Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

In the United Kingdom and in other countries with an attachment to the British Commonwealth, it is a custom to hear the Queen’s annual Christmas message. The FIRST Royal Christmas message was broadcast in 1932 by King George V, at the insistence of Sir John Reith to introduce the Empire Service (now known as the BBC World Service). The king was most reluctant to deliver a message on the ‘wireless’ but addressed his subjects in a speech written by his friend, author Rudyard Kipling. And so began an annual event …  King George V delivering a Christmas Day message  I have been watching the second series of The Crown and discovered that in 1956 for the first time ( and only time) , Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip broadcast separate Christmas messages. Prince Philip was away at the time on the Royal Yacht Britannia touring the Commonwealth, and delivered his Christmas message from there. The Queen, spending Chtistmas with the family at Sandringham House, not only del...

It is not easy finding a Christmas celebrity whose name starts with Q ... so today I am featuring three!  Q is for "Queen of Christmas", Quentin Blake and "Queen" the band.  https://www.amazon.com  1. Fol lowing on from Pollyanna yesterday, I  decided to feature another  fictional literary heroine,  the self-appointed Queen of Christmas, of the Ann Estelle stories by Mary Engelbreit. The Queen of Christmas  has been working on "The List" since just after Christmas last year. After all, if she forgets  anything , "that would make Christmas not quite as wonderful as it should be." So, although she has a marvellous time ice-skating with Grandma, perhaps a sparkly red skating outfit would make it better. And going sledding with her father on his old wooden sled is great, but still, it might be nice to have a brand-new plastic one. In my illustration, the Queen of Christmas has a couple of things sorted - a "Special Dad " p...