King & Country
1st Lieutenant
- Joined
- May 23, 2005
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KING & COUNTRY DISPATCHES
June 2023
Hi Guys,June 2023
Welcome to this month’s DISPATCHES and a select little group of figures that includes some suggested by a K&C collector who is also a senior officer in one of Britain’s most famous cavalry regiments!
And so, without further ado let’s see what’s in store this month…
1. BEING RELEASED IN JUNE…
A. “Memories of Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ”
When Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ passed away in September last year the outpouring of love and grief stretched out from Britain and travelled around the world and touched many people in many places.
Here people in Hong Kong, which had until 1997, been a British Crown Colony, displayed their own mark of respect to a much-loved monarch in their own unique way.
For ten days, from the news of the Queen’s death until the day of her state funeral, many thousands, of ordinary Hong Kong citizens of all ages and from all walks of life and backgrounds made their way up to The British Consulate to lay flowers, place photographs and light candles celebrating the Queen’s long life and reign.
The British Consulate is located right next to Pacific Place where our own King & Country store is situated. So I and other members of our staff also went up to see the amazing display as well as place our own floral tribute.
That was the time when the idea came to me to design and produce additional figures of Her Late Majesty at different stages of her long and eventful life.
Already we have released the Queen and her favourite Corgi dogs which have proved very popular with collectors here and around the world.
Now, we have two more unique little representations…
CE089 ‘The Young Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ’
More than 70 years ago, on June 7, 1951, the then Princess Elizabeth stood in for her ailing father King GeorgeⅥ to take the salute at ‘Trooping The Colour’ for the very first time.
Just one year later, after the death of her father and now Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ, the young monarch once again attended this colourful and spectacular military ceremony and would go on to take part in many more ‘Troopings’ over the following seven decades.
As was the custom the Queen herself, from 1952 until 1986, would ride one of her favourite horses and be wearing a specially-designed, dress uniform of one of her 5 regiments of Foot Guards.
Depending on which one of her Guards regimental colour was being ‘trooped’ her majesty would wear that particular unit’s dress uniform.
This new standing figure of the younger Queen portrays her in the uniform of The Grenadier Guards , the senior regiment of the Foot Guards and founded in 1656.
Originally formed as a Royalist regiment to protect King CharlesⅡ they enjoy a long and glorious history of loyalty, service and bravery in defence of country and monarch in countless wars and conflicts.
Famous for their flawless drill and combat readiness the Grenadiers continue to this day to be deployed in frontline operations across the globe, most recently in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
Their motto is ‘Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense’ which translates as ‘Shame On Him Who Thinks Evil Of it’
TR013 “Queen ElizabethⅡ in State Attire”
On great formal occasions, such as welcoming and entertaining visiting foreign dignitaries and other countries ‘Heads of State’ Her Late Majesty would often host an important dinner or luncheon for the relevant guest to greet them to Great Britain.
She would also attend the annual State Opening of Parliament where she would address a joint assembly of Parliament that would include all members of the lower House of Commons as well as the upper chamber, the House of Lords.
For all of these more formal ‘State’ occasions the late Queen would wear a long, simple but classic evening gown decorated with a blue ‘Riband’ sash representing the Order of The Garter.
Sitting near the top of the ‘Riband’ are a pair of ‘Royal Family Orders’ which are special medallions only awarded to female members of the British royal family.
Lower down is the large ‘Star’ of the Garter Order. Her majesty also wears the George Ⅳ ‘diadem’ , considerably smaller and less cumbersome than the awesome Imperial State Crown which is usually only worn at coronations.
AVAILABLE: Early June