HistoryInsight

Royal Presents at Osborne: New Exhibition to focus on Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

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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 Prince Consort’s supreme present as a private retreat, for themselves and the royal children. Its situation was ideal…
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HistoryInsight

Finding Queen Victoria's perfume

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12th May 2019
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…
History

A gift from Imperial Russia?

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11th May 2019
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 outer exterior is plain and its interior lavish with decorative detail, the simplicity of its sacred architecture from the…
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History

Royal Windowpanes

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9th May 2019
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…
History

Royal Births - The Attendance of Politicians

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9th April 2019
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 politician, or any other specified observer, to confirm the legitimacy of birth. The tradition for a politician to attend a royal birth…
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History

10 Question and Answers on Princess Vicky

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8th April 2019
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…
History

The Windsor Titles - Earl of Wessex and Earl of Forfar

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3rd April 2019
When Prince Edward, the youngest child of The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, married Sophie Rhys-Jones in June 1999, it was expected that he would be bestowed with a dukedom, as is customary for the son of a monarch on the occasion of marriage. It was instead announced that the Prince would become the Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn, and his new bride would be known as HRH the Countess of…
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