Sometimes known as ‘the annexe to Buckingham Palace’, the classic hotel in London’s Mayfair has time-honoured connections with royalty that exist into the present day. From the earlier single building run by William and Marianne Claridge at 51 Brook Street, Claridge’s opened in its own right in 1856 and received its first visit from Queen Victoria in 1860. Historically, it continued to…
Queen Victoria’s exquisitely woven wedding dress of
Spitalfields silk satin survives. Her wedding veil was placed over her face as her
body was dressed and prepared for burial at Windsor. Fascinatingly as I found
out during research, the wedding veil and one of the…
This year marks the bicentenary of not only the birth of Queen Victoria but also of her husband, Prince Albert. Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s beloved consort, was an eager skater who loved winter sports as part of enduring royal pleasure. Not only did he drive the…
All royal wedding dresses are keenly anticipated but there is always slightly more interest and slightly more pressure when the gown on show belongs to a queen in waiting. On December 4th 1999, Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz walked into the Town Hall of Brussels for the start of her marriage celebrations to the heir to the throne of Belgium, Philippe. Mathilde’s marriage turned her…
So what did she say? A clip of the Princess Royal taking part in a conversation in which several world leaders appear to question Donald Trump’s behaviour has become one of this week’s biggest social media hits. But while the words of Canada’s Prime Minister…
Royal Wedding Rewind: King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians
4th December 2019
It was the last major royal wedding of the 20th century and it began a new chapter in a royal story that would lead to a throne. On December 4th 1999, the then heir to the Belgian throne, Philippe, married Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz before a host of regal guests.
On this week’s Royal Central Podcast, the team look ahead to some of the big events set to make the royal news in December. Court cases and Christmas cards all feature as Brittani Barger, Moniek Bloks and Lydia Starbuck as what the last month of the year will bring for royal families around the…
Queen Margrethe takes charge of Denmark's royal Christmas countdown
2nd December 2019
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – well, at the Amalienborg Palace at least. As December gets under way, the Danish Royal Family have a special treat in store for their fans and it’s all under the control of none other than Queen Margrethe…
Kristin Contino, Chief Reporter:
I chose just one outfit this month: the Duchess of Cambridge in a new black lace Alexander McQueen gown for the Royal Variety Performance.
The Duke of Cambridge is presented with our 2019 programme & The Duchess of Cambridge…
Queen Victoria spent her last Christmas at Osborne in 1900. It was forty years exactly since Prince Albert had celebrated his final Christmas in 1860 at Windsor, the setting for so many happy family festivities in the past. Prince Albert did not live to see Christmas 1861, dying on 14 December in the same room in which with strange historical prescience, George IV and William IV had also died, in…
