William And Kate Attend Commonwealth Celebration, Discuss ‘Super Fast’ Prince George
Prince William and Kate Middleton attended the Commonwealth Celebration at Westminster Abbey today along with other members of the royal family, according to reports from the Daily Mail. The annual event is to honor the 53 countries and their 2.3 billion people that make up the Commonwealth whose figurehead is Queen Elizabeth. In addition to William and Kate, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew, and Prince Philip were on hand as the Queen’s pre-recorded speech titled “An Inclusive Commonwealth” was broadcast throughout the Abbey and later to the countries of the Commonwealth. Among her remarks, was this.
“We can always benefit from being open to the ideas and encouragement of those around us… By including others, drawing on collective insights, knowledge and resources, and thinking and working together, we lay the foundations of a harmonious and progressive society.”
The service lasted an hour and included a performance of “Fields of Gold” from Ellie Goulding, who sang at the wedding of William and Kate, along with other testimonies, hymns, and readings as well as a speech from former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan.
The service was broadcast live for the first time ever on BBC and took place just a month before the Queen’s 90th birthday. Charles and Camila were absent due their current five-day tour of the Western Balkans.
The Mirror also reported on Kate’s talk with the children of St. Matthew’s Primary School, Westminster. William and Kate left their children at home in Kensington Palace today, but the school children were curious to know about their son, 2-year-old George. Kate talked about the energy he has. She shared that he has a favorite toy, a scooter. And apparently the royal son of William and Kate keeps them hopping chasing after him as the princess described him saying, “He’s got a scooter. He’s going super fast on it.” Not to fear though, as having sister Charlotte around seems to be helping. Kate rolled her eyes before adding that “It’s hard to keep up with him. Charlotte is keeping him in check?. She’s getting bigger by the day.” Charlotte is 10-months-old. George will be three in July and among other favorite toys of the only son of William and Kate are toy helicopters, cars, and tractors.
William, Kate, and the rest of the royalty met with the congregation following the ceremony at Westminster Abbey. During the reception, the Queen received an early birthday present from the choir, a framed picture of Choir Boy, her first winning racehorse who won the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot in 1953.
William and Kate have been very busy of late. Last week, they visited the headquarters for the XLP project, a mentoring program for young people who are struggling with emotional, behavioral, and relational challenges. They also made a trip last week to a hospital where they met with suicide survivor Johnny Benjamin and the man who saved him, Neil Laybourn. William and Kate used the opportunity to speak about the need to remove the stigma associated with mental illness and suicide. In Style quotes William as saying the following during the visit.
“Someone told me five people a day try to kill themselves. I was just blown away by the statistics. For both of us, the mental health piece has got lots of aspects. It’s such a big issue that we need to do something about it. We feel it’s been raised higher up the ladder. It’s suddenly bubbling just under the surface. Now we need to get up to the next level, to the surface.”
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