Many remember where they were on 22 July
2013 when they heard the Prince and Princess of Wales, then the
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, welcomed their first child and the
future king of Britain – Prince George. [getty src=”174291176″
width=”594″ height=”454″ tld=”com”] Born Prince George Alexander
Louis, the eldest child of the Waleses…
Princess Charlotte of Wales was the queen
that Britain never had, and easily the most popular member of the
Royal Family during her lifetime. When she died in childbirth aged
just 21, she was deeply mourned by the British public, yet her
story is so often consigned to a…
Leopold III was the fourth King of the
Belgians (the Belgian King is known as the King of the Belgians
rather than King of Belgium). In the early years of his reign, he
was a popular figure; however, he became a divisive figure after he
surrendered the Belgian army to the…
This year marks thirty years since King
Baudouin of Belgium unexpectedly died while on holiday in Spain. He
was one of the most popular kings Belgium ever had. Even now, three
decades on, his memory is treasured. His nephew, King Philippe,
paid an emotional tribute to him as he gave a speech to mark the
tenth anniversary of his own rule. King Baudouin reigned from 1951
until his death in 1993.
King Philippe is about to celebrate his
tenth anniversary on the throne of Belgium, with many successes
behind him that surprised his past detractors. Many
considered him too quiet and shy to be an effective leader, and
when King Albert II announced his decision to…
Some monarchs are born in massive castles
that have stood for centuries while others are born in relatively
new palaces. Although the birth of a royal baby is a celebrated
event, some of these more modern palaces have darker connections.
King Philippe of Belgium was born at…
How many kings called Edward have there
been? If you think you know the answer, this special feature by
Liam Foley might make you think again. One aspect of the evolution
of monarchy that I find interesting is the development of Ordinal
numbers, or regnal numbers, and also called post-nominal numbers
used to differentiate between monarchs of the same name within the
same territory. In the…
We’re used to seeing royals at Wimbledon
with the Princess of Wales now patron of the All England Club. But
rewind nine decades and another royal was a familiar face there. A
princess known to her family as Thora regularly cropped up on the
Pathe newsreels of the time…
The Princess of Wales will be on Centre
Court to hand over the trophies at Wimbledon as this year’s
competition comes to a close. The last few years have seen the
Princess become a regular at the presentations but a whole host of
royals have done the honours over…
Sixteenth century kings, even those that
had worked their way through a quintet of queens, had a somewhat
preconceived idea of what a consort should bring to their royal
marriage. Henry VIII might well have been in love with the idea of
love but he also had a concept of court politics that his wives had
to match. However, his final wedding would prove to be the most
unusual of all his marriages…