Insight

Monarchy Monday: Investitures

The dream of attending an Investiture is something that makes up my dreams. An Investiture is where a person who is awarded an honour receives that award in person from The Queen, The Prince of Wales and sometimes The Princess Royal or Prince William. View image | gettyimages.com Anyone can nominate any person they see fit to receive an honour, following the guidelines of “achievement…
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Features

Preview: Secrets of the Manor House

From director Susannah Ward come Secrets of the Manor House – a look into the world of the British Manor House and the people, including both aristocrats and the servants that lived in them. Dunham Massey House The British Manor House is an institution that has fueled…
Features

Preview: The Queen's Diamond Decades - 1950s

Queen Elizabeth’s first years as Queen will soon be aired in Canada and the United States. Queen Elizabeth II on her coronation A young 25-year-old Elizabeth was a mother to Prince Charles, three years old and an 18-month-old Princess Anne. In 1952, the sudden death of her father, King George VI, who suffered from lung cancer, Elizabeth found herself as the new Queen far before she ever…
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Insight

Marching down The Mall: Changing the Guard

Henry VII not only founded the Tudor Dynasty in 1485, he also founded the concept of the Royal Body Guard, and for the last 520 years elite soldiers have guarded the King or Queen. He probably never envisaged the spectacle that now draws the tourists to London. The ceremony of Changing the Guard originally took place at the Palace of Whitehall as that was the official London residence for the…
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FeaturesInsight

Monarchy Monday: Presentation of Debutantes

The presentation of debutantes to the sovereign at court once marked the start of the social season. View image | gettyimages.com From the time of Edward VII’s reign, court presentations of young women from aristocratic families took place to the monarch. The event…
Opinion

Let's give Kate a break, shall we?

I won’t write about fashion trends of the royals. There are enough sites out there that analyse their fashion decisions. I enjoy keeping up with the British Royal Family because I don’t think there is enough focus or attention given to the fact that they are human…
FeaturesHistory

The Execution of a Queen

Anne Boleyn is probably best remembered as the most controversial Queen in British history, which is perhaps not entirely deserved. Even though much is said about her, there are a lot things we don’t know, such as her birthday. Unfortunately for women of that time period, it was not uncommon for her birth date not to be recorded. Eric Ives settles on 1501 in his magnificent biography on…
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