Sonja Haraldsen was born on 4 July 1937
as the youngest child of Karl August and Dagny Haraldsen at
the Red Cross Clinic in Oslo. Her elder brothers were Haakon (b.
1921) and Karl (1929-1936), and her elder sister was Gry (b. 1924).
However, her brother Karl died the year before Sonja was born, and
as a result, her parents were very protective of their
youngest child. Also, due to the age gap…
The personal jewellery of the last Tsarina, Alexandra Feodorovna
14th August 2018
The personal jewellery of the last
Tsarina of Russia, Alexandra Feodorovna (1872-1918) provides a
living, tangible timeline of her private life, quite apart from the
glittering jewels which she would have worn as a Romanov bride.
Inevitably though, the public life and the…
‘Never, never can I forget this brilliant
year… so full of marvellous kindness, loyalty & devotion of so many
millions which I really could hardly have expected’. (Quoted in
Christopher Hibbert, Queen Victoria, A Personal History, 379). With
these words, Queen…
The Duchess of Sussex pulled a style
surprise on her wedding day when she chose an all but forgotten
royal tiara as the finishing touch to her bridal outfit. Meghan’s
pick has put Queen Mary’s Bandeau Tiara back in the regal spotlight
and reignited interest in the set of stones that make up this
sparkler. And at their heart is a pretty brooch that already had a
royal wedding history all of its…
Queen Sirikit is the Queen Mother in
Thailand, having married the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 1950
shortly before his coronation; sadly she has not been seen much in
public recently following a stroke in 2012. She was born on 12th
August 1932, at the home of her maternal…
Europe Editor, Brittani Barger gives her
opinion on the top ten tiaras across the globe: 10: Crown Princess
Mette-Marit’s Wedding Tiara I just love the simplicity of this
piece, which fits so well with Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s
personality. She wore it…
Before they were royal: The life of Crown Princess Masako of Japan
10th August 2018
She is set to become Japan’s next Empress
in May 2019, but today we take a look at the life of Crown Princess
Masako of Japan before she married Crown Prince Naruhito. Born
Masako Owada on 9 December 1963 at theToranomon Hospital in Tokyo,
Japan, she is the eldest daughter of Hisashi Owada andYumiko
Egashira. Masako’s younger sisters are twinsReiko and Setsuko. Her…
Thomas Markle was catapulted into the
spotlight when his daughter, Meghan began dating Prince Harry and
even more when it was announced that they would marry. We’ve since
seen him stage photographs and fake surgery so he wouldn’t have to
attend the wedding. And…
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…
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 rested on the way to her funeral in London in
1290, the crosses are famous across the world but just three
originals now survive…
