Tournament of Roses Royal Courts ranging from decades past to this year’s new lineup reunited at the 78th Annual Queen’s Breakfast hosted by the Pasadena Jaycees Tuesday morning to celebrate the traditions and legacy of the Royal Court and to give attendees a chance to learn more about seven of the city’s most promising young women.
“Each year people only get a chance to see the Royal Court on a float. Having an event like this really opens it up to a more personal side of all these young ladies. Each one of them has such a unique story to tell. All of our young ladies have diverse cultural backgrounds and I think we saw that here today,” said Tournament of Roses President Brad Ratliff.
The city’s desire to get up close and personal with the Royal Court is nothing new. The Queen’s Breakfast, staged in collaboration with the Tournament of Roses, is one of the longest standing traditions for the city of Pasadena and the premier (ages 21-41) professional leadership organization in the Pasadena and surrounding communities known as Pasadena Jaycees.
“People really enjoy learning more about the Royal Court and understanding why these girls have been selected. It makes it that much more special when they seem them on the float during the parade,” said Pasadena Jaycees Chairperson Nicole Wood.
The breakfast featured all seven members of the 2017 Tournament of Roses Royal Court accompanied by their mothers in lighthearted discussions with KABC7 Eyewitness News Co-anchor and Master of Ceremonies David Ono.
The 2017 Royal Court includes Queen Victoria Castellanos and Princesses Shannon Larsuel, Natalie Petrosian, Maya Khan, Audrey Cameron, Autumn Lundy and Lauren ‘Emi’ Powers.
“The Queen’s Breakfast is still a tradition of bringing all the former Rose Court members together, having a reunion and learning more about the girls and their moms and keeping the strong relationship with the Pasadena Tournament of Roses,” said Wood.
The Queen’s Breakfast is one of approximately 100 appearances the Royal Court makes leading up to the famed Rose Parade on New Year’s Day.
“I hope that throughout my years I never let any of the committees of the Tournament of Roses down. I’ve always wanted to make Pasadena proud and be a good representative to uphold all of the traditions,” said Queen Victoria Castellanos.
The Jaycees are involved with a variety of community, social and networking projects year round. For more information on the Pasadena Jaycees call (626) 792-5146 or visit www.pasadenajaycees.org.
