Features

The royal wedding gift of sapphires that was hidden behind palace doors for decades

Queen Letizia likes to pull a style surprise and among the biggest of the year so far is her decision to dust down a sapphire necklace that hadn’t been seen for decades. The Queen of Spain wore a very special but rarely seen set of jewellery for one of the most important royal events of the year when she and King Felipe welcomed diplomats from around the world to Madrid’s Royal…
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History

The brutal assassination of a beloved Empress

One of the most popular royals of the nineteenth century met a tragic end on 10 September 1898. It was the day when Empress Elisabeth of Austria was assassinated.  Empress Elisabeth, more commonly known as Sisi, was a beloved royal. She was known for being exceptionally…
Features

A special place for the discreet parents who have seen the Princess of Wales through her toughest days

A parent is a parent, no matter how old their child gets. In January this year, Carole and Michael Middleton marked the 42nd birthday of their first born. Days later, they saw her go into hospital for major abdominal surgery and learned, weeks later, that she needed chemotherapy. As their own child dealt with cancer, they also had to help her support her own three children, now dealing with…
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Features

A stunning sapphire brooch passed down through the generations

With September’s birthstone being sapphire, there is no better time to look at some of the most stunning sapphire pieces. The Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch is one of the most significant sapphire brooches in the British collection today. This brooch features a reported 130 carat cushion-cut sapphire, a rose-design gold and diamond border with a second border of 22 round-cut…
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Features

A dancing queen and a striking royal jewel

The Queen chose an elegantly appropriate accessory for her first visit to the English National Ballet since becoming its patron. Queen Camilla wore a striking brooch – in the shape of a ballerina. Queen Camilla chose a golden ballerina decked in jewels as her…
Features

The mysterious death of Katherine Parr: the convenient end of a powerful queen

Katherine Parr, Queen of England, died in the early hours of September 5th 1548 and was buried two days later at Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire. Her body was later lost only to be rediscovered in bizarre circumstances. Queen Katherine had been one of the most important people in England yet her action packed life was soon forgotten. What really happened to Henry VIII’s last…
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