The historic Villa des Cèdres in
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, once the summer home of Belgian royalty, has
sold for a jaw-dropping 200 million Euro this month to an
unspecified buyer. The 18,000-square-foot property was built in
1830 and operated as an olive tree farm until it was acquired by
the second King of Belgium, Leopold II, in 1904. He used it as a
holiday home and spent time on the French…
Snow and Royalty
14th August 2019
Snow has provided enjoyment for countless
generations of children and adults alike; royalty, of
course, is no exception to this time-honoured rule. English
monarchs have wintered at Windsor since the twelfth century.
Windsor Castle was the preferred royal residence in…
The King's daughter in Oxfordshire: Charlotte Fitzroy
14th August 2019
Lady Charlotte Fitzroy, was – as her name
suggests – the daughter of a King, but not by his queen. Charles
II’s queen, the Portuguese-born Catherine of Braganza, was
apparently barren and miscarried after six years of childless
marriage in 1688. This is something which…
A look at the Royal Palace of La Almudaina
13th August 2019
The Royal Palace of La Almudaina (or in
Spanish, Palacio Real de La Almudaina) is located in Palma,
Mallorca (or Majorca) in the Balearic Islands and serves as
the official summer residence of the Spanish monarch and other
members of the Spanish Royal Family (even though King Felipe and
Queen Letizia prefer to spend their time with their daughters at
Marivent Palace instead now). The structure…
The Royal Closet at St George's Chapel, Windsor
13th August 2019
At St George’s Chapel, Windsor is a
remarkable Oriel Window which has a fascinating history of its own
and a unique connection with royal weddings. The high, wooden Oriel
Window on the north side of the altar was added in the 1510s when
Henry VIII made the Edward…
Elizabeth I's only surviving dress to go on show
12th August 2019
She dressed to impress, using clothes and
jewels as a way of establishing her power as she fought and
succeeded in making monarchy a woman’s job and now what’s thought
to be the only surviving gown worn by Elizabeth I is to go on
display. The silver fabric that…
A little-known royal plaque in Portsmouth
12th August 2019
A plaque can be found in the garrison
walls at Portsmouth at the location of the old ‘Sally Port’. Its
patriotic inscription proclaimsthat “from this place naval heroes
innumerable were embarked to fight their country’s battles” but
that also, “near this spot, Catharine of Braganza landed in state,
May 14 1662 previous to her marriage with Charles II at the Domus
Dei a week…
Crown Princess Family of Sweden shares summer holiday snaps
12th August 2019
The Crown Princess Family of Sweden has
shared some of their summer holiday snaps on the Royal Family’s
social media networks. The images were taken by Crown Princess
Victoria. At Tjörn the family visited, among other things, the
sculpture park “Sculpture in…
A Somerset church and the lost Palace of Whitehall
11th August 2019
A fourteenth-century Anglican church in
the Somerset parish of Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge is not perhaps
the place where you might expect to find several remnants from the
lost Palace of Whitehall, the main London residence of England’s
monarchs until 1698. A second…
A monument that mentions a royal kiss
11th August 2019
The sixteenth century
late-GothicSint-Andrieskerk on the Augustijnenstraat in Antwerp
preserves a monument with a quite extraordinary royal connection,
for which reason many English visitors in particular, seek it
out.In 1513,Augustine friars established a chapel and a convent the
following year, but as the chapel itself proved too small, plans
for a larger building were…

