Palasia Pet Cemetery designated national monument
On November 10th, a charter was signed which gave Palasia Pet Cemetery official national monument status. Palasia Pet Cemetery is located in Joyce Memorial Garden in Palasia. The status of national monument, created by the Monuments and Heritage Act 2017, is for sites or structures within Austenasia which are of cultural or historical significance to the nation. Palasia Pet Cemetery is the second site to be granted the status. The first national monument was another pet cemetery, that of Wrythe, and the Ministry for Culture is also exploring the option of granting the status to a monument recently erected in Nahona. Palasia Pet Cemetery was officially opened on 21 July earlier this year after the burial of Pickles, the family dog of Lord John Gordon. It is also the final resting place of a rabbit, Sasha. Its status as a national monument now enshrines within law the commitment of the Representative of Palasia to make provision for the maintenance of the cemetery, and increases the legal penalty for damaging the site.
Wrythe Pet Cemetery officially designated as national monument
In a charter finalised yesterday, Wrythe Pet Cemetery has become the first official national monument of the Empire of Austenasia. The status of national monument, created by the Monuments and Heritage Act 2017, is for sites or structures within Austenasia which are of cultural or historical significance to the nation. Wrythe Pet Cemetery is the first site to be officially designated as a national monument, but the January 2018 Ministerial Report of the Ministry for Culture declared an intention to ascertain before July which other sites or structures could be eligible for the status. Founded in late 2008 soon after the Austenasian Declaration of Independence, Wrythe Pet Cemetery is the final resting place for many of the Imperial Family’s pets, and is located within Wrythe Public Park. Its status as a national monument now enshrines within law the commitment of the Representative of Wrythe to make provision for the maintenance of the cemetery, and increases the penalty for damaging the site.
Edd’s ashes buried in Wrythe
An urn containing the ashes of Edd has been buried in Wrythe Pet Cemetery after a short ceremony. Edd, Mascot of the Order of the Bullmastiff and pet of the immediate Imperial Family, passed away earlier this month from a stroke. This evening, a ceremony was held in Wrythe Public Park during which the urn containing Edd’s ashes was buried in the pet cemetery. The ceremony was attended by Emperor Jonathan I, Princess Consort Hannah, Emperor Father Terry and Emperor Mother Margaret. Jonathan I and the Emperor Father buried the urn while the Emperor Mother recited a poem. The Princess Consort then passed the Emperor the gravemarker, which was placed on top. The gravemarker is made from an old chew-bone of Edd’s, which will be used to mark the place of burial until a permanent plaque is obtained. The ashes were buried next to where those of Rose, Edd’s predecessor as Mascot, were buried in 2014.
Lady Evren Filgert and Sir James von Puchow visit Carshalton
His Imperial Majesty the Emperor yesterday gave Lady Evren Filgert and Sir James von Puchow a guided tour of the Carshalton Nations. Emperor Jonathan I met Filgert – currently Acting Representative of the newly annexed Town of Porthbokon – at Mile End in London, where they were then joined by von Puchow of Landashir, who became a non-residential subject of Austenasia last month. The three travelled by train to Carshalton station, and walked the short distance to Orly, where they were given a tour by the Emperor of its constituent states Copan and the Grove and their respective capitals of Memphis and the Secluded Place. The Emperor spoke at length about the history of Orly, mentioning the recent floods, its liberation from foreign rule, and the strange discovery of a turkey carcass in the Grove one and a half years ago. After the tour of Orly, the three of them went to Carshalton High Street and had lunch at a café there. The tour then continued, with Filgert and von Puchow being shown the former site of Rushymia and the Midget Empire from the vantage point of the neighbouring recreation ground. The final point of the tour was the capital itself, Wrythe. The two guests briefly met Crown Princess Caroline and pet bullmastiff Edd, and were then shown Wrythe Pet Cemetery and the ruins of the Orange Pyramid in Wrythe Public Park. The tour of the Carshalton Nations over, the three went back into London. After von Puchow left for Landashir, the Emperor explored Mile End with Lady Evren until it was time for them to depart.
Rose’s ashes buried in Wrythe
An urn containing the ashes of Rose has been buried in Wrythe Pet Cemetery after a short ceremony. Rose, Mascot of the Order of the Bullmastiff and pet of the immediate Imperial Family, died in late April after being diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. After being cremated, her ashes were brought back to Wrythe on 13 May, where the urn containing them was placed in Bullmastiff Hall for the rest of the month. This afternoon, the immediate Imperial Family held a ceremony in Wrythe Public Park during which the urn containing Rose’s ashes was buried in the pet cemetery. The Emperor Father said a few words and placed the urn in the grave which had been dug, after which he, the Emperor, and the Crown Princess each placed some soil on the urn in the grave. The Emperor Mother was also in attendance together with Edd, the surviving pet bullmastiff of the Imperial Family. After the urn had been buried, a plaque was placed over the grave to mark the place of burial, and a rose was fittingly placed on the grave. The ashes were buried close to the grave of Alpha Primus, a puppy of Rose’s who was still-born during her pregnancy in June 2010. In other news, the Emperor announced today to be the first day of Summer 2014 in the Austenasian calendar.
Rose dies aged 7
Rose, beloved pet bullmastiff of the Imperial Family, has died aged 7 years old. Condolences have been pouring in after the news was announced on Facebook earlier today. Rose, whose pedigree name was Bramarley Paloma of Carothan, was Mascot of the Order of the Bullmastiff – effectively the embodiment of the Empire’s national animal. She has been succeeded by Edd, the other pet bullmastiff owned by the Imperial Family. Rose outlived all her siblings by over ten months, and is thought to have been the last surviving member of the Bramarley kennel. She was born on 17 June 2006 and bought by the future Imperial Family a few months later. Descended from the prestigious Oldwell and Graecia kennels, Rose began to attend dog shows in January 2007 and qualified for Crufts both in 2008 and 2010. In April 2008, Rose qualified to become a Pets As Therapy dog, and over the following year made trips to a residential home for the elderly to provide friendly company to those there. Despite having a naturally gentle temperament, bullmastiffs rarely qualify for PAT dogs, and so this achievement was such that an article welcoming her to the institution was published in Dog World magazine. Rose gave birth on 27 June 2010 to her only daughter, Lilly, who currently lives in Surrey. It is planned for Rose to be cremated and her ashes to be buried in Wrythe Pet Cemetery after a ceremony next month.
Pets Day commemorated
Emperor Jonathan I laid flowers on the graves in Wrythe Pet Cemetery this afternoon during an annual ceremony of remembrance for the departed pets of the Imperial Family. Pets Day has been held on 17 May each year since 2010. Minor repairs are made to Wrythe Pet Cemetery, the final resting place of four fish, a crab, and a stillborn bullmastiff puppy, before flowers are placed on the graves. Said repairs usually entail reinscribing the names on the headstones and cleaning the decorative shells which mark out the graves, but maintenance work went beyond that this year. The need for spaces for pet bullmastiffs Rose and Edd – either to bury their ashes or to build a memorial – was made apparent by Rose’s recent health scare. Space has been made by translating two of the coffins, those of fishes Daah and Flower, into the grave of goldfish Lovehearty II, reburying all three coffins inside a larger box. The coffin of still-born puppy Alpha Primus and the already shared coffin of crab Rodney and goldfish Woo-Woo were also reburied, translated closer together so as to make room for future burials. The Emperor stated that while it was “unfortunate that we had to actually move the coffins, this was done with the utmost respect. All the pets are now reburied, with their graves decorated by shiny shells and freshly picked flowers. Let us hope that the vacant space freed up shall not have to be used for a long time”.