You may think that all the Kings and
Queens of Great Britain are buried somewhere in our sceptre isle,
even if in the case of some efforts are still going on to work out
exactly where. In fact, two of our Kings and one of their wives at
buried at the Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud, in Anjou,
France. They are Henry II, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and their
son Richard I. For this was in…
Conservators working on one of Prince
Charles’ pictures at Highgrove have come across a truly remarkable
self-portrait. One of the still-life pictures, which has been at
Highgrove for around a quarter of a century is called “A Vanitas”
by the seventeenth century Dutch…
The title Duke of Edinburgh is linked to
the capital of Scotland, and was first appointed in 1726, and but
it is not a Scottish peerage as such, but a Peerage of Great
Britain, and it is an appointment given to members of the British
Royal Family. The title does not carry…
Westminster Abbey has been entwined with
royalty since its foundation. All but two coronations have taken
place there, as have 16 royal weddings (beginning with that of King
Henry I of England to Matilda of Scotland, and most recently that
of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011). There is a long and
storied history of the monarchs who rest at Westminster Abbey,
stretching from the 1060s to…
Though many of the details of life are
unknown or disputed by historians, Adela of Normandy is a saint of
the Roman Catholic Church and was the daughter of William the
Conqueror, the first Norman King of England and his wife, Matilda
of Flanders. Adela was born in the years…
In this edition of “In the beginning”, we
focus on the Bernadotte dynasty which currently rules over
Sweden. The Bernadotte’s first began ruling over the Kingdom of
Sweden in 1818 with King Karl XIV Johan (also called King Charles
XIV John), who was also the King…
#OnThisDay in 1240 Margaret of England, daughter of Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence, was born
29th September 2016
Margaret Plantagenet was born on 29
September 1240 at Windsor Castle to King Henry III of England and
his wife, Eleanore of Provence. The second of five children, the
first few years of Margaret’s life were spent quietly in the care
of her affectionate and close family. Her first appearance in
historical record came when she was three years old and she took
part in a royal event in London with…
#OnThisDay in 1411 Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, father to Edward IV and Richard III, was born
21st September 2016
Richard Plantagenet was born on 21
September 1411 to Richard of Conisburgh, the third Earl of
Cambridge and his wife Anne Mortimer, who died giving birth to him.
Richard’s mother was the great-granddaughter of Lionel Antwerp, the
first Duke of Clarence, which gave Anne and…
The Cambridges in Canada: Following Princess Louise, Its First Royal Lady
20th September 2016
In September 2016 the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge will visit Canada for the second time since they married
in 2011, this time taking their children with them. It will be the
first official overseas visit for Princess Charlotte and the second
for Prince George. During his…
#OnThisDay in 1186 Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, son of Henry II, King of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine died
19th September 2016
Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, was the
third surviving son of King Henry II of England and his wife,
Eleanor of Aquitaine. He died on September 19, 1186, predeceasing
both his parents and two of his brothers. Geoffrey was born in
September 1158. At the time of his birth, King Henry and Queen
Eleanor were already parents to two sons, Henry and Richard, and a
daughter, Matilda. Geoffrey was named…
