Prince Louis de Valois, Duke of Orleans
was born 13 March 1372 as the second-born son of the French
monarch, King Charles V. Louis de Valois had a close relationship
with his older brother, who had become the King of France by the
age of twelve. Louis was intelligent and relatively well educated
and thrived in the shadow of his brother. In 1374, Louis was
betrothed to Catherine, heir…
A 64-hectare solar farm near the Battle
of Bosworth site has been rejected by local councillors after a
long and public discussion on the matter. Councillor Jonathan
Collet posted the news on his Twitter account, writing, “Absolutely
delighted that my motion to protect…
Lady Jane Grey, or Lady Jane Dudley, was
proclaimed Queen on this day in 1553. She has been commonly
referred to as The Nine Days Queen. She was the great-granddaughter
of Henry VII through his daughter Mary, Queen of France. From 10
July to the 19 July, she was the de facto…
The only ruby tiara in the Spanish Royal
Family’s collection is the Niarchos Ruby Bandeau and its
accompanying parure. [getty src=”108407442″ width=”425″
height=”594″ tld=”ca”] Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark
received a treasure trove of jewels on her wedding day in 1962. In
addition to the Prussian Tiara, a gift from her parents (King…
Historic Royal Palaces’ chief curator
Lucy Worsley continued her series of online talks this week with a
look back at Diana, Princess of Wales’s wardrobe and how she was an
“influencer” before social media ever existed. Eleri Lynn, curator
for the…
Prince Wilhelm of Prussia was the eldest
child of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Duchess Cecilie of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin. As such, he was the oldest grandchild of the
last Emperor of Germany, Wilhelm II. At his birth, he was second in
line to the German throne and was…
The ruby is the birthstone for July. It’s
been used in royal jewellery collections for centuries and it now
features in some of the most striking pieces in European vaults.
The Dutch royal gem collection has some famous examples of the
stone. Here are the Netherlands’ famous royal rubies. Ruby Peacock
Parure [getty src=”1064092030″ width=”484″…
Queen Blanche II was born on 9 June 1424
as the daughter of John II of Aragon, King of Navarre, and his
wife, Queen Blanche I of Navarre. Blanche grew up in the Palace of
the Kings of Navarre of Olite with her family. Blanche was a member
of the House of Trastámara which…
The ‘meeting’ between Marie Antoinette
and the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has a fabled quality, not
least because of the oft-repeated folklore that has grown around
it. From the point of view of posterity, it is a fascinating moment
to contemplate, when two legendary…
A chance listing on the Public Catalogue
Foundation Art UK, for an oil on canvas painting (35.8 x 30.7 cm)
said to be of Russia’s last Empress, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna,
when she was Princess Alix of Hesse (1872-1918) led me to
investigate this extraordinary artwork further. Because in the many
years I had researched on Princess Alix, I had never seen anything
like it. It does not resemble…
