The art dealer and BBC Historian Philip Mould has discovered what could be the earliest full-length portrait of Elizabeth I as Queen. The painting is currently on display at 18-19 Pall Mall after being restored.
Art historians and critics have been amazed by the painting which is rather different to most other portraits of Queen Elizabeth I. Rather than the beautiful court paintings we are used to…
For a woman who founded one of the most famous royal dynasties in British history, she is surpisingly enigmatic. Katherine of Valois was the first Kate to be Queen of England and yet much of the modern imagining of her comes from her fleeting appearance in the works of…
At some point this summer, it’s likely we’ll get another close up look of the best known replica christening gown around. For when Prince Louis of Cambridge is baptized, probably before the Royal Family’s summer break, he will wear the intricate copy of the famous…
A portrait of the toddler Princess Alix of Hesse by the Austrian painter George Koberwein caught my attention back in 2004. Examining how it came to be painted was a source of great interest to me, not least because the picture that he produced of the baby princess, not quite two years old, is such a charming study.
Portraits from such an early period of Princess Alix’s life are rare; she was…
The World Cup is about to get underway in Russia with the England squad now at their training camp with royal backing after the Duke of Cambridge visited them ahead of their departure for the competition. We know there will be no Windsor representation in the VIP stands…
Banbury Cross is of course, synonymous with local Oxfordshire folklore for many, because of the popular rhyme which has a ‘fine lady’ riding to it on her cockhorse. Indeed, this is the main reason why many people know of the existence of the Cross at all. Far less known…
In a year filled with royal excitement, minds are already turning to what’s expected to be one of the significant events of the summer, the christening of Prince Louis of Cambridge. The youngest child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, born on 23 April at St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, is expected to be baptised before the Royal Family start their summer holidays. And on his special day…
A few weeks ago a memorial plaque which was dedicated to the Welsh Princess Gwenllian went missing from its usual location at the top of Snowdon. It has since been returned to the Princess Gwenllian society by a local man named Rhys Jones, but the plaque was found to be…
In addition to the handful of tombs of England’s medieval kings and their queens consort clustered close to or around the great shrine of Edward the Confessor at Westminster Abbey, one royal vault is quite unlike the rest.
Some tombs are harder to find in the first…
In addition to the private gifts exchanged at royal weddings were also those public gifts given on behalf of a nation. Either to accompany its native bride on her marriage, or increasingly, to take the form of diplomatic presents, such as the Sevres porcelain dinner service from the Government and People of France for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, in 1947.
A plate sometimes…
