The first thing that Princess Victoria
did on the morning of 20 June 1837 was to reach for her dressing
gown. This historic moment in the Queen’s life has always held a
particular fascination for me, and I have regularly revisited it
from various angles, from profiling the Archbishop of Canterbury
who knelt before her that morning with the Lord Chamberlain, Lord
Conyngham, to the staircase she…
Personal items of Queen Victoria acquired by Historic Royal Palaces
2nd November 2018
Some personal items belonging to Queen
Victoria have been acquired by Historic Royal Palaces, the
independent charity which maintains Kensington Palace, ahead of the
bicentenary of the Queen’s birth in 2019, which the palace will
celebrate with a new exhibition and…
The Royal and Military Order of Saint
Ferdinand is a Spanish military order and Spain’s highest military
decoration for gallantry. The Royal Military Order of Saint
Ferdinand was set up by the Cádiz Cortes in 1811 to honour the
heroic fight against the Napoleonic…
It was a famous royal love story that
shocked as much as it thrilled. John of Gaunt was the
ultra-ambitious prince whose desire to be a king almost cost him
his life, Katherine Swynford was the mysterious commoner who
supplanted a queen in his affections. Their relationship lasted
decades, survived a serious separation and ultimately led to the
creation of a dynasty which would snatch the throne…
‘Saw good Mrs Clark, returned from
Darmstadt, who gave me an excellent account of Alice, the Baby &
dear little Victoria’ (Quoted in Charlotte Zeepvat, From
Cradle to Crown, 13). With these words, Queen Victoria recorded in
her journal for 13 December 1864, that she had…
The white caps worn by Queen Victoria
have – correctly – come to be regarded as a symbol for her
widowhood. They represent one of the few contrasts in colour to the
deepest mourning that she adopted after 1861, as a declaration in
textile, of the colossal emotional…
Following the recent wedding of Princess
Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, we take a look at other princesses who
have married commoners. Here is the story of Princess Margaret and
her photographer husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones. Princess Margaret
was always one to do things her way, and Antony “Tony”
Armstrong-Jones was far from the typical royal suitor. Born 7 March
1930, Antony grew up in a…
She had been an integral part of the
House of Windsor for almost seventy years; she was the oldest ever
member of the Royal Family, and she had lived an adventure packed
life that broke the regal mould in many ways. The death of Princess
Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, on…
One advantage of a monarch who reigns for
a substantial period is you can potentially see a long line of
succession stretching into the future. Prince Charles is heir
apparent; he has a son, the Duke of Cambridge who has three
children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and…
Continuing our series on princesses who
married commoners, we are taking a look at Princess Madeleine of
Sweden and her American-British husband, Christopher O’Neill. After
fleeing to New York City after a broken heart and engagement,
Madeleine met her soulmate in the Big Apple. Healing from a broken
heart, Madeleine soon became friends with a man named Christopher
O’Neill. He anonymously…
