CoronavirusHistoryHistory

The King whose illness led to the naming of a pandemic

While the coronavirus continues to spread, we can rewind a little over a hundred years in time. In 1918 and 1919, another virus as ravaged countries across the globe. It caused widespread devastation but, despite its origins, it became known as Spanish flu because of a much maligned king. The Spanish flu came not from Spain, but from France at the very end of the First World War. The…
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FeaturesHistoryInsight

Geraldine, Last Queen of Albania

Queen Geraldine occupies a unique position in Albanian history: she’s the only queen consort in modern times, and she reigned alongside her husband for less than a year before they had to flee an Italian invasion. Though she spent the rest of her life zigzagging the…
European RoyalsFeaturesThe Netherlands

Queen Máxima's nine finest State Banquet sparklers

As King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima begin their State Visit to Indonesia today we’re looking back at some of Queen Máxima’s finest tiaras worn to state banquets all over the world. Here are nine of the finest tiaras Queen Máxima has worn to give us a few options. Württemberg Ornate Pearl Tiara: State Visit to Japan, 29 October 2014 [getty src=”458032204&#8243…
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HistoryInsight

Liliuokalani, Last Queen of Hawaii

While most of our “Last Queens” series focuses on consorts, this particular last queen was a reigning monarch. Liliuokalani was the only queen regnant and the last monarch of Hawaii before the Hawaiian kingdom was overthrown. It became the shortlived Republic of…
FeaturesOpinion

Opinion: Was Kate's diplomatic dressing in Ireland a tour miss?

Did Kate’s style on #RoyalVisitIreland leave you feeling green around the gills? Debate has gone on all week over the Duchess of Cambridge’s latest take on diplomatic dressing. Here, our Chief Reporter, Kristin Contino, argues you can have too much of a good thing. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made their first trip to Ireland this week, making headlines with their post-Brexit…
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Features

Numbering the Kings and Queens of Britain

One aspect of the evolution of monarchy that I find interesting is the development of Ordinal numbers, or regnal numbers, and also called post-nominal numbers used to differentiate between monarchs of the same name within the same territory. In the British system of…
British RoyalsHistory

Remains of Anglo-Saxon princess discovered in Kent

The remains of Princess Eanswith, also written as Eanswythe or Eanswide, have been discovered hidden inside the wall of a church in Kent. Historians say that the bones and teeth that were found are almost certainly those of the 7th century Princess and saint. Dr Andrew Richardson, from the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, told the BBC: “It now looks highly probable that we have the only…
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