(One of a series of weekday posts on the life of Winston S. Churchill.)
Today, something about a Thanksgiving Service: a bit of a mystery if you will.
On May 13, 1945, Winston and Clementine Churchill attended a Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, for the victory over Germany.
As they came down the cathedral steps after the service, a breeze was blowing. Clementine put her hand to her head to keep her hat in place. Churchill held his hat in his right hand. He held something else in his left hand. You can see the Churchill’s descending the steps in the photo here.
For the life of me I can’t figure out what the object is. Do any of you know what the object is or have an educated guess?
Notice also that he appears to have lost some weight. While his buttoned jacket fits, his pants are very baggy.
The St. Paul’s photo was included in the Smithsonian exhibit “Churchill and the Great Republic.” I’ve included a link to the exhibit's website home page.
Perhaps Thanksgiving Day or over the weekend, you, family and friends will enjoy “visiting” the exhibit. It’s wonderful.
I plan to spend a lot of time with family this Thanksgiving, so I’ll be taking a break from blogging.
The Churchill Series will resume Monday, Nov. 27.
I wish each of you a blessed Thanksgiving and hope you're back on Monday.
John
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
The Churchill Series – Nov. 22, 2006
Posted by JWM at 11:50 PM
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5 comments:
J in C,
I'm a Churchill buff and have enjyed yur articles.One of the best arguments against "One persn doesn't cause history",is to speculate what the world would be if Churrchill was killed in the Boer war.
Also,are you familiar with the encouragement the Duchess of MArlborough (WSC's grandmoother) gave Consuelo Vanderbilt re becoming pregnant because it would be a tragedy if "That awful Winston became Duke."
Dear Anon @ 1:10 pm,
I'm very glad you enjoy the series. Of course, I have a magnificent subject to write about.
You are so right about his survival in the Boer War being an argument refuting the "One person doesn't cause history" argument.
I wasn't aware of the Duchess' worry "That awful Winston [might become] Duke," but I'm not surprised. There were many in the family who thought him "awful," "vulgar," and worse, most sadly his own father.
Thank you for commenting.
John
I'm going to hazard Sir Winston is carrying a cane as that seems to be a nice match for the top hat he has in his other hand.
Alternatively, I'd propose he has a closed umbrella, held upside down. (Or maybe an unopened bottle of champagne.)
Happy Thanksgiving John. The press ain't truly free unless it's also honest - so keep after them. We'd all benefit if they met a higher standard of accuracy and honesty.
JinC,
Hello from a regular, appreciative, reader. I came here first for the Duke writings, but enjoy Churchill very much.
About that unidentified object in Winston's left hand. I've blown up and fine tuned the photo. I believe it is a leather-bound Bible, held with the spine downward.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Could that be a pair of gloves or a folded up neck scarf in his left hand?
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