Features

For all the pageantry that surrounded Elizabeth II, little spoke more plainly of her private affections than the low-slung procession of corgis that padded faithfully after her. From Susan – presented to the then-Princess Elizabeth on her 18th birthday in 1944 – sprang a canine dynasty more enduring than many a court appointment; the Queen ultimately kept more than 30 of Susan’s…

The Princess of Wales has worn one of the most valuable tiaras in the royal collection but it’s a mystery to most people and for a very good reason. The gem in question hasn’t been seen in public for over twenty years and that’s because it had become so heavily associated with a queen who wasn’t meant to have it that no one else really felt happy wearing it The tiara…

Earlier in the week, Prince Albert II of Monaco exercised a power almost unseen in modern Europe: he refused to sign a bill passed overwhelmingly by the National Council to liberalise abortion. While the action is entirely within Monaco’s constitution, it raises uncomfortable questions about the balance between monarchy and democracy in the 21st century. The proposed legislation was carefully…