While modern royal Christmas celebrations
take place at Sandringham, for hundreds of years it was Windsor
Castle that was the preferred setting for the festive celebrations
of kings and queens. Victoria and Albert loved to spend the season
there but they were only following the pattern of dozens of
monarchs. Whilst the German Christmas was much popularised by
Prince Albert, the preference…
King Haakon's Christmas speeches to an occupied Norway
17th December 2023
Christmas tends to be a pleasant time,
especially for the royals. When it comes to the Norwegian Royal
Family, they have many good Christmas traditions that make
Christmas a pleasant time. There is, however, a period when
Christmas for the Royal Family from Norway was not…
Sometimes known as ‘the annexe to
Buckingham Palace’, the classic hotel in London’s Mayfair has
time-honoured connections with royalty that exist into the present
day. From the earlier single building run by William and Marianne
Claridge at 51 Brook Street…
She was the woman who would change royal
history forever. Wallis Simpson’s romance with King Edward VIII led
to him deciding between love and duty. In the end, it was a choice
of love. The King Emperor abdicated the throne as he was unable to
marry the American divorcée in the Church of England at the time.
The throne passed to his brother, Albert, who became King George
VI. And Edward…
The romantic royal wedding that turned a nurse into a queen
15th December 2023
The marriage of King Baudouin of the
Belgians and Fabiola de Mora y Aragon, on December 15th 1960, gave
a country a new queen and began a royal partnership that would
become one of the most successful in modern regal history. The
discreet monarch and his equally dignified…
A very Windsor Christmas
14th December 2023
Nearly 25 years after her grandfather
George V became the first to deliver a Christmas broadcast, Queen
Elizabeth II would carry on the tradition and create history in her
own way. Christmas 1957, The Queen’s Christmas broadcast was
televised for the first time. During…
The special Scandinavian Christmas celebration in memory of a saint
13th December 2023
The 13th of December is St. Lucia’s Day,
traditionally celebrated in the holiday season. While it is a less
popular holiday in the United Kingdom and North America, it is
still widely celebrated in Scandinavia and Northern Italy. Like
many other Scandinavian families, the Swedish, Danish, and
Norwegian royal families all observe St. Lucia’s Day in December.
St. Lucia’s Day (also…
The snowy romance of a Victorian royal Christmas
12th December 2023
It was during the reign of Queen Victoria
that many interpretations of modern Christmas traditions took hold.
The Royal Family was at the heart of some of them with Victoria and
her husband, Prince Albert, seen to popularise the Christmas tree.
Prince Albert was an…
The Crown is acknowledged by Hollywood royalty as it grabs a string of Golden Globe nominations
12th December 2023
The Crown has been recognised by
Hollywood royalty with several notable nominations for the 2024
Golden Globes. The hit Netflix drama focusing on the modern
House of Windsor received four Golden Globe nominations. The show
has been nominated for Best Television Series…
She had made the season her own. The
festive season at the end of the 19th century was very different
from that in 1837, the year she had become monarch. Yet the final
Christmas of Queen Victoria was filled with heartbreak. The queen
herself could not get away from it, noting in her diary for
December 25th 1900 ”this has indeed been a terribly sad Christmas
for us all!”. And it had…

