At night, a historical attraction somehow acquires an entirely different authenticambience, with the sense of its past rendered more palpable by the feeling of exclusivity – there is a sense of being a private guest at a bygone court. Entering any residence at night emphasises this idea, something which the sequence of a royal apartment’s series of…
London has many plaques and memorials with royal connections but in fact, rather fewer statues. Some of these statues have interesting hidden histories of their own, of how they were made, how they came to be in the places that they are and why. Some of these statues may be…
The Royal Tennis Court at Hampton Court Palace will host its inaugural Real Tennis Champions Trophy between 11-16 July 2017, with the world-class competitors draw being reduced down to the eight top-ranking players from the UK, United States, Australia and France. The…
Following her birth on April 21 1926 at the home of her maternal grandparents at 17 Bruton St Mayfair, the baby Princess Elizabeth moved to the house that her parents, the Duke and Duchess of York, had takenat 145 Piccadilly W1. This would be the house in which she would spend the first years of her childhood, as well as White Lodge in Richmond Park.These were the residences where the…
A set of silver gilt andcloisonné enamelwhich stirred interest in the antique world since it was recently consigned as going to auction, sold today for £20,000. This champlevé cutlery set told a story that links the future Tsarina of Russia’s visit to…
Kensington Palace to host new exhibition on Diana, Princess of Wales
15th January 2017
Kensington Palace is to host a new exhibition about Diana, Princess of Wales to mark 20 years since the death of the Princess, including a new temporary garden which is being installed in the grounds of the Palace in celebration of her life. The choice of a garden being…
In March 2017, a major exhibition will be launched in Vienna to mark the 300th birthday of one of the most important figures in Austrian history, Empress Maria Theresia. Commemorated in the form of a huge statue on the Maria-Theresien-Platz in Vienna near where the so-called Ring borders the Museum district, the Empress is depicted unmistakably as both a woman and a ruler in equal measure, both…
The short service of remembrance, known as The Ceremony of the Lilies and the Roses, is held every 21 May, to commemorate the fact that Henry VI, England’s so-called “saintly king”, died at the Tower of London in 1471.
Tradition has adopted the Norman Wakefield Tower…
One hotel in Northamptonshire preserves a possibly extraordinaryfeature within its walls. The Talbot Hotel in Oundle is located some thirteen miles outside Peterborough and is aten-minutedrive from Fotheringhay. It preserves the staircase which is…
For those interested in retracing the steps of Henry VIII’s fourth wife in England, they can of course do so at Hever Castle, the Boleyn seat which was granted her as part of her annulment settlement, at the site of Richmond Palace, which remained hers until her death, together with the Kentish residences of Dartford and Penshurst, the latter of which was offered to her in exchange for…
