The Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace
first and foremost is the name of the Chapel Royal, that
establishment of the Royal Household intended to meet the spiritual
needs of the Sovereign; the secondary term refers to the building
itself – a royal peculiar – in which the monarch actually
worshipped. The Chapel Royal is probably best remembered for the
wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince…
Amidst the chronicle of lost tombs at
Westminster Abbey is that of Queen Anne Neville, wife of King
Richard III. Queen Anne’s invisibility in these terms underlines
the purported neglect on behalf of Richard III; this lack of a
memorial was rectified however when a bronze…
Lockets form an important part in Queen
Victoria’s personal jewellery. The first of these lockets was given
to the baby Princess Victoria and the last mentions of them occur
at the end of her life. Like any object, therefore, they tell a
life story in a new way. In briefly…
We know that rings were important to
Queen Victoria because of the numerous references to them which she
made in her journal and the fact that they feature so strongly in
her photographic legacy. Her hands are literally covered with them.
We must assume then, that they occupied a significant place in her
personal jewellery and as such, were a striking part of her
appearance like the widow’s caps…
Sometimes known as ‘the annexe to
Buckingham Palace’, the classic hotel in London’s Mayfair has
time-honoured connections with royalty that exist into the present
day. From the earlier single building run by William and Marianne
Claridge at 51 Brook Street…
Queen Victoria’s exquisitely woven
wedding dress of Spitalfields silk satin survives. Her wedding veil
was placed over her face as her body was dressed and prepared for
burial at Windsor. Fascinatingly as I found out during research,
the wedding veil and one of the…
This year marks the bicentenary of not
only the birth of Queen Victoria but also of her husband, Prince
Albert. Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s beloved consort, was an
eager skater who loved winter sports as part of enduring royal
pleasure. Not only did he drive the Queen’s sledge when the royal
couple were visiting Brighton during a sudden snowfall, but he also
enjoyed charming activities…
Queen Victoria spent her last Christmas
at Osborne in 1900. It was forty years exactly since Prince Albert
had celebrated his final Christmas in 1860 at Windsor, the setting
for so many happy family festivities in the past. Prince Albert did
not live to see Christmas 1861…
It might be argued that the lack of a
father in the life of the future Queen Victoria was the singular
most important influence on her emotional life. It is surely
significant that she referred to those men she regarded as fathers
of sorts, in correspondingly filial…
Christmas at Windsor to include gifts exchanged by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
23rd November 2019
The bicentenary of the births of Queen
Victoria and Prince Albert will be celebrated by a small display at
Windsor, once the setting for the many Christmases which the royal
couple spent together with their growing family of nine children.
Displayed in the Octagon Dining Room, it will recall the ritual of
the Bescherung, [‘Giving of Gifts’] the traditional German custom
of exchanging gifts on…
