Son of Aga Khan to wed Kendra Spears

__.The engagement has been announced between HH Prince Rahim Aga Khan (b 12 Oct 1971), descended from the Barons Churston (Peerage UK, cr 1858), eldest son of His Highness The Aga Khan, by his wife the former Sarah Frances Croker Poole (b 28 January, 1940), & Kendra Spears (b 5 Aug 1988), Seattle-born fashion model. -=-

Francis Thomas Donald Blake

_.Claire Louise Blake (nee Donald), wife of (Francis) Julian Blake(b 17 Feb, 1971), scion of the Blake Baronets (Bt, UK, 1907, of Tillmouth Park, Cornhill, Northumberland), gave birth to a son, Francis Thomas Donald, 25 April, 2013. Julian Blake is the son and heir of Sir (Francis) Michael Blake, 3rd Baronet (b 11 Jul 1943), of Cornhill-on-Tweed, Northumberland, by his wife the former Joan Miller, and Claire Blake is a daughter of James Donald, of Cupar, Fife. -=-

James/Cuthbert engagement

.The engagement was announced 29 Apr, 2013, between Adam H. James, son of Mr & Mrs Christopher James, of Odiham, Hampshire, and Mary Belinda (Mollie) Cuthbert (b 1984) third daughter of (John) Aidan Cuthbert (b 1934), head of that landed family, of Beaufront Castle, Hexham, Northumberland, by his former wife Lady Victoria Lucy Diana Percy (b 1949), of Alnwick, Northumberland, daughter of the 10th Duke of Northumberland. -=-

Marsham/ Beaumont marriage

_.The marriage took place at Hexham Abbey, 27 Apr, 2013, between the Hon Michael Julian Marsham (b 3 Mar 1979), second son of Julian Charles Marsham, 8th Earl of Romney (b 28 Mar 1948), of Gayton Hall, Norfolk, by his wife the former Catriona Anne Stewart (descended from the Barons Cochrane of Cults), & the Hon Lucy Harriet Beaumont (b 30 Apr 1981), eldest daughter of Wentworth Peter Ismay Beaumont, 4th Viscount Allendale (b 13 Nov 1948), of Bywell Castle, Northumberland, by his wife the former Theresa More O'Ferrall (descended from the Jackson Baronets), &c. -=-

Hon James Michael Edward Bruce, CBE 1927-2013

_.The Hon James Michael Edward Bruce, CBE (1992), sometime chairman of Game Conservancy, who died 22 April, 2013, was a scion of the Earls of Elgin & Kincardine, the second son of the 10th Earl of Elgin & Kincardine, KT, CMG, TD (1881-1968), by his wife the Hon Dame Katherine Elizabeth Cochrane, DBE (d 1989), daughter of the 1st Baron Cochrane of Cults. He was born 26 Aug, 1927; married 1stly, 29 Jul 1950 (div 1974), the Hon (Margaret) Jean Coats (b 11 Oct, 1928) , only daughter of the 2nd Baron Glentanar (1894-1971) (Ext); married 2ndly,1975, Morven-Anne Macdonald (d 1994); married 3rdly, 2000, Mrs Mary Elizabeth Hamilton. He leaves issue from his first marriage. Service of Thanksgiving at St Ninian's Cathedral, Perth, Friday 3 May. -=-

Viscount Boyne marries Miss Julia Howard

_.The marriage took place at Greystoke Castle, Cumbria, 20 April, 2013, of Gustavus Michael Stucley Hamilton-Russell, 11th Viscount Boyne (b 27 May, 1965) son of the late 10th Viscount Boyne, KCVO (1931-95), of Burwarton, Bridgnorth, Salop, by his wife the former Rosemary Anne Stucley (scion of the Stucley Baronets), & Miss Julia Howard. Lord Boyne married firstly, in 1991, Lucy, daughter of George Potter, by whom he has three children. I have scanned the Greystoke branch of the Howard Family (Dukes of Norfolk) for a Julia Howard and can't seem to locate her. Is the bride Julia Frances Howard (b 3 Oct 1964), dau of Sir John Philip Howard, 6th Baronet, of Corby Castle, Carlisle? -==-

Lt.-Gen. Sir Steuart Pringle, 10th Baronet, KCB 1928-2013

_.Lieutenant-General Sir Steuart Pringle, 10th Baronet, Commandant General, The Royal Marines 1981-84, died 18 April, 2013. He was 84. He was born 21 July, 1928, son of Sir Norman Pringle, 9th Baronet (1903-61), by his wife the former Winifred Olive Curran, and succeeded to the baronetcy on his father's death, 8 Feb, 1961. Married 5 September, 1953, Jacqueline Marie, only child of Wilfrid Hugh Gladwell, by whom he had issue. The baronetcy (Bt cr 1682, Nova Scotia) passes to his elder son, Simon Robert Pringle, who was born 6 January, 1959. He was appointed KCB (Mil) 1982. -=-

Lord Stirrup's Garter

Air Chief Marshal Lord Stirrup was been appointed a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, St George's Day, 2013. Lord Stirrup, 63, fills one of the the three vacancies in the order left by the deaths of the Duke of Grafton, Viscount Ridley and Baroness Thatcher. Lord Stirrup will be invested at Windsor on the Monday before the start of Royal Ascot week in June. -=-

Death of Princess Elisabeth of Hesse

Princess Elisabeth of Hesse, who died 12 Apr, 2013, aged 69, was a former wife Prof Prince Otto of Hesse (1937-98), a great-great grandson of Queen Victoria. She was born Elisabeth Bonker,at Rumburg, Czechoslovakia, 31 Jan 1944, daughter of Wilhlem Bonker by his wife Elisabeth Nagel, and married Prince Otto (morganatically) 28 Dec 1988. The marriage ended in divorce in 1994. Isn't it pretentious and silly for long dethroned Royal Houses not to recognise the marriages of their members with commoners as equal? Surely all the wives of current heirs of the existing thrones in Europe and Scandinavia would (except Britain) have been regarded as morganatic or unequal in days of old? -==-

Vassar-Smith/Newhouse engagement

_.The engagement was announced 20 April, 2013, between Richard Rathborne Vassar-Smith (b 29 Dec 1975), elder son and heir of Sir John Rathborne Vassar-Smith, 4th Baronet (b 23 Jul 1936), of Wantage, Oxfordshire, by his wife the former Roberta Elaine Williamson, & Lydia Louisa G. Newhouse (b 1981), daughter of Mr Philip J. Newhouse, of London, by his wife the former Linda Wright. -=-

Mary Countess of Bessborough 1915-2013

_.Mary Countess of Bessborough, who died 13 April, 2013, in Philadelphia, USA, aged 98, was the widow of Frederick, 10th Earl of Bessborough (1913-1993). She was born Mary Munn, at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, USA, 3 March, 1915, daughter of Charles A. Munn, of New York, and married Lord Bessborough in 1948. There was one daughter of the marriage, Lady Charlotte (b 1949). On her husband's death he was succeeded in the family honours (except the UK earldom which became extinct) by his cousin, Arthur Ponsonby. A private funeral is to take place at Stansted Park, Hampshire, 26 Apr, 2013. -=-

Great grandson for the Duke of Wellington

_. Natasha Doone Halliday (nee Wellesley, b 1975), scion of the Dukes of Wellington, and wife of Mr C.Tom Halliday, gave birth to a son, Samuel George, 29 March, 2013. Tom Halliday is a son of Mr & Mrs Christopher Halliday, of Westbury, Shropshire, & Natasha is the 1st daughter of Lord Richard Gerald Wellesley (b 1949), of Marston St Lawrence, Oxfordshirem by his wife the former Joanna Sumner. Natasha is a granddaughter of the 8th Duke of Wellington, KG, LVO, OBE, MC (b 1915), and the late Duchess of Wellington, MBE. -=-

Lewis/Sempill engagement

_.The engagement was announced 19 April, 2013, between Mr Christopher N. Lewis, eldest son of Mr & Mrs N. Lewis, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, & the Hon Cosima Sempill (b 1983), daughter of the 21st Lord Sempill born 25 Feb, 1949 (Peerage of Scotland, cr 1489), of Leith, Edinburgh, by his wife, the former Josephine Anne Edith Rees. -=-

2nd Baron Balfour of Inchrye 1924-2013

_.The Baron Balfour of Inchrye died 14 April, 2013. He was 88. Ian Balfour was born 21 December, 1924, son of Harold Harington Balfour, MC, Conservative MP for the Isle of Thanet Div of Kent, May 1929-June 1945, who was created a peer as Baron Balfour of Inchrye in 1945, by his 1st wife Diana Blanche Harvey (d 1982) daughter of Sir Robert Grenville Harvey, 2nd Baronet. He succeeded to the peerage on his father's death, 1988. Married 1953, Josephine Maria Jane Bernard (b 1934, d 2007), scion of the Earls of Bandon, daughter of Morogh Wyndham Percy Bernard (1902-77), by his wife the Hon Diana Pearl Dundas, dau of the 7th Viscount Melville, by whom he had one daughter, the Hon Roxane Balfour, who was born in 1955. The peerage now becomes extinct. -=-

Clementine Rose Lovell Taylor

. Leonie Carrina R. Taylor (nee Buxton, b 1979), wife of James Geoffrey Bethune (Jamie) Taylor (b 1979), gave birth to a daughter, Clementine Rose Lovell, 5 April, 2013. James Taylor is a son of Mr Michael Taylor, of London, by his wife the former Hon Sarah Lovell Rippon (b 1950), second daughter of the Baron Rippon of Hexham, PC, QC (Life peer); and Leonie is a daughter of Lt-Col. Charles J. Buxton, of Overstrand, Norfolk, by his wife the former Veronica J.M. Paterson-Morgan. -=-

Rivett-Carnac/Kiuchi marriage

_.The marriage took place in Tokyo, Japan, 12 April, 2013, between Sir Jonathan James Rivett-Carnac, 10th Baronet (born 1962), elder son of Commander Sir Miles Rivett-Carnac, 9th Bt, RN (1933-2009), by his wife the former April Sally Villar, now April, Lady Rivett-Carnac, of Alresford, Hampshire, & Miss Reiko Kiuchi, daughter of Setsuko Kiuchi San, of Tokyo, Japan. The baronetcy was created in 1836 (UK). Sir Jonathan is a brother of Lulu Guinness. -=-

MacLaren/Bromage engagement

_.The engagement was announced 17 Apr, 2013, between Lieut Louis MacLaren, Scots Guards, third son of The MacLaren of MacLaren, Chief of the Clan MacLaren, and Madam MacLaren, and Miss Isabelle Bromage, yr daughter of Mr & Mrs David Bromage, of Gretton. -=-

George William Sholto Callander

_.Alice Julie Callander (nee Agar), wife of James Edward Callander (b 1979), scion of the Burn-Callander of Prestonhall landed family, gave birth to a son, George William Sholto, 5 Apr, 2013. James Callander is a son of Lt-Col Richard Callander (b 1950), by his wife the former Lady Mary Pamela Douglas (b 1950), daughter of the 21st Earl of Morton. Alice is a dau of William Agar, of Penshurst, Victoria, Australia. -=-

Sir Richard James Dashwood, 9th Baronet 1950-2013

_.Sir Richard James Dashwood, 9th Baronet (of Kirtlington Park, Oxfordshire, Bt, cr 1684), died at Adderbury, 14 April, 2013, aged 63. He was born 14 Feb, 1950, son of Sir Henry George Massy Dashwood, 8th Baronet (1908-72), by his wife the former Susan Mary Montgomerie-Charrington, scion of that landed gentry family, and succeeded to the baronetcy on his father's demise, 1972. He was educated at Eton. Married 1984 (div 1993) Kathryn Anne Mahon, dau of Frank Mahon, of Eastbury, Newbury, Berks, by whom he had issue, a son Frederick George Mahon Dashwood, born 29 January, 1988, who now succeeds to the baronetcy. -==-

Frederick Malcolm Alastair Riddell

_.Cecilia Frances Stephanie (Lily) Riddell (née Napier, b 1976), scion of the Lords Napier & Ettrick, wife of A.J.M. (Jamie) Riddell, gave birth to a son, Frederick Malcolm Alastair, 11 March, 2013, a brother for Archie Roderick James, who was b 12 Nov, 2009. Jamie is the eldest son of Mr and Mrs Alastair Riddell, of Glen Lyon, Perthshire, and Cecilia is the youngest daughter of the Hon ( Charles) Malcolm Napier (b. 1933), of Bardmony, Alyth, Perthshire, by his wife the late Lady Mariota Cecilia Murray, yr daughter of the 7th Earl of Mansfield & Mansfield. --==--