Queen Elizabeth inspecting the Honour Guard in Ottawa, Canada Day, 2010. © Buckingham Palace Press Office (All Rights Reserved).
The Montreal Gazette has just reported that on July 25, Britain's royal family set up a Flickr photo account here. There are photos going back to the nineteenth century, including pics of Diana and previously unseen shots inside Buckingham Palace. This one popped out at me, as did one of the Queen receiving a hockey sweater with ER on it.
In between the photos of women big hats, the site is full of curious captured traditions. This is the Christmas offering in the Chapel Royal.
The Altar of the Chapel Royal. © Buckingham Palace Press Office (All Rights Reserved).
Caption: "The altar of the Chapel Royal in St. James’s Palace with frankincense and myrrh on a plate in the foreground and 25 gold sovereigns on a plate in the background. Offerings of gold, frankincense and myrrh are made on behalf of The Queen on the feast of Epiphany (6 January) each year. These are the gifts offered, according to tradition, by the Magi to the infant Jesus."
Never been one for the British monarchy or any other, but the idea of preserving traditions in this way is in fact quite cool.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the Brits are great for taking something from a few hundred - or thousand - years ago and making it live right now. The royals are a living time capsule - that's what I was thinking about.
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