A chance glance upon an entry in an exhibition catalogue from 2004 immediately attracted my interest because it related to samples of wallpaper for the Alexander Palace, the private residence of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, in Tsarskoe Selo. I knew the last Tsarina had chosen ‘English’ chintzes for some of the furnishings of the palatial home they came to love, but I had never found the…
Well, we weren’t expecting that. After much speculation and endless guessing, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge went and surprised everyone by picking the name Louis for their third child. The little prince’s first name has been pretty well used amongst the…
White Lodge is a former royal residence, situated deep within Richmond Park. But its location can momentarily confuse. Richmond Palace was, of course, one of the most important palaces of the Tudor dynasty and is consequently far better known; although the building was not within Richmond Park itself, nor even adjacent to it, being roughly a mile away.
Richmond Palace was rebuilt by Henry VII on…
Willem–Alexander Claus George Ferdinand was born in the Utrecht at University Medical Centre on 27 April 1967. He is the oldest child of (the former Queen) Princess Beatrix and German diplomat Claus Von Amsberg. King Willem- Alexander is the first grandchild of Queen…
The youngest child of King Constantine and Queen Anne Marie of Greece, Prince Philippos was born on 26 April 1986 at St Mary’s Hospital in London where his family was living in exile. He was named after his paternal cousin, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
He has four older siblings: Princess Alexia (b. 1965), Crown Prince Pavlos (b. 1967), Prince Nikolaos (b. 1969) and Princess Theodora…
Princess Muna al-Hussein, born on 25 April 1941, was the second wife of King Hussein I of Jordan; she is the mother of Jordan’s current monarch, King Abdullah II.
She was born asAntoinette “Toni” Avril GardinerinChelmondiston, Suffolk…
Can the story of Camilla ever be told without Diana? That’s the question I was left asking after watching The Real Camilla (ITV1, April 23rd). This documentary had unrivalled access to the Duchess of Cornwall throughout her 70th year so it seemed a bit of a shame that a chunk of its airtime was spent retelling the story of what happened behind palace doors in the 80s and 90s. And, personally, I…
