Royal couple to visit charities

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are to visit charities in Gloucestershire.

Prince Charles will meet patients with terminal illnesses when he opens Cotswold Care Hospice's new £2.8 million building in Minchinhampton.

He will tour the facilities and meet residents, staff and supporters of the hospice.

Meanwhile, the Duchess of Cornwall will visit the Emmaus charity shop in Market Street, Nailsworth, to meet staff and trustees.

Camilla is a patron of the charity which offers homeless people a home and work through refurbishing and selling donated goods.

She will then head back to Highgrove, in Tetbury, where she will host a reception for staff and children from Latch, the Welsh Children's Cancer Charity.

Tomorrow, Charles will visit the recently refurbished New Brewery Arts centre where he will meet artists and craftsmen.

Queen Elizabeth to celebrate Christmas once every two years...

I just finished reading that, because of the tough economic times, HM Queen Elizabeth II is going to celebrate Christmas once every two years with her staff. The Queen also said that they (staff) behave "outrageously" at the annual Christmas party. In addition, all of the decorating will be with baubles from her shop in Buckingham Palace and the staff gifts would all be the same this year -- a pair of coasters.

Okay, so I'm falling off my chair after reading this. After all, the British government recently seized a profitable Icelandic owned bank branch located in the Isle of Man that held $1 billion in deposits. Surely that could pay for a few Christmas parties at the Palace. It might even leave enough to pay back the depositors about half what is still owed to them.

The irony of this is that Her Majesty's government is a principle responsible for the current conditions that have led up to the royal staff looking forward to a biennial coaster -- expected to be a big hit on Ebay come January 1, 2009.

Seriously, if she is looking to save taxpayers some money one way might be to grant a few of 16 states within the Commonwealth realm their independence and free them from supporting the British monarchy. The Isle of Man has her cousin, HRH Prince David Howe, whom she has recognized as the de jure King of the Isle of Man. And, unlike most royals, David Howe is an experienced businessman and MBA. Perhaps Prince David of Mann could do a more competent job of running the Isle of Man. It's not likely that HRH Prince David would have shut down a profitable off-shore bank as did the British government and serve up coasters to his staff as if they were a coveted gift in recognition for loyal service. That much is sure.


Queen Elizabeth's biennial party
HRH Prince David on Ziki
Linkedin with Prince David Howe
Bigtsight on David Howe


HM Queen Elizabeth II, David Howe, HRH Prince David of the Isle of Man, King of the Isle of Man, David Drew Howe

Case for Royalty

One of my favorite series of books is the PRINCESS DIARIES by Meg Cabot. I really identify with Princess Mia mostly before she discovered she was a princess -- a geeky young girl, vegan and animal rights activist. Though I'm in my, ahem, very early thirties now, I still haven't lost that idealism either. I remember my second year of college reading the first PRINCESS DIARIES and then seeing the movie starring Anne Hathaway a year or so later. I also remember thinking to myself at the time "wow, that is me." Of course without the whole royal princess part of things...that is just a dream.


For anyone not familiar with the story, the book is the diary of Mia Thermopolis, a fourteen-year-old, tall, flat chested, big footed socially awkward teenager who was raised by her liberal artist mother. She visits with her father regularly, whom she believes to be a simple politician (aren't they all), but later discovers he is really a Royal Prince and that she is herself a royal princess and heir to a kingdom.


I absolutely love these books. The movies have been pretty good as well but nothing is as good as the book accept maybe a real-life version of the story. So, imagine the thrill I had over learning the story of David Howe from Maryland. A real-life PRINCE (sans the SS) DIARIES story of guy who finds out he is the heir to the Isle of Man throne; an island in the middle of the Irish Sea off the coast of England.


I remember logging on to my homepage several months ago and seeing the news story about this guy named David Howe, now HRH Prince David of Mann, de jure King of the Isle of Man, pop up. David Howe was just an average businessman from Maryland who had been keeping a blog about his ancestry and was contacted by a royal genealogist from England one day and told he is the heir to an ancient throne. I read the story several times thinking how completely cool it was. I then saw an interview with him on Fox News -- probably the only good interview Faux News has ever done.


The Prince David of the Isle of Man story is really a fairy-tale come true. His supporters in England submitted a claim in 2006 to HM Queen Elizabeth (which by the way, turns out to be his cousin) and when it was not disputed he was officially crowned by an arch-bishop becoming the de jure King of the Isle of Man. Unfortunately for me, he has a family and is married. Which pretty much kills my chances at becoming his princess bride. I'm building that bridge and getting over it. (sigh)


Not dissimilar from the movie version of the PRINCESS DIARIES story, it also seems that HRH Prince David's arrival has made for some controversy. Like Princess Mia's claim where an evil Baron and Baroness sought her title, David Howe also has a few antagonists that have attempted to insert themselves in his true story.


It seems Prince David of the Isle of Man gained a few haters with his attempt to help the plight of a million Aids-Orphans in Malawi, Africa. Yes, you read that right. HRH was criticized for trying to help African children orphaned by the AIDs pandemic. Some complaining that he wasn't doing enough for the Isle of Man, a wealthy off shore tax haven, while others (loyalist to HM Queen Elizabeth, the Lord of Mann) launched character attacks questioning his motives. "Yes, Virginia, I'm sure we can take a great story and try to ruin it."


Royals are typically prepared at an early age to accept their role in society. They are told that the media can be harsh and to ignore critics. As the late Diana, Princess of Wales lamented, even prospective brides of a royal have a difficult time getting used to the media and how cruel it can be. More serious than she may have known, in Princess Diana's case the media ultimately aided in ending her life. So, it is amazing to me that HRH Prince David of Mann seems to have maintained himself through the initial storm.


I wish HRH Prince David of the Isle of Man all the best and I hope to read the book and see a movie soon. His is an amazing story that I'm sure will continue to get better as time passes. The only problem might be pinch marks all over himself because if it were me I'd be pinching myself constantly.

HRH Prince David of Mann
HRH Prince David's Official MySpace page
Story about Prince David
Bio of HRH Prince David Howe Isle of Man
Second bio of Prince David of Mann
Fox News Article about David Howe