BelgiumFeatures

Is the quiet retirement of Belgium's Queen Paola about to get more interesting?

Queen Paola of Belgium is marking her 84th birthday quietly but she is set to tell her own story for the first time since it was confirmed that her husband, King Albert, fathered a child outside of marriage. Earlier this year, newspaper Nieuwsblad, broke the exclusive that Brussels Screen Film Fund had secured an interview with Queen Paola. While the contents of the interview aren’t…
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History

The English Queens of France

On an autumn day, over 500 years ago, Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, marriedthe French king, Louis XII. The spectacular ceremony in Abbeville in Northern France transformed Mary into the Queen of France. No other English princess held that title after…
FeaturesPrince & Princess of Wales

Prince William's career as an air ambulance pilot

The second week of September is when the UK marks Air Ambulance Week (AAW.) For 2021, the week takes place from 6th to the 12th of September and is a chance for air ambulance charities across the UK to come together to deliver the vital message, “every second counts and every penny matters.” In honour of the 2021 Air Ambulance Week, Royal Central is taking a look at the Duke of…
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Features

Marie Antoinette's diamonds up for sale

Diamonds once worn by Marie Antoinette are going up for auction later this year. Two diamond bracelets belonging to the ill fated queen are set to go under the hammer in Geneva in November. The gems form part of the collection that Marie Antoinette had sent from France…
Opinion

A King's Husband and a Queen's wife - what would we call a gay monarch's spouse?

Around the same time that the UK introduced new succession laws that allowed girls the same rights as boys, the country also passed same sex marriage legislation. But royal laws haven’t caught up with that yet. In the future, as is the case in most European countries, a prince may take a husband and a princess may choose a wife. But when that happens, what title will be bestowed on them? We…
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FeaturesHistoryInterestsState & Ceremonial

How many sapphires are there in the Imperial State Crown?

The Imperial State Crown is one of the most popular royal crowns, not only in Britain but across the globe. Given that September’s birthstone is September, it is the perfect time to look at the two historic sapphires set in the Imperial State Crown. St. Edward’s Sapphire is one of the notable sapphires in the State Crown. It is an octagonal, rose-cut sapphire and sits in the cross at…
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