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 at home and in the
British Empire. Both of these Queens continue to be recognised as
two of the greatest monarchs that we…
The Welsh Guards have been around for
exactly 100 years this year. They were founded by King George V on
26 February 1915 by Royal Warrant to include Wales in the national
component to the Foot Guards. They were the last Guards to be
created, and they began their first…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Hampton Court is alive with the sound of
music! How many readers sang that in their head as they read that
sentence? The celebration continues marking Hampton Court’s 500th
birthday as Historic Royal Palaces has teamed up with English
Touring Opera to mark 500 years…
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
their character and legacies. In the case of King George III, he is
known for losing the American colonies and for going…
