British Royals

Why is the Princess Royal called Anne?

A is for Anne but why did the Queen’s only daughter end up with a name that, at the time, wasn’t a usual one for members of the Royal Family? The answer can perhaps best be found in the summer of 1930 and the arrival of another princess. In August that year, the future George VI and his Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) welcomed their second daughter. The baby girl was born at Glamis…
Read more
Features

The story of Balmoral tartan

It’s been quite the week for tartan. The King was fully kilted out as he headed to John O’Groats for a wee dram at the start of his Scottish holidays. Meanwhile his heir, Prince William, found his own Scottish style under scrutiny as conversations began about when the…
British Royals

The mystery of the Queen Mother's birthplace

Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother lived most of her adult life in the spotlight and yet one very basic detail of her story is shrouded in mystery. For no one is really sure exactly where the Queen Mother was born. And no one did more to get people guessing than the Queen Mum herself. In 1980, as preparations were under way for her eightieth birthday celebrations, a Clarence House press officer…
Read more
Features

The glamourous royal wedding of the last King and Queen of Italy

She was the beautiful princess who had been the subject of endless royal wedding speculation, he was the handsome prince with a crown waiting in his future. When Marie-Jose of Belgium married Umberto, heir to the throne of Italy, in January 1930 their marriage had all the echoes of history about it, a union of dynasties that would secure a throne. Tens of thousands flocked to Rome to see the…
Read more
Features

Five royal brides who didn't wear tiaras

Royal weddings bring all kinds of expectations and among them is one filled with sparkle and glitter. For we all assume a royal bride will arrive for her marriage wearing a tiara. When the wedding will result in them becoming a consort or consort in waiting, the expectation is even higher. However, some of the most high profile royal brides of recent times have decided to ditch the diadem. Royal…
Read more