BhutanFeatures

Bhutan's newest princess named

Bhutan’s royal family has revealed the name of their newest princess with several photographs to debut the newborn. The only daughter of King Jigme Khesar and Queen Jetsun Pema has been named Sonam Yangden Wangchuck. She shares her name with her paternal aunt, Princess Sonam Dechan Wangchuck and paternal grandmother, Queen Tshering Yangdon. Photo: Royal Office for Media Sonam…
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Features

The romance and drama of the Winter Queen

Elizabeth Stuart, often referred to as The Winter Queen, was born on 19 August 1595 to James VI of Scotland, who was also James I of Great Britain, and Anne of Denmark in Falkland Palace, Scotland. In the Chapel Royal at Holyrood Palace, Elizabeth was christened in November…
Features

The royal Christmas marked by a theft that stunned the world

Royal Christmas traditions have evolved through the centuries. Some are based in ancient history, others are ones that the family would create over time. Some are no longer and some have evolved into what we know a royal Christmas to be today. In the 1800s, the then-Princess Victoria enjoyed many Christmases at Kensington Palace. Christmas Eve 1832, the future monarch wrote in her journal how…
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History

The king who was crowned on Christmas Day

For almost a thousand years, coronation services have taken place at Westminster Abbey, in times of peace and strife. The sovereign sometimes arrives at the Abbey a popular figure; sometimes, they’re deeply unpopular. More often than not, they’re crowned by birthright…
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…
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 in whichto spend Christmas for Queen Victoria during Prince Albert’s lifetime, Osborne House being chosen on occasion…
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Features

The future queen who has to take second place to a younger brother in a different line of succession

She’s in line to be Queen of Norway one day, but Princess Ingrid Alexandra has to take a lower place in another line of succession thanks to different rules. She is one step behind her younger brother, Prince Sverre Magnus, in the line to the British throne. Ingrid Alexandra is second in line to Norway’s crown. Her father, Crown Prince Haakon, is first in line and she is directly behind…
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