Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children
Number 498
The Kings of the Twentieth Century
Hello Everyone
Are you ready to go back to school soon?
Do you wish the summer holidays could go on forever?
Do you have a favourite subject at school and hate others?
Do you ever look at history and get confused over all the names of the kings? There are so many of them – and some have the same name. You have to use their number to tell them apart. That can be confusing too.
When royalty is baptised, many names are usually given to the baby and if anyone comes to the throne, they can choose which one they want to use to be remembered by – and it need not necessarily be the first one on the list.
Last week, l was telling you about Queen Victoria having nine children.
She lived to such a great age that she knew the next four kings in her lifetime.
They were her son, his son and his two sons – so her son, grandson and two great grandsons.
They would become Edward Vll, George V, Edward Vlll and George Vl. (That is 7, 5, 8 and 6 if you can’t read Roman numerals).
Edward Vll became king at the age of 59. He had been Prince of Wales, and king in waiting (pictured at the top of the post), for quite a long time because his mother died when she was very old.
Because his mother was not at all impressed with him, he was kept outside her social circle and was not considered by her to be capable of dealing with political matters. She did not include him in her working life.
He was left to attend social gatherings and state ceremonial functions which he really enjoyed. He also liked travelling and acted as a royal ambassador abroad. He loved hunting on the Sandringham Estate (where the Royal Family now spends Christmas).
He married Princess Alexandra, elder daughter of King Christian lX of Denmark and they had a good marriage. However, it was well known, even by his wife; that he continued to have lots of girlfriends after he got married. This was not proper behaviour for a married man, but it was quite common for royalty to behave like this. (Henry Vlll had done the same thing.) Alexander tolerated his behaviour.
As a youth, Edward was thought to be selfish, but grew up to be a good friend and affectionate father. He was well thought of by those who knew him and also by his subjects. His reign only lasted nine years.
Edward’s first son Albert Duke of Clarence, known to the family as Eddy, died unexpectedly in 1892, so it was the second son who took the throne. He was George V.
His reign was not an easy one. He led the country through the First World War and the great depression that followed. He visited his troops hundreds of times over on the continent to boost their morale and gave out many thousands of medals for gallantry.
He unveiled the Cenotaph in Whitehall in 1920. lt was built to commemorate the war dead of the First World War. Of course, they didn’t call it the First World War then because they didn’t know there would be a second one at the time. They called it The Great War. They thought it was so terrible that it was the ‘war to end all wars’. Unfortunately, they were wrong.
The word cenotaph means empty tomb (pronounced toom.) You will see it on television every November when the monarch and top politicians lay wreaths there.
On Christmas Day, 1932, the king made a radio broadcast to the nation. A tradition of the monarch giving a personal Christmas message was continued from that year onwards.
Nowadays, the monarch writes their own script, but the first message was written by Rudyard Kipling. You know him from writing The Jungle Book (1894).
George had a happy childhood with his brother and three sisters and a happy grown up life too.
He had a happy marriage and family life. He married Princess May of Teck in 1893. She was originally engaged to Eddy his brother, but did not marry him because of his untimely death. She reigned with George as Queen Mary from 1910.
lt was said that George was very strict with his six children when they were young, and they feared him; but their relationship improved over time.
George V was famous for his love of collecting stamps, and continuing the tradition that his father had started of keeping the clocks in the royal household half an hour fast. This was known as Sandringham time. They did it to get everyone ready on time for appointments, and have half an hour extra daylight in the day for outdoor pursuits.
He loved sailing, like his father, and was dubbed the ‘Sailor King’. You will notice that sailor suits for little boys were very popular at the beginning of the 20th century.
George V celebrated his silver jubilee in 1935 when he had been king for 25 years.
George’s eldest son was the next king. His father predicted his reign would not be a successful one. “After l am dead the boy will ruin himself in 12 months”.
The prediction was right. Edward Vlll was a popular Prince of Wales. But George did not approve of the way Edward lived his life. There were too many wild parties for his liking.
As king, Edward wanted to marry an American who was twice divorced. This was not thought to be a suitable match for the king and head of the church.
The Prime Minister informed Edward that the country would not accept his choice of Queen.
So Edward abdicated (gave up) the throne in 1936, and only married Mrs Wallis Simpson in a small ceremony in France after the coronation of his younger brother in 1937. He was given the title of Duke of Windsor, and the couple lived quietly together in a large house in France for the rest of their lives; apart from a stay in the Bahamas during the Second World War when Edward was Governor there.
His younger brother the Duke of York, had married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in Westminster Abbey in 1923. He had two daughters: Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. They had a happy family life in the Royal Lodge in the grounds of Windsor Castle.
But unexpectedly George Vl became king. He was quite shy and had a stutter which was a problem when he had to give speeches.
The family moved to Buckingham Palace and family life changed radically (a lot).
This king and queen were to reign through the Second World War and do their best to support their people. The king made many trips abroad to meet the troops who were fighting there.
George, known as Bertie to his family, was strong and athletic when young. He had fought in the Battle of Jutland in the First World War, and was the first member of the Royal Family to learn to fly. But his health failed him, and at the age of 56 he died, leaving his daughter to take the throne as Elizabeth ll at the young age of 25.
She was to become the country’s longest ever reigning monarch.
The throne was then inherited by her eldest son Charles lll.
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Thank you!
And see you again next Fun Friday!
Love and kisses
Salty Sam
www.christina-sinclair.com
Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week
Bill: So Bob, do you know anything about King Edward?
Bob: Yes indeed l do! He was our greatest ever potato!
Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.
Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com
Picture Gallery
Edward VII was Queen Victoria’s eldest son
Queen Alexandra his wife
George V
was Queen Victoria’s grandson and Queen Elizabeth II’s grandfather
George and Mary had six children
Edward VIII (Elizabeth II’s uncle)
announcing on the radio that he had decided to abdicate
George VI, the father of Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II with her mother
who had been Queen Elizabeth and then became known as the Queen Mother
when her daughter took the throne
The Cenotaph in London
(Telegraph)
THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK
It is coming to the end of the school holidays, and it is time to start packing your bags ready to go back to school.
Have you got everything you need?
Can you complete these phrases meaning ‘in the end’.
- All in a _ _
- To s _ _ up
- When all said and d _ _ _
- In c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
- At the e _ _ of the d _ _
- The bottom l _ _ _ is
- In the f _ _ _ _ reckoning
- The final r _ _ _ _ _ is that
- Drawing to a c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
- The end is n _ _ _/n _ _ _
- And f _ _ _ _ _ _
- It will all come out in the w _ _ _
We all went on another little adventure this week. We went blackberry picking. The crop was good this year even though a lot of the berries were quite small. But they have ripened earlier than usual.
You have to use a light touch to pick blackberries, otherwise you will get your fingers pricked!
You have to wear old clothes too, because you can get snarled up in the brambles, if you are not very careful.
You start off looking at three little blackberries in the bottom of your bowl, and it is very dispiriting.
But then you keep walking, and looking, and picking, and before you know it, you have half a bowl full, and then not much later the blackberries are rolling off the top of your pile.
We took bowls and tubs that we could put lids on so that we did not lose any berries on the way home.
We put all the full bowls onto Henry’s little wagon so that we didn’t have to carry them all the way home.
You should always wash what you have picked when you get home; especially if you have been picking blackberries near a roadside.
They will be lovely with ice cream, in crumbles, pies and bramble jams and jellies.
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Recipe Spot
Microwave crisps
Get an adult to cut some thin slices of potato with a knife – a mandolin won’t work
Leave the skin on if you want
- Put them in a big bowl of water with some ice cubes in for three minutes to removed the starch
- Put the potato slices on a piece of kitchen paper laid on a plate and pat them dry with another piece of kitchen paper – you need your slices to be dry
- Put some parchment paper on a plate and lay the slices over the surface individually
- Paint some oil of choice over both sides with a brush
- Sprinkle some salt on the crisps
- Microwave for one and a half minutes
- Turn over and microwave for another minute but add some more time if you think your crisps don’t look quite brown enough
- Sprinkle with more seasoning if you would like to –
- Experiment with any powdered flavourings or spices you have to hand
lt’s the Weekend!
HOW TO MAKE SOME BAGS FOR YOUR 12” DOLL
Here we have a selection of bags in white and light brown but you can knit them in colours to match the clothes you have for your doll.
Decorate the bags with beads to make them look really special.
Look at the picture for ideas.
Use over-sew stitching to sew all the bags together
LONG SHOULDER BAG (KNIT TWO)
Using 4mm knitting needles and fawn dk yarn cast on 13 stitches
Knit 16 rows in garter stitch
Change to white
Knit 2 rows in garter stitch
Cast off
TO MAKE UP
- Sew a bead onto the front
- Sew the bottom and side seams with wrong sides together
- Sew a loop using yarn onto the back of the bag to enable the bag to close as the loop wraps around the bead
- Make a shoulder strap by crocheting 35 chains into a length of white yarn and sew it into place
TWO-TONED SHOULDER BAG FRONT (KNIT ONE)
Using 4mm knitting needles and white dk yarn cast on 10 stitches
Knit 12 rows in stocking stitch
Knit 2 rows in garter stitch
Cast off
TWO-TONED SHOULDER BAG BACK AND FLAP (KNIT ONE)
Using 4mm knitting needles and fawn dk yarn cast on 10 stitches
Knit 14 rows in stocking stitch
Knit 10 rows in garter stitch
Cast off
TO MAKE UP
- Sew a bead onto the front
- Sew the bottom and side seams with wrong sides together
- Sew a loop using yarn onto the bottom of the flap to enable it to wrap around the bead and close the bag
- Make a shoulder strap by crocheting 35 chains into a length of white yarn and sew it into place
SMALL SHOULDER BAG (KNIT ONE)
Using 4mm knitting needles and fawn dk yarn cast on 7 stitches
Knit 30 rows in garter stitch
Cast off
TO MAKE UP
- Sew a bead onto the front
- Sew the side seams with wrong sides together
- Sew a loop using yarn onto the bottom of the flap to enable the bag to close as the loop wraps around the bead
- Make a shoulder strap with 17cm of fawn yarn and sew it into place
ROUND BAG SIDES (KNIT ONE)
Using 4mm knitting needles and fawn dk yarn cast on 22 stitches
Knit 14 rows in garter stitch
Cast off
ROUND BAG BASE (KNIT ONE)
Using 4mm knitting needles and fawn dk yarn cast on 30 stitches
Cast off
TO MAKE UP
- Sew the base into a solid disc by curling the knitting into a spiral and sewing across it several times
- Sew up the side seams with right sides together and turn the piece right sides out
- Sew the base into place
- Make handles by crocheting 10 chains into a length of fawn yarn and sew them into place
- Thread a length of white yarn around the top of the bag to create a drawstring – tie this into a bow but do not double knot the yarn because the bag will not open easily again
Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.
It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.
Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.
©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015
Answers to the News Desk Quiz
- All in all
- To sum up
- When all said and done
- In conclusion
- At the end of the day
- The bottom line is
- In the final reckoning
- The final result is that
- Drawing to a conclusion
- The end is near/nigh
- And finally
- It will all come out in the wash
Embroidery Stitches
