Features

Royal weddings tend to have a lot in common. They usually take place in huge, historic churches with brides decked in acres of white fabric and heirloom tiaras and grooms in military uniform, followed down the aisle by hoardes of bridesmaids and pageboys. Traditions must be observed while protocols are dug out and dusted down as the familiar pattern of this family celebration turned into a…

After the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at 11:30 am in Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947, the bridal gifts given to Princess Elizabeth were exhibited at St James’s Palace, numbering over 2,500. Like the gifts, Princess Elizabeth’s wedding dress, designed by the leading British couturier, Sir Norman Hartnell, was also put on display. It had been made up…

It became one of the most famous royal titles of the 20th century and it came into being exactly 75 years ago today. On November 20th 1947, King George VI issued Letters Patent making his soon to be son in law the Duke of Edinburgh. King George VI created the new dukedom just hours before the marriage of his elder daughter, Princess Elizabeth, to Philip Mountbatten. The Letters Patent made…

The title of Duke of Edinburgh was made famous around the world by its most recent holder. It’s now exactly three quarters of a century since Prince Philip was given the dukedom by King George VI, who was about to walk his daughter, Elizabeth, down the aisle of Westminster Abbey to marry Edinburgh’s new duke. Prince Philip is one of five men to have held the title of Duke of Edinburgh…