On July 12th 1543, a rather low key royal wedding took place. The groom was Henry VIII and his sixth wife was Katherine Parr, a relatively unknown minor noblewoman who had risen from daughter of a knight to Queen of England in thirty years. The woman who became a royal bride on that Julyday at Hampton Court was also one of her country’s most interesting…
Catherine Howard was born around 1520 as the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, and through her father’s side of the family she was a first cousin of Henry VIII’s second wife Anne Boleyn. Though she was of aristocratic birth, her father was…
One of Britain’s most colourful King’s and is easily most well known- but not for his heart-warming personality. Henry VIII most extraordinary claim to fame would be six wives and their unfortunate fates. Henry accomplished a lot more in his time as King, like…
Six hundred years ago to the day, King Henry V of England led his army to victory against the French troops in the Battle of Agincourt. Fought on the morning of the 25th of October 1415, the battle proved to be a crippling defeat for the French, and a major victory for the English in the ongoing Hundred Years War. The story of Agincourt was popularised through Shakespeare’s Henry V, and…
On July 17th 1947, a little girl was born at King’s College Hospital, London and given a rather rare first name. Camilla, first child of Major Bruce Shand and his wife, Rosalind, would become known around the world by the name her parents gave her in the days after…
She is more popularly known as the ‘Nine Days Queen’ though is also remembered for her untimely demise within the walls of the Tower of London.
Lady Jane Grey short-lived reign began on 10th July 1553 following the death of King Edward VI, who had personally named Lady…
Some people may argue that Queen Victoria is our greatest example of a dutiful monarch. There could, however, have been an entirely different outcome for Victoria’s legacy and the catalyst for this was the death of her beloved consort Prince Albert.
When Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha married on 10th February 1840, nobody could ever imagine that Queen Victoria would be…
Edward VI was born on 12th October 1537 as the son of the reigning King Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour. Edward’s sisters Princess Mary and Princess Elizabeth were both fond of their little brother and visited him often. Edward was even fond of his…
The Duke of York’s younger daughter, Princess Eugenie, attended the opening of the Newcastle University’s new London campus on Wednesday. The Princess herself is a former Newcastle University student, having studied English and History of Art there before…
She was born at a time when England was at the height of the Wars of the Roses and was the daughter of George, Duke of Clarence. Much of Margaret Pole’s early life was marred by tragedy including the death of her Uncle King Edward IV, the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower and the death of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth signalling the demise of the House of York and the rise of the…
