Palaces & Buildings

Hampton Court Palace gardener 'picks' Tower poppy

66 year-old John Mould from East Molesey has served as a gardener at the Royal Palace for nearly 50 years. The gardens and estates manager, Graham Dillamore, said about him: “We were asked if we had anyone suitable and we replied that we have just the right man. John was honoured to do it and our team felt very proud to be involved.” The dismantling process began last Wednesday, one day after…
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FeaturesHistory

History Rewind: Death of Queen Mary I

On the 17th November 1558 the first English Queen Regnant, Queen Mary I, died at St James’ Palace. At her funeral service, the Bishop of Winchester summed up her life quite aptly: “She was a King’s daughter, she was a King’s sister, she was a King’s wife. She was a Queen and by the same title a King also”. Some may argue that Mary’s legacy was only one of evil and violence…
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FeaturesHistoryInsight

The Royal W: Scarlet Rod

The Title ‘Scarlet Rod’ is from the characteristic insignia of the office which is a long silver gilt rod. The shaft is covered with scarlet enamel that signifies the mantles of the Knights and Dames Grand Cross of the Order. The holders of the office have been senior…
Palaces & Buildings

Tower of London sees final poppy 'planted'

completing the ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’, the ceramic art installation conceived by Paul Cummins. Cummins, a graduate and now PhD student at the University of Derby, handed the final poppy to 13-year-old Army cadet Harry Hayes who planted it in the Tower moat just before 11am. The installation now consists of 888,246 ceramic poppies, one for each British and Colonial fatality during…
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History

Notable Name - Henry 'Hotspur' Percy

Perhaps the best remembered Percy is Henry 'Hotspur', who first served and then rebelled against King Henry IV, before being slain in battle. Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy (henceforth referred to just as Hotspur to avoid confusion with any other Henry Percy) was born…
State & Ceremonial

Royal Remembrance Events in Pictures

The Queen and the King of the Belgians open the new Flanders memorial at Wellington Barracks on Thursday. The Duke of Edinburgh, The Queen, King of the Belgians and Duke of Cambridge on the dais.© Crown Copyright 2014, Sergeant Rupert Frere The Queen lays a wreath at the…
Queen Elizabeth IIState & Ceremonial

Remembrance Sunday: The Queen leads National Service of Remembrance

Held every year since 1919, on the Sunday closest to Armistice Day (11th November), the ceremony commemorates the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. The ceremony took place at the Cenotaph and the Women’s Memorial on Whitehall in London with broadcast coverage beginning on BBC One from…
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