In a continuation of our two-part series,
our Historian, Elizabeth Jane Timms, looks back at the death of
Prince Albert: The passing of the Prince Consort is, of course,
synonymous with the Blue Room at Windsor Castle, where it took
place, a room which I have researched for some six years. The room
had been that in which Queen Victoria’s ‘Uncle King’ George IV had
died on 26 June 1830. It…
In a two-part series, our Historian,
Elizabeth Jane Timms, looks back at the death of Prince Albert:
Prince Albert, the beloved husband and Prince Consort of Queen
Victoria, died on 14 December 1861, at Windsor Castle. So enormous
were the consequences of this death, both…
The onset of winter provides another
opportunity to look again at the links between the many fascinating
outdoor pastimes and pursuits enjoyed by royalty, which I touched
on in my article of December 2017, Snow and Royalty. Whilst the
German Christmas was much popularised by…
With the announcement that Frogmore
Cottage will become the residence of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex
at Windsor, it is perhaps interesting to briefly review Frogmore
Cottage’s history. Contrary to popular imagination, it is not the
first time that the building has served as a residence for royalty.
‘Bark writes that you offer me a Cottage at Windsor. Words fail me
to express all I feel…
The Story of the Effigies of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
3rd December 2018
The effigy of Queen Victoria has its own
story. It rests next to that of the Prince Consort in the Royal
Mausoleum at Frogmore, one of the most remarkable buildings that
was ever to be built in Victorian Britain, constructed as a burial
place for Prince Albert and Queen…
Royalty is a world where the past is as
much a part of the present as the future. The past seven days have
seen the spotlight fall on celebrations and commemorations in equal
measure – here’s the week in royal history. Queen Victoria will be
reigning supreme at…
The first thing that Princess Victoria
did on the morning of 20 June 1837 was to reach for her dressing
gown. This historic moment in the Queen’s life has always held a
particular fascination for me, and I have regularly revisited it
from various angles, from profiling the Archbishop of Canterbury
who knelt before her that morning with the Lord Chamberlain, Lord
Conyngham, to the staircase she…
Personal items of Queen Victoria acquired by Historic Royal Palaces
2nd November 2018
Some personal items belonging to Queen
Victoria have been acquired by Historic Royal Palaces, the
independent charity which maintains Kensington Palace, ahead of the
bicentenary of the Queen’s birth in 2019, which the palace will
celebrate with a new exhibition and…
‘Saw good Mrs Clark, returned from
Darmstadt, who gave me an excellent account of Alice, the Baby &
dear little Victoria’(Quoted in Charlotte Zeepvat, From Cradle to
Crown, 13). With these words, Queen Victoria recorded in her
journal for 13 December 1864, that…
The white caps worn by Queen Victoria
have – correctly – come to be regarded as a symbol for her
widowhood. They represent one of the few contrasts in colour to the
deepest mourning that she adopted after 1861, as a declaration in
textile, of the colossal emotional significance to her of the
Prince Consort’s death. White had, of course, been symbolic of her
wedding to Prince Albert…
