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 and succession. On a few occasions,
they’re crowned after a battle, like the first king to reign after
the Norman…
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…
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…
Prince Albert is generally credited with
introducing the Christmas tree to Britain, but in fact, it was the
work of his wife’s grandmother, Queen Charlotte. Like Prince
Albert, Charlotte was born and raised in Germany, where the
tradition of bringing a tree inside at Christmas time, decorated
with lights and sweets, is believed to date back to the 16th
century. As a child, Charlotte’s family…
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 future queen who has to take second place to a younger brother in a different line of succession
3rd December 2023
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…
Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway is third
in line to the Norwegian throne, and as of today, he is legally
allowed to ascend the throne should it ever come to that. However,
there are a few major differences in the titles and styles of
Sverre Magnus and his older sister, Princess Ingrid Alexandra. The
Prince is only styled as “His Highness,” whereas Ingrid Alexandra
is “Her…
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…
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…
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 order. Founded by King Oscar I in
1847, though he reigned as the Sovereign of both Norway and Sweden,
the Order of St.
