Epsom Derby/Jubilee Updates & Two Of Kate’s Hats Being Auctioned

We share a brief recap of some of today’s events and a look ahead at Jubilee events.

Day one of the four-day Jubilee celebrations started with military gun salutes, below we share a photo from one of the saluting points, the Tower of London, with thanks to CNN’s David Wilkinson.

David Wilkinson, CNN (@Wilkinson_David)

The Queen enjoyed one of her favorite activities, watching races at the Epsom Derby. Below we see her arriving with Prince Philip, she was in a royal blue ensemble by Stewart Parvin with a coordinating hat by Rachel Trevor-Morgan.

More from the Telegraph:

Anthony Cane, Epsom Downs Racecourse chairman, said: “At the end of the day, her love is to come here. “You have to remember, she comes here in a normal year in a private capacity not on an official visit. But she comes because she loves it….”

The jewels worn by the Queen today carry quite a bit of history, according to The Jewellery Editor, HM wore the “diamond and sapphire brooch belonging originally to Queen Mary…given to her by the Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia and was later given to the Queen in 1953.” Our thanks to WKW Facebook friend Betsy for letting us know about the jewelry story.

The Queen was accompanied by a number of royals, including Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, Eugenie with Union Jacks painted on her nails. Although many expected William, Kate and Harry to be on hand, they did not attend.

Even Google was in the spirit, creating a special Google Doodle in honor of Her Majesty.

Google

I hadn’t realized how tech-savvy Queen Elizabeth is until seeing this story from ZDNet:

More than 20 years later in the very early days of the Internet, in 1976 the Queen became the first monarch to send an email.

Remaining with the technological times, the Royal family launched its website in 1997, and kept up-to-date in launching a YouTube stream in 2007, a Twitter account in 2009, a Facebook page in 2010.

Nor is this the first Doodle dedicated to Queen Elizabeth, below we share one created in 2008 when the monarch visited Google’s London headquarters.

Google

It looks like almost everything is ready for tomorrow’s Thames Diamond Jubilee River Pageant, the tall ships have arrived. The BBC has an interactive feature on the Pageant. Sky News has a story from today with aerials that demonstrate the enormous scope of the Pageant.

Sky News

Pageant event times:

• 14:30GMT The Queen embarks on the Royal barge, the Spirit of Chartwell, near Albert Bridge

• 16:15GMT The Royal Barge comes alongside HMS President (Royal Naval Reserve Unit), near Tower Bridge

Resources:

• Official Diamond Jubilee site is here
• Thames River Pageant site is here
• Thames River Pageant Facebook page is here
• Thames River Pageant Twitter is here
• The Jubilee Hour encourages people to volunteer for one hour in recognition of the Queen’s service
• The Jubilee Trust is honoring HM by raising funds throughout the UK, the Commonwealth, and the world, donations will be used to fund charitable projects

We have television programming for the USA as described by USAToday, with thanks to Ella Kay, you may also want to visit her blog for additional US television info.

BBC America will broadcast it live in the USA starting at 8 a.m. ET. CNN will broadcast live for two hours starting at 11 a.m. ET, anchored by Piers Morgan and Brooke Baldwin. NBC Weekend Today and CBS This Morning will report live. Excerpts of the day’s events later on network and cable news broadcasts.

Tuesday: BBC America will broadcast it live from 4:15 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. ET and 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET. ABC’s Good Morning America will cover the day live in the morning; World News With Diane Sawyer and Nightline will cover excerpts later. On NBC, starting at 7 a.m., Matt Lauer will co-anchor split edition of Today with Meredith Vieira reporting live. Excerpts on other network, cable news broadcasts later. CNN will broadcast live for two hours starting at 9 a.m. ET, anchored by Piers Morgan and Brooke Baldwin.

Ella also shares that CBS is streaming the River Pageant live on CBSNews.com.

The BBC America site offers more information and the programming schedule.

BBC America

The Jubilee has prompted a sizable quantity of fabulous writing about the Queen’s history & heritage, as well as other related topics. There is no way we can offer any kind of compendium, other than sharing a very few of the pieces we enjoyed reading and/or viewing, like the Telegraph’s pages showing the Queen’s Reign in Front Pages.

The Telegraph

INTERESTING READING/VIEWING:

• For a story loaded with photos of today’s celebrations, The Daily Mail’s piece is a good choice
• The Telegraph’s interactive timeline
• 60 Years of Fashion Hits, also from the Telegraph
• Marie Claire UK offers 60 Years of the Queen’s Style 
• The NY Times’ Room for Debate asks “Why Do Americans Love Royalty?” (Our thanks to Stephanie Dahle for the tip on this one.)
• Arguably the most comprehensive (and fascinating) feature is “A Jubilee Tribute to The Queen by The Prince of Wales,” an hour-long documentary by the BBC with extraordinary video, photos and interviews.

BBC1

The Sunday papers are filled with stories, supplements, and special sections.

Via Sky News

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Our other tidbit today involves two hats Kate has previously worn, they are being auctioned later this month. Our pal Rebecca English of the Daily Mail had the story.

While most fashion watchers assumed that Kate had bought the hats, in fact she hired them from Get Ahead Hats in Reading, part of a farmers’ wives co-operative – near her family home in Berkshire, for around £100 a time.

The Philip Somerville black and white hat worn by Kate Middleton on the occasion of the Order of the Garter being presented to H.R.H. Prince William, 16th June 2008, labelled Philip Somerville, by Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen, the straw toque applied with woven horsehair brim, intersected with black and white plumes,

The black ‘Aurora’ picture hat worn by Kate Middleton on the occasion of the wedding of Harry Meade, in the company of H.R.H. Prince William, 23rd October 2010, labelled ‘Get Ahead Hats,’ with swirling organza crown, transparent wired open-weave brim, adorned with two plumes and a curleque

Each has an estimate of £1,000-£1,500 but are likely go for many times more. Kerry Taylor also auctioned the famous see-through dress that Kate wore as a student when she caught William’s eye for £78,000 last year.

We are a farmer’s wives co-operative networked throughout the UK, trained in millinery skills with beautiful showrooms. Bring along your outfit to one of our 18 luxurious showrooms where our trained milliners provide a free fitting service.

 

Whether you want to buy or simply hire for a few days, this is one extravagance you can afford. Hats can be individually colour co-ordinated to match your outfit for little extra cost.

The Weather Channel

We’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning for the River Pageant! We leave you with a picture of Buckingham Palace tonight, with thanks to BBC1’s Andrew Neil.

Andrew Neil/BBC 1 Twitter Feed (@afneil)

(For more on Monday & Tuesday’s events, this previous post may be of assistance.)