100 thoughts on “Victoria brings Estelle & Oscar to Name Day celebrations”

1. Oscar looks just like Estelle, it is rare to see siblings that look so much alike without being twins!

2. Victoria and Daniel are very natural with the crowds; nice to see. Estelle is a very poised child and seems to accept what is going on around her with good grace. Does anyone know how many engagements a year the SRF does? I’m curious to know how many state occasions there are.

   1. I agree, Estelle is so poised and natural–she’s five years old? Really lovely little girl.

      1. To me, they look like a family who acts & behaves excited about their royal duties. That excitement would certainly hold over for their children. In addition they probably do not walk around the palace whining & complaining about how horrible it is to work or how they need to practice hiding so the paparazzi never gets to see your naked bum.

         1. I share the same vision : remember when Estelle wanted to shake her hand with some official people one or two year ago, she is happy to receive flower.

3. I love this family!

   Daniel is looking a big rough. I really hope it doesn’t mean his health is getting worse.

   1. Does he have health issues?

      1. Back in 2009, he had to have a kidney transplant – his father gave up one of his kidneys for him. It was a success, but it’s not like it’s going to last forever.

         1. Oh, thanks, I didn’t know that about him.

   2. I didn’t really notice, LizB, but now that you bring it up, I am hoping that Victoria’s 2 month absence didn’t have anything to do with Daniel’s health.

      1. That was my concern. Such a lovely family.

   3. He’s 43. He will likely need several more transplants eventually. Average lifetime of a kidney transplant is 12-15 years, shorter if it is not from a related donor like he had the first time.

      http://www.kidney.org.uk/organ-donation/medical-info-transplant-txwhat/medical-info-transplant-txsurvival/

   4. Yes, I agree Daniel doesn’t look well. I hope I’m wrong and he just had a sleepless night, maybe up with Oscar.

   5. I agree he doesn’t look that great but at least he’s out and about twig the kids.

   6. +1
      Lovely family and wonderful Swedish Royals. Love how Vic Maddie and Carl, include the children from very young age – no hiding in the woods and afraid of the people.

      The same from for the Danish Royals. Prince/ess Henry will be the same with his family. Thank you KMR.

      1. I highly doubt Harry and Wife will be very open with their kids. They will most likely hide them away even more than William and Kate do.

         1. They’ll have reason to, as their kids will never be working royals. I expect them to be raised away from things like Louise and James. No need for them to be on the balcony for Trooping the Colour, etc.

            1. Exactly. Harry will have no reason to share his kids, and since he hates the press just as much as William Harry will take that excuse to never show them to people. We’ll be lucky if we see Harry’s kids once a year.

            2. Honestly, as it should be. I don’t think we deserve photos of Louise and James, so why should the public deserve photos of Harry’s kids?

            3. I just think it’s funny that people want to believe Harry is so different from William and that Harry will give everyone what they want that William doesn’t, like lots of photos of the kids, but Harry is much more like William than people want to believe and they are in for a rude awakening once Harry doesn’t deliver.

            4. And to me, it remains a different situation regardless of what attitude the brothers may have towards the media. William’s children will be working royals, Harry’s will not. Even if both W&H hate the media, it would be natural that Harry’s kids be kept out of the limelight and away from certain events like Louise and James.

4. I love this family. I’ve never seen Victoria looking anything but genuinely happy and excited to be in the place she is. I love her attitude to the work she does and the position she holds.

   1. +1

5. Love seeing Princess Estelle and Oscar the Grouch.

6. Estelle looks like she had a growth spurt since the last pics!
   I’m over pussy bows like I am lace.
   I like that the swedes aren’t afraid to show love to the kids in public. Nice little family
   Thanks for a Monday swede fix

   1. Lovely, loving family, such nice photos really made me smile.

7. I admire the way that the Swedes are introducing the children to the norm that is Royal Life. The Cambridges put out that they are keeping George and Charlotte hidden away so that they can have a “normal” life. What they don’t realise and what the Swedes have known all along, is that occasions such as Name Day are THEIR normal. You only have to look at the composure displayed by Estelle to see that the Swedish way is successful. The children are exposed to the crowds and the pomp and ceremony from an early age and are used to it. I also feel that with more regular exposure, the photographers are less aggressive when it comes to getting pics of the children.

   1. William and Kate go to extreme lengths, even for the BRF. But at least from my recollection Edward and Sophie have only started bringing the kids along in the last couple of years to engagements, and Louise’s first official venture was just this last summer. And even for things like Trooping the Color they haven’t in previous iterations brought them out until they’re at least a couple of years old. We emphasize Will and Kate because they remove the kids even more than others but the family at large could learn oodles from the SRF.

      1. But Louise and James aren’t the heirs heir heir. They will need to find a life outside royal family duties. Now they’re grandchildren of the monarch so people like to see them at events, that will change once they’re niece/nephew and then cousin of the monarch
         The problem with William and Kate is they want every aspect of their life private when they’re taxpayer funded. Thus not preparing their kids for what may/will become their normal. Yes, George may be naturally shy but if they had him out in public more, it would be more normal and less scary/deer in the head lights look to him.
         But I agree, the swedes have found a good balance and let the kids still be kids even when out and about

      2. +2

      3. Louise wasn’t taken along to public events for a long time due to her eye problem, probably because her parents didn’t want the unnecessary attention it would bring to a little girl?

   2. +1

   3. The Swedes don’t seem as obsessed with protocol. The children are allowed to act like children and no one seems uncomfortable with it. Can you imagine if a child in the BRF behaved like Lenore at her brother’s christening??

      1. You should google William Wales as a page at Prince Andrew & Sarah’s wedding. He was soooo naughty. Apparently HM was livid. But it made for great entertainment on the day.

         But of course you are quite right, the British view is very much more that children should be seen and not heard and the Swedes are a lot more relaxed with their children in public. Estelle and Leonore never look troubled or tentative like George Cambridge does.

         I imagine it will loosen up a bit when HM is no longer running the show as she was brought up by a very different generation.

8. I did not know about Daniel’s health issues. I hope he is okay.
   Loyal Canadian, we are on the same page.
   I love this family and even though I will never know them personally, I feel like they just give us enough of a glimpse into their family so we can relate to them. The Cambridges have failed miserably with this and I know it is due to the fact that we never see the children, but the Swedish royal family has proved you can have the children in the public eye and still protect them from the invasiveness of the press. It is as if George and Charlotte do not even exist. The Cambridges might be more likeable if they followed this model. Wouldn’t it be fun if we saw George and Charlotte with the Irish Guards handing out shamrocks?

   1. If WK took the children with them to the Irish guards, they would spend their entire time with the children, ignore the guards and shamrocks. Apparently they can’t chew and walk at the same time.

      We’ve seen this behaviour time and time again.

      1. ??

      2. Thanks Herzeus, I just snorted iced tea through my nose 🙂

      3. ‘Stand up William’ was probably my Royal highlight of last year. That and ‘Cows’……HM squealed in that adorable clip from her birthday Horse show.

         1. “Cows!” Is my favorite royal thing ever.

         2. I loved that clip!

         3. “Cows!” was everything.

            1. There literally is no limit to the amount of times I can watch ‘Cows’ and not feel charmed and happy.

      4. Kate would be so busy poising for the cameras holding her daughter she couldn’t hand out the shamrocks. She uses that child as an assecory. Why don’t William hold Charlotte and Kate hold her sons hand sometimes. IMO Kate shows Charlotte much more attention than George. Victoria dividedes her time between her two children. In all the pictures I’ve seen she holds Oscar for awhile then spends time with her daughter. Kate could learn a lot from Victoria.

9. I love this family so much. Estelle lives up to her name. She is such a lovely girl. Oscar is a carbon copy of his sister. I want to mush those cheeks. And he has on a peacoat. I love a peacoat on a toddler. Daniel looks a bit peaked. I hope he’s okay.

   Victoria always looks like she enjoys her interactions with the Swedish people. And I need to address those gloves. I want.

   Thanks, KMR!

   1. Hi Rhiannon

      Hope you are well?

      I’m hoping Daniel is ok too. He’s been looking exhausted for a while now. I hope that having some time off that he is feeling better?

      1. Hi, Cathy! Things are getting better each day.

10. I wonder which brands the children’s caps are.The material is a high quality wool. Oscar’s jacket seems to be from Hessnatur, the shoes from Kavat, a swedish shoe-brand which uses environment-friendly resources to produce their leather shoes.

11. All I can say is that I adore the SRF. They not only bring the kids out to show them what their life is and will be, but they also understand that even royal children are still *children* and don’t expect them to be miniature adults. If only the BRF could remove the proverbial sticks from their behinds.

12. Thank you KMR for this cheery post. I think Victoria looks radiant for her name day. The crowds giving tulips are my favourite flowers. I think I will buy some in Waitrose next time I am there.
    Estelle is a darling. Very confident with the crowds due to her exposure with them and I really like the photo of her smiling. Oscar is looks grouchy and I like the way he holds on to the polar bear toy. I hope Daniel is alright. I agree he does not look himself. Such a warm family and one of my favourite royal families.

    1. Pardon me Oscar looks less grouchy. I don’t know how Estelle looked as a baby but they do appear to treat the two siblings the same.

13. Does ony 1 know why V.D. were on vacation for 6 weeks this year?

14. Did you know that Prince William wasn’t at the Commonwealth service today because he’s skiing in Verbier?

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html

    1. Same ol’ same ol’

       ……BUT i’m surprised to see Guy Pelly on this jaunt because his excuse for missing Skippy’s wedding was that his wife was going to have a baby any day now. I guess baby isn’t here yet or he is taking up fathering duties as he means to go on. Rather like William in the beginning.

       1. And we all know what a good influence Van Stawberry is too.

          Last week on a different thread on KMR I passed my extreme surprise to a couple of posters when they posted that British opinion of William was that he was beloved by the people. Well he’s being absolutely torn apart on DM board tonight. And I mean literally hundreds of comments in less than an hour and I’ve yet to read one positive.

          1. Van Strawberry is so sleazy. I can’t bear to look at him.

             I think contempt for William is on the rise. People who follow the royals generally don’t have a good opinion of him and those that do not, know he doesn’t work as he should even as they make excuses for him.

             Some teens i mentored a few years ago took to describing Kate Middleton as a verb and an adjective in the same way that a person can describe a wag except in KM’s case they meant not bothering with self improvement or growth or independence except finding a rich man to take care of you. Depending on mood, they either mocked her or pitied her because ‘doing a KM was hard’ according to them.

             1. I feel exactly the same way about him.

             2. Wasn’t Tom von S on the skiing trip to France last year, complete with a new girlfriend days after the divorce from Missy Percy was finalized?

             3. Yes he was…it was the trip that Carole was supposed to have organised.

          2. Not to delve into the van straubenzee/Percy divorce but I’ve always wondered if unreasonable behavior is the equivalent to irreconcilable differences in the states?
             Because they weren’t married very long

             1. It is also what Tessy of Lux claimed, because that is really the only thing to claim (that is like ID) if you don’t want to wait 2 years for a divorce.

          3. The DM does pretty much hate everyone, though.

             1. My view was that the DM comments section is a fairly good barometer of public opinion simply because it’s very pro Monarchy. When you’ve lost the DM readers, who on the whole support a Monarchy, you really are in trouble. Xx

       2. A friend’s husband went to a guys weakened trip to vegas a couple weeks after they had a baby, and the baby was in the hospital! I was pretty much done with him after that.
          when he has to watch her, he calls it babysitting, I tell him it’s called parenting when it’s your child. Sheesh some guys are clueless

          1. I hate when dad’s call it “babysitting”. No, when you’re the parent, it’s called “parenting”.

             1. UGH, yes. My husband is told “Oh, babysitting today?” by women and men equally when he’s out with our son. He is like, “Uh, no, I’m being a parent.”

       3. Well, it’s a lot quicker to get from the Alps to London isn’t it, than London to Jamaica? I don’t begrudge him that, maybe his wife wouldn’t have minded since it isn’t as far. That’s how I would have felt about it were it my husband (but we’re both hermits so! 🙂

       4. I don’t understand Herazeus. Wasn’t William around with George as a newborn? Did he just pop in and then out of their lives. I find that lack of responsibility dreadful.

          1. Laura: Yes. He was frequently papped elsewhere from his family which led to suspicions that he wasn’t necessarily present.

             I know for a fact that the morning of G’s christening, he flew in from elsewhere, went to the Christening (holding G for the optics) and as soon as event was done flew out again.

             Not to mention the infamous Kate solo with six month old G holiday to Mustique (with the Middletons) that really set the tongues wagging.

             Anyhue, during an engagement in NZ, Kate let the cat out of the bag and confirmed suspicions by telling a single mother at an engagement that she’d also been left alone to cope with G during his first 6months.

             It’s a quote that was widely reported though not as a headline, then removed from articles after a few days. You can still find the original articles in places like Royaldish that cut and paste them into the body of their comments.

             1. Also, the week or two weeks after Kate’s solo trip with George, William took a hunting trip with Harry and Jecca Craig and no Kate

             2. The solo Mustique trip was at the same time as the hunting trip. That’s why I think the Middletons were behind the papped photos, as they didn’t protest them as so many other photos of their son had been at that point. That’s why the 10 days away from their son in the Maldives a week or two later looked like a trip to call William to the carpet, demand time with him, etc.

    2. Haha i do enjoy the dm’s passive aggressive articles! This line especially
       “His decision to miss such a key event in the royal calendar will revive criticism that the 34-year-old prince, now a father of two, is ‘workshy’ and failing to knuckle down to his royal role.”
       And Kate will probably be upset with pics of him and the blondes
       I don’t see why Kate couldn’t have been at the commonwealth ceremony sans william

       1. Probably not to draw obvious attention to the fact William couldn’t be arsed. Anyway she needs to get her roots done before this year’s Irish Guards and Paris. The DM must be loving the meltdown on there tonight.

          1. Massive pr fail for the Cambridges, perhaps they thought as they have been forced to do the shamrock event, and I do believe they have been told they have to do it, this was his little reward?
             Bad enough if whole family went but just William and who are those blondes?
             The media gloves are definitely coming off now, expect more of this. HM needs to crackdown now as this is impacting her image now, with many DM commenters wondering why she is allowing the cambridges to get away with blatant workshy behaviour.

             1. The DM didn’t need to publish the picture of the blond girls. That is just to kick William even harder especially as one of his male companions is renown for having his boxer shorts around his ankles. The point of those pictures is to cause maximum rumpus……hurt / wind up Kate, piss William off, and have the Cambridges realise that it’s still the press that have the upper hand at the moment over Cambridges. Oooh errehh. ”Tis getting murkier from one holiday to the next.

             2. I’m glad they did. “24-year-old Australian model Sophie Taylor” is beautiful. Carole and Kate will be livid. The BRF will do damage control and let him off. I want him to have some pain for such antics at his age. He should grow up.

       2. Because Kate doesn’t have the guts to shade William that much.

    3. I’m glad he’s being destroyed. Not only leaving Kate and kis at home for ab oozy weekend but missing a very important event on the BRF calendar? They deserve all the criticism they get. He’s proving himself a workshy @$$hole and their ruthless reporting on it is welcome, IMO. We all know he’s a jerk, now it seems the gloves perhaps are coming off?

    4. Whoever suggested a per-diem type payment for the RF on the Peter Phillips thread, I agree. This disrespect towards duties should have consequences. He couldn’t pick any of the 100+ days with no royal duties to go? I’m at the point where I blame the queen and Prince Charles for not reigning this in.

       1. Excellent Freudian typo there, EL! 🙂 Couldn’t agree more. William needs more than a talking to at this point. He needs an intervention.

       2. EL, the level of remuneration for the BRF corrupts their morals and character, as we have seen with all sorts of abuse of privilege from most of the RF. They don’t deserve anywhere near the level money they receive for what they provide, which in W+K case, is just days of work over a year. A more cost-effective and democratic option would be something similar to the Irish model of a president.

          People get upset with these holidays, but really, the royals’ life is largely pleasing themselves, punctuated with public events every now and then. They are paid a lot of money to do very, very little.

          1. All the royals take vacations. Royals who have taken ski vacations this year include: Countess Sophie (and family), Queen Letizia (and family), Crown Princess Mary (and family), Queen Maxima (and family), and Prince Andrew. Royals who have taken other vacations this year include: Crown Princess Victoria (and family, for over a month), and Prince Harry (twice, to Norway and to Jamaica).

             1. I was actually thinking about this the other day becuase I think I’ve seen pics of most of the Royal houses having members skiing. I think those houses all released family pics of them too. It boils down to William and Kate’s secrecy about everything and trying to control every minutiae of their private life thus essentially sneaking off that bothers me. The pics from the other day William had the fresh from slopes sun/wind burn look to him. When you work the equivalent of 63 days, yes, I’m sure you’ve taken several holidays.
                They need to do it when it doessn’t conflict with big events like this, they need to work more and they need to be less secretive.

             2. I don’t begrudge those who work taking vacations. I take between 2 and 3 a year, but Victoria taking a whole month or two off really put a bad taste in my mouth despite my really liking her. Granted, my husband works very hard and so we enjoy taking vacations when we can.

             3. Will, Kate and Harry just haven’t done enough for me to let a vacation slide. But William’s vacation makes me more angry because he skipped an important event to go party. He’s not 18. He needs to be held responsible. If they don’t want to do royal duties, they shouldn’t expect royal perks. They can take themselves out of the line of succession.

             4. Part of the problem is that there is no defined contract for royal service: what it comprises, the amount, and permissible down time. We already know from Mark Bolland that his main role was to make it appear to the public that a very part-time activity was full-time.

                No-one begrudges anyone a holiday, generally 4 weeks from 48 working weeks. And usually, it’s paid for personally.

                But that is not the case here. The working year for Harry, William and Kate – aka momentary glad handing – can be measured in days, but their leisure time measured in months. Why should people be taxed to provide this? What benefit is it to them?

                Further, if Kate and William want release from royal duties for several years, fine. BUT they need to fund themselves from personal funds until they decide that they can commit to full-time royal work, simple as that work is.

       3. Oops! Oh well it works 🙂

15. Swedish Victoria was in Florida starting on January 17. I do not begrudge anyone a vacation, does that mean Vicky give up her summer vacation make up the winter vacation? I do not have it in for V, if we criticze other royals than V should be held to the same standards! I realize V is hardworking, there are some are hardworking too.Just my opinion.

    1. Of course Victoria didn’t give up her Summer vacation to do the Winter vacation. Victoria will take her normal Summer vacation like she does every year.

       Do you have links for Victoria being in Florida? I haven’t heard that before.

       1. http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/kungligt/var-skont-att-fa-vara-med-barnen-mycket/

          http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.expressen.se%2Fnyheter%2Fkungligt%2Fvar-skont-att-fa-vara-med-barnen-mycket%2F

          Excerpt (Google Translate)
          Daniel and Victoria went on holiday with the children for six weeks.

          Now they have both made debut on the job for family holidays.

          – It was nice to be with the kids a lot, says Prince Daniel to the Swedish Women’s Weekly .
          Read more about the Royal Family

          Expressen in January could reveal that Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel gone on vacation to the United States – and brought with her two children there.

16. Love this family so very much. I hope Daniel is well. It is nice to see them out and about, when they should be; I was concerned their vacation had something to do with his health as he’ll inevitably need a new kidney sooner rather than later, right?

17. I adore Victoria’s family. Estelle and Oscar are too adorable for words and I love seeing how affectionate Victoria is with them. I agree with others, I hope Daniel is OK.

    As for Prince William’s vacation…..if he had been with Kate and the kids I wouldn’t be quite so turned off. But is it just me or does he look like a bachelor in those pictures? He spends Charlotte’s first Easter away in Africa at an ex-girlfriend’s wedding and now he goes off on a vacation with the lads along with some hot young girls knowing full well that if the media got wind of this it would hurt his reputation and look disrespectful to Kate.

    Do you guys think William is cheating on Kate? I don’t want to stir the pot, but if my boyfriend treated me with as much disregard and even contempt as William sometimes shows Kate I would be livid. Remember that floral Kate Spade dress Kate wore? I think it was back in November. She gave a speech for a Heads Together thing. Well I remember seeing a video of Kate, William, and Harry getting out of a car. William walked forward and shook the host’s hand without even acknowledging his wife but Harry waited for Kate to get out of the car and walked with her side by side. Kate looked happy and smiled at Harry. Almost like she was surprised to see someone treat her decently.

    Maybe I am over reacting, but over the past year that I have been following this blog I have felt and seen many red flags with the way William interacts with Kate. He is warm, affectionate, and loving with his children. Yet he treats his wife like a younger sister he barely tolerates. He constantly looks annoyed by her and she always seems to try to get his attention as if she were trying to please him. Something is not right.

    There is a part of me that feels bad for Kate. But there is another part that wanders why she puts up with this because he seems to have always treated her like this. For example, after the wedding when the Queen was celebrating her jubilee on a boat ride. It started to rain and William used an umbrella for himself and walked away from Kate. Harry had to yell at William and get his attention. When Will turned around, Harry pointed at Kate as if to say “are you forgetting something?” It was only then that William waited for Kate so that he could share his umbrella with her. This is only one example. William always seems inconsiderate and inattentive around Kate. Or is it just me?

    I don’t know you guys. There is something about William that really rubs me the wrong way. It’s his crappy, arrogant, smug attitude. And he keeps talking about how he can’t do royal duties because he is a “family man” but how many times has he left Kate with the kids alone? I think Kate probably spends a lot of time with her Mom and family while William just plays around with the lads. He said that he found adjusting to family life “difficult”. Something tells me that he really should have stayed a bachelor a bit longer. Maybe he wasn’t ready for marriage? People say that Harry is immature and a partier but I really think that the brothers are much more alike then people realize.

    1. I was utterly disgusted by this vacation. I remember being young & married & told what happens down range stays down range. I made an effort to ensure that my marriage was not like that & it appeared to be fighting more often than not & I mean more the institution than my husband.

       William is sitting closest to the 2 blondes & they were in their early 20’s. He snuck off to have a secret skiing tryst w/his buddies but it appears that there were young women included as well. For him to believe that the public are so stupid that he can “pretend” to be such a hard worker and dedicated family man and then to show up in pictures with other women, well I find that abhorrent.

       My father founded a “hunting club” & I don’t mean something like SCI, but about 20 of his guy friends who would hunt twice a year. One time with their families & one time alone, in the mountains, hours away from anyone in miserable conditions. I wouldn’t be upset if PW was a hard work & dedicated family man. I wouldn’t be nearly as upset if there were just pictures & rumors of PW & his ‘guy’ friends. I would never begrudge a hard working, family man the time off to blow off steam with a few of his buddies, but to include women regardless of the situation, particularly when they have the nerve to complain that paparazzi might be shot because their security might become confused. So if that’s the case these two young blondes must have been screened by security? That adds a whole other level to this can of worms he has opened.

       I just can’t find the words to show my utter disgust with this entire situation w/o using all caps!!! 🙁

       p.s KMR I was actually just joking about that last part! You are one of the last saving graces in this entire mess.

    2. I would be surprised if William were faithful at all. He had a roving eye botj before and during his relationship with Kate. Imho, Kate knows who he is. This is going to come off cold, but if you know and accept your partner cheating then I have no sympathy for you.

       1. If you agree to your partner having sex with other people, is it still cheating? If both parties have agreed to it, then it’s not cheating.

          1. Imho, if you know your spouse/partner is doing it and you are okay with it, I wouldn’t call it cheating.

          2. Yes, it is cheating imo, whether your spouse is aware/condones it or not. Get a divorce if you don’t want to honor your vows. Royals get divorced nowadays, don’t they?!!

             As for the Swedish Royals, they are a warm and happy family. Very loving and not afraid to show affection. I love their well-adjusted, beautiful children who are not hidden away from public view and who appear to be very sweet and charming children. I also hope that Daniel is well. He’s a good man and a wonderful husband and father. Victoria is one of my very faves, too.

18. The SRF is nice and a value for money from my perspective. Victoria does seem to like her position’s responsibilities and engagement with her citizens. I wonder if the medication taken for rejection is causing problems for Daniel. Their children are well behaved in public and Estelle also seems to like meeting people. Well done. As for the British royals, they are such a disappointment, and a greedy disappointment.

19. It was released by the royal court & published on royal gossip. Vic not sweet goody 2 shoes, she is after all human like the rest of us. I do not hate V i am just suspicious of people pretend to wonderful 24/7. She is bring out the children garner positive press, it it was other royals they would get bashed big time! I am not envious of Victoria?

    1. Estelle has attended this event since she was very young. She was at her first name day event when she was a few months old. I see it as Daniel and Victoria getting them used to being in the public eye and used to their duties.

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