"To be or not to be" Thursday (Viscount Faraway)

Today we will feature one of the most eligible bachelors and also rather controversial characters in our Royal circles. This is none other than the very handsome Viscount Faraway from Britania.  Apart from his noble title he also serves as the current Second Sea Lord of Swann and beyond that is a volatile activist in matters concerning animal abuse and commercial exploitation in relation to marine life. 

Born in Britannia in 1994, His Lordship Admiral Viscount Faraway has been a staunch vegan since childhood. He has always displayed a close, almost obsessive concern for animals balanced only by his tunnel vision in regards to physical fitness. His naval career began somewhat haphazardly, considering where he is today. The first vessel he served upon as a gung-ho 14 year old Naval Academy midshipman, the S.R.S. Daring,  was sunk by a Scotney mine left over from the '96 Revolution. No lives were lost but the young Jack was briefly famous when word of him wading the flooding decks to rescue the ship's dogs reached the press.

This photo displays the 10 year old Lord Jack Faraway cuddling one of the kids from the family estate.

During the revolution, in which his father died, the two year old Faraway and his mother fled to Swanobia. His mother had served the Empress Crystobel as Lady-in-Waiting for years and now had the burden of raising her son as a single mom and also far below the means she was accustomed to. She did however make a success of it through hard work and shrewd financial choices in regards to her son's Switzer trust fund. Growing up at the coast, the young boy was frequently in trouble for sabotaging local fishing vessels, and had to be bailed from prison a couple of times. His youth and exuberance however spared him a conviction. He was also very popular with the town's girls miraculously not needing to ever marry as yet.

 As soon as was possible, Faraway joined Swann's Royal Naval Academy, graduating swiftly. After the incident upon the Daring, the young Viscount had his first, albeit brief, encounter with future friend Prince Daniel, the ruling Duke of Swann whilst at a press conference covering the tragic loss of one of the Kingdom's finest ships. The Duke shook hands with the flash-in-the-pan celebrity, bemusedly commending him for his gallantry, before posing for a single photograph.

Soon after, Faraway spent a tour in the Royal Oceanic Conservation Society which helped educate him towards his plans for becoming an activist/protester.

Here we see Viscount Faraway posed for his official portrait in 2014. He is seen wearing his Family chain of office and the Order of the Polar Star. Behind him is a coronet of rank for a Viscount of the Realm.

His Lordship, Jack Hyland, 3rd Viscount Faraway is, regardless of his swashbuckling pretense, a true Nobleman in the Peerage of Britania and Scot-Britania. He has also received the high honour of being inducted into the Ruskian Order of the Polar star for his work in animal conservation. In 2014 His Lordship was offered the position of Second Sea Lord of Swann and has been its youngest incumbent. The role is a largely ceremonial and advisory one and serves to be the Duke of Swann's direct liaison to the Swanobian Navy.

The Family Crest of the Viscountcy of Faraway is drawn from the family's close connection to the sea which did not originate with the 3rd Viscount but with his grandfather, the 1st Viscount Faraway who was elevated to the peerage by King George V of Britania.

Recently Viscount Faraway was involved with the Principality of Swann and indeed the world's most advanced sea rescue vessel as a consultant sea commander. His input and passion was invaluable in streamlining the program upon its launch into international waters.

The good looking young bachelor has since all the above begun to take the world by storm as an eligible trust fund heir. He has been romantically linked with a runway model, and an Olympian fencer. A night out with Lady Arcwhite had the paparazzi going wild and the gossip columns going even wilder but nothing has seemingly come of that, except that Lady Arcwhite was reported to say that she found the topic of a vegan diet "fascinating".

The Viscount has many interests and tried his hand at many hobbies. Among these have been rock climbing, fencing, scuba diving, bodybuilding, historic fire arms and period airplanes. He has even dabbled in movie making and there is talk of the Duke of Swann and the Viscount possibly producing a period drama film or series.

Last week the Viscount had a dream come true by being allowed to take a fully restored Bi-plane for its first flight since the turn of the former century. He was deeply involved, practically and financially, in its restoration as a museum piece.

It seems His Lordship has broad and bright horizon in view ahead of him. We expect much from him and will keep an eye on what exciting endeavours he finds himself in.

What's Up Wednesday (Lady Arcwhite State Visit to Hispania)

As we said before "State Visit season" has been upon us. For a special treat we have been exposed to nothing other than a State Visit spectacular by Lady Arcwhite who visited Hispania for the first time since her mounting the world stage in 2009. The famous Head of State of the small Island Nation of Arcwhite has some diplomatic publicity to do in order to reassert her nations stability and place in the world after last year's political upheaval. Nobody is more up to that task however than Lady Arcwhite. Her abiltiy to focus and even manipulate media attention coupled with her business savvy and political prowess has done nothing other than miracles for her country and indeed her own image. The State Visit to Hispania was no different.

Lady Arcwhite arrive in state as usual in her white jet and was welcomed at a state banquet held in her honour at the Royal Palace in the capital. She was accompanied by her niece Drealle Mormaer who normally shadows her on these type of trips, as assistant and possible future heir. Queen Maria had her daughter by her side who is also learning the ropes of her future job. 

The two monarchs, Queen Maria of Hispania and Lady Arcwhite are well known fashion rivals and when attending the same functions always create a palpable energy between them. This officially posed photo show the two formidable women exert their characters amicably yet still setting a standard for style that is nothing other than phenomenal. This event was obviously about far more than clothes and jewellery and the new diplomatic ties between the two nations is respectfully advertised by the glitz and handshakes. 

Lady Arcwhite knows how to hold her pose, exude her personality and get the tongues wagging. Her tiara and uncharacteristic black dress looked absolutely stunning yet not over the top as to beg attention. She has never worn the sapphire configuration of this particular tiara and the necklace is very reminiscent of a choker once belonging to the Lancaster jewellery collection.

Queen Maria in green velvet and jewellery from the Hispanian Crown Collection looked the consumate monarch as always. Setting tones of stability and historic continuity, Queen Maria's hosting of an Arcwhite State Visit helps the Island Nation find its feet again by showing support to them after severely troubled times.

On the way back from the Kingdom of Hispania, Lady Arcwhite made a private stop in Pariseum for some shopping and to the paparazzi's shock was spotted on what seemed to be a romantic date.

The paparazzi were constantly following the very stylish Lady Arcwhite around who had almost no security, at least to the untrained eye, while walking through Pariseum streets "incognito".

One evening this photo was taken of Lady Arcwhite arriving at the famous Le Cigne Hotel with none other than the young and handsome Viscount Faraway. An obvious dinner date was on the cards but we can only guess if it was for business or pleasure. Royalty are allowed some free time after all. 

Lady Arcwhite's dress was again very uncharacteristic as she has never worn red in public before. However it was an absolute fashion success. Simple yet devastatingly "in-your-face".

The cosmic Pahlavi Diamond Necklace was the perfect compliment to the red clad Lady Arcwhite who looked happy to smile and wave to the paparazzi.

Ans so our eyes are focused again on Arcwhite and its Lady who is seemingly well on the road to recovery.

What's Up Wednesday (News Flash Duke of Swann and Viscount Faraway)

In our "What's Up Wednesday" slots we update on current events and often we take the time here to focus on smaller events not quite on the grand and official level. 

His Lordship Admiral Viscount Farraway of the Swanobian Naval High Command has committed to a 6 month stint for charity. He has been taken aboard the state-of-the-art Europan Sea Rescue Vessel; Hopeful as its Captain in service of the Europan Council for International Sea Rescue. The Viscount wishes to serve the Sea Rescue Initiative and to focus much needed media attention to the efforts of this vital organization. The Hopeful was wholly financed by the Swanobian Government as an experimental vessel to be produced "en masse" for service around the world.

In this photo His Lordship stands ready to embark on his first sea rescue patrol. The Hopeful is the world's most technologically advanced and best equipped sea rescue vessel in service. She even boasts her own helicopter as can be seen in this photo. 

The Hopeful is also considered to be the fastest rescue vessel ever to have patrolled the Europan coast. She also serves to spearhead the initiative to launch a fleet of 10 of the same in countries ranging from Wallachia in the South East to Arcwhite in the North West. We wish the Admiral Godspeed and praise the Principality of Swann for funding this experimental vessel and its trial run maiden voyage. 

In other current news His Royal Highness, the Duke of Swann was in Ruskiana over the last few days since this last weekend. He sparked a tremendous gossip furor after a photo (pictured above) was snapped by paparazzi of him on Monday evening leaving a Brazilian Restaurant with Countess Tolstoievski in what seemed to have been a very personal moment. The Duke has often been romantically linked with famous unmarried ladies but these have all proven to be false speculation. 

Duke's Court Palace confirmed in an official press release that the Duke's "appointment" with the Countess was purely professional. It stated that the Duke of Swann's intentions with his trip and obviously expensive "night out" was to negotiate funding opportunities with some of the Countess's Charity work in both Ruskiana and South Americania. The Countess is very active in education for orphans in the fields of farming and the arts.  

The Duke's trip to Ruskiana, the Countess Tolstoievski's native country to which she has very recently been invited back after years of exile, was cut short yesterday. He had to fly back urgently as an impending state of emergency threatened due to an unexpected and unauthorized invasion of Swanobian airspace occurred. An unidentified airoplane entered Swanobian airspace under military threat of being shot down declared a "mayday" where after it made an emergency landing at Cygnus Airforce base. The press is still investigating the story. 

Wonderful Weekends (Official Portrait of Viscount Faraway)

In the current vein of official portraits released by Scotney and Britanian Nobility, Viscount Faraway has also made this portrait available to the public. It shows the young Viscount and Admiral of the Fleet in the Principality of Swann standing next to his Coronet of Rank. As per tradition the portrait also features the Family Crest of the Hyland Family that he is a member of. The crest shows the family's link to a maritime history reaching as far back as the mid 1600's.

His Lordship Admiral Viscount Faraway, Baron Hyland and Second Sea Lord of Swann.

What's Up Wednesday (Knighthood of Viscount Faraway)

 Yesterday saw a rare event as Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Ruskiana invested a new member of the Ruskian Order of the Polar Star. This order of chivalry is awarded to exceptional achievers in the field of science in particular serving the Ruskian sub-continent. It has been several years since a new member of the order has been inducted so spirits were high as Admiral Lord Jack Faraway the first Viscount Faraway received his yellow ribband and badge of the Polar Star from Her Imperial Highness. The Viscount was recognized for his work in animal conservation, war against illegal whaling and fishing and research and development in the scientific premise for humans to follow a vegan diet. 

Here we see the Grand Duchess and the Viscount shortly after the induction ceremony held in the Ruskian capital. The Grand Duchess' ceremonial role in service to the Democratic Republic of Ruskiana has been steadily growing in popularity with the people of Ruskiana. 

A detailed photo shows the insignia of the Ruskian Order of the Polar Star.

Grand Duchess Xenia looked regal as she represented the headship of the Order of the Polar Star and the special sanction of the government to honour Viscount Faraway. 

Viscount Faraway is a member of the Britanian and Scot Britanian nobility and also serves as an Admiral of the Fleet in the Principality of Swann's Royal Navy. He is also counted amongst the close friends of the Duke of Swann. His war on illegal whaling and fishing has earned him notoriety and indeed worldwide fame and now official recognition. He is due to engage the Swanobian government for greater financial and military support in his future endeavors.

We wish him all the best.