‘Where is Pollie?’ (Lotte Hofmann-Kuhnt,
Briefe der Zarin Alexandra von Russland an ihre Jugendfreundin Toni
Becker-Bracht, 2009). Princess Alix of Hesse paused to add these
words, almost as an afterthought, to a letter to her close friend,
Toni Becker-Bracht, from Balmoral, on 27 September 1892. With these
words, Princess Alix most probably refers to her friend, Marion
Louisa…
Depicted by many a story and film
presentation in years past and present, Cleopatra has represented
the epitome of feminine beauty. Many ascertain her as an example to
look up to when in need of advice to accomplish a well-maintained
life of beauty and romance. But who…
As his name suggests, Crown Prince
Mohammad is the son of King Salman. He was born on the 31st August
1985 as the son of King Salman and his third wife, Fahda bint Falah
bin Sultan bin Hathleen. He is the eldest of her children and is
considered to be the power behind the…
Frederick II, King ‘in’ Prussia, upon
whom was bestowed the celebrated sobriquet of ‘the Great’ in his
lifetime, was in his own words ‘a philosopher and want[ed] to be
buried as such…” This was eventually carried out in 1991, in
accordance with his wishes – two hundred and five years after his
death, on the terrace at his beloved palace of Sanssouci [‘free of
care’]; at the…
The marriage of Harald and Sonja of
Norway on August 29th 1968 was a groundbreaking royal wedding. But
the bride chose some very traditional blooms for her bouquet while
the church where she said ‘I do’ was decked with popular flowers
and foliage. As Sonja Haraldsen…
This month, King Harald and Queen Sonja
of Norway celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. The then
Crown Prince of Norway married Sonja Haraldsen on 29 August1968 at
Oslo Cathedral. Their wedding, attended by royalty from around
Europe, came five months after the…
Today marks 50 years since then Crown
Prince Harald married Sonja Haraldsen, and she became Crown
Princess of Norway. The day will be celebrated today with a
service in the same church as the wedding took place 50 years ago.
However, you could not have a proper royal wedding without a
sensational cake. The Crown Prince Couple’s wedding cake was a gift
from Oslo’s Baker Society, and it was…
In the last days of August 1968, the
Royal Family made a sad and surprising announcement. Princess
Marina, Duchess of Kent’s health was ”giving rise to anxiety”
following the diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumour. There
was sympathy for the duchess, a…
Queen Victoria kept her journals from the
year 1832 up until around two weeks before her death in 1901. Her
voluminous correspondence is well known; indeed, it was averaged by
the author Giles St Aubyn that the Queen wrote up to some 2,500
words per day (Christopher Hibbert…
Autumn Phillips is the wife of Peter
Phillips, son of Princess Anne and eldest grandchild of HM Queen
Elizabeth II. She was born Autumn Patricia Kelly on the 3rd May
1978 in Montreal, Canada and has a twin brother, Chris and elder
brother, Kevin. She grew up in a Catholic home and went to church
schools until she went to McGill University; whilst at university,
she also appeared in the film…
