She came out to the Imperial War Museum today to look at items in their archives related to her own family: Her great-grandmother had three brothers who were all killed in World War I. We really don’t learn as much about WWI in the US as we do WWII — primarily, I think, because the United States was not involved in WWI for as long as it was in WWII; I say this as someone whose own great-grandfather died in his 20s due to the mustard gas he inhaled in WWI, which ruined his lungs — but the British have been doing a wonderful job of marking its many centenaries, and it’s been highly educational for me (as, of course, have been all the novels I read about People Having Romantical Problems in Olden Times, in which “WWI killed all the men/made everyone very effed up” is a running theme). I’ve not been to this museum, but Heather tells me it’s amazing; as a sidebar, I have been to the Churchill War Rooms and I highly recommend them if you are in London. They’re fascinating. Anyway, we’re approaching Remembrance Sunday in the UK, which means that everyone’s got their poppies out, and indeed, the front of the War Museum has what they’re calling a “Weeping Window” of them, and it’s quite stunning. These are the same poppies that Paul Cummins and Tom Piper did for an exhibit at the Tower of London in 2014. Now, as then, they are tremendously photogenic. (Amusingly, that post also teaches us that Kate loves to wear blue at any poppy-related event; it DOES pop against the red.)
Let’s look at some educational social media before we talk about the outfit:
The Duchess of Cambridge tours the @I_W_M‘s First World War galleries and learns more about what her relatives would have experienced during their time on the front line. #IWMLondon #Armistice100 pic.twitter.com/YSfuh6zMvn
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 31, 2018
Museum exhibits like these are both fascinating to me and also really reinforce my own hoarding tendencies. I’M HOARDING FOR HISTORY.
HRH was shown her great-grandmother Olive’s registration card. Olive and her younger sister Anne were both VAD nurses with the @BritishRedCross during the War. pic.twitter.com/ec3lHTNQRg
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 31, 2018
“Lionel was here the day before yesterday for a bit, & I have seen him two or three times in the last few days.” – a letter from Maurice to his father, 24 May 1915.
The Duchess views several documents relating to her relatives’ experiences, including the brothers’ letters home. pic.twitter.com/WR89GeJhTr
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 31, 2018
This is all VERY sad.
The other items include this field service postcard from Lionel dated 16 July 1916, where he notes that “I am quite well”. Sadly, Lionel was killed in action on the same day, aged just 24. pic.twitter.com/EfKNUdLqky
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 31, 2018
This telegram from Noel Middleton to the family, informs that Francis’ body had been found.
“Bad News Francis Body Found Near Taylor’s Killed Instantaneously Bomb Saw Norman Yesterday And Grave In Churchyard” pic.twitter.com/G5zE6LgYse
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 31, 2018
These documents form part of the #IWMLondon’s document archive, which provides a means to research, reflect and remember the extraordinary contribution and sacrifice made by so families during the First World War. #Armistice100 #LestWeForget pic.twitter.com/0WR0xmtr2i
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 31, 2018
As I have said one million times: If I were a duchess, I’d be crying at these things constantly.
