On January 18th 1919, the ringing of a
telephone in Buckingham Palace signalled a tragedy for the Royal
Family. The call brought news of the death of Prince John, youngest
son of King George V and Queen Mary, who had passed away in his
sleep at the age of 13. John had been epileptic for most of his
short life and had died following a massive seizure. He was buried
soon afterwards, his grave marked…
I first encountered Princess Louise
Henriette Wilhelmine of Anhalt-Dessau (1750-1811) in Wörlitz, on an
excursion from Berlin as part of a cultural travel programme in
2009. The English landscape gardens were the main reason for the
Englandreise, or journey to England…
Queen Anne takes centre stage as 'The Favourite' leads this year's BAFTA nominations
9th January 2019
Just days after scooping one of
Hollywood’s top acting prizes, Olivia Colman’s portrayal of Queen
Anne in ‘The Favourite’ has been nominated for another major movie
award. The star is in the running for Best Actress at the BAFTAs
where the film leads the field with…
Even though it is Christmas, take some
time to learn more about Norway’s history. We are now 1000 years
back in time when Norway broke out in a civil war which lasted for
many decades. Around the year 1000, Norway had been established as
a separate and stable kingdom. The question was who this kingdom
belonged to. King Harald I Hårfagre and his sons had their power
base in Western Norway. In…
The Knut Alvsson is, outside Norway, a
name that few have ever heard. Still, the name represented one of
the biggest riots in Norway’s history. Knut Alvsson was born in
1455 and was a wealthy farmer and landowner in Norway who then was
a part of the Kalmar Union. From 1497…
Queen Victoria’s winter sledge became
synonymous with the Windsor Christmas, at least during the lifetime
of Prince Albert, who is rightly credited with popularising
Christmas traditions in England, including that of the Christmas
tree. The royal trees were decorated with…
It’s one of the most famous events in
royal history, and now the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince
Albert is being brought to life once more. A new TV programme,
presented by historian Lucy Worsley, will reconstruct the marriage
that began years of happiness for a young couple and changed the
idea of royal weddings forever. Every aspect of the celebrations,
represented at the time by…
In a continuation of our two-part series,
our Historian, Elizabeth Jane Timms, looks back at the death of
Prince Albert: The passing of the Prince Consort is, of course,
synonymous with the Blue Room at Windsor Castle, where it took
place, a room which I have researched for…
In a two-part series, our Historian,
Elizabeth Jane Timms, looks back at the death of Prince Albert:
Prince Albert, the beloved husband and Prince Consort of Queen
Victoria, died on 14 December 1861, at Windsor Castle. So enormous
were the consequences of this death, both…
The onset of winter provides another
opportunity to look again at the links between the many fascinating
outdoor pastimes and pursuits enjoyed by royalty, which I touched
on in my article of December 2017, Snow and Royalty. Whilst the
German Christmas was much popularised by Prince Albert, the
preference of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort to spend
Christmas at Windsor Castle with the royal…
