In the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection at Kensington Palace is preserved one of the most important wedding dresses in British history. Worn by Princess Charlotte (1796-1817) for her wedding on 2 May 1816 in the magnificent Crimson Drawing Room at Carlton House to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. It was a wedding dress to celebrate not only the personal happiness of the popular Princess…
The highly-anticipated new series of Netflix’s hit programme The Crown finally has a release date, with an all-new cast appearing on screens November 17, including Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret. And it turns out, the actress has had an interesting run-in…
On 6 July 1893, another royal wedding was celebrated at the Chapel Royal, St. James’s Palace, between Prince George of Wales – created Duke of York in 1892 – and Princess Mary of Teck, the future George V and Queen Mary. Princess Mary of Teck had been betrothed in…
Ahead of Princess Alexandra’s upcoming visit to Kew Gardens, we’re taking a look back at its history and the story of Princess Augusta’s involvement in the 18th century.
Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg married George II’s son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, in 1736. She was just 17-years-old and spoke almost no English, but this Princess of Wales was to make a…
As Prince Albert reprimanded his second daughter, Princess Alice, for telling her eldest sister the Crown Princess, that their father’s illness had worsened, he said sadly (but correctly): ‘You did wrong. You should have told her I am dying’. The Prince’s fatalism…
Henry I of England was the son of William the Conqueror and reigned from 1100 to 1135. Henry had two legitimate children with his first wife Matilda of Scotland: Matilda and William. Sadly Henry’s heir William died at sea leaving Matilda as Henry’s chosen heir. This…
Illegitimate children are not uncommon in royal families, especially in past centuries. Marriages were used for dynastic and political reasons and not for love. However, the children of George III were rather well-known for their illegitimate children. William IV and Mrs Jordan’s family of illegitimate children was one of the largest families of George II’s children.
Dorothea Jordan (also…
In August 1856, Christiania received an exceptionally grand visit. Seven royals from three royal houses, one Imperial house and a princely house were gathered in Norway’s capital that summer. One of them was Napoleon, although it wasn’t the Napoleon most of us…
By October 1764 the Mozarts had once more been at court, having been received at the Queen’s House in May as Leopold Mozart wrote ‘within 5 days of arriving’. The young Wolfgang played before George III and even accompanied Queen Charlotte, who sang an aria.
In…
The Illegitimate Royals: Eleanor Butler, the woman who almost brought down the Tudors
22nd July 2019
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 the…
