Features

The last Christmas of a great queen

Queen Victoria spent her last Christmas at Osborne in 1900. It was forty years exactly since Prince Albert had celebrated his final Christmas in 1860 at Windsor, the setting for so many happy family festivities in the past. Prince Albert did not live to see Christmas 1861, dying on 14 December in the same room in which with strange historical prescience, George IV and William IV had also died, in…
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Features

The royals who have loved playing in the snow

Snow has provided enjoyment for countless generations of children and adults alike; royalty, of course,is no exception to this time-honoured rule. English monarchs have wintered at Windsor since the twelfth century. Windsor Castle was the preferred royal residence…
Features

The classic royal wedding dress chosen by a future queen

All royal wedding dresses are keenly anticipated but there is always slightly more interest and slightly more pressure when the gown on show belongs to a queen in waiting. On December 4th 1999, Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz walked into the Town Hall of Brussels for the start of her marriage celebrations to the heir to the throne of Belgium, Philippe. Mathilde’s marriage turned her…
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History

A Royal Christmas: Celebrating in the Middle Ages

Every Christmas, we expect the Royal Family to go to Sandringham for their annual Christmas Day church service and later, hear a speech from the Monarch. While that is the tradition in the 21st century, the days of the Royal Family celebrating Christmas in a big way date back centuries. [getty src=”517475910″ width=”380″ height=”594&#8243…
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Features

The revealing Christmas celebrations of a future queen

She was the queen who made her mark on Christmas. So much of how we celebrate the festive season began in the Victorian era and the monarch who gave her name to that time left intricate records of how she celebrated. In this special series, Royal Central looks at some of the…
Features

The historic royal order which just got a brand new member

King Harald’s gift to Prince Sverre Magnus on his 18th birthday was the designation as a Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav. The prince, the only grandson of King Harald and Queen Sonja, received the gift just days before he comes of age. And it’s a very special…
Features

All the brand new Christmas traditions being put in place by the Royal Family

The Christmas period is always a particularly fun time for royal watching, with behind-the-scenes pictures of the palaces being decorated for the holidays and royals carrying out holiday-themed engagements moving to the forefront. The Royal Family have always played a significant part in Christmas traditions for the UK, with their annual celebration at Sandringham and the morning walk to and…
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