State & Ceremonial

All The Queen’s men: The Welsh Guards

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6th October 2015
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 King’s Guard at Buckingham Palace just one week later on 1 March 1915. Their motto is ‘”Cymru am Byth” or…
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History

Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Medieval Matriarch

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6th October 2015
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

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6th October 2015
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…
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Royal Connections: City of Portsmouth

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3rd October 2015
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 Roman era and later, in Anglo-Saxon England, it became Portchester Castle. During the Norman Conquest of 1066, it is believed…
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FeaturesHistory

The October Queens

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2nd October 2015
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…
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Monarchy Rules: A look at George II

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1st October 2015
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…
FeaturesHistory

The October Kings

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1st October 2015
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 different royal careers. Here are the men who became the October kings.King Richard III was born in October 1453…
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FeaturesHistory

Monarchy Rules: a look at King George III

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29th September 2015
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

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29th September 2015
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…
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