A first hand account from Windsor where the Queen handed out coins and a Royal Wedding was held
northcoin
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Yes, the same Windsor in which is located Windsor Castle and its St. George's Chapel which at Easter saw the Queen offering coins to pensioners in a time honored tradition, was this weekend the site of international attention for the wedding of a member of the British Royal Family to an American for the first time in 80 some years.
My youngest daughter (who just happened to be in England on business) was able to participate in the event this weekend and offers a personal account through her reporting and photos:
A loud and boisterous Northwestern contingent demonstrated their support for Northwestern graduate Meghan Markle as she expanded her allegiance from Northwestern Purple to Royal Purple.
Pictured here is my daughter as she joined up with the wild Wildcats as they greeted Meghan and her new husband.
Keeping this even further coin related, my alma matter, Northwestern, is the same institution from which my classmate Don Kagin (of Kagin's, Inc., employer of the current Numismatist of the Year) graduated majoring in Numismatics (and History) before going on to another university to become the first person ever awarded a PhD in Numismatics.
Earlier she captured these two photos of Meghan as she was about to arrive at Windsor Castle aboard the vintage Rolls Royce. (Again a link to our coin collecting efforts, as the subject "motor car" is definitely a desirable "collectible" in its own right.)
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Then there was the selfie with both the Prince and his bride as they rode by in their carriage.
And for any who missed the proceedings on "The Telly" this was the action in between.
After the proceedings, Londoners kept coming up to my daughter asking if she was Meghan or her sister. I guess there is a resemblance.
Edited to add: The immediate responses below are to a question that has been vacated.
Comments
Hell no!!!!!!!!!
No.
NO, watched it all day and night to be sociable.
First one was one too many!
Make it stop!
Great pictures. Were the coins the Queen passed out commemoratives? Thanks for the 'personal touch' pictures and it sure looked like it was a perfect weather day as well. Cheers, RickO
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Huh? @Regulated is the current "Numismatist of the Year."
That is what I get for scanning the Kagin's, Inc. Website. Don was if fact congratulating his "partner" for the honor.
"Kagin's, Inc. is at Kagin's, Inc..
April 23 at 2:00pm · Tiburon, CA ·
A huge congratulations to David Mccarthy! The American Numismatic Association has named him Numismatist of the Year! We are so very proud and pleased for him. It’s a well deserved honor!"
Now if this had been the Academy Awards, I'm sure David's acceptance speech would have duly included a credit going to Don.
Thanks. This is what the "Mirror" reported: - it appears the answer is "commemoratives."
"The Queen has marked Maundy Thursday by taking part in the ancient ceremony of distributing commemorative coins to deserving pensioners.
The money was presented during the Royal Maundy service at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle - where Prince Harry will wed Meghan Markle on May 19.
Maundy money was distributed by the Queen to 92 men and 92 women - as she will be 92 this year - and each recipient will receive two purses, one red and one white.
One of the coins this year commemorates the 1918 act that gave some women in Britain and Ireland the right to vote."
https://mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/queen-hands-out-coins-pensioners-12270923
Good for you and your family! This must of been one heck of an exciting time for your daughter and thanks for sharing the pictures. I wish I could of been there. Wow she was a Northwestern girl how exciting and proud everybody must be. Now she is a Princess overnight. That must be some trip she is experiencing.
Thanks for the nice weather I wish I could see some sun here.
This close to San Francisco, "partner" means something a little bit different...
What is now proved was once only imagined. - William Blake
Great report @northcoin!!
I like how you worked in a Darkside reference to Maundy money; a set of which I hope to pull the trigger on someday
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Here are some details of likely interest, to at least some here, regarding the "collectible" motor car, and other vehicles, ridden in by the Prince's Bride on the day of the wedding:
I enjoy the "trip" and thank you for sharing the stories @northcoin
Thanks for sharing, great photos
@northcoin Thank you for sharing, very cool your daughter got to witness the historic wedding up close!
all around collector of many fine things
Thanks Paradisefound, bigmountainlion, coinpro76 and all.
Here is an update:
The Northwestern coverage from "across the pond" continues. The National Geographic Channel aired its post Royal Wedding special this Wednesday evening titled, "Operation Royal Wedding." The feature went into the preparations for the big event and culminated in some highlights on the day of the wedding. Included was a prominent view of the Northwestern Flag with Windsor Castle as a backdrop.
Included were some added views of the well wishers joining in the celebration as Northwestern's Meghan traveled to and departed from the wedding site.
(Looking at the size of the crowd, estimated as in excess of 150,000 persons, my daughter was certainly fortunate to find herself positioned next to Meghan as she rode in the Rolls-Royce and then again to be able to capture herself in a video selfie as Meghan and Prince Harry passed by in their carriage. All the more so since she didn't arrive until just before the wedding commenced while others had been there in Windsor camping out for days, hoping to be positioned close enough to get a glimpse of the bride and/or the royal couple.)
Some added views of the vintage Rolls-Royce as it transported Meghan to the chapel at Windsor Castle as well as of her and the Prince in their carriage after.
Sweet !!!
FWIW, my daughter's business travel has now taken her on to Gibraltar where she is this week. Maybe I can get her to locate some "coins of the realm" while she is there.
Here are some views of her there in and on "The Rock of Gibraltar."
When she was in England, Londoners kept coming up to my daughter asking if she was Meghan or her sister. At least so far no one has approached her in Gibraltar asking where Prince Harry is.
Cool pictures! I'll bet she's having fun there.
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(Looking at the size of the crowd, estimated as in excess of 150,000 persons, my daughter was certainly fortunate to find herself positioned next to Meghan as she rode in the Rolls-Royce and then again to be able to capture herself in a video selfie as Meghan and Prince Harry passed by in their carriage. All the more so since she didn't arrive until just before the wedding commenced while others had been there in Windsor camping out for days, hoping to be positioned close enough to get a glimpse of the bride and/or the royal couple.)
Some added details regarding the Northwestern group pictured in the posts above.
This from "Northwestern Now" relating how (unlike my daughter as noted above) the Northwestern group arrived at 2:30 AM and had a nine hour wait:
WINDSOR, England - More than two-dozen Northwestern University alumni, resplendent in purple t-shirts, gathered along the parade route in Windsor Saturday (May 19) to cheer fellow alumna, Meghan Markle, who became royalty by marrying England’s Prince Harry.
The group, which numbered 26 strong, draped the barricades along the route with NU banners, flew a homemade Northwestern flag and waved purple metallic pom-poms as the newly married royal couple passed.
Ellen Bencard, an NU alumna who now lives in England, said she drove to Windsor at 2:30 a.m. Saturday in a car packed with friends, lawn chairs and purple flags. Her goal was to get a good spot to wish the new duchess well.
Many hours later, Bencard and her fellow Northwestern alumni got their wish.
“A 2:30 a.m. start followed by a nine-hour wait to see a two-minute carriage pass by is not rational, even if we have visual evidence that Meghan saw and appreciated our presence,” Bencard conceded. “But that’s not what this is about. It’s the experience, a lovely day out with your friends – drinking in the atmosphere and being a part of history.”
Bencard said the Northwestern flag she made was reportedly seen by an estimated 2 billion people around the world. And countless others saw Bencard and current Northwestern student Ruthie Hubbard interviewed on CBS.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2018/may/northwestern-alumni-paint-windsor-purple-to-cheer-royal-couple/
After a jaunt across Gibraltar's airport runway "border" into Spain, now returned to the USA.
Nice photos. The one holding the monkey is pretty cool.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
Quote: "Yes, the same Windsor in which is located Windsor Castle and its St. George's Chapel which at Easter saw the Queen offering coins to pensioners in a time honored tradition, was this weekend the site of international attention for the wedding of a member of the British Royal Family to an American for the first time in 80 some years."
Quote: "FWIW, my daughter's business travel has now taken her on to Gibraltar where she is this week. Maybe I can get her to locate some "coins of the realm" while she is there.
Here are some views of her there in and on "The Rock of Gibraltar."
Irony of ironies. I didn't realize it until I glanced back through this thread, but one week my daughter was in Windsor where Prince Harry and Meghan were being married in Windsor Castle's St. George's Chapel and the next week she was inside the Rock of Gibraltar's St. George's Hall.
This then prompted me to learn more about just who St. George was. Apart from being the Patron Saint of England, and the mythology about his saving a princess by slaying dragon, I came across this, adding to the irony, as it turns out that St. George has been dubbed "The Multicultural Saint."
"Saint George has become a symbol of nationalism in England, but there are some good reasons to think his life represents the values of a more benign ideology: multiculturalism.
His background was about as multicultural as you can get
Most historians think George was born in modern-day Turkey to a Greek family. He served in the army of an Italian city-state and ultimately died living in modern-day Palestine. His parents, though Greek-speaking, were from Cappadocia in central Turkey and Palestine respectively.
Saint George’s heritage was about as multicultural as you could get in the classical world."
So ........... it seems fitting that the multicultural wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan was held in a chapel named after St. George.
https://independent.co.uk/news/people/st-georges-day-2016-six-reasons-why-englands-patron-saint-is-a-perfect-symbol-of-multiculturalism-a6996771.html
Just Goggled "Northwestern Royal Wedding" and it looks like my daughter's presence in Windsor with the Northwestern contingent is now preserved for posterity
To recap the story behind the above photo of my daughter holding a Northwestern shirt with the Northwestern flag flying behind her in Windsor, England last week - she was in England on business the same week as the Royal Wedding between Northwestern alum Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Since she was off work on Saturday, which happened to be the wedding day, she took the train the 28 some miles from London to Windsor where over 130,000 people were gathered to help celebrate the event. Some had camped out for days just to get a spot along the route where they could catch a glimpse of Meghan and/or Meghan with Prince Harry. As luck would have it she arrived just as the wedding was to begin and she chanced to be on a street just as the Rolls Royce taking Meghan to Windsor Castle came by right next to her. Not only did she get to see the bride to be but was able to take photos of Meghan riding in the Rolls Royce.
A short time later, after the wedding service, she was not only able to see both the bride and the prince together riding in their carriage, but she was able to capture a selfie video with her and the Royal couple both in it.
In addition she was also able to join up with a contingent of Northwestern students and alums who were there dressed in purple and carrying a Northwestern flag. The group was there to cheer their fellow Northwestern alum, the Prince's bride Meghan. The above picture got picked up by "Google" and shows her as she visited with the Northwestern group. (On various of the TV broadcasts of the wedding event members of the group were interviewed and the Northwestern flag was shown prominently.)
As noted above, while in England, a number of people approached her asking if she was Meghan or Meghan's sister.
(Not sure though if when she was in Gibraltar the following week if anyone came up to her asking, "Where is Prince Harry?
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Two weeks have now passed since the "Royal Wedding" and the media coverage continues. Predictably the print periodicals now add their take. Notably, Northwestern continues to get mention. This from "Time Magazine" in their piece titled, "The Meaning of Meghan:"
"By the time she [Meghan] graduated from Immaculate Heart High School and Northwestern University, she was a star of campus productions with a degree in theater studies and international relations - a perfect combination for the royal stage."
And then for those who found the royal rides of interest, we are offered reminds of the Vintage 1950 Rolls Royce Phantom IV that took Meghan to the chapel as well as of the carriage and 1968 E Type Jaguar convertible ridden in by the Royal Couple on their wedding day.