Royal Recap: 10th May 2021
This week was the first time in over a year that Royal watching began to feel "normal" again. While there were still zoom meetings and masks, for the first time an engagement was announced ahead of time, the Queen was back at an annually scheduled event and each of the royals were able to visit places & charities that focused on some of their pre-pandemic work. All in all, it was a really great week for fans.
The week started with the Queen on a zoom call that she took from Windsor Castle. The call was about the UN's formal adoption of a historic resolution on drowning prevention, an issue the Queen has been involved with since 1941 when she achieved her RLSS life saving award. She revealed she was unaware she was among the first to achieve this award but rather said she "just did it and had to work very hard for it."
The Queen then opened parliament in a scaled back, socially distanced way. The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall accompanied her and offered their support. As per usual, the Queen gave a speech written by the majority party (this year, it was the tories) outlining their policy objectives and future legislation for the upcoming session. It was the 67th time that the Queen has opened parliament during her nearly 70 years long reign.
The Earl and Countess of Wessex then visited Frimley Park Hospital (where both of their children were born) to recognise healthcare workers as part of International Nurses Day. They viewed the new garden space and refurbished staff wellbeing rooms which were funded by NHS Charities Together (which the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are co-patrons of) and Captain Tom Moore (who the Queen had knighted in a special ceremony last summer before his death). The garden features an installation which bears the quote "tomorrow will be a good day" from Sir Captain Tom Moore.
On the same day Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall visited Whittington Hospital where she met with hospital patients, staff, and nurses working for Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity. The Duchess has worked with Roald Dahl's charity for several years now to encourage literacy and reading for kids.
Their Royal Highnesses, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made visits to three mental health based organisations in Wolverhampton. It was the first engagement that was announced ahead of time since the Royal Train Tour in December. Their first visit was to The Way Youth Zone where they played football, table tennis and did a bit of gardening. The Ways uses activity and athletics to help young people transform their lives. They then visited Huggle Pets which uses animal therapy to help young people with disabilities and mental health struggles. William & Catherine were able to meet a bearded dragon and a guinea pig during their visit as well as talking to kids who have used their services. Their last stop was to Base 25 who aim to work in a holistic way to improve the lives of young people ages 3 to 25.
The next day William & Catherine joined other well known mental health advocates in the fourth annual Mental Health Minute. For one minute across every station in the U.K. a message is played to encourage de-stigmatizing mental health and encouraging people to have a conversation with family, friends or professionals should they need assistance with their mental health. It is the second time Catherine has appeared in it while William has participated every year since 2017. Others involved this year included Anne-Marie, Charles Dance, David Beckham, and Jamie Oliver.
If you want to find out more about the work of members of the royal family please visit www.royal.uk