On 21 April 1770, a procession passed by
the imperial summer palace of Schönbrunn, consisting of 21 state
coaches, followed by 36 fine carriages, with a total of 450 horses
and an accompanying personal suite of some 257 people. This was the
beginning of a two and a half week journey for the future Marie
Antoinette, already French Dauphine by proxy, from Vienna to
Versailles. She was…
Situated between Abergeldie and Balmoral
is a house and little shop which claims a charming association with
Queen Victoria’s grandchildren. The shop was originally owned by Mr
and Mrs Symon, who were related to Queen Victoria’s devoted
Highland servant John Brown and a…
The unique drawings of the highly
accomplished amateur artist Ella Taylor (1827-1914) represent a
rich portfolio of royalty in an informal pose. Carefully preserved
in the Royal Collection, they are little known but of quite
remarkable value. Ella Taylor sketched herself as…
Uniquely among the early modern kings,
Frederick II – King ‘in’ Prussia until ‘of’ Prussia was finally
adopted in 1772, who was already known as ‘the Great’ by an
admiring Europe – does not rest in the ancestral vault of the royal
house to which he belonged, nor is his tomb to be found within a
mausoleum or church built to house his remains. Instead,
Frederick’s grave is to be…
Of the nine children of Queen Victoria’s
children, one daughter married in London another on the Isle of
Wight and one son in St. Petersburg. The remaining six married at
Windsor, five at St. George’s Chapel and one in the Private Chapel
at Windsor Castle. The…
With the birth of a new royal baby, I
would like to explore the history of royal wet-nurses. Why were
they once a perceived necessity? In historical terms, a wet-nurse
would have been engaged for a royal baby and taken on as part of an
official appointment. The wet-nurse…
Consigned to Sotheby’s London auction
Russian Works of Art, Faberge & Icons on 5 June 2018, was a quite
remarkable object offering unique insight into the private gifts of
the last Tsarina of Russia, Alexandra Feodorovna. I ‘discovered’
its existence whilst browsing past auctions for research. Lot 429,
it was one of the Tsarina’s personal ledgers dated between 1897
and…
At Hughenden, the Buckinghamshire manor
and former home of Benjamin Disraeli, arguably Queen Victoria’s
favourite Prime Minister, is a room with a poignant link to the
family of the Queen’s second daughter, Princess Alice, Grand
Duchess of Hesse. The story behind this…
In the entrance hall of Frogmore House in
Windsor Great Park is a sculpture of a royal child, remarkable in
the sensitivity of its execution and the fineness of its detail. It
may seem on first glance no more than a sentimental monument made
to memorialise a beloved child…
It is fitting that this Hessian
granddaughter of Queen Victoria was christened ‘Irene’ – a name
meaning “peace” – an appropriate choice in more ways than one, as
her character and the circumstances of her birth would prove.
Perhaps one of Princess Alice’s surviving daughters about which
least is known, she was destined to outlive all her immediate
family, dying in 1953. Princess…
