FeaturesHistory

Royal Sandringham and 'Sandringham Time'

“Dear old Sandringham, the place I love better than anywhere else in the world…” were the words which King George V used to describe the Norfolk retreat, beloved by four generations of the British Royal Family since 1862; it was a sentimentechoed by his son, King George VI who himself wrote it turn: “I have always been happy here, and I love the place.” Both…
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FeaturesHistoryInsight

Christmas Trees: A Royal History

Prince Albert is generally credited with introducing the Christmas tree to Britain, but in fact, it was the work of his wife’s grandmother, Queen Charlotte. Like Prince Albert, Charlotte was born and raised in Germany, where the tradition of bringing a tree inside at…
FeaturesHistoryInsight

The Queen's first Christmas 1926: As Meghan looks ahead to her first royal Christmas, we look back at Princess Elizabeth's

As Meghan Markle prepares to spend her first Christmas with the royal family at Sandringham, her fiancé’s grandmother may recall fondly her own early Christmases at the much-loved Norfolk estate. One such occasion the Queen would be unable to remember, however, is her first one, in 1926, when she was just eight months old. Christmas 1926 was special in several ways. Until that year, Princess…
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Features

Review: Darling Queen – Dear Old Bones

I have long been advocating for more books to be written in English about the royals of mainland Europe, so I was thrilled to hear about and readDarling Queen – Dear Old Bones:Queen Wilhelmina’s correspondence with her English governess Miss Saxton WinterbyEmerentia van Heuven-van Nesand published by Amsterdam University Press. It was initially printed in Dutch…
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British RoyalsFeatures

An American perspective: Prince Harry to marry Meghan Markle

Our Europe Editor, Brittani Barger, from Tennessee, U.S.A, shares her thoughts on the announcement of fellow American, Meghan Markle’s engagement to Prince Harry. Earlier this week Clarence House announced that Prince Harry was to marry American actress Meghan Markle, and it has since been confirmed that it will take place in May 2018 at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor. Of course…
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