As the long, dry summer of 1905 unfurled
across Britain, a prince was born, but his arrival was far from the
media event that the arrival of a new royal heralds today. On July
12th 1905, the Princess of Wales gave birth to her sixth child and
fifth son. But his arrival was little more than a footnote in the
papers of the day. The baby boy, who would be christened John
Charles Francis, would…
Sixteenth century kings, even those that
had worked their way through a quintet of queens, had a somewhat
preconceived idea of what a consort should bring to their royal
marriage. Henry VIII might well have been in love with the idea of
love but he also had a concept of…
Henry VIII is famous for many things but
perhaps the most talked about is his penchant for weddings. The
king with six wives clearly enjoyed being married even if those he
tied the knot with ended up less than impressed. However, Henry
didn’t like to make a fuss about…
Some may have heard of Sir Allan
Frederick “Tommy” Lascelles, or some may have not. Perhaps you know
him as just Tommy. He was a British courtier and civil servant who
would come to have a long-lasting bond with the royal family. Born
11 April 1887 in the village of Sutton Waldron in Dorset, Tommy was
the youngest out of his five other siblings. As the only surviving
son of…
Victoria was the monarch who invented
jubilees as we know them. The celebrations of 1887 and 1897 are
among the most famous events of royal history and helped shape her
legacy. But our modern minds assume there must also have been a
silver version, for that is the pattern we…
It’s one of the most potent symbols of
the record breaking reign of Elizabeth II and, as her Platinum
Jubilee year continues, it’s become a focal point for reflections
on her rule. The Coronation dress has come to life again in
different ways to mark this major…
The wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the tragedy that changed their lives forever
8th July 2022
It was a quiet country affair, far
removed from the pomp and ceremony we’ve come to expect from royal
weddings. The setting was an English parish church, the regal guest
list only filled a couple of pews, and the bride walked in several
minutes late carrying her own train to protect it from the rain.
The marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, on 8 July 1972,
was a royal wedding with a…
Boris Johnson has informed Her Majesty
The Queen that he is to resign as Prime Minister of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland. Her Majesty, who has recently returned to
Windsor Castle after spending the week at Sandringham, will soon
appoint the 15th Prime Minister of her…
The Duchess of Kent, or Katherine Kent as
she prefers to be known, is perhaps one of the most uncommon faces
in the British Royal Family. Over the years, she has rarely made
public appearances, but each summer, she usually makes an
exception. The Duchess is a regular at…
It’s only a month since the Jubilee but
it seems the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of The Queen’s
reign could be about to produce an unexpected legacy. The political
career of Boris Johnson is teetering on the brink this evening and
as Her Majesty contemplates the possibility of appointing the 15th
Prime Minister of her rule, could it be that her Jubilee was the
beginning of the…
