St. David's Day Visit Post Reprise 3 Royal Ladies at Fortnum & Mason's

Hi there! It's a celebrating things Welsh, Wales and Fortnum and Mason's for St. David's Day.

St. David is the patron saint of Wales, which is a part of the United Kingdom. Prince Charles is the heir to the English throne and is called the Prince Of Wales...

In my post today, I include some parts of a post I did in 2012 which was very popular, for the Welsh National holiday of March 1st...a celebration of Saint David's Day, the patron saint of Wales.

Daffodils and Leeks are the symbols of Wales.

I didn't have a lot with a Wales theme for St. David's Day, but remembered I had this Shelley China, England rested China souvenir creamer...

The creamer features the coat of arms of Wales..so that is appropriate!

The creamer is in the Dainty shape, and is hand applied enamel colors on black transferware.

Crested China meant that it had some sort of o symbol, landmark of coat of arms. They were very popular Victorian and Edwardian souvenirs and were made by several potteries, although Shelley made the best quality items.

 

 

The mark identifies it a Wileman, which made Shelley starting a few years later. This creamer has the Rd#, or British Design Registry number for 1896, meaning that is when the design was registered, so we know it can't have been made any earlier than that.

The Foley China at the top means it was made at the Foley Pottery Wileman had in the district of Foley in Stoke-on-Trent...like Limoges isn't a specific pottery, but a city that potters worked in.

On Thursday (March 1, 2012), Queen Elizabeth II, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge went to one of my favorite places in London for tea and to dedicate a new tea room at Fortnum and Mason's on Picadilly celebrating Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.  Because of the day they were presented with bouquets of daffodils, jonquils and narcissus.

This was the first public engagement of the 3 ladies together after William and Catherine's wedding in 2011. The occasion was the unveiling of a plaque that will hang on Fortnum and Mason's commemorating the revitalization of the area of Picadilly and the renaming of the Fortnum, & Mason tea salon as the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon.

Fortnum & Mason for tea is always a must do for us. We stocked their wonderful tea blends when we had our actual antique shop and tea items business before going exclusively online. The company has been owned by the Weston family for over 300 years. My husband is a Weston, but pretty distant relatives of the tea part of the family. Sigh...

Fortnum and Masons has always been famous for over 200 years for their fabulous hampers or baskets that can be stocked to order with wonderful treats and were de rigeur for any type of a picnic, outing or travel. The royal ladies were each given a hamper with individually chosen goodies for the visit, many drawn form the new line of Diamond Jubilee limited edition food items  FandM created for the Queen's special year.

Catherine sampled tea and of course, the chocolates! She admitted to the tea sommelier that she needs to improve when dealing with tea leaves instead of tea bags.

Fortnum and Mason's is one of the several fab food halls in London that we go to every visit. Not only to pick up treats and have tea or find take away if we are staying in a flat, but just to marvel at the artistry of retailing like art and just to see what's there. The others are Harrods, and on a lesser scale the Marks and Sparks (Marks and Spencer's) as well. The photos here are from various visits.

 This was a display of Emma Bridgewater ironstone...a contemporary English potter I love!

 This is Burleigh Asiatic Pheasants, a famous English made pattern of transferware.

And of course, we always have tea. The tower was from a trad tea and the other is a smoked salmon plate with scones and clotted cream my husband had on one visit and I forgot to photo my Coronation Chicken with scones and clotted cream for dessert!

The photo above is from a tea time close to St. David's Day, and I don't know if you can tell, but there were Welsh Cakes along with the scones on the middle tier...

My husband had the smoked salmon appetizer as well...there are lots of choices besides the regular normal English tea menu...

I hope you enjoyed our teatime for St. David's Day!
Have a wonderful week!
I am joining
Tuesday Cuppa Tea 
Friends Sharing Tea

Happy Birthday Queen Victoria!

Today, May 24th is Queen Victoria's birthday. She was born in 1819 to HRH the Duke and Duchess of Kent...she is 2 in this drawing....

Victoria was born at Kensington Palace, where William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are now living with their family, and a favorite place of ours to visit and have afternoon tea at the Orangery... this is my favorite view approaching the front gates...

 At the time of her birth, Victoria was 5th in line for the throne. She was christened Alexandrina Victoria, and chose to be called Victoria after she became queen, after the deaths of her intervening relatives in the accession in 1837 at the age 0f 18. She led a restricted and isolated life until her accsession, but apparently was able to withstand pressures to be very much a woman of her own...

 

This portrait is by Sir George Hayter, and was done in 1840 shortly after she became queen and ushered in the Victorian era...ultimately becoming Britain's oldest reigning monarch, surpassing her ancestor Queen Elizabeth I. That record stood until Queen Elizabeth 2 surpassed it in December of 2007, and then became the longest reigning British monarch in September 9, 2015. Long may she still reign!

 Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg Gothe (there are various spellings), a 3rd cousin, in February of 1840. They had 9 surviving children and were a devoted couple until his untimely death with typhoid in 1861, plunging the queen into a deep mourning she never really recovered from.  Above is a rare early photo of the couple with all their children at Osborne House, Isle of Wight from the Royal Collection.

 This is a pair of 1861 brass mourning dishes from 1861 commemorating their dates together.

Victoria died in 1901, having had her 50 year Golden Jubilee in 1887...

And her Diamond Jubilee of 60 years on the throne in 1897...this is from my personal collection...given me by my grandmother who attended the jubilee festivities herself in 1897 in her native Leicester....

 So wishing Queen Victoria a Happy Birthday...a momentous reign of great progress...I wouldn't like to live among the sanitary conditions at that time, but there were some aspects of beauty, ornamentation, civility and family values that resonate with me still...

Wedding Anniversary Queen Elizabeth and Philip, Diamond Jubilee Teacup, Thanksgiving

It is torrential rain interspersed with sunshine here in the Pacific Northwest.Forecast to be a drier and warmer than usual winter...it has been exactly the opposite so far...go figure!

Thanksgiving is this week, and we are looking forward to the official national day to be thankful for the many blessings we have. I don't want it to be only one day of the year, but I want my life to be lived in the attitude of thankfulness to God for His blessings!

 November 20, 1947 Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip of Greece, in....as royal weddings go...a small and cost conscious post war ceremony.  They had their 67th wedding anniversary just a few days ago....

The young couple...when they were engaged, and below...just a few weeks ago...a couple aging together....

I love this photo!..My teacup today is one of the few made for the wedding by Paragon, England. And it was another simple post war idea...another previously made design was reused with the addition of the wedding bell border added. Very simple...

The bottom bears the Royal warrants of Queen ElizabethII's mother Queen Elizabeth...wife of King George VI...and her grandmother...wife of King George V...Queen Mary.  Pretty and simple. Robin's Egg blue was said to be the bride's favorite color at the time.

Wedgwood did a fancy and huge mug for their 25th anniversary in 1972 by designer Richard Guyatt which is quite spectacular. The trim is platinum and the mug is gorgeous!

They are very hard to find! I loved this one!

 

I don't have a more current wedding cup and saucer or mug, but I do have a Diamond Jubilee cup and saucer made for the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II ascending to the throne. I love the smiling portrait on that...

Isn't that lovely? I think it's a great image of a wonderful woman who has shouldered a tremendous job and done it with integrity and grace. Her image is surmounted with the crown and surrounded by the rose for England, the thistle for Scotland, daffodils for Wales and the shamrock for Ireland.

The teacup and saucer is bone china, made by Heirloom, England, one of the new small potteries to emerge since the last major consolidation and closing of potteries in the early 1990s. May they long survive and continue to make pottery in the UK!

Thanksgiving is one of the times I get out the old issues of Victoria magazine...this is the September/October 2008 issue, and I fell in love with this natural material wreath...

 I hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends, and don't forget to share...or at least think about...the many blessings we take so for granted. We are indeed a people truly blessed...don't let the negative get in the way of our appreciation for our many blessings! God is good!

 I am joining these lovely blog parties....

Tuesday Cuppa Tea with Ruth 

Tea Cup Tuesday with Martha

Tea Time Tuesday with Sandi 

                                     Tea in the Garden with Bernideen