FeaturesHistory

20 June 1837: Waking up Queen Victoria

By
27th June 2018
On 20 June 1837, Princess Victoria of Kent was awoken in her bedroom at Kensington Palace, writing later in her journal entry for that day, in which significantly the proud new word ‘alone’ features intermittently (also underlined), we read: “I was awoke at 6 o’clock by Mamma, who told me the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were here and wished to see me. I got out of…
Read more
FeaturesHistoryPrince & Princess of Wales

A look back at the christening of Prince William

By
21st June 2018
It was 4 August 1982. The IRA had recently set off bombs in Regent’s Park and Hyde Park, and just a few weeks before that, the infamous Michael Fagan incident occurred, when a man managed to break into Buckingham Palace and entered The Queen’s bedroom. But a happier royal event that summer was the christening of Prince William. Like his father, Prince Charles, Prince William was…
Read more
FeaturesHistory

History's Royal Kates: Katherine of Valois

By
17th June 2018
For a woman who founded one of the most famous royal dynasties in British history, she is surpisingly enigmatic. Katherine of Valois was the first Kate to be Queen of England and yet much of the modern imagining of her comes from her fleeting appearance in the works of…
FeaturesHistory

The Honiton Christening Robe's Place in Royal History

By
16th June 2018
At some point this summer, it’s likely we’ll get another close up look of the best known replica christening gown around. For when Prince Louis of Cambridge is baptized, probably before the Royal Family’s summer break, he will wear the intricate copy of the famous Victorian outfit that featured in so many royal christenings. That original is too fragile to be used anymore but the pretty gown…
Read more
FeaturesHistory

A Portrait of Princess Alix of Hesse

By
14th June 2018
A portrait of the toddler Princess Alix of Hesse by the Austrian painter George Koberwein caught my attention back in 2004. Examining how it came to be painted was a source of great interest to me, not least because the picture that he produced of the baby princess, not…
FeaturesHistory

Banbury Cross and a Royal Wedding

By
11th June 2018
Banbury Cross is of course, synonymous with local Oxfordshire folklore for many, because of the popular rhyme which has a ‘fine lady’ riding to it on her cockhorse. Indeed, this is the main reason why many people know of the existence of the Cross at all. Far less known is the fact that the Cross commemorates a royal marriage, a topical thought in the light of the recent royal wedding at…
Read more