Lieutenant General David Leakey might not
be a name you instantly recognise, partly because he is known
inside and outside of Parliament as Black Rod. Best known for his
role during the State Opening of Parliament, Black Rod is sent to
the House of Commons by Her Majesty The Queen to summon Members of
Parliament to the House of Lords to hear her speech. Slamming the
door in Black Rod’s face…
The Grade II* listed mansion of Bentley
Priory in Stanmore, in the London Borough of Harrow, is best known
for the vital role it played during the Battle of Britain when the
building formed the setting for Headquarters Fighter Command. The
Priory remained an RAF base until…
Charlie Proctor: It might sound trivial not wearing a seatbelt, but The Queen should lead by example
23rd June 2017
Twenty years ago, Diana, Princess of
Wales died in a catastrophic car crash in Paris – a moment that
shocked the world. It is widely believed that if Diana were wearing
her seatbelt at the time of the incident, she would have most
likely survived. So what seems even more…
Patricia Knatchbull was the 2nd Countess
Mountbatten of Burma. She was the eldest child of Lord Mountbatten
of Burma. Our Queen did not celebrate her accession as it was also
the anniversary of her father’s passing, but there is little doubt
that Patricia Knatchbull took over from her father in the most
tragic of circumstances. Lord Mountbatten was murdered by the
Provisional IRA in 1979 when…
It has been confirmed that this year’s
Queen’s Speech has been delayed by a few days due to the
Conservative Party failing to reach an agreement with Northern
Ireland’s DUP. If an agreement cannot be made, then it is
likely that The Queen’s Speech…
Charlie Proctor: The Queen will be livid with the government if she is forced to miss Royal Ascot
12th June 2017
It never ceases to amaze me how things
can go from relatively calm to scenes of chaos within a matter of
minutes. I should imagine that the same situation unfolded in
Buckingham Palace this morning when Her Majesty found out that she
might have to miss Royal Ascot due to the…
Opinion: The Royal Family should speak out against the recent terrorist attacks
8th June 2017
The United Kingdom has been the scene of
a terrorist attack three times this year, and yet the British Royal
Family has remained largely quiet, leaving many wondering why. In
March a terrorist attack took place near the Palace of Westminster,
the seat of the British Parliament. Four people were killed, and
over 50 were injured when the attacker drove a car into pedestrians
on the pavement. A…
At night, a historical attraction somehow
acquires an entirely different authenticambience, with the sense of
its past rendered more palpable by the feeling of exclusivity –
there is a sense of being a private guest at a bygone court.
Entering any residence at…
Each royal family has its own way of
dealing with the media. However, other European monarchies should
follow the example of the Swedish Royal Family when it comes to
their approach to the press. The Swedes are by far the most open
and friendly of the royal families to the…
Outside the Houses of Parliament,
standing rather boldly with a hand on his sword and the other
clutching a Bible, stands a statute of Oliver Cromwell. For a time,
Cromwell was the sole interruption in a long line of English
monarchs, during which the British Isles were no longer governed by
a monarchy but instead by a republican “Commonwealth of England,
Scotland and Ireland”. This…
