Features

From queen's necklace to wedding tiara - the sparkling story of one of the most famous royal gems of all

It’s become one of the big questions in the run up to a royal marriage – which tiara will the bride wear? It’s now an accepted part of any Windsor wedding and the decision of Princess Beatrice to wear the same tiara as her grandmother did as a bride for her big day is both sentimental and rather significant. For Beatrice is now the third generation of Queen Elizabeth…
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Features

The discreet bridesmaid who became a queen

As 1922 got under way, newspapers began to run excited articles about a royal wedding. The only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary was about to say ‘I do’ and every moment of her marriage ceremony was up for scrutiny. Princess Mary’s wedding dress, choice of…
Features

The line of succession to the British throne

The line of succession to the throne of King Charles has already changed since his accession in September 2022. His Majesty was the longest serving heir to the throne in recorded history, holding the position for over seventy years. Now, the line to what is his throne is the longest in the world with thousands in it, including monarchs of other nations. The path to the throne of King Charles…
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Features

Mary of Modena: the slandered Stuart queen

Mary of Modena was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland for less than four years but the Stuart consort found herself at the centre of multiple scandals. Mary was born to the Duke of Modena and his wife in 1658. In 1673, the fifteen year old princess married the forty year old widowed James, Duke of York. James’ first wife, Anne Hyde, had died of breast cancer in 1671 after giving him two…
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Features

The glittering wedding of a doomed king and queen

She was the beautiful princess who had been the subject of endless royal wedding speculation, he was the handsome prince with a crown waiting in his future. When Marie-Jose of Belgium married Umberto, heir to the throne of Italy, in January 1930 their marriage had all the echoes of history about it, a union of dynasties that would secure a throne. Tens of thousands flocked to Rome to see the…
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