In a new series, we are taking a look at
the various lines of successions in the world’s monarchies. This
edition is looking at the ten people in the Swedish line of
succession. Current monarch: King Carl XVI Gustaf (b. 1946) who
came to the throne in 1973 after the death of his grandfather, King
Gustaf VI Adolf. PHOTO: BENGT NYMAN/CC BY-SA 4.0/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
The King was born to…
In the Western manuscripts collection
held at the British Library are what are known as the Boyd
Carpenter papers, Vol. V, Add MS 46721: 1884-1917. This remarkable
collection of documents contain letters written in English from or
on behalf of various crowned heads of Europe…
In the British Library five letters from
Princess Alix of Hesse, later Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna of
Russia (1872-1918) are preserved. Initially, I thought there were
seven letters of hers at the British Library, but further research
has enabled me to establish that these…
Most royalty have some kind of monogram.
Most royals also have a personal and a family coat of arms. The
monograms are for more personal use than the coat of arms, and
therefore, we do not see them so often. In Norway, the case is that
the King’s monogram is used by the King personally and in several
instances which are closely related to His Majesty. In this
article, we will look at King…
The wedding cakes in Queen Victoria’s
family were magnificent examples of edible ceremony. Once they
reached the age of photography, they were faithfully recorded for
posterity. These images still have the power to enchant today, even
in long ago albums. Just looking at…
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor will
be christened today and while there’s been plenty of chat about the
decision not to release the names of his godparents, there are some
rather more interesting aspects of royal baptisms to enjoy. From
gowns that helped industry…
Picked as a royal bride by Queen Victoria
herself, Princess Mary of Teck would find her way to the altar in
the most unusual circumstances. For Mary ended up saying ‘I do’ to
the second king in waiting selected as a husband for her. But her
marriage proved to be a happy one as well as a royal success story.
On the anniversary of the marriage of King George V and Queen Mary,
Royal…
A charming photograph taken by Mary Steen
in the Queen’s Sitting Room at Windsor on 21 May 1895 shows an
elderly Queen Victoria knitting or crocheting, sat with her
youngest daughter, Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg, who
dutifully reads the newspaper aloud to her…
Five decades earlier, the groom’s
grandparents had seen their dreams of marrying in the Eternal City
dashed. But as Prince Amadeo of Belgium and Elisabetta Rosboch wed
on July 5th 2014, there were no such problems. The eldest
grandchild of King Albert II and Queen…
Queen Victoria had twelve bridesmaids.
What do we know about them? What did they wear? Certainly the Queen
– as might be expected – had a greater number of bridesmaids than
her daughters would at their weddings, eight being a recurring
choice. We can see them clustered in pairs in Sir George Hayter’s
large painting The Marriage of Queen Victoria, 10 February 1840,
gathered respectfully…
