Wonderful Weekends (2015 Official Portrait of Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna)

We start this Wonderful Weekend early on a Friday. With excitement growing for the upcoming Imperial Coronation on the 3rd of July, some preeminent Royal personages are catching the wave by releasing official portraits.

This weekend our blog was granted first publishing rights for the new portrait of H.I.H. Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, pretender to the Imperial Throne of Ruskiana.

For this official portrait the Grand Duchess wore the Ruskian Pink Diamond Tiara, the most valuable and most official tiara of the former Imperial Crown Collection. 

Breaking News (Swann Abdication Part 1 - Referendum and Imperial Consent)

An Official Report from the Principality of Swann: 

His Royal Highness, the Prince Daniel, by Grace of God, Sovereign Duke of Swann has declared that he will assume the Most Holy Honour of Grey Cardinal in Succession of the Mithrandir. 

Upon the passing of the Mithrandir, Prince Daniel will renounce all earthly obligations and become the next Mithrandir. He will then be succeeded by the Hereditary Prince of Swann, Prince Dillon who will then become the new Duke of Swann.

It is reported from Swann that, the Mithrandir made his desire for the Duke to become his successor known during last year's Arcwhite crisis when both His Holiness and the Duke worked closely to avert disaster. There was no obligation placed on the Duke to comply to the Mithrandir's request but the opportunity is of such a nature that finally the Duke chose in favour of it after months of thought and purported prayer. It is a very exciting yet bittersweet time for Swann and its beloved Duke as now His Royal Highness, after years as sovereign, may look forward to serve in an even higher call than that as ruler of Swann.

The Duke of Swann is seen above making the Royal Declaration this morning from Duke's Court Palace. It is officially viewed as a type of abdication but in stasis, where the Duke of Swann does not directly step down from the throne but has it on hold for the future event of the Mithrandir's death. The final announcement was made after an internet referendum run over the last two weeks. The results of the poll showed 89% of Swanobian citizens in favour of the Duke following his heart, especially in pursuit of this particular vocation of international self sacrificial service. The poll was run to gauge popular opinion as a courtesy to his people, as in the Principality of Swann, the Duke's autocratic power does not require a referendum to sanction his acts of state. It is now being written into law and after some ceremonials to follow, will be signed and enacted. Once done, the Duke will continue to rule as normal but will begin focussing more on being discipled by the Mithrandir. As such, His Royal Highness will gradually pass more Royal duties to Prince Dillon in order to teach him to become accustomed to his future role as ruler. The unmarried Duke will also officially then be committed to celibacy. He will also have the style Eminent Highness and title of Grey Cardinal added to his own.

His Royal Highness was officially visited earlier this week by his cousin the new Emperor and Empress of the United Empire. The visit was a friendly courtesy and show of familial support in this very special time. The Emperor was the first to know of the Duke's decision before today's official announcement and flew over to see his cousin in person on Sunday. These private photos of the visit was made available to this blog especially for our report. The Duke of Swann was also very happy to show his support  and excitement in return for the upcoming coronation of the Emperor on the  3rd of July.

Empress Odeliah looked radiant on what most consider to be a farewell of sorts as both the Duke of Swann and the former Crown Prince Imperial embark on entirely new life directions.

A poignant handshake was recorded on camera as the future Mithrandir is congratulated by the new Emperor. A new day dawns for Europa and indeed the world.

God save His Royal Highness, Prince Daniel, the Duke of Swann, Prince of the United Empire, Knight of the Order of the Diamond Star, Grand Master of the Order of the Purple Swann and Eminent Grey Cardinal.

What's Up Wednesday (Emperor Christian-Victor Tours Scotney and Britania and Visits Nobles)

His Majesty King Christian-Victor of the Scots and Britons, as the Emperor is known in his home countries, has made a quick tour of the Britanian Isles with his wife Queen Odeliah. The tour is to publicly present himself to his people in this time building up to the coronation in July. As part of the tour that had him visit public parks, museums and government building he also made formal stop overs at three of the premiere Noble Peers of the Realm. 

The King and Queen used a small chartered jet to fly to their first stop, the Britanian city of York where they were scheduled for a walkabout outside the City Hall before sitting down to a lunch with the Mayor of York. They were greeted by an excited crowd which had gathered for hours before the Royal arrival.

The positively spectacular Royal couple was said to enjoy the walkabout tremendously taking almost half an hour to greet and chat to ecstatic onlookers. 

The Queen-Empress stole the limelight but not selfishly by adding shine and glamour to the more reserved King-Emperor. who seemed to prefer the cameras favouring his wife.

From York the Royal couple drove the short distance by car over the border to Glen Coe Castle in Scotney. The ancestral home of the Earl's Dysart was to put them up for their first evening of the tour as the guests of the Duke and Duchess of Argyle. 

The Duke and Duchess of Argyle were the highest ranking Nobles in Scotney to host the Royal Couple and prepared a banquet in their honour of their monarch. The Duchess of Argyle, also Countess Dysart, was more than thrilled to entertain the King and Queen in her Castle. 

Queen Odelia looked radiant in a purple evening gown and the historic amethysts bought a couple of weeks ago at auction. 

The Duke and Duchess looked their stylish selves as usual.

The Duchess wore the Dysart Amethysts piared with a snakeskin metallic print dress.

The historic Amethyst Parure is a new addition to the Imperial Jewellery Collection and had its first outing.

After a tour of some places of agricultural interst on the Scotney border the King and Queen flew back down to Britania  and Castle Sherwood, the Family Seat of the Dukes of Marlboro.

The Duke and Duchess of Marlboro were the highest ranking Britanian Nobles to receive the Royal couple and also hosted a banquet in their Majesties' honour. The Marlboros are the biggest sheep farmers in the country and as such merited an Imperial visit aside from the Noble ties.

The Queen chose a red metallic dresspaired with diamonds and pink pearls.

The Duchess wore the Marlboro Family Tiara and was said to truly enjoy hosting the Imperial couple.

There were times when the Queen-Empress had to go at the glamour alone while her husband attended to the more "boring" engagements. Here she is seen one evening by herself attending the opening night of a theater production in the Scotney Capital while the King-Emperor was at a meeting discussing tourism in the extreme north of Scotney.

The tour was a great opportunity for Queen Odeliah to really showcase some of the Imperial jewellery and that she did. Here we see her wearing the rubies she inherited from Empress Crystobel on their first public outing.

Finally another dinner with the Marchioness of Londonderry on the way back to the Aldarian Palace. The Empress had more opportunities to wear a tiara in this week than she normally gets over a 6 month period. As such she gave her new amethysts a second outing. Traveling with so much historic jewellery is a logistic and security nightmare so she had to limit her options slightly.

The Marchioness looked radiant in a turquoise dress and the Londonderry Tiara.

Queen Odeliah added some variety by wearing the necklace along with the rest of the parure.

The Marchioness was quoted to be very honoured by the Royal visit and hopes that the restoration of the monarchy would bring prosperity to all the people of the Scot-Britanian Isles.

As we move closer to the coronation the atmosphere is gradually building up to the greatest excitement felt in decades.

What's Up Wednesday (The Crown Jewels of Franconia Display)

Taking its ques from the recent developments in Scotney and Britania, Franconia has not been one to lag behind when it comes to topics of national pride. With the recent resurgence of Royal popularity all over Europa, Franconia has also done its part to reconstitute what may be seen as a National Crown Jewels Collection for the sake of remembering and preserving history. The main incentive in this endeavour was the miraculous discovery of the Franconian Royal Queen Consort Crown in the secret vault in Reichenthal. The truly historic find of a national treasure though lost to history caused a public outcry for preserving it and its historic legacy in the context of a national museum. The head of the Royal House in pretense to the Franconian throne, Prince Louis D'Pont Du Lac seized the opportunity to get involved. With funding from the Bank D'Rothchild and the government plans for a national exhibition center focused on the Royal History of Franconia was set in motion and is now finally completed.

His Royal Highness, Prince Louis D'Pont Du Lac now elevated to Prince of Franconia, agreed to accompany our photographer on a small tour of the new exhibit.

The Chateau Lafitte in Lyon will henceforth be the permanent home of the national exhibit.

This photo shows the main exhibition area where the Crown Jewels of Franconia, inclussive of the new replica crown, the historic Queen's Crown and the Goutte De La Mer Sapphire Tiara will be displayed. 

Prince Louis poses for a photo-op in the new exhibition hall. 

The Crown of Franconia, a modern replica made to exactly copy the original crown in appearance and materials, can be seen in its pride of place under its reinforced glass dome.

The Queen Consort's Crown shares a similar home...

...and so does the historic tiara, set with one of the world's largest and most valuable sapphires. 

Prince Louis confessed his hopes that the exhibit will attract many visitors and tourist and thus be of an educational and publicity value and an economic contribution to Franconia. The Prince and his family also stand to gain from their own private investment and so to take even greater steps in becoming more and more of a diplomatic force for their country.

Memory Monday (Last Official Portrait Photo Shoots of Empress Crystobel)

We are fast approaching the coronation to be held on the 3rd of July but what we must not forget is that two years ago close to the end of June 2013 Empress Crystobel was assassinated on a friendly diplomatic visit to Britania. Being the previous co-ruler of Scot-Britania and the mother of the now restored monarch of Britania and Scotney it seems appropriate after yesterday's Mother's Day Celebration, that we make mention to the Empress in some posts leading up to the coronation.

The Empress Crystobel has never ceased to been mentioned in the media and rightly so with the cosmic rise in popularity of the former Royal and then Imperial Family of Scotney and Britania. Now with the restoration of those monarchies and the advent of King Christian-Victor's election to the title of Emperor is is even more relevant to make regular mention of his illustrious mother. Providence had it that some archive photos have come to light from the Aldarian Palace as renovations took place over the last few months. A set of entirely forgotten portraits of Empress Crystobel was  found still undeveloped in an old secretarial file cabinet in what was formerly the administrative office of the household staff. These photos have been developed and digitized especially for our post today. 

The photos depict the Empress in 1994 shortly after the creation of the Empire, posing officially in a resplendent silver dress and family jewellery within the Cathedral of the Lion Heart for what must have been a range of photos intended to be State Portraits. The style of the photos however are extremely relaxed and not as formal as one expects from State Portraits. These exude a softness that lend them an esoteric feel inviting the onlooker into what seems to be a more intimate glimpse into the Empress life albeit set in the historic and austere setting of the cathedral.

Empress Crystobel, in this haunting photo is clearly an Empress but appears almost ethereal as it seems like she is hovering toward the onlooker.

A gentle yet pensive smile can be seen as Empress Crystobel avoids eye contact in this close up. The avoidance of eye contact ironically just seems to draw the onlooker deeper into the photo.

Here Her Imperial Majesty, appropriately and serenely pose at the Imperial throne upon which her and her husband was crowned. At the moment of crowning she publicly accepted the heavy burden of  responsibility to be the face and figurehead of an entire two nations.

The contrasts are clear as the beauty and regality of the photo also implies the gravitas and austerity of being Royal and being that before a people and God.

The highly artistic set of photos were taken by an unknown photographer as all records of the shoot have bee lost and nobody who may have memory of them are still alive after the 1996 revolution.

One sometimes forget that Empress Crystobel was also the Queen of Scotney in her own right and bore that title with pride before she became Empress. Being Queen was her first duty and also a separate commitment. She had a set of "new"State portraits taken in the capacity of Queen of Scotney almost a year after being crowned Empress. These photos were also thought lost but were found in the same file as the aforementioned set taken in the cathedral. Above we see one of the spectacular 1994 Scotney State Portraits. The negatives were in slightly better condition so allowed for better resolution upon development.

The last official time the Crown of St.Christian was used was for this 1994 set of State Portraits. It can clearly be seen in detail in this close up photo.  Parts of the famous ruby parure was also worn for this photo along with the Order of the Diamond Star and the red Royal Mantel of Scotney. 

We miss the Empress and truly enjoyed these long lost photos albeit with a bit of bittersweet reminiscence. However with the new day dawning we can but look forward to what it may bring.

"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 (Coronation 2015 Preparations)

With expectation running high for the upcoming coronation of a new king and now Emperor to boot, preparations for the "event of the century" are fervently underway in the Scot-Britanian Isles. The governments of Scotney have both allocated budgets for the event that will co-labour with Emperor Chritian-Victor's own expenditure to make this truly a day to remember. The Europan Council is also committed to do their share even though the appointment of Emperor, is seen merely a bureaucratic announcement to them and a coronation ceremony was not expected but will now be included. The date has thus been set for Saturday the 4th of July 2015 making Friday 3rd a bank holiday. 

The last event of such scale as this coronation promises to be, was the 1993 Coronation of Empress Crystobel and Emperor Christian of the United Empire of Scot-Britania. Most records and photos of that event was destroyed in the 1996 Revolution but some have survived. Above we see one of those very few photos of the Empress and Emperor on that day. It attests to its grandiosity and we can only wonder and be inspired as to how our new millennium coronation might look.

A photo of Princess Augusta also survived seen here as she appeared at the 1993 Coronation. She chose, as per her preferences at the time extreme minimalism, wearing only the coronet and order of chivalry required by protocol.

Now let us take a look at some of the preparations for the upcoming event.

This is the Invitation template prepared to go out to all the dignitaries asked to the June 2015 Coronation.

Preparations are obviously in full swing with organizing venues, parades, jewellery etc. Local town councils are also setting up public viewing screens as many might opt for a open festivity rather than staying at home and watching it on television. Diplomatic arrangements and security management of visiting V.I.P.'s pose the biggest issues. Hotels are reporting highest recorded booking rates as people from all over the world plan to flock the streets on coronation day.

No detail is overlooked. Earlier this year many restoration projects were undertaken refurbishing much of Scotney and Britania's Royal historic artifacts and other treasure. Now they will be given full context in relation to the coronation. A small statue of King Edward VII in the Cathedral of the Lion Heart had taken some wear over the decades but has been totally restored and with the rest of the cathedral will be the central venue for the event. 

The Cathedral of the Lion Heart is almost completely restored setting the stage for the coronation.

The cathedral has been closed to the public during restoration and now for preparation for the July event.

The public can follow the preparations here on our blogt. 

The Throne of Scot-Britania has been moved to its coronation location in the north anex of the cathedral.

The Coronation Coach, kept at the Imperial Mews has also been restored and will definitely be  used to carry the new Emperor to and from the cathedral during the processional parade through the streets of Londinium.

Madame Frumsetta, world famous couturier, has been asked to restore the blue Imperial Robes of State to their former glory. The red Royal Robes on the other hand have been sent to a Scotney Couturier for the same treatment.

The Imperial Robes of State can be seen in this photo being inspected and fitted onto the Imperial couple.

Emperor Christian-Victor can be seen admiring the detail on his wife's robe. 

This photo alludes to the upcoming grandeur of the coronation ceremony as Empress Odeliah strikes a regal pose next to the Emperor. So our imagination starts to wonder in expectation.

The flags of both countries, Scotney and Britania have been altered to commemorate the change from democracy to democratic constitutional monarchy.

Britania's flag as a monarchy.

Britania's flag as it has been from 1996 till 2015.

Scotney's monarchic flag.

Scotney's flag as a democratic republic.

In preparation for the coronation the Mausoleum of the former Emperor and Empress of Scot-Britania have also received attention.

The Imperial Mausoleum was visited by Emperor Christian-Victor and Empress Odeliah this week to remember the Emperor's parents and to celebrate their legacy and the restoration of monarchy.

It was as much a moment of symbolic statesmanship as a very private and what must have been an emotional one for the Imperial couple.

Their Majesties even in personal reflection did look sufficiently regal, again alluding to a colourful, inspiring and hopeful future as Emperor and Empress. It seems that forgiveness and time does heal all wounds and where great tragedy and loss has sought to destroy now a new day is about to dawn.