Family Coat of Arms

I think we all know by now about Kate’s new family coat of arms. It was when I came across the article on the Daily Mail’s site, that I thought to have a look again at our families’ coat of arms. The second one is from my dad’s family [and his ancestors arrived in South Africa in the 160o’s from
France]   and the third one is from my mum’s side.  I must add that I’m not sure about my mum’s as my grandad left Holland at a young age. I know, till quite recently, there wasn’t a family coat of arms available and only found this one via a search. So I guess it’s still ‘new’ and I will have to find out more about it. According to South Africa’s Roman-Dutch law, everyone
enjoys the right to bear a personal coat of arms. This is in contrast to English and Scottish laws, which restrict arms to ’eminent’ or ‘virtuous and well-deserving’ ‘ladies’ and ‘gentlemen’, and require arms to be officially granted or recognised.  You can read the meaning of Kate’s coat of arms on the site of the Daily Mail. The link will open in a new window. I’m not sure if I quite ‘like’ Kate’s. Maybe the idea of the oak tree as I grew up with huge oak trees in front of our house. [hehe] Also, I would like to see a mantle around the shield  from my mum’s family, as it looks ‘incomplete’ without the mantle. I have a short description of the coat of arms from the two families, but would like to add the descriptions if I have all the available information.

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William and Kate

Photographer: Mario Testino

Blogging about the Royals as a rule is not my piece of cake, but thought to do it today as the sun is out, it’s a wonderful day – a-picnic-in-the-park-day-  after the horrible weather the past two weeks [and at least there’s some chess involved too]. Official photos of William and Kate have been released.[only two – very stingy of them, I think] Comparing the couple to Charles and Diana [when they got engaged], I would say they look more mature and confident. Diana looked more like the submissive-type of person than Kate – or is it my imagination? I’m not a huge fan of the Royals. When I was a child – about age 9-11, I was a fan of the Dutch Royal House. My mum used to have a book about the Dutch Royal family and I loved paging and reading through the book every now and then.

Charles and Diana – with the announcement of their engagement.

Chess and the British Royals

By reading an article on the site of Chess History – I might take a guess and say that  William might enjoy a game of chess too  – and hopefully, Kate as well – to support the future king-to-be. [hehe] He hasn’t got a choice actually, he needs to follow in the footsteps of his forefathers [lol]  to show l[r]oyalty to the game [hehe].Following quotes from Edward Winter’s site: chesshistory.

Victoria (1819-1901):

On page 74 of the Chess Player’s Chronicle, 1842 a correspondent, ‘H.N., Charter House’, asked: ‘Is not chess an amusement much in vogue with the courtly throng of Buckingham House? and may not her Majesty be numbered among the votaries of Caissa?’ The published reply was: ‘Chess is frequently played at the palace, and not uncommonly by the Queen herself.’

Edward VII (1841-1910):

From page 131 of Lasker’s Chess Magazine, January 1906, page 131:

‘King Edward, we are told, is developing an enthusiasm for chess. In that case, says a writer in Tid-Bits, he is only following in the steps of many of his predecessors on the throne …
Read more on THIS LINK on the site of Chess-History by Edward Winter.

Page 158 of CHESS, 24 December 1954 published a photograph of a game of chess being played by ‘the young sons of the Duke of Gloucester, the Queen’s uncle’, i.e. Prince Richard (born 1944) and Prince William (1941-1972).

Image: chesshistory.com – The young sons of the Duke of Gloucester, the Queen’s uncle, play chess. Prince Richard [left] and the 12 year old Prince William…

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