Last t night I talked to my nephew about coming down to Sunnyvale and having a ceremony for the spreading of Drew Benton’s cremated remains. I told him I’m going to do painting with some of her ashes, because she is made up of Christine Rosamond, and Garth Benton, well known artists. Garth did the Getty Villa mural.
Today is my birthday and I heard on the news a man was arrested for starting the fires. He made computer images of blazing infernos. I talked to the curator of the Villa about doing a show.
UNCANNY!
My paintings will depict the flames that licked at The Getty!
John Presco
Officials arrest man in Florida on suspicion of starting devastating Palisades Fire
By
,
Updated 1 hr 14 min ago
Firefighters watch the flames from the Palisades Fire burning a home on January 8, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Apu Gomes/Getty ImagesLos Angeles —
Nine months after a raging inferno decimated the Los Angeles area, claiming the lives of a dozen people and burning down thousands of homes and businesses, officials have arrested a suspect in Florida on suspicion of arson.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, is facing a federal charge of destruction of property by means of fire, according to Bill Essayli, the acting US attorney for Southern California.
The suspect, who used to work as an Uber driver and lived in the Pacific Palisades at the time, is under arrest on suspicion of arson in connection with the Palisades Fire. He did not enter a plea at a federal court appearance on Wednesday in Orlando.
Authorities painted a picture of a man singularly focused on a city going up in flames at a news conference Wednesday, saying the suspect repeatedly watched a rap video that included “objects being lit on fire” in the days before allegedly setting the fire.
The suspect also allegedly prompted ChatGPT to generate a “dystopian painting showing in part a burning forest and a crowd fleeing from it,” in the months before the fire started, Essayli said.
The federal criminal complaint provides additional detail about the prompt the suspect allegedly used, offering insight into Rinderknecht’s state of mind.
Rinderknecht asked the chatbot for a “dystopian painting divided into distinct parts that blend together seamlessly. On the far left, there is a burning forest. Next to it, a crowd of people is running away from the fire, leading to the middle. In the middle, hundreds of thousands of people in poverty are trying to get past a gigantic gate with a big dollar sign on it. On the other side of the gate and the entire wall is a conglomerate of the richest people. They are chilling, watching the world burn down, and watching the people struggle.”
The suspect also told ChatGPT he wanted to highlight “the stark contrast and the direct connection between the different parts of the world” in the image.
This AI-Generated image was released by Acting United States Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli who said the image was found on devices owned by Jonathan Rinderknecht. Acting US Attorney Bill Essayli/X
A federal judge appointed a public defender to represent Rinderknecht and continued his detention hearing to Thursday morning.
Rinderknecht will remain in custody at least until that hearing, according to court records.
His preliminary hearing has been postponed indefinitely to give prosecutors in California time to select witnesses and arrange travel.
e that David Lynch is evacuated from his home – with oxygen tank! This does not look good. Who saw THE FIRE coming? On the new this morning it is revealed concerned folks asked for a million dollars to put in a flashflood warning – and were denied! I know every parent who lost a loved one are saying – they would have raised the money – if asked! The Mayor started a Fund Us button. I dreamed of the Oakland Fire and sounded an alarm – a week before. I am going to set up a Fund Me. I have not got a dime for all the effort I have put in this blog. More people – will die! They don’t want to be – informed!
John Presco
Predicting The Oakland Fire
Posted on December 25, 2015 by Royal Rosamond Press
Portent and David Lynch
Posted on January 19, 2025 by Royal Rosamond Press
“I saw the writing on the wall,” Lynch told People, explaining how his long-time practice of transcendental meditation helped him quit and to stay optimistic. Still, he admitted: “It’s tough living with emphysema. I can hardly walk across a room. It’s like you’re walking around with a plastic bag around your head.”
Consider the Trojan Horse. If only the Trojans had left it where it was – to rot!
I spent an hour trying to find out where David Lynch was – when he died! My worst fear (and David’s) is he was put in his car, that got stuck in the traffic jam on Sunset. Drivers ran for their lives. Their cars were bulldozed off the road to make way for the firetrucks.
Of course this would make a great death scene – in any movie! The rich old man can not walk ten feet without having to hit on a tank of oxygen. So as his frail secretary looks helplessly at her boss, she says;
“I’m not strong enough to carry you!”
“I understand Sabrena. Save yourself. Run Sabrina, Run for your life. Dont look back. Don’t cry for me Sabrina! I have lived a full life!
Sobbing, Sabrina runs fifty yards, and has to look back. She screams to see the Rolls Royce engulfed in flames!
“If only we had a wanning! If only there was a way – TO SEE IT COMING!”
JRP
a sign or warning that something, especially something momentous or calamitous, is likely to happen.
“they believed that wild birds in the house were portents of death”
“David Lynch has been evacuated from his home due to the Los Angeles wildfires. Producer Sabrina Sutherland has confirmed he’s safe and doing okay.”
Upvote2.6KDownvote100
L.A. fire forced David Lynch to leave his home before his death, report says
Last year, the filmmaker talked about his struggles with emphysema, saying he didn’t leave his home due to concerns about COVID-19 and other infections
By Martha Ross | Bay Area News Group
UPDATED: January 17, 2025 at 12:30 PM PST
David Lynch, diagnosed with emphysema, which he said left him homebound, was reportedly forced to evacuate from his home when the Sunset fire, one of the blazes burning in Los Angeles since last week, erupted on Jan. 8 and triggered mandatory evacuations in Hollywood and the Hollywood hills.
https://cds.connatix.com/p/plugins/cnx.bridge-1.0.8.htmlThe video player is currently playing an ad.
“Because of COVID, it would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold. So I would probably be directing from my home,” he continued.
As recently as November, Lynch told People magazine that he had to rely on supplemental oxygen for anything more strenuous than a walk across the room. He wanted to warn other smokers that the same could happen to them.
Lynch told People he started smoking at age 8, and it was a “big important part of my life.” After years of trying to give up cigarettes, he finally managed to quit after receiving his emphysema diagnosis.
“I saw the writing on the wall,” Lynch told People, explaining how his long-time practice of transcendental meditation helped him quit and to stay optimistic. Still, he admitted: “It’s tough living with emphysema. I can hardly walk across a room. It’s like you’re walking around with a plastic bag around your head.”
The Sunset fire erupted in the Hollywood Hills on the evening of Jan. 8, the day after the outbreaks of the deadly and destructive Palisades and Eaton fires on either side of the city.
For embattled Los Angeles, the Sunset fire seemed to be especially terrifying, as it threatened to burn down into Hollywood and forced the evacuation of such iconic locations as the TCL Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, the Dolby Theatre and Ovation Hollywood, the shopping center in the heart of the neighborhood, the Los Angeles Times reported. Fortunately, firefighters were able to make significant progress overnight and keep the fire to 50 acres. Evacuation orders were lifted by the following morning.
In the family members’ announcement of Lynch’s passing, they said, “We would appreciate some privacy at this time. There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.’ It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”
That “golden sunshine and blue skies” sounds inspired by an idealized vision of Lynch’s adopted hometown of Los Angeles. In her tribute to Lynch, Manohla Dargis, the film critic for the New York Times, wrote it was sadly “fitting” that the news of Lynch’s death came while “my city was burning.”
“Few filmmakers grasped the complexities of Los Angeles better than Lynch did and fewer still seemed so at home with its distinct, otherworldly mix of beauty and disaster, sunshine and noir,” Dargis said.
While born in Montana, the Idaho-, Washington- and Virginia-reared Lynch was really “birthed” in Los Angeles, where he attended film school and began making movies, starting with the cult classic “Eraserhead,” Dargis said. Although he was never accepted as a mainstream Hollywood filmmaker, he still had “his own sense of Hollywood,” said his New York Times obituary. He was revered by critics and other acclaimed filmmakers, and “the great outsider” received an honorary Academy Award in 2019, as Dargis said.
“Mulholland Drive” (2001) was his “poisonous valentine” to L.A., the New York Times said, telling a surrealist tale about the misadventures of two would-be female stars who become embroiled in murder, mobsters and the dark side of the the Hollywood dream factory.
Nonetheless, Lynch’s affection for his adopted hometown was apparent in his beloved local weather reports, which he released on YouTube. In one report from May 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, Lynch faced the camera to let his followers know that “here in L.A.” some morning fog “should burn off pretty soon and we’ll have sunshine and 70 degrees. Have a great day.”
a sign or warning that something, especially something momentous or calamitous, is likely to happen.
“they believed that wild birds in the house were portents of death”
Speaking to Deadline, the source claimed David’s health worsened after he had to relocate from his house due to the Sunset Fire. The Mirror US has approached David’s representatives for comment.
David’s family announced his death on Facebook, writing, “It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch. We would appreciate some privacy at this time.”
They continued, “There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.’ … It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”
Speaking to Deadline, the source claimed David’s health worsened after he had to relocate from his house due to the Sunset Fire. The Mirror US has approached David’s representatives for comment.
David’s family announced his death on Facebook, writing, “It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch. We would appreciate some privacy at this time.”
They continued, “There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.’ … It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”
Share this:
Lynch Was a Bohemian Lamp Freak
Posted on January 19, 2025 by Royal Rosamond Press
This morning I found out David is a fellow Bohemian and Lamp Freak Also, folks are making lamps from cremation urns. I have made great lamps and was going to sell them at the Saturday Market.
Below is a quote that David would – love to death! He would be happy – that he surprised me! I was….not aware! I can’t even – spell it!
JRP
“David spoke about his Transcendtal Meditation, but, regrets he did not take the last step into the light like I did, when I became a seeker of Weird Lamps in Goodwill and Saint Vincent De Paul stores. I drove down 99 in my quest in my 1972 Ford pickup.. Alas I found, not one – but two Grails. You can see in this video….I am a happy man!”
Yes, David Lynch lived the life of a bohemian painter in Philadelphia before becoming a filmmaker. He envisioned a bohemian lifestyle as a teenager, and his work is said to be a mix of the unworldly and the bohemian.
Explanation
- As a teenager, Lynch imagined a bohemian lifestyle of drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and dating.
- He lived in a crime-ridden area of Philadelphia with his wife and baby daughter.
- His first short films featured scenes of blood, vomiting, and crying babies.
- Lynch’s work is often associated with “New American Gothic”, which depicts violent menace and sexual and physical aberrancy.
430 miles from the Bohemian Grove
La dernière panique
The Riddle of Lumen: Lynch’s Lamps
In a gallery exhibition of new work, David Lynch’s functional sculptures evoke the uncanny existence of light and darkness in his art.
As the greatest author of oversized art books and blogs, how could I ignore the Titanic Tale.
Yesterday I told the woman at the Getty Villa about the Titanic Urn I got, that I didn’t order. The vase I ordered was blue – with rose!
Here comes – A DISASTER! This is a Art Disaster Story. Consider the beautiful murals – dug out of the volcanic ash of Pompei. I give this Getty Woman permission to copy this entire blog, and put it in the Getty Archives. I am 78. It looks like my Medicaid and Food stamps will be taken from me. I get around $950 dollar a month from Supplementary Social Security. No one has done so much, with so little – FOR FREE! That might change.
Click on ‘Flames Lap At Getty Villa’ to see Facebook videos of the fire – with Drew’s ashes!
John Presco
President: Royal Rosamond Press
Flames Lap At Getty Villa!
Posted on January 8, 2025 by Royal Rosamond Press
Around four this afternnon, I got a box containing the urn for Drew Benton’s ashes. It was not what I ordered. It was black, with an object I could not identify on it. Then I saw it was the Titanic! WTF?
What potence has this brought. On the news I see homes on fire. Three hours later I see the Getty Villa is at the edge of the INFERNO that may burn a large area of residential LA.
JRP
EXTRA!
EVACUATION ORDER ISSUED FOR NORTHERN SANTA MONICA
by Matthew Hall
in Breaking News, Featured, News
Residents living between San Vicente Blvd. and the City’s northern border are being ordered to evacuate due to the explosive Palisades Fire.
Getty Villa Museum grounds catch fire
and Jessica Gelt
Jan. 7, 2025 Updated 5:54 PM PT
Amid the devastating and fast-moving fire in Pacific Palisades, the grounds of the Getty Villa have caught fire, the museum confirmed Tuesday.
Fire officials said that trees and brush were ablaze and that flames were approaching structures, but the museum said the Villa and its art had been spared so far. A video on the social media platform X showed the flames approaching the Villa de Leon, a historic home near the museum’s driveway entrance on Pacific Coast Highway.
“Fortunately, Getty had made extensive efforts to clear brush from the surrounding area as part of its fire mitigation efforts throughout the year,” Katherine E. Fleming, president and chief executive of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said in a statement. “Some trees and vegetation on site have burned, but staff and the collection remain safe.”
ADVERTISING
Fleming noted protection measures such as water stored on site, irrigation to wet the grounds, double-walled construction and air-handling systems to seal the galleries and library archives from smoke.
Built in 1954 by oil tycoon J. Paul Getty and opened as a museum in 1974, the 64-acre Getty Villa houses more than 44,000 objects, including priceless antiquities — Roman, Greek and Etruscan relics dating from 6,500 BC to AD 400. The most prized piece in the collection is “Statue of a Victorious Youth,” circa 300-100 BC, also known as “The Getty Bronze.” Other important works include the Roman “Lansdowne Herakles,” which dates to about AD 175, and the Cycladic “Male Harp Player,” 2700-2300 BC.
The Getty Villa was designed and constructed as a full-scale replica of the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum, in what is now southern Italy. From 1974 to 1997, the Villa housed the Getty Museum’s entire art collection. European paintings, drawings, sculptures, manuscripts, decorative arts and some photography were moved in 1997, when the Getty Center opened in Brentwood. The Villa was later closed for renovations and reopened in 2006 after a $275-million project transformed the site into an educational center and museum dedicated to ancient art.
Drew Benton and Garthland
Posted on December 2, 2021 by Royal Rosamond Press
Bonds With Angels
by
John Presco
Copyright 2021
Last night I had a dream about Christine and her friend, Carmen, who had a crush on me. They were around fourteen. They were dancing and having fun. Carmen and I used to dance at San Sebastian. Suddenly, Christine is speaking to me. She loves my genealogical study.
“Don’t deprive your niece of her birthright!”
Capturing Sleeping Beauty At Rosamond Gallery
Posted on June 8, 2017 by Royal Rosamond Press
The American Girl
Posted on March 21, 2018 by Royal Rosamond Press
Above is the artwork of Philip Boileau, the son of Susan Benton, the sister of Jessie Benton, who husband was the first Republican candidate for President. Philip and Christine Rosamond Benton are in the same family tree. Here are ‘The Rosamond Women’.
Here are ‘The Fisher Girls’ that I just discovered yesterday. The ‘Rosamond Caretaker’ missed Fisher and Boileau.
This is all that need have been said about the commercial artist, Christine Rosamond Benton. What a perfect name. You don’t need to hire an outsider to do this for you. Christine asked me to help her, saying she does not feel like an artist.
Harrison Fisher
1875–1934
At one time, Harrison Fisher’s ‘Fisher Girl’ was as well known as ‘The Gibson Girl’. Fisher made a name for himself in the history of American illustration due to his uncanny ability to paint beautiful women. His ‘Fisher Girl’ and, more importantly, his ‘American Girl’ were recognized as the epitome of feminine beauty in America during the first quarter of the 20th century. She was lithe, elegant and beautiful, but also athletic, independent, and intelligent. Cosmopolitan Magazine in the 1920’s called Harrison Fisher, “The World’s Greatest Artist” saying that “There is an underlying ideal that dominates his paintings. His ideal type has come to be regarded as the type of American beauty: girls, young with the youth of a new country, strong with the vitality of buoyant good health, fresh with clear-eyed brightness, athletic, cheerful, sympathetic, and beautiful.” They went on to say, “‘The American Girl’ is practical, adventuresome, active, and above all, attractive. No one can portray more of this attractiveness than Harrison Fisher.” Christine Rosamond Benton.
Jon Presco
The Grand Staircase At Seaford House
Posted on March 20, 2018 by Royal Rosamond Press
NOTES? The Royal Janitor
Day before yesterday, I composed (in my head) how Serena Weldon met her second husband, Commodore Sir Alfred Arthur Ainsworth, at Seaford House. He is the Commodore of the Royal College of Defence Studies in London. It was love at first sight when she saw him come down the grand staircase that was used in the movie S.O.S. Titanic. This morning, as I took my place before my computer with my large coffee, I followed a hunch. I googled the passenger list for the Titanic. I had been puzzled why Rena was afraid of the sea, and, why she married Sir Ian Easton, a Admiral in the British Navy who captained several aircraft carriers. He was twenty years her senior. They lived on the Isle of Wight where Ian raced yachts. Did Rena go sailing with Ian, or, did she stay at home watching him from the Widow’s Walk with a spyglass? How Gothic!
My search fell upon Ethel Flora Fortune, and I thought my search was over. What a interesting story! But, I got no psychic hit. I went down the list, and clicked on Dorothy Gibson, the muse of the commercial artist, Harrison Fisher, who is the precursor of the commercial artist, Christine Rosamond Benton! I have titled Rena, Rosamond’s muse.
They made a movie about Dorothy’s Titanic adventure that got burned up. She was the Titanic Poster Girl. She was a world famous actress. One blogger suggests her story would make a great movie! Why has no producer come forth? One possibility is, Dorothy was suspected to be a Nazi Sympathizer. I have all but accused Rena of this. Considering Hollywood was, and still is, controlled by Jews, this movie could not be made. However, I will run it past Peter Czernin, and his London crowd. How can the sins of a past life be carried over to the present?
There is a scene from S.O.S. that was cutout. It depicts a beautiful and grand Lesbian, or, bisexual, seducing her young maid. Rena speaks of a dark past. Did Serena fall in with the kinky crowd, who got a hold of this scene she filmed when she was just sixteen? She had hopped a train for Hollywood, and lied about her age. She wanted to earn money acting in order to pay her grandmother back. She had not yet come into her beauty, like Rena did at seventeen. At seventeen, Serena joins the Waves, and was assigned to Naval Intelligence where she read the book that changed her life ‘The Trojan Mirage’ by Kilgorke Troytski.
My other wonderment, is, why did Rena go to L.A. if not to be discovered by Hollywood? She flirts with her past life, as if there is a desire to duplicate it, and correct what went wrong. Perhaps she should have married Fraser, the Bohemian, and not that famous producer? Dorothy is all but forgotten. I will bring her back to the silver screen!
It appears she was exploited by Brulatour who invented the Newsreel (CNN) and enriched himself from this tragedy that affected many, including Dorothy who had a mental breakdown. Why do so many muses develop mental illness? She looks medicated in the photo of her pointing to the cheap cut-out of the Titanic. Opioids? However, there is a rumor the Titanic never sank. This article does not mention Gibson who says she stayed up late after the crew asked her, and some gentleman she was with, to retire. If the sinking was staged, then you would want a good witness, and a man with a movie camera to show the world her story. Have other’s found holes in her story, and thus, no life story?
But, what about Gwen, the sculptress? More than one muse can occupy a soul in the present, because their are not too many creative people in the world. I might reincarnate the Captain of the Titanic in some form. Surely he would want to come back and right wrong. But more than that, he would have a powerful desire to save people – many people! Was there a Casandra on board, that tried to get Captain Smith – to believe her? Did Rena marry Captain Ian in order to alter the past? Did Smith………….survive? Why was he allowed to captain the Titanic after he severely damaged the Olympic? Would you get on the next ship he captained?
Back to that grand staircase. Such staircases are portals in time. Many professionals believe Czar Von Trumpster is steering the Ship of State on to the rocks. There is talk of a third world war. He just congratulated Emperor Putiniski for winning a rigged election.
Wait! What is that? I hear violin music on deck!
Jon Presco
Copyright 2018
Harrison Fisher (July 27, 1875 or 1877 – January 19, 1934) was an American illustrator.
Fisher was born in Brooklyn, New York City and began to draw at an early age. Both his father and his grandfather were artists.[1] Fisher spent much of his youth in San Francisco, and studied at the San Francisco Art Association. In 1898, he moved back to New York and began his career as a newspaper and magazine illustrator.[1] He became known particularly for his drawings of women, which won him acclaim as the successor of Charles Dana Gibson.[1] Together with fellow artists Howard Chandler Christy and Neysa McMein, he constituted the Motion Picture Classic magazine’s, “Fame and Fortune” contest jury of 1921/1922, who discovered the It-girl, Clara Bow.[2] Fisher’s work appeared regularly on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine from the early 1900s until his death.
In addition to his position with Kodak and his presidency of the Sales Company, Jules Brulatour launched the Animated Weekly newsreel series and co-founded Peerless Pictures.[3] He was also an advisor and producer for the French-based Eclair Film Company, which opened in 1911 an extensive, state-of-the-art studio at Fort Lee, New Jersey, then the center of the burgeoning American movie industry. Eclair was a leader in technical and artistic advancements afoot in filmmaking at the time, and its American branch was hailed as a mecca for top talent, which Brulatour helped cultivate.[4] In fact, its first leading lady, Dorothy Gibson, already well known as a model for leading illustrator Harrison Fisher, not only became a big star in Eclair vehicles but she landed the married Brulatour as a boyfriend.[5]
Dorothy Gibson, the second Mrs. Jules Brulatour
His mistress proved herself a marketable screen personality, especially as a comedian in such popular one-reelers as Miss Masquerader (1911) and Love Finds a Way (1912). But her best-known role was that of herself in the drama Saved From the Titanic (1912), based on her real-life experiences as a survivor of the famous maritime disaster.[6] The movie, produced by Brulatour, was the first of many cinematic and theatrical productions about the sinking. It was released May 16, 1912, just over a month after the Titanic went down. Brulatour also produced the first newsreel about the Titanic disaster (Animated Weekly, issue No. 7, released April 22, 1912).[7]
In 1914 Brulatour funded the construction of larger studios for Peerless Pictures at Fort Lee as well as the rebuilding of Eclair’s processing laboratory, storage vault and offices, which had burned, destroying negatives for almost all the firm’s films made over the last three years.
Throughout 1915–1916, while his girlfriend appeared with moderate success in Metropolitan Opera House productions, Brulatour was promoted to the presidency of the Eastman Kodak Company. He also helped form another studio at Fort Lee, Paragon Films, for which he built a large facility specifically for the on-site production of Eastman stock.
By 1917 Jules Brulatour was a very rich man, reportedly worth several million dollars, and he was increasingly powerful politically.[11] That year he was appointed to the executive committee of the National Association of the Motion Picture Industry. Brulatour chiefly conferred with the group’s War Cooperation Subcommittee, which networked with the US government for the promotion of public welfare and propaganda films.[12]
It is believed that his sudden high profile in Washington, D.C. determined him to legitimize his relationship with Dorothy Gibson, whom he finally married on July 6, 1917, a week before his first conference with President Woodrow Wilson and United States Treasury Department Secretary McAdoo.
The next year Jules Brulatour was invited to join the film division of President Wilson’s Committee of Public Information, but this appointment was less fruitful. Arguments and financial troubles arose almost immediately, and allegations flew of undue influence from media baron William Randolph Hearst and even of bribes from Brulatour; nothing was proven but he resigned under pressure.
Royal College of Defence Studies
The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) is the senior college of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.
We provide the capstone to the strategic education of those officers of the Armed Forces and equivalent civil servants who have the potential to reach the highest ranks and who must therefore understand and be comfortable working at the strategic level in a cross-government and international environment. The College was established in 1927, originally as the Imperial Defence College, in accordance with Winston Churchill’s vision of promoting greater understanding between senior military officers, diplomats, civil servants and officials.
College organisation
The Commandant of the College is normally a 3-star military officer or civilian equivalent, currently Sir Tom Phillips KCMG. The Senior Directing Staff (SDS) are senior serving and retired officers and officials drawn from the UK Armed Forces, Civil Service, and Diplomatic Service. They provide mentoring and academic supervision to RCDS Course Members with the assistance of professors from King’s College London. They also develop the content of the RCDS Course and lead specific elements. Supporting the Commandant and SDS, under the Chief of Staff are a team of support staff who manage the daily programme, coordinate visits, oversee the recruitment of new Members and the alumni, provide IT support, information management and library services, and maintenance of the estate.
College Members
An RCDS course usually consists of 90-100 Members from the UK and overseas. The UK Members are drawn from the Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force as well as the Ministry of Defence. Other government departments also attend and Members have been drawn from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Home Office, Department for International Development, Cabinet Office and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratories as well as different police constabularies in recent years.
Overseas Members join RCDS from some 50 countries each year on the basis of invitations sent by the UK Ministry of Defence through diplomatic channels. The majority of Members are from the Armed Forces, with the remaining Members being diplomats, civil servants, or police officers. Private sector and non-governmental organisation participation is also welcomed in the interests of broadening the base of experience and gaining wider perspectives. Nominees will already be in positions of responsibility and they will be selected on the basis of their potential to reach the highest ranks in their parent organisation, either as top decision-makers or as a strategic adviser. Most military Members are of OF5/OF6 rank (Colonel/Brigadier) although a small number of more senior, and occasionally junior, officers are also present. Civilian Members will be of an equivalent grade or status.
All Members should be fluent in the English language. Those who do not speak English as their first language must begin the course with a score of at least 6.5 on the International English Language Testing System scale. An intensive six week refresher package of English language training is available prior to the main course for those who need it. The College also provides English classes once per week for Members from September to December.
Since 2009, the following countries have sent their senior officers and officials to study at Seaford House:
RCDS programme
The Royal College of Defence Studies is a world-renowned institution committed to developing strategic thinkers and leaders.
In an international environment, which provides perspectives and insights from around the world, we seek to inspire study, stimulate thinking and stir debate on contemporary strategic issues. Our aim is to prepare graduates who understand the strategic context, are skilled in analysis and able to work intuitively across national, cultural and ideological boundaries to lead on or contribute to developing strategy at the highest level.
The RCDS course is a post-graduate-level course in international strategic studies, focusing on political, diplomatic, security, social and economic issues at the grand strategic level – the level at which governments take decisions on these issues both nationally and within the international community. Issues are analysed for their implications in terms of strategy and leadership. The focus of study on the main course is practical rather than theoretical.
The RCDS mission is:
To prepare selected senior military officers and government officials as well as appropriate individuals from the private sector, from the United Kingdom and elsewhere, for senior leadership and management roles. We do this by developing strategic understanding and the capacity for strategic thinking through rigorous analysis of:
- the international security agenda
- the levers that provide for security, stability and prosperity
- the key tenets of leadership at the national strategic level
Course outcome: at the conclusion of the course our aspiration is that:
“The RCDS graduate understands the international strategic context, is skilled in analysis and able to work intuitively across national, cultural and ideological boundaries to lead or contribute to developing strategy at the highest level.”
If you require further information about the RCDS course please contact us via the enquiry form.
Seaford House, originally called Sefton House, at 37 Belgrave Square is an aristocratic mansion in London, England. It is the largest of the three detached houses which occupy three corners of Belgrave Square in the district of Belgravia.[1] Seaford House is a white stucco building with four main stories.
Dated 1842, it was designed by Philip Hardwick for the Earl of Sefton.[2] Seaford House and its railings and gate piers have been listed Grade II* for their architectural merit.[3]
In 1902, Sefton House was remodeled for Lord Howard de Walden, who was also Baron Seaford. It was at this time that it became known as Seaford House. Howard de Walden had a marble staircase, friezes and paneling installed.[4] It is now the home of Royal College of Defence Studies, and is usually open to the public free of charge on Open House Weekend each September.
The main vestibule of the Seaford House was used as Titanic‘s Grand Staircase in the 1979 miniseries SOS Titanic and later stood in as the exterior of the home of Maggie Gyllenhaal‘s character Nessa Stein in the BBC and SundanceTV television miniseries The Honourable Woman in 2014.
Rosamond Press 
Leave a comment