FeaturesHistoryRoyal Weddings

Bringing Queen Victoria's wedding to life

It’s one of the most famous events in royal history, and now the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert is being brought to life once more. A new TV programme, presented by historian Lucy Worsley, will reconstruct the marriage that began years of happiness for a young couple and changed the idea of royal weddings forever. Every aspect of the celebrations, represented at the time by…
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The death of Prince Albert - Part One

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…
FeaturesHistory

Royal Snow and Snowmen

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 Prince Albert, the preference of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort to spend Christmas at Windsor Castle with the royal…
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FeaturesHistory

A Brief History of Frogmore Cottage

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…
FeaturesHistory

A Week in Royal History: Victoria, Anne and Oscar?

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 Buckingham Palace again next year as she is set to take centre stage in the summer opening at the most famous royal residence…
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FeaturesHistory

Ella: The birth of Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna

‘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 she had seen Mrs Clark, the nurse who had attended the confinement in Darmstadt of her second daughter, Alice, Princess…
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