FeaturesHistory

A Brief History of Frogmore Cottage

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4th December 2018
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…
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Victoria: Becoming Queen with a Dressing Gown

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3rd November 2018
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…
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FeaturesHistory

Queen Victoria's Widow's Cap

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31st October 2018
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…
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FeaturesHistory

A Staircase and a Queen: Making Royal History

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4th October 2018
Queen Victoria’s accession began with a staircase. Fascinating to consider is the fact that this very staircase survives at Kensington Palace and may be seen today. A staircase had also played a part on another historic day in Victoria’s life, much later. On 10 October 1839, the young Queen stood at the top of the staircase at Windsor Castle, at half-past seven in the evening, to receive her…
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