Dunoon London Mug, How the Buttons tell the Queen's Guards Apart

Hello and welcome to my contribution to Tuesday Cuppa Tea with Antiques And Teacups, and the other blogs listed below.

This is a really cute large bone china London mug by Kate Mawdsley for Dunoon China, England. I love her designs! This has a Q!ueen's Guard soldier, a Royal Horse Guard and even a Corgi, Queen Elizabeth's favorite dog.

About 2 weeks ago, I mentioned that my husband had been in the Coldstream Guards, one of the 5 regiments that make up the Queen's Brigade of Guards, and mentioned that you can learn to tell them apart by the differences in their uniforms. I had several emails asking me to explain, so...here goes.

The Queen's Own Brigade of Guards are actually crack troops drawn from 5 different regiments. They can be guarding the Palaces and the Queen for several months and then be off anywhere in the world in the next moment. My husband "found the guard" as it is called in a red tunic and bearskin hat for several months then his regiment was sent to various places for tours of duty then back again to London and the Palaces. He was in Germany and the Suez area.

The units that make uf the Brigade of Guards are:
Coldstream Guards
Grenadier Guards
Irish Guards
Welsh Guards
Scots Guards 

Check out the buttons, because that is the best way to tell the soldiers apart.  They all alternate at the Palaces, and all wear red tunics. The only way you can telol them apart easily is by the order or configuration of the buttons. Their collar, cal and shoulder insignias are different as well, but the buttons is the easiest to spot.  By the way, all Guardsmen must meet a height minimum of 6 feet tall...more intimidating.

I am starting with the Coldstream Guards, because it is my husbands old unit.

 This is a Coldstream Guard tunic photo I took at the Guards Museum in London....well worth a visit by the way.  Notice the configuration of the buttons being in sets of 2. The Coldstream Guards are affectionately known as the "Chilly Rivers".

This is the Grenadier Guard unit that was heading from St. James Palace to Buckingham Palace. Note that there are no gaps in the buttons.

The Irish Guards are next with their buttons in sets of four. Prince William was married to Catherine Middleton in the uniform of the Irish Guards.

The Welsh Guards have thri buttons in sets of 5. The above photo from the BBC archives is 2 Welsh Guardsmen who have just graduated from training with their first uniforms. Below thm is a photograph of King Edward VIII in the uniform of a Welsh Guard. Edward abdicated the throne in favor of George VI so he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson in 1937.

Lastly are the Scots Guards with their buttons in sets of 3.

So I hope when you see the festivities for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee in June you will be able to tell which unit is which!

For more info on the Dunoon London mug at Time Was Antiques, click on the photos.  I am joining the following blogs. Have a wonderful day and have a cup of tea with and enjoy your day!

Ruth ~ http://antiquesandteacups.blogspot.com/
Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Terri~  http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday

Trisha~  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/ 
Tea Party Tuesday

Sandi  ~  http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com

Teatime Tuesday

Kathy~  http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com
Victoria - A Return to Loveliness

Martha~  http://www.marthasfavorites.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday 

Ruth  ~ http://timewasantiquesfamily.blogspot.com

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Bernideen’s ~ http://bernideensteatimeblog.blogspot.com/

Friends Sharing Tea Wednesday

Angela  http://teawithfriends.blogspot.com/

Tea With Friends

Miss Kathy ~ http://thewritersreverie.blogspot.com/

Celia ~ http://attitudeivlife.blogspot.com/  Afternoon Tea

Wanda Lee ~ http://theplumedpen.blogspot.ca Tuesday Teatime 

Ivy And Elephants ~http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

 

Royal Wedding Wednesday - Charles And Diana Wedding Gifts pt 2, Belleek Shamrock items

Welcome to Royal Wedding Wednesday with part 2 of the wedding gifts received by Prince Charles and Princess Diana at their wedding in 1981.


The comments I have received are mostly of amazement at the very ordinariness of the gifts. The same sort of things you or I might have received...although not 1,000+. And the biggies were probably not part of the exhibit at St. James Palace in London where I got this gift catalog I am sharing from So.... Some of the photos are from the stock past or present of my website Time Was Antiques and several are courtesy of Google.com.


80.    a pair of pillowcases                                       Northern Ireland
81.     a silver toothpaste tube key                         USA

                
82.   a photograph album                                              Australia
83.  Austrian lead crystal paperwieght                  London
84.  a "Good Luck" black cat                                        West Midlands
85.  a large Wedgwood mug                                        Surrey
88.  2 crochet mats                                                           Yorkshire
91. a Goblin radio Teasmade                                      USA

                                                
97.  a fleet of model ships in case                                              Hampshire
99.  a hand knitted donkey toy                                                  London
103.  an ashtray with photo of hot air balloon                  London
105. a Spode Derby plate                                                             Wiltshire
108. a leather case of needles                                                     Warwickshire
109. a breadboard and loaves in shapes                               Hampshire
112-128 various prints, paintings and sketches                  various
139.  a Herend cache pot                                                               Winchester

148. nine Lalique crystal ashtrays                                           Kenilworth
153.  a pair of glass sparrows                                                      Norfolk
154.  a fishing reel in a velvet case                                            Scotland
158. a rag doll made by donor                                                     Gloucestershire
160. Herend porcelain breakfast set                                         Monaco
171  a Spode breakfast set for two                                             Hampshire
172  a pair of brass wall lights                                                    London
173  tartan travelling rug                                                             Isle Of Man
175 a leather waste paper basket                                              London
177  a pair of bellows                                                                       London

                                 
179.  2 china mice                                                                            Hampshire
188.  a silver toast rack                                                                 London

194.  2 sets of Spode cups and saucers                                     City of Stoke-on-trent
198.  a Royal Copenhagen stag figurine                                  Kings Lynn

199.  small Wedgwood cameo of the Prince Regent                Sussex
200.  a leather traveling address book                                         France


Okay...that's enough for the moment. A very mixed bag!


To change gears, in honor of St. Patrick's Day I want to share several items of Irish Belleek eggshell porcelain with shamrock patterns from Time Was Antiques. I just love them and their luster finish is lovely.

Aren't they lovely? For more info on the Belleek, click on the photos.


I plan to cook my corned beef tomorrow after soaking it to get rid of some of the extra salt. Then I will do half the cooking time tomorrow in the crock pot and finish on Thursday with potatoes,cabbage, onions and carrots. A favorite St. Patrick's Day meal.  Hope you enjoy an Irish flare this week.

And on the news front of the fast approaching wedding of William and Kate, the music was announced today. You can read more about that at this link:
Royal Wedding music

Have a great day...and in the words of a vintage Irish tea towel we sold recently"

May You be in Heaven Half An Hour 

Before The Devil Knows Your Dead.