Features

Race to become Platinum Jubilee city enters new phase

The competition for city status, being held to mark The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, is now in its final stages. Entry to the contest has closed – the final date for submitting applications was December 8th 2021. Towns across the UK have put themselves forward for the honour. Among the contenders is the Cornish resort of Marazion which, with just over 1,400 residents, would be the…
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Features

The unhappy princess who links Monaco to the Windsors

The connection between the House of Windsor and the House of Grimaldi begins in the 19th century when Albert I, Prince of Monaco married a beautiful and willful British aristocrat called Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton. Her father was the 11th Duke of Hamilton and her mother was a German princess, Marie of Baden. Marie provides the first link between the Grimaldis and Elizabeth…
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History

What happened to China’s Qing dynasty?

Imperial China has a long and illustrious history. It is a civilisation that began with the Shang dynasty in 1250 BC and lasted until the Qing dynasty that fell in 1912. The last emperor to rule China was Puyi, whose regnal name was Xuantong Emperor. He came to the throne in 1908 at two-years-old and ruled until February 1912, when he was forced to abdicate. During that time, imperial China…
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Features

Take a look at Fabergé’s Easter Eggs - extraordinary creations of beauty which continue to fascinate

Probably best known for the exquisite Easter eggs that he crafted for the Russian Imperial house of Romanov, Peter Carl Fabergé was Russia’s premier master goldsmith at the beginning of the twentieth century, the House of Fabergé having been founded in St. Petersburg by his father, Gustav Fabergé in 1842. Although Fabergé would go on to design spectacularobjects of ornamentation such…
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