Will Prince William Get Inked In Israel?

The royal family has been talked about a lot in the news lately, but this time the focus isn’t on Prince Harry. Prince William is currently undergoing a historical trip to Israel. While royal family members have visited the country in the past, they’ve never undergone an official trip until now. This trip is important politically, but as a tattoo shop we only have one question- is William going to follow in his ancestor’s footsteps and get a tattoo while he’s there?

History

As we mentioned, Prince William isn’t the first member of the British royal family to go to Israel. At least three of William’s ancestors have gotten inked after traveling to Jerusalem. They received the tattoos after making pilgrimages to the Holy City.

Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, who later went on to become King Edward VII, (he was the oldest son of Queen Victoria if you need a little refresher on the royal family tree), began the tradition in 1862. Later, two of his children, Prince Albert Victor and Prince George (who later became King George V) made the same trip. They also both received tattoos.

Cultural Significance

Most members of the British royal family refrain from getting tattoos. Otherwise, Prince Harry would probably be covered. However, in this instance, the Queen might forgive it. After all, it’s become common for people that go on a Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem to get tattoos marking the journey.

Christian pilgrimage tattoos actually date all the way back to the early 7^th century. Islam was beginning to spread into Egypt, which at the time was mainly a Coptic Christian society. After the Muslims conquered Egypt, they forced many of the Christians to convert to Islam. Some resisted and received crosses across their inner right wrist to mark them as Christians.

Over time, the Coptic Christians adopted this practice. They began the tradition of tattooing themselves with the crosses, and for many centuries Coptic Churches would only grant entry to those that could prove their Christian identity with this ink. These days, a tattoo is seen as a must for many Christian pilgrims that visit the Holy City.

Tattoo Design

So now you’re probably wondering what design the past royals received on their visit? There aren’t any pictures, but reportedly the tattoo depicted the Jerusalem cross and the three crowns of Israel. King Edward VII’s sons got the same the same design, and they also got some sweet dragon tattoos on a visit to Japan.

Tattoo Artist

No one really knows who tattooed the British royalty back in the day, but it’s said to be the Razzouk family. They are Coptic Christians that specialize in tattoos, who came to Jerusalem in 11750 from Egypt. The Razzouk’s still have a tattoo shop today, and have been tattooing pilgrims for the past 700 years!

They use a special technique, utilizing hand-carved stamps that have been passed down through the family for generations. A lot of these stamps have now found their ways into collectors or new tattoos artists, but the family still has a few originals ones. In fact, Wassim Razzouk who is still tattooing today still has what he believes is the original stamp that William’s ancestors were tattooed with.

Conclusion

As cool as it would be to see the British royalty picking up the tradition of getting tattooed again, chances are it won’t happen. Prince William’s trip so far has mainly been about addressing the Israel-Palestine issue. However, there’s still hope! If you want a tattoo worthy of a royalty though, contact us to book an appointment!

The Oringinal Avengers Got Matching Tattoos!

Celebrity friends getting matching tattoos is nothing new. But it's always nice to see a cast that has worked on multiple movies do it. The OG Avengers just went under the needle and got matching tattoos to celebrate the release of Avengers: Infinity War.

Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Chris Evans (Captain America) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) all got matching Avengers tattoos. The sixth original member, Mark Ruffalo that plays Hulk, was asked but apparently declines. Still, five out of six isn't bad.

The tattoos were done by Joshua Lord of East Side Ink Tattoos. Evans and Johansson were the first to get inked in New York. Lord then flew out to LA to tattoo the rest.

So what exactly did they get tattooed? It's the Avengers symbol with an arrow and the number six. It's a pretty fitting design, and hopefully, Ruffalo changes his mind.

Each of them tattooed artist Joshua Lord too. No new on how that turned out, but who can say no to Captain America and Iron Man tattooing them?

If you want a tattoo worthy of a superhero, feel free to contact us to book an appointment, or stop by our downtown Toronto tattoo shop! New ink might not save the world, but it’ll keep you looking good while you enjoy life.

10 Historical Figures You Didn’t Know Had Tattoos

Tattoos have been around for a long time. While they remained taboo in the Western world until recently, quite a few powerful political leaders had hidden ink of their own. So next time someone shames you for your tattoos, inform them about these 10 historical figures that had tattoos of their own.

Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the 7^th president of the United States. He’s mostly remembered for his controversial campaign to kill and relocate Native Americans. As if that wasn’t enough, he ironically had a tattoo of a giant tomahawk on his inner thigh. Yeah, a tomahawk, a weapon, and toll closely associated with the culture he tried to destroy.

James K. Polk
Another president with another hidden tattoo. James Polk spent most of his presidency buying up land for the US. We can also credit him with starting the Chinese character tattoo craze. President Polk had a tattoo of a Chinese character, which translates to “eager”. It could have been worse!

Teddy Roosevelt
Teddy Roosevelt was the 26^th President of the US and had such a great run as president that his face even made it up on Mount Rushmore. What Mount Rushmore didn’t capture was his ink. Roosevelt reportedly had the Roosevelt family crest tattooed on his chest. We would expect nothing less from a man like him.

John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth wasn’t a president, but you probably learned about him in history class. He was a 26-year-old actor that shot and assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. They say actors have big egos, and we believe it after learning that Booth had his own initials tattooed on his hand.

Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison invited a ton of things, but did you know he also had a hand in creating the first tattoo machine? He was the one that created the first electric pen, which Samuel O’Reilly then used to develop the first tattoo machine. Edison was so intrigued that he ended up with 5 cryptic dots on his forearm.

Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill was a fantastic leader for Britain during WW2. Many would be surprised to know that he had a tattoo, a classic anchor on his forearm. His mother probably didn’t mind, seeing as she had a tattoo of a snake on her wrist that she hid with jewelry.

Czar Nicholas II
He’s known as the last emperor of Imperial Russia, but Czar Nicholas also had some ink. In 1891 he traveled to Japan to try to improve Russo-Japanese relations. He came back with a little souvenir- a colorful dragon tattoo on his arm. That’s one way to mend a relationship.

George Orwell
The famed author of classics like, 1984, no only used ink to get his words across but also to mark his body. While serving as a policeman in Burma in his youth, Orwell for a blue dot on each knuckle, the dots were supposed to protect the wearer from harm.

King Frederick IX of Denmark
King Frederick led Denmark for 25 years, and he was known for being a badass. His number of tattoos only reinforced this. His ink covered his arms and chest and he acquired them during his time as a sailor.

R.H. Macy
You might not know the name, but you sure know his legacy. R.H. Macy was the founder of Macy’s department store. You probably know the red star logo, but did you know it was inspired from R.H. Macy’s own tattoo? He had a red star on his forearm that he got in his youth when he was a sailor.

Want some cool ink? Contact us to set up an appointment today.

12 Celebrities That Seriously Regretted Their Couple Tattoos

As much as we love tattoos, we never recommend couple tattoos. Even the most stable relationships can end. Just ask any of the celebrities below and you’ll get the same advice. From initials, wedding dates, names, and even jersey numbers, these celebrities have regretted their couple tattoos so much that they’ve gone through the painful process of removing or covering up their ink.

1. Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp has a unique way of getting rid of his couple tattoos. He doesn’t just remove them or cover them; he changes them into something unique and new. He was once in a long-term relationship with fellow actor Winona Ryder. But after that relationship ended he changed this arm tattoo from “Winona Forever” to “Wino Forever”.
Depp didn’t learn this lesson about couple tattoos though. When he got married to Amber Heard he tattooed “Slim” on his knuckles, which was his nickname for her. After their extremely messy divorce, he changed that tattoo to read “Scum”. Harsh.

2. Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera might be a pop princess, but even she makes mistakes. When she divorced her husband music executive Jordan Bratman in 2011, she got her tattoo honoring him removed. She had his initials in Hebrew on her arm, but they have since been removed.

3. & 4. Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen’s love life can be hard to keep track of from his multiple failed marriages to his beautiful “goddesses”. Once upon a time though he was married to Denise Richards. They were so in love they even got each other’s names tattooed on each other, with Richards getting “Charlie” on her ankle, and Sheen “Denise” on his wrist.
Not surprisingly they ended up divorcing. Denise covered up her “Charlie tattoo” with a cute fairy. Charlie, however, went a different route. He covered up “Denise” with his favorite saying, “Winning”!

5. Marc Anthony

Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez once had one of the most covered relationships in Hollywood. Unfortunately, they didn’t last. When they divorced though Marc wasn’t just left with a broken heart- he also had Jennifer’s name tattooed on his wrist. In 2014 he finally covered it up with a new design.

6. Angelina Jolie

Before “Brangelina”, Angelina Jolie was in a relationship with Billy Bob Thronton. The couple did numerous odd things, such as wear vials of each other’s blood. Angelina didn’t stop there though, she got his name tattooed on her upper arm. After the split though she got the tattoo removed. It has since been replaced with the coordinates of where her children were born. It seems she finally learned that relationships aren’t forever, but being a parent is.

7. Eva Longoria

Eva Longoria made the mistake of getting, not one, but three tattoos honoring her ex-husband basketball player Tony Parker. After it came out he cheated on her, it’s no surprise she got that ink removed. She once had his jersey number “Nine” on her neck, their wedding date “07-07-07” on her wrist, and his initials somewhere hidden, but they have since all been removed.

8. Heidi Klum

Model Heidi Klum and singer Seal seemed to have the perfect marriage. Klum even celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary by getting his name tattooed on her arm. Unfortunately, they divorced in 2012 and she began the process of getting his name removed.

9. Amber Rose

Nothing says love like getting your husbands face tattooed on your arm…until you divorce that is. Amber Rose ran into this problem when her divorce to rapper Wiz Khalifa left her with his face on her arm. Thankfully, she has since removed it and replaced it with some gorgeous roses.

10. Iggy Azalea

Iggy Azalea might sing about being fancy, but it’s not so fancy to have a tattoo of your boyfriend's name after a breakup. The singer got “Live”, “Love” and “A$VP” on her fingers in honor of boyfriend ASAP Rocky but after they broke up she was photographed with bandaged fingers suggesting the tattoos are now gone.

11. Nick Cannon

At least most people that get the names of their significant others do it on a small scale. Not Nick Cannon though. He got a giant tattoo of ex-wife Mariah Carey’s name on his back. Since their divorce, though he has replaced with another huge tattoo to cover it up.

12. Kylie Jenner

Kylie Jenner is fond of small tattoos. She even got a tiny “t” to honor her on-and off again boyfriend, Tyga. He in return got “Kylie” in massive script on his arm. Unfortunately, this young couple is over for good now. Kylie recently covered up her ink, turning the lowercase “t” into “la”. Tyga still has yet to cover up his Kylie tattoo, maybe he’s hoping they’re going to get back together. They probably won’t though considering Kylie just got matching butterfly tattoos with her new boyfriend Travis Scott.