With 2019 marking the 200th anniversary
of the birth of Queen Victoria, possibly the most symbolic objects
to commemorate this historic date, are the baby shoes thought to
have been owned by the Queen, which are preserved in the Royal
Collection and kept at the Museum of London. The future Queen
Victoria was born at Kensington Palace on 24 May 1819; the shoes
date from around 1820. Queen…
The Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace has
provided the setting for many historical events, most particularly
royal weddings and christenings, most recently that of HRH Prince
George of Cambridge in 2013; it is only ever open to the public for
religious services. To enter…
In Prince & Patron, the Summer Opening
Exhibition at Buckingham Palace, a bust of Prince Albert is
displayed, labelled simply as ‘William Theed (1804-91) Prince
Albert, 1862; marble.’ But it is no ordinary bust, nor is it just
one among other memorial busts…
An exquisite oil on panel painting by
Franz Xavier Winterhalter, that fashionable artist of European
court portraiture, is currently on display in Prince & Patron, the
Summer Opening Exhibition of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace,
showcasing some of the personal favourites of HRH The Prince of
Wales chosen from the Royal Collection and that of his private
collection, as well as by artists…
‘Where is Pollie?’ (Lotte Hofmann-Kuhnt,
Briefe der Zarin Alexandra von Russland an ihre Jugendfreundin Toni
Becker-Bracht, 2009). Princess Alix of Hesse paused to add these
words, almost as an afterthought, to a letter to her close friend,
Toni Becker-Bracht, from…
Frederick II, King ‘in’ Prussia, upon
whom was bestowed the celebrated sobriquet of ‘the Great’ in his
lifetime, was in his own words ‘a philosopher and want[ed] to be
buried as such…” This was eventually carried out in 1991, in
accordance with his wishes…
Queen Victoria kept her journals from the
year 1832 up until around two weeks before her death in 1901. Her
voluminous correspondence is well known; indeed, it was averaged by
the author Giles St Aubyn that the Queen wrote up to some 2,500
words per day (Christopher Hibbert, Queen Victoria: A Personal
History, XV). Three volumes of her letters were edited by Arthur C.
Benson and Viscount Esher…
‘Islay [a pet dog] is still plagued by
him [Lord Melbourne] every evening—a thing which he much enjoys—and
constantly begs for the spectacles. I forgot to tell you that Karl
has given me a pretty little Rowley, who likewise lives in the
house. The multitude of dogs is…
The personal jewellery of the last Tsarina, Alexandra Feodorovna
14th August 2018
The personal jewellery of the last
Tsarina of Russia, Alexandra Feodorovna (1872-1918) provides a
living, tangible timeline of her private life, quite apart from the
glittering jewels which she would have worn as a Romanov bride.
Inevitably though, the public life and the…
‘Never, never can I forget this brilliant
year… so full of marvellous kindness, loyalty & devotion of so many
millions which I really could hardly have expected’. (Quoted in
Christopher Hibbert, Queen Victoria, A Personal History, 379). With
these words, Queen Victoria made the final entry in her great
journal for the year 1887 – that of her Golden Jubilee. She had
written in her…
