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…
Anne Neville: Richard III's 'Lost' Queen and Westminster Abbey
22nd April 2020
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…
