FeaturesHistoryPrince Philip

History Rewind: 'Wings' for The Duke of Edinburgh

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4th May 2014
<![CDATA[ On 4 May 1953, The Duke of Edinburgh received his wings. The Duke was awarded his pilot’s wings in a private ceremony that was held at Buckingham Palace. Air Chief Marshall Sir William Dickson, Chief of Air Staff, present The Prince with the award. Flight-Lieutenant Caryl Ramsay Gordon, Philip’s flying instructor, also was in attendance at the ceremony. He watched as the Duke…
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HistoryInsight

Why did Henry VIII seek an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon?

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21st April 2014
<![CDATA[One of the most talked about issues in royal history, and British history in general, is the relationship of Henry VIII and his six wives. In 1525, after 18 years of marriage to Catherine of Aragon, daughter to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille, the Spanish king and queen, Henry VIII began to seek an annulment of his marriage. This was not unheard of. In fact, the Pope…
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History

History Rewind: Windsor gems sell for record price

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3rd April 2014
<![CDATA[ On 3 April 1987 the late Duchess of Windsor’s jewellery fetched £31m ($50m) at auction in Switzerland. The sum was six times the expected figure projected the collection would garner. It was said that 1,000 bidders and 300 members of the media packed into an enormous tent constructed by Sotheby’s next to Lake Geneva for the two-day auction. Across the pond in New York…
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History

97 years since the fall of Imperial Russia

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20th March 2014
<![CDATA[ For 634 years, some form of monarchy had been in operation in Russia, first as the Principality of Moscow, then as the Tsardom of Russia, and more recently, the Russian Empire with some of the most high profile monarchs to ever reign in Europe from Ivan the Terrible to Catherine the Great. Nicholas II was the last Tsar of Russia, as a successful revolution forced him to abdicate.
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