Features

The royal weddings of York Minster

It’s one of the oldest churches in Britain the seat of one of England’s most important clerics yet the famous York Minster is a rare venue for royal weddings. Just two major regal marriages have taken place at this ancient church in almost 1,000 years.The most recent took place six decades ago. On June 8th 1961, the Duke of Kent married Katharine Worsley there in front of royalty…
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The time Queen Elizabeth II accidentally stepped on the foot of the King of Norway

Weddings can be fraught businesses and nothing every goes completely to plan, even for royalty. When Queen Elizabeth II attended Princess Alexandra’s 1963 wedding to Alexander Ogilvy, she ended up having to say sorry to another monarch.Footage from Princess Alexandra’s wedding on 24 April 1963 shows The Queen accidentally standing on King Olav V of Norway’s foot as guests gathered…
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How many of Henry VIII's queens were crowned?

‘Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived.’ That sad little rhyme, summing up the fates of Henry VIII’s six wives, is familiar to many. But while just about everyone knows that the monarch with a thing for wedding cake said ‘I do&#8217…
Features

The royal links of an historic church in the shadow of a world famous abbey

It’s hosted dazzling and trend setting royal weddings but St. Margaret’s Church at Westminster is always in the shadows for it stands, quite literally, beneath the world famous abbey.It traces its history back to pre Conquest times but the current building on the site is a Tudor creation with plenty of tales to tell.It hosted one of the most glamourous royal weddings of the…
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Mary of Waltham, a tragic teenage royal bride

On an autumn day, in 1344, a little girl was born to a famous king and queen. She entered the expected role of a royal daughter from birth as her future husband, an important political ally, was already living in the regal nursery she would call home. This royal baby spent…
Features

The unhappy royal love story that led to the imprisonment of the Princes in the Tower

She was the long dead widow who was used by a king to overthrow his own nephew and yet her name is all but forgotten today. Eleanor Butler was the woman who helped change the royal history of England forever and almost brought one of its most famous dynasties to disaster before they had even secured the throne. But was she also Queen of England?Eleanor never claimed a crown for herself but as…
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