In the first days of the summer of 1939,
an accident befell the Royal Family that led to a widespread
outpouring of sympathy. Queen Mary, mother of King George VI, was
involved in a car crash. Her son was touring Canada as the country
prepared for what felt like a growing inevitability of war when the
dowager’s car collided with another vehicle. Queen Mary, in the
back seat, was badly bruised…
It’s one of the oldest churches in
Britain the seat of one of England’s most important clerics yet the
famous York Minster is a rare venue for royal weddings. Just two
major regal marriages have taken place at this ancient church in
almost 1,000 years. The…
She was the queen who tried to save her
dynasty with nothing more than a bouquet of flowers. Maria Amelia
saw her husband and eldest son mortally wounded at close range in
an assassination that would hasten the demise of their dynasty. She
had done all she could to save the…
Every ten years in the UK, a census is
held. All households in the country are required to fill in a form
with details of everyone living in that one unit to give a picture
of the population and help plan future services. The information is
held securely and can’t be released publicly for another 100 years.
But that means that, a century on, we get wonderful snapshots of
life long ago. I…
She was the ‘May Queen’ whose reign
lasted little more than a month but left its mark in royal history.
Marie-Jose was always a bit of a maverick who had her own views and
no fear of sharing them. Those opinions would become a saving grace
for the dynasty she…
The queen who had to attend her wedding reception in a blood spattered gown
22nd September 2023
A century ago, the woman who reigned as
Spanish consort had more than her fair share of problems. She was
Victoria Eugenie, known as Ena, and her first day as a queen began
in a terrifying manner. Ena perhaps realized the turbulence ahead
of her just minutes after her…
‘Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced,
beheaded, survived.’ That sad little rhyme, summing up the fates of
Henry VIII’s six wives, is familiar to many. But while just about
everyone knows that the monarch with a thing for wedding cake said
‘I do’ six times only to turn sour, and then some, on the majority
of the women he married, the details of his consorts’…
The royal links of an historic church in the shadow of a world famous abbey
22nd September 2023
It’s hosted dazzling and trend setting
royal weddings but St. Margaret’s Church at Westminster is always
in the shadows for it stands, quite literally, beneath the world
famous abbey. It traces its history back to pre Conquest times but
the current building…
On an autumn day, in 1344, a little girl
was born to a famous king and queen. She entered the expected role
of a royal daughter from birth as her future husband, an important
political ally, was already living in the regal nursery she would
call home. This royal baby spent…
A tiny church and a scramble for a minister - a very unusual royal wedding
22nd September 2023
When the leading princess of a royal
court marries, it’s usually a grand affair with tiaras, sparkle and
endless celebrations. But when Astrid, then the de facto first lady
of Norway, said her ‘I dos’ in 1961, it was a low key affair that
changed the rules of royal romance. Her marriage to Johan Martin
Ferner was controversial but the fact that it took place at all
signalled a…
