For Queen Victoria, the number fourteen held a terrible power. This date, the ‘14th’, could seem to haunt the Queen like the shadow of death. Much as she later tried to reclaim it as a sacred date, she beheld it with an almost mystical sense of dark fascination and dread. Her feelings for this day of the month were well founded and can be traced back to the date of the death of her beloved…
We’ve just had another royal silver wedding anniversary although the couple involved is so discreet, it’s perhaps not a surprise that it’s passed pretty much under the radar. Lady Sarah Chatto, niece of the Queen, celebrated twenty five years of marriage…
In Berlin, there is a missing queen. Her burial place in the historic Hohenzollerngruft [Hohenzollern vault] in Berlin Cathedral is disputed and may be lost. Elisabeth Christine, Frederick II’s (‘the Great’) unloved queen was a victim of historical banishment, in…
This summer, Royal Central is taking a look at the lines of succession across Europe and this latest installment looks at the first twenty with a claim on the British throne.
Elizabeth II has achieved much in her long reign and from a dynastic point of view she has another success to celebrate. For the line to the throne under the Queen is as about as secure as it could be. In fact, so solid…
Today we’re looking at the history of the Palace of Zarzuela, which is the home of King Felipe, his wife, Queen Letizia, and their two daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía; as well as King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía.
Construction began on Zarzuela Palace back in…
It’s set to be a right royal turnout at Wimbledon this weekend as the famous tennis tournament comes to a close. Leading the way will be the Duke of Kent who is President of the All England Club and whose presence at the finals is a long standing royal commitment. But…
In 1888, a year whose numbering Queen Victoria thought odd (‘Never can it be written again!’), her daughter, the Princess Royal and Crown Princess of Prussia, had become German Empress, prompting the proud words from her mother: ‘My OWN dear Empress Victoria… may God bless her!’ (cit., Elizabeth Longford, Queen Victoria, 551). After a reign of a mere ninety-nine days, her husband Emperor…
Frederick II, accorded the epithet ‘the Great’ already during his own lifetime, had in fact, a whole other life after death, aside from his legacy. The great King’s legend stalks the eighteenth century like a gigantic historic shadow, much as the oversize silhouette of…
It’s the hashtag to have this summer and now the royals are part of the craze, too. England is awash with wildflowers as the sun reaches its height with everywhere from motorway verges to public parks going for the natural look. And now Kensington Palace has shared its…
This summer, Royal Central is taking a look at who’s who in the lines of succession around the world. And our latest instalment takes us to Spain. By law, the line of succession there is limited to the descendants of King Juan Carlos I, a rule that remained unchanged following his abdication in 2014 in favour of his only son, Felipe. The law there also means brothers always outrank sisters.
