As the ‘Grandmother of Europe’, as Queen Victoria was popularly termed, her very numerous grandchildren could, of course, expect to receive a variety of charming presents for their birthdays, just as we might treasure things sent to us by our grandmothers. These presents are in themselves interesting because they lend insight into the kind of gifts the Queen considered would give pleasure to…
To Queen Victoria, she was ‘dear Marie Erbach’. That was what the Queen called Princess Marie of Battenberg, later Princess zu Erbach-Schönberg, whose memoirs first appeared in English in 1925, printed by London publishers George Allen & Unwin. Princess Marie…
Royal Presents at Osborne: New Exhibition to focus on Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
12th May 2019
English Heritage celebrates the bicentenary of the births of both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert with a new exhibition, Royal Presents at Osborne, focusing on the unique stories behind seven gifts exchanged by the royal couple.
Osborne itself was, of course, the Queen and…
Queen Victoria’s use of perfume is a subject of interest because of what it reveals about both her personal toilette and tastes. An equivalent in scent perhaps, of that distinctive signature we know so well on paper, adding an ‘I’ for ‘Imperatrix’ after she was proclaimed Empress of India in 1877. This perfume would have been part of the Queen’s daily dressing process. At Osborne, the…
The Balmoral Castle, Queen Victoria’s beloved Highland home and still Scottish home to the British Royal Family since 1852 when it was purchased for the Queen by Prince Albert, having been leased in 1848, some six years after the Queen and Prince’s first visit to…
In the German spa town of Bad Nauheim in Hesse, hangs a present – by tradition – from Imperial Russia. It is to be found within the solemnly beautiful church, the Reinhardskirche, in the old town quarter, built between 1732/33.
Like many baroque churches whose…
The regal tradition of scratching signatures in windowpanes is long established and well known. The windows – particularly when in rooms of royal residences – formed a kind of living ‘guestbook’, often accompanied by the date the visit or signature, was made. These windowpanes are silent witnesses to vanished royal gatherings on long ago summers or essential occasions, represented today by…
The wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip in November 1947 was a day of celebration in post-war Britain. The ceremony was broadcast to a worldwide audience of approximately 200 million people and as the princess arrived at Westminster Abbey with her father, King…
Royal births in modern times now take place with a great degree of privacy for both the parents and newborn, but this compares drastically with royal births throughout history. One of the most significant changes is that they do not now require the attendance of a…
QUESTION 1: WHO WAS PRINCESS VICTORIA?
Princess Victoria was eldest child and daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. ‘Vicky’ as she was known to family was born on 21 November 1840 at Buckingham Palace. Princess Vicky was an HRH from birth and as only child of Queen Victoria, was heiress presumptive (as first in line to the throne) to the throne. At the birth of her brother…
