History

Richard III attractions that should definitely be on your bucket list

It may have been the site where King Richard III lost his life, but Bosworth Battlefield has been labelled as one of the world’s top 25 places to see before you die. It makes the bucket list of the best sights in the 21st century put together by the internationally renowned Smithsonian Institution and is not alone in the Richard III themed category, it sits alongside the Bosworth Battlefield…
Read more
History

Monarchy Rules: a look at Queen Anne

Born on 6th February 1665, Anne is a Queen whose reign is often overshadowed by her female forbear Elizabeth I and one of her many successors, Queen Victoria. Both Elizabeth and Victoria reigned for longer than Anne and, during both their tenures, saw dramatic changes occur…
History

Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Medieval Matriarch

Though the sex to which I belong is considered weak, you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind.” – Queen Elizabeth I. As the wife of King Henry II of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine subsequently became Queen of England in 1152. The couple would go…
FeaturesHistory

Mysterious Mary, the queen's daughter

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…
Read more
FeaturesHistory

Royal Connections: City of Portsmouth

Portsmouth comes from the Old English Portesm?ða, which translates to: “mouth of the harbour called Portus.” It was a city founded in the year 1180 by John of Gisors, a Norman lord. Before that, it was known to have been a Saxon fort called Portus Adurni in the…
FeaturesHistory

The October Queens

Maria of Modena was born in October 1658 and is the last queen consort, so far, to have celebrated a birthday in that month When being a queen meant that you had married a king, rather than being a ruler yourself, life stories were told very differently. The queens of…
FeaturesHistory

Monarchy Rules: A look at George II

Most kings are born into regal families and grow up with the knowledge that someday they will rule over a country. However, when he was born in 1683, the future King George II was nothing more than the heir to the heir to a small German Duchy – a far cry from the throne of England that he would someday sit upon. A portrait of King George II, when Prince of Wales, by Sir Godfrey…
Read more
FeaturesHistory

The October Kings

October is truly the king of all the autumn months as the leaves turn to gold and regal red and the fading sun adds a gentle sparkle to all it touches. And it’s marked the beginning of five royal roads that ended with a crown – although all five monarchs had very…
FeaturesHistory

Monarchy Rules: a look at King George III

Through the passage of time, every important historical figure is identified by the mundane or significant events of their lives. Unfortunately, some of these facts may unfairly portray them in an unkind light and obscure other interesting and overlooked details that shaped…
History

Queen Victoria’s grandaughter’s heart to be laid to rest after seven decades

Marie of Romania in 1936, by Philip de László Queen Marie of Romania’s heart has been in the Natural Museum of Romanian History since 1971 in a silver box. Now, it’s finally going home to Pelisor Castle which she loved and where she lived and died on 18 July 1938 at 5.38 PM, 8 minutes after lapsing into a coma. The silver casket will be placed on a plinth behind the couch on which…
Read more