Antony Armstrong-Jones was born on the
7th March 1930, the son of barrister Ronald Armstrong-Jones and his
first wife Anne Messel, in Belgravia, London. It is perhaps his
mother’s lineage that later led to his creative side, Oliver Messel
the stage designer was a maternal uncle, and relatives further back
included a cartoonist for Punch magazine and a Berlin architect.
Antony did not have the…
The Eleanor’s Cross at Hardingstone in
Northampton is a monument to medieval love. It’s one of a dozen
crosses built on the orders of King Edward I in memory of his first
wife, Eleanor of Castile. Constructed between 1291 and 1294 at the
places her coffin had…
The visit of the future Tsar Nicholas II
to Queen Victoria in the summer of 1894 has a fabled quality; it
took place a mere two months after his engagement to Princess Alix
of Hesse in Coburg. This visit has a special poignancy when viewed
through later eyes; we know of…
Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau, or Mabel
of Orange as she is known in her daily life, is today world widely
praised for her work for children’s rights and as a global power
broker. The wife of the late Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau is the
mother of two girls. Mabel’s extraordinary career did not start
when she married the son of then Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
but upon…
Queen Victoria began her journal in 1832
at the age of thirteen and continued to keep it until old age, with
the last entry made just nine days before she died, constituting,
therefore, a remarkable royal record. She took her journal with her
wherever she went on her…
This year marks 25 years since King
Baudouin of Belgium unexpectedly died while on holiday in Spain. He
was the sixth King of the Belgians and at the same time one of the
most popular kings Belgium ever had. King Baudouin reigned from
1951 until his death in 1993. However…
Queen Victoria famously wrote of her
wedding day – 10 February 1840: ‘“Oh! This was the happiest day of
my life!” The day – 10 February – became one which the Queen – so
peculiarly concerned with dates and anniversaries – would ever
refer to as having been her wedding day, in her great journal; it
formed the exact happy opposite to that grief-stricken 14 December,
(the…
Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy was born in
Renaix, Belgium, on 18 February 1984. She is the eighth and
youngest child of the Count de Lannoy and the late Countess de
Lannoy, born Alix della Faille de Leverghem. She grew up on the
family estate in Anvaing in Hainaut, Belgium…
A bedroom gives a uniquely personal
insight into any historical personality and a royal personage no
less so. Many key moments in Queen Victoria’s life also took place
in her bedrooms, which help in no small way, to tell the story of
that life. The furnishing of this most…
The Queen has been portrayed in TV
shows and films over the years by an array of actresses. Whether
they have played her on the small screen, in blockbuster films or
voiced animated versions of her, there have been some iconic
portrayals. Phoebe Barton takes a look back at some of the most
well-known, unforgettable and often quirky performances that have
brought the Queen to life. 1. Claire Foy…
