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Dear friends,

Today I am proud to present to you my Guest Post Swap Partner: Dee :) She will take over my blog for today so be nice and be kind and check out her blog as it is adorable and full of interesting details of The Royal Couple ;) In the meanwhile you can find my post on her blog HERE ;)

Hiya! Im Dee and I run an expat lifestyle blog over at A Deecoded Life. Today, Anda and I are swapping guest posts on our blogs and I promise I will try my best not to bore you by talking about something Anda also likes talking about over here - the royals!

I, too, am a huge fan of Prince William and Kate Middleton. I am as old as them both, actually, and my brother is as old as Prince Harry; fun coincidence, isnt it?

When I was a teen, I had a crush on Wills. Then I grew up and forgot about him till the royal engagement was announced and I fell in love with Wills and Kate as a couple.

Photo by Mario Testino

I went so nuts over the royal wedding that I did what I usually do when I go nuts over everything - research it to death. So I thought Id share 7 facts (?) that I learned from reading books about them. Why 7? Because its my favorite number, thats why I run a weekly series called "Sunday Seven" which you might want to check out some time.

Okay, here we go:

(1) Prince William could have died before being born.

Diana was three months pregnant with William when, in a jealous fit over her husbands long-term affair with the married Camilla Parker Bowles, she hurled herself down the main staircase at Sandringham, the Queens privately owned, twenty-thousand-acre estate a hundred miles north of London in Norfolk. The Queen herself came running and found Diana sprawled on the marble floor at the foot of the stairs.   {Source: A}


(2) Prince William was his mothers confidant.

Williams role in Princess Dianas life was more that of alternative husband other than son. It was a heavy burden for anyone, but especially someone so young.   {Source: A}


(3) Prince William wasnt keen on being king.

This happened during Williams gap year:

The others had spent the past hour discussing what they planned to do when they returned home. Some had places at universities, others had further adventures to look forward to. William quietly listened to their excited chatter. Youre all so lucky. he said as the flames flickered across his face. I dont have much choice about my future. One day I will be king, and to be honest Im not much interested in that at all at the moment.   {Source: B}


(4) When Kate was a child, another William proposed to her.

Actually, it was just acting for a play. Kate played the role of a female lead in a Victorian melodrama called Murder in the Red Barn. In one scene caught on video, the love of her life, named William, gets down on one knee and proposes marriage. "Yes, its all Ive ever longed for," Kate replies. "Yes, oh yes, dear William!" {Source: A}

I guess some people would call that moment prophetic? I wonder if this is how it played out with the real William years later.


(5) Kate had a crush on Prince William before they even met.

Kate was jokingly called "princess in waiting" by her high school friends because she had a crush on Prince William. When they talked about the boys in school, she said she didnt like any of them, that they were all a bit of rough. "Theres no one quite like William," she said. "I bet hes really kind. You can just tell by looking at him."   {Source: C}


(6) Prince William and Kate were friends for over a year before they became a couple.

They were both dating other people when they first met. But since they were both Art history majors, Wills leaned on Kate heavily for advice. He liked that she was a very levelheaded girl.

Then one day, Kate joined the annual Dont Walk charity fashion show. As Kate shimmied down the runway wearing black underwear in a see-through dress, William turned to his friend Fergus, saying, "Wow, Kates hot!"

Later at the after-party, William made a move and leaned in to kiss her. Kate pulled away, stunned that he had been so bold in a room full of strangers. But though she rebuffed him that night, it was evident that there was chemistry between them. They got together not long after that.   {Source: A}


(7) When the world thought they were going to get engaged, they broke up instead.

In 2007, England was so convinced that William and Kate would get engaged that they begun selling souvenirs commemorating the couples nuptials. But at 25, William wasnt ready to commit and ended the relationship instead.

Kate was devastated by the breakup. Her mother told her, "Hell change his mind. For now, just let him know you have a life. Hell realize soon enough it was a mistake to let you go."

We all know how that turned out, dont we? Mother was right. After seeing Kates partying pictures splashed all over the papers and magazines, William realized he missed her and got back together with her during his mothers memorial concert.   {Source: A}

Well played, Kate, well played.


Book sources:
A William and Kate: A Love Story by Christopher Andersen
B Behind the Palace Walls by Katie Nicholl
C Kate: the Making of a Princess by Claudia Joseph

Dear friends,

Today I shall present you a part of my collection of books and beloved things. Things I use on a daily/regular basis, things that I like and things that make me feel like home no matter where I am.

Everyone has that... and object - be it a book, a photo, a perfume - that makes one feel like home. In time you invest feelings and you match items with things that happened to you: I read this book when I was sad about something and it made me feel energised, I took that photo when I was with my friend and we were "having the time of our lifes", I bought this perfume becouse it reminds me of my dear friend who wore the same perfume... We are human beings, we are born to live in society and have people around us. We are born to make friends and be broken by the wrong turns in friendships... We rise, we fall and we learn :)


Recently I discovered that besides my regular Elizabeth Arden love (both for the awesome "Sunflower" and for the delicate "Green Tea") I began to be quite interested in the Celine Dion signature perfumes :) Not that I would not be a freak when it comes to perfumes and that I collect everything I like since I was small :))))


I love movie and so does my fiancee :) We believe firmly that if you like a movie than you should support it by any means - that also includes no downloads but rather buying DVDs of the movie. I am a fan of period movies and I own a whole shelve of different adaptations of Jane Austen books ;) plus several other movies :) not to mention that it is much easier just to have a look on the shelve and just pick something and watch it ;)

Sunglasses are an addition to my wardrobe that I always loved to hate - they are a necessary evil and I own 3 pairs but I dearly love the pair in this photo :) It goes with everything! And as you will see in these pictures my LadyBugs are always following me :) They are my constant companions ;)


Small things make me happy... The Venetian masque, the Greek recipient, the Peter Pan pen, the bookmarks... they are all dear to me as they are gifts from my dear friends... things I see daily and they make me think of my friends daily. For an expat it is hard to think of friends left behind, but small things help daily... you see them, you know they are there and you know they think of you...


Books... oh... books are my love ever since I was a child so it is hard to ever be anywhere where there is no book around... When I went to the USA I brought almost a full suitcase of music/movies/books with me... when I came to Poland I had with me only 2 or 3 books... Now I have 2 shelves :) Yes! I am addicted to good books/movies/music and I admit it!


And who would not be in love with books? They help you grow, they help you develop your personality and your thinking and they get to affect the decisions and even the paths you will take in life :) Always read a book before the movie. I proudly can say I did that. Even with "Lord Of The Rings" - and it is one of the few movies that I was not utterly dissapointed ;) even though the relationship between Aragorn and Arwen was not THAT extensive in the books ;)

And yes! That is another LadyBug - made out of paper and a dear gift from a very dear friend :)


You cannot be a true fan of LOTR if you do not own the books and some of Tolkiens works... well... I think I can proudly say that I have most of it: Silmarillion (my personal fav, and I truly believe that everyone should read it in order to understand more LOTR), The Hobbit (including the comics version in Polish language), Roverandom (which is more like a child story but it is really nice), Unfinished Stories (his son helped in ordering them and finishing the works of the father - quite nicely, I may add!) and the awesome Children Of Hurin :)


Et voila! Cest my fav shelve of period books and a part of the history ones - focus on Second World War ;) Well... what can I say... everyone has a weakness... most of the boys have it for sports and for computer games (Mortal Kombat and such) and most of the girls have it for make up and clothes... my blog is not a fashion blog. My blog is about a girl who loves to learn and to experience new things, a girl who loves to be in love and be loved :*

Yours truly,
The LadyBug :)