Features

It’s been quite the week for tartan. The King was fully kilted out as he headed to John O’Groats for a wee dram at the start of his Scottish holidays. Meanwhile his heir, Prince William, found his own Scottish style under scrutiny as conversations began about when the Duke of Rothesay was last seen in a kilt.Should William choose to toss a fashion caber and go for a kilt during his…

Over fifty years ago, a shout from a crowd prompted an unusual response from Queen Elizabeth II. During a visit to Normandy in France, a voice cried ”Vive La Duchesse!”. It wasn’t a case of mistaken identity, as Her Late Majesty herself acknowledged. For the British monarch has long laid claim to the ancient title of Duke of Normandy.In the middle ages, the Duke of Normandy…

Within the walls of one of England’s most picturesque castles, a queen gave birth to her only child and set in motion a chain of events that would become one of Tudor England’s most intriguing mysteries. The birth had been much anticipated and much talked about. The baby, a little girl, was immediately taken off to a nursery decked in scarlet and gold where a string of attendants…

Her story is amongst the most controversial of all the Queens of England and centuries after her death, a new twist appeared in the tale of Elizabeth Woodville. An expert at the National Archives in London found a document suggesting that the consort who revolutionised royalty may have died of the plague.Euan Roger is a records specialist at the National Archives and while looking through 16th…