British Royals

Princess Alexandra's birth was the last to involve an old tradition started in a time of royal crisis

In years gone by, it was customary for the birth of any royal baby to be witnessed by the UK Home Secretary ensuring the new arrival was genuine. The Queen’s cousin, Princess Alexandra, was the last royal to have had her birth witnessed by the by an official political observer in 1936. Sir John Simon, Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for the Home Office, was present when Princess Marina…
Read more
British Royals

The poignant moment shared by Queen Elizabeth II in the last months of her reign with her granddaughter, Lady Louise

In the last months of her reign, Queen Elizabeth II shared a very special moment with her youngest granddaughter, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor. As she attended the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May 2022, just months before her death, Her Late Majesty beamed with pride as she watched Lady Louise take part in the event. Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Louise’s parents, watched from…
Read more
Features

BBC veteran royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell to retire after 47 years service

The BBC’s veteran royal correspondent, Nicholas Witchell, is to retire after 47 years of service at the broadcaster. Witchell, who became a royal correspondent in 1998, will step down next year. Covering the latter decades of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and the accession of King Charles III, Witchell has been a mainstay of royal coverage for 25 years. In 2005, he grabbed the headlines…
Read more
Queen Elizabeth II

The speech that became one of the greatest moments of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II

In her historic, seventy year reign, Queen Elizabeth II gave thousands of speeches. But one has a legacy of its own that places it among the great royal addresses in history. As people came to terms with lockdown at the very start of the coronavirus pandemic, Queen Elizabeth II gave a moving address to the Commonwealth, and indeed the world, where she promised good times ahead. Speaking to…
Read more