I first encountered Princess Louise
Henriette Wilhelmine of Anhalt-Dessau (1750-1811) in Wörlitz, on an
excursion from Berlin as part of a cultural travel programme in
2009. The English landscape gardens were the main reason for the
Englandreise, or journey to England undertaken by the young
Princess Louise and her husband, the reigning Prince Leopold III
Friedrich Franz of Anhalt-Dessau…
Queen Victoria’s winter sledge became
synonymous with the Windsor Christmas, at least during the lifetime
of Prince Albert, who is rightly credited with popularising
Christmas traditions in England, including that of the Christmas
tree. The royal trees were decorated with…
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…
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 for the British monarch
publicly and Queen Victoria privately, that we can sometimes
overlook the death itself, although any…
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…
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 Victoria. The recumbent effigy of
the Queen was made at the same time as that of Prince Albert,
although Queen Victoria was to…
Displayed as part of the London Science
Museum’s exhibition on the Russian Imperial Family, The Last Tsar:
Blood and Revolution is a pearl earring. This extraordinarily
poignant object has its own silent story to tell, concerning the
fate of the Romanovs. Believed to have…
Currently displayed in the special
exhibition at London’s Science Museum, The Last Tsar: Blood and
Revolution – exploring the role of medicine in the lives of the
Russian Imperial Family as well as the use of modern science
involved in the investigation concerning…
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…
