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His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge has begun a six week deployment to the Falkland Islands’ military base off the coast of Argentina. This has sparked diplomatic tensions between the South American county and the United Kingdom as they both went to war over these chains of islands in 1982. The Argentinians are calling Prince William a “conquistador”.
 Click here for Prince William military pics The Prince, who is a search and rescue pilot with the RAF, “will arrive on our soil in the uniform of a conquistador, and not with the wisdom of a statesman who works for peace and dialogue between nations,” the country’s foreign ministry said.
Since the announcement that William will be deployed on the Islands, both countries have been trading a war of words. Argentina accuses Britain of trying to divert attention away from its economic troubles.
“The governments should avoid the temptation of inciting debates that transform patriotism into bullying with the aim of distracting public attention from political decisions to reduce spending in the context of structural crisis and high unemployment,” the foreign ministry’s statement said.
It added, “Britain insists on ignoring U.N. resolutions, weakening diplomatic efforts and increasing the risk of more wars.”
At the same time, the U.K. is accusing Argentina of colonialism since the country also claims the Falklands.
“The key point is we support the Falkland Islanders’ right to self-determination, and what the Argentinians have been saying recently, I would argue is actually far more like colonialism because these people want to remain British and the Argentinians want them to do something else,” he said.
In response, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner accused Mr Cameron of “mediocrity bordering on stupidity”.
Prince William is of course, not expected to do any diplomatic tasks while stationed on the Falklands. He will be leaving the Islands sometime in March, right before the 30th anniversary of the war that killed more than 600 Argentine soldiers killed and 200 Britons.
His uncle, Prince Andrew, served in the war.
Sources: AP, Telegraph
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were at the London premiere of the Steven Spielberg directed film, “War Horse”. The movie is about an English horse sent to the French battlefields of World War I. Their Royal Highnesses went to the premiere to in aid of the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry.
 Click here to see more photos of the premiere It was raining during the event, so while walking up the red carpet at the Leicester Square cinema, Prince William held an umbrella for wife, Catherine, who wore a black lacy dress by Alice Temperley.
The couple met with the actors of the film, which is based on a novel and a play. They even chatted with Spielberg, who has met William during previous events.
“This is my first royal premiere for the Duke and Duchess, having done them before for the Queen and the Queen Mother. This is a wonderful occasion tonight. This is so exciting. I get a buzz.”
The Oscar-winning director praised the two for bringing 600 British soldiers to the premiere.
“It’s a great honor that they’ve given up their time and also given up their charity and it’s wonderful because it was their idea to bring the veterans here, so they could share this evening,” he said.
Some of the troops, both former and serving, come from the Duke’s regiments, such as the RAF Search and Rescue, Irish Guards, Royal Air Force Coningsby, Scotland Royal Naval Command and Submarines Royal Naval Command.
Sources: AFP, BBC
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stopped Centrepoint this Wednesday, to bake Christmas desserts with the charity’s beneficiaries. Prince William is patron of Centrepoint, which focuses on helping homeless youth.
 Click here to see more photos at Daylife.com The Prince also was the star of the evening when he busted out his hip-hop dance moves. It happened when 18 year old Vanessa Boateng told His Royal Highness what she thought of his Irish Guards uniform that he wore for his April wedding to Catherine.
“William asked us what we thought about what he wore to his wedding. He said, was his suit dapper?” said Boateng.
“I said: ‘No, your swag was on point.’ He repeated my words and said ‘swag’, then he started doing this dance.”
The dance involves brushing imaginary dust off your shoulders as another person does the same. It is supposed to mean that you have trendy clothes.
Later on, William and Ms. Boateng did the dance – now known as the “Swag Dance” – for the rest of the 80 residents of the shelter.
This move will clearly make the Duke more popular with those benefiting form Centrepoint. He has been patron since 2005 and used to visit the shelters as a child with his mother, the late Princess Diana.
And Centrepoint may be a tradition for future royal generations.
“He said he’s going to make his children come there and I can discipline them,” Boateng revealed, according to the Telegraph.
But William was not the only royal warming hearts at the shelter. His wife, Catherine, made a cookie for Tasha Barbi’s 18th birthday.
“She said ‘This is for you, your birthday cookie’,” Miss Barbi explained.
“I love it, I’m never going to eat it, it’s beautiful I’m going to cherish it.”
To see video of William’s Swag Dance, click here.
Sources: Press Association, Telegraph
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, along with Prince Harry, were at the Sun Military Awards Monday night. It was a night to honor British troops for their service to the United Kingdom.
 Check out more images of the event here William and Harry wore tuxedos, while Catherine looked amazing in a black velvet strapless Alexander McQueen gown. She also wore an impressive necklace that was a wedding gift from a not-yet revealed person.
The trio chatted with servicemen and women at the Imperial War Museum before the actual ceremony. It was then Harry gave a speech where he both praised the troops and talked about his military career. The 27 year old Prince had spent the past several weeks in the United States learning to fly Apache helicopters.
He said: “I am a young Army officer, a serving soldier. Like my brother, I share many of the same hopes, the same aspirations to go on operations, and the same fears as all those who serve our Queen and country.
“By an accident of birth, though, it falls to 564673 Captain Wales humbly to express – on behalf of my comrades-in-arms and people up and down the country – the admiration we feel for the extraordinary men and women we honor here tonight.”
He added: “It’s often said of our armed forces that they are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Well, I don’t entirely buy that. Ordinary people don’t run out under withering enemy rocket and heavy machine gunfire to rescue a wounded comrade.
“Ordinary people don’t brave monsoon conditions dangling on a winch line to rescue 13 people, each in turn.
“For that matter, ordinary people don’t put their lives on the line for distant folk, such as the Afghans, who need our help and are now turning their country round because of it.”
Harry also spoke warmly of the families of the troops.
“The strength and courage it must take to see your husband or your wife, your father or mother, son or daughter, head off into the unknown – and to support them doing it – I can hardly even imagine,” he said. “So, to our amazing, brave families, I know I join every single service man and woman in saying from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.”
The Sun Military Awards, or Millies as Britons call it, were also attended by soccer star David Beckham, along with sons Brooklyn and Cruz, Gordon Ramsay, Jimmy Carr, and Frank Lampard.
Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg were also there. They held a reception at 10 Downing Street and Clegg said this to the troops: “You shouldn’t just be proud of the servicemen and women with you in your work, and you shouldn’t just be proud on behalf of your families and communities but I hope you do also know that you make the whole nation very, very proud indeed.”
Source: Telegraph, Daily Mail
Most members of the House of Windsor gathered at or near the Cenotaph to mark Remembrance Sunday, the day Britons reflect on those who died fighting for their country.
 Click here for images from the ceremony at Daylife.com Queen Elizabeth II led the memorial with members of the government, including Prime Minister David Cameron and other politicians, plus religious and military leaders.
In addition, more than 7,000 former soldiers marched past the Cenotaph along with 60 war widows.
After the march, at 11am local time, there was a two minute silence as the Big Ben chimed.
To end the silence, artillery fire echoed around the area. Buglers of the Royal Marines played the melody of The Last Post – which often signals the end of a soldier’s day.
Then Her Majesty laid a poppy wreath at the memorial, followed by her husband, Prince Philip.
 Click here to see images at Zimbio.com The rest of the royals who laid wreaths did so according to seniority: Charles, William, Andrew, Edward, Anne, and the Duke of Kent.
Watching from the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth building were the two Duchesses, Camilla and Catherine, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex and wife of Prince Edward, and also Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, the husband of Princess Anne.
The way it goes in the family is that since those were not born royal, they cannot lay wreaths during Remembrance Sunday. They can lay memorial wreaths during other events such as state visits, just not at the Cenotaph.
Prince Harry was the one senior royal not in the country today. Instead, he attended his Army Air Corps’ remembrance service parade in Arizona, where he is training as a Apache helicopter pilot.
This year marks the 90th year since the Royal British Legion began holding Remembrance Sunday ceremonies.
Sources: BBC, Telgraph, Daily Mirror
 Click here to see more related photos It was announced Thursday the Prince William, second in line to the British throne, will spend six weeks next year deployed to the Falklands. His Royal Highness will be doing search and rescue duties, as he already does in the RAF.
The RAF said in a statement Flight Lieutenant William Wales, as he is known in the military, would “complete a routine deployment to the Falkland Islands as part of a crew of four personnel during February-March 2012″.
“This deployment forms part of a normal squadron crew rotation and will form part of Flt Lt Wales training and career progression as a search and rescue pilot within the RAF.”
Having the Prince in the Falklands during that time will come on the 30th anniversary of the 74 day Falklands War, where Britain and Argentina battled over the chain of islands.
Some say having the future King of the U.K. in the Falklands would show the country’s further insistence that they own those islands.
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner once said her country’s sovereignty is “non-negotiable”. In June, she also called Britain a “crude colonial power in decline”.
Meanwhile, Prince William is said to be very pleased over his deployment. He had often spoke of not having his status prevent him from being treated like any other serviceman.
However, his wife, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge will not be able to join him. The couple will experience a six week separation.
Source: Sky News
Wednesday morning saw the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge take part in their first humanitarian cause outside of the United Kingdom, as they flew to Denmark to visit a UNICEF emergency supply center. The depot is sending food and medical supplies to east Africa, with Somalia being the main target. That country is facing its worst famine in decades.
 Click here to check out more photos Who was there to greet them and join them in their visit to the center? Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary. This was the first time Catherine met the Danish crown princely couple since they did not attend her April wedding, but William has met Frederik a few times previously.
At the aid depot, the royals were given a tour of the place. They sampled some of the food, such as a high protein peanut paste, but the Duchess reportedly declined for unknown reasons.
This whole visit was instigated by William and Catherine because, according to St. James Palace, they are very concerned with the famine occurring in the region. They also have ties to East Africa. It is where they became engaged last year, they have friends in Kenya, and the Prince once spent part of his gap year there.
“The two couples felt they wanted to do something more to bring the profile of the tragedies back into the public domain,” a spokesman for St. James Palace said.
After the tour of the supply center, William said this: “I think what impresses me the most is that there is just an incredible amount being done.”
“UNICEF are leading the way and they’re doing a fantastic job and sadly there’s still a lot more to do and that’s why we’re here today, to try our best to … get as many people as possible realising the truly horrendous situation that’s going on in east Africa.”
Giving her first interview since the announcement of her engagement nearly a year ago, Catherine said, “It’s really just how shocking the situation still is.”
“It’s been going for 100 days or so and it’s really still ongoing, and a huge amount still has to happen with hundreds of children still malnourished at the moment. Hopefully we can do as much as we can really.”
Drought and food shortages are leaving 13 million people in east Africa on the brink of starvation, with more areas being included in the crisis. So far, 320,000 children are facing malnourishment and are near death.
Crown Princess Mary personally saw the struggles when she visited the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya in late August.
Sources: AFP, The Daily Mirror
During Friday’s Commonwealth of Nations summit in Perth, Australia, it was unanimously agreed to give girls equal rights to the British throne. This changes centuries where boys were given preference over their sisters.
 Click here for original photo This ruling means that when William and Catherine have a first born daughter, she’ll be the next heir to the monarchy, even if she has a younger brother.
At the same time, monarchs can marry those of the Roman Catholic faith, though they must remain members of the Church of England.
The succession changes are only for Prince Charles’ descendants, however. That means if his nieces, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie marry Catholics, they’ll lose their chance for the throne.
Prime Minister David Cameron hailed this historic move.
“The idea that a younger son should become monarch instead of an elder daughter simply because he is a man, or that a future monarch can marry someone of any faith except a Catholic — this way of thinking is at odds with the modern countries that we have become,” he said.
With this agreement, the procedure to pass this law shall begin. In addition, the United Kingdom becomes the latest European monarchy to allow equal primogeniture. Earlier this year, Luxembourg joined the list. The other countries are Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.
The countries that still have male preference are Spain, Monaco and Liechtenstein.
Source: CNN
Last week saw British Prime Minister David Cameron get the ball rolling on changing the succession laws to the throne. Under the current law, boys have a better chance at being monarch over a sister, even if she is the first born.
 Click here for more photos of Her Majesty But now, with Prince William finally being married and the possibility of him and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, providing an heir soon, talk over allowing first born girls inheriting the monarchy is getting stronger.
It is said even William’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, supports what is called equal primogeniture and is encouraging Cameron to pursue changing the law.
On Friday, the Prime Minister began to long and complex road to allowing equal primogeniture by contacting his counterparts in the Commonwealth’s 15 countries to see if they also support the move. All countries that have the Queen as head of state have to agree on allowing the first born child – regardless of gender – to inherit the throne in order for the law to pass.
The Queen is said to be pleased that this all taking place just ahead of her tour of Australia later this week. During her trip, she will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth. It is certain the subject of changing the succession law will come up.
Another issue that might change is allowing Roman Catholics to marry the heir to the throne. Under the current law, that is forbidden.
Queen Elizabeth, however, is believed to be less enthusiastic about that since she reportedly thinks it could hurt the monarch’s position as head of the Church of England.
Supposedly, though, the law will insist that the monarch remain a Protestant.
Source: Telegraph
 Click here to read more at Daily Mail Thursday night saw the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge quietly go to a charity gala at St. James Palace in London. The event was held by the 100 Women in Hedge Funds, a charity Prince William supports, and it raised money for the Child Bereavement Charity, another one the Prince supports.
Before the gala kicked off, William gave a speech where he discussed the pride he felt for both organizations.
“I find it enormously rewarding and gratifying to observe how two organisations which mean so much to me are working so superbly with one another,” he said.
“What you are both doing together to alleviate the suffering of children who have lost family members, and bereaved families who have experienced the tragedy of losing a child, is beyond praise.”
The event raised £675,000 for the Child Bereavement Charity.
About 300 women from the hedge fund sector joined the Duke and Duchess for the gala.
William wore a black tie tuxedo while his wife, Catherine, dazzled in a red low cut dress with billowing sleeves. The dress was designed by Beulah London.
Source: Daily Mail
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