History

The Royal W: Who is Black Rod?

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22nd October 2014
<![CDATA[The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod is a Royal Household member. He is appointed by the Crown by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Order of the Garter. Black Rod, as he is known, is the Chief Gentleman Usher to the Sovereign and an officer of the Order of the Garter. The primary duties take place at the Palace of Westminster where he is Serjeant at Arms in attendance upon…
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FeaturesHistory

The Duchess of Marlborough and the Aylesford Affair

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20th October 2014
<![CDATA[The 11th Duke of Marlborough, who recently died on October 16th, left a widow, Lily. Now the Dowager Duchess, over thirty years the Duke’s junior, she married him in 2008 and became his fourth wife and second duchess. It was she who was instrumental in reconciling the Duke with his son, Jamie, now the 12th Duke – for historically it seems that relationships have rarely run…
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History

Official Royal Posts: The Royal Watermen

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20th October 2014
<![CDATA[Prior to the advent of trains, planes and automobiles, The Sovereigns mode of transportation was on the River Thames. Whether a State occasion or travel between the Tower of London, Windsor, Hampton Court, Westminster or Greenwich, the Thames was the means for…
History

Official Royal Posts: Lord Steward

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19th October 2014
<![CDATA[Since medieval times, the Lord Steward has been one of the three “Great Officers of the Household.” Until 1782, the office was one of great political significance and held Cabinet rank. After 1924, the office would change over as the government changed. The…
Queen Elizabeth IIState & Ceremonial

Honoured and Decorated: The Experience of an Investiture

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17th October 2014
<![CDATA[A bright blue sky, the sun twinkling through the slight scattering of hazy clouds and a crisp Autumn breeze rustling the trees. These were the things that greeted me as I stepped off the train at Windsor and Eton Riverside station this morning. This was only the second or third time that I've ever visited Windsor and covering an Investiture was certainly something that I never…
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History

Richard III's reinterment route is announced

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14th October 2014
<![CDATA[The route which Richard III’s remains will follow before being reinterred in Leicester Cathedral has now been revealed to the public. On Sunday 22nd March 2015, the last Plantagenet King will make his final journey before being laid to rest in the cathedral…
History

Queen Victoria's bloomers sell for £6200

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14th October 2014
<![CDATA[Queen Victoria's 52 inch bloomers have sold at auction for the price of £6,200. The knee-length bloomers were one of a number of items to be sold at auction this week. The overseas buyer of Britain’s longest reigning monarch’s bloomers wishes…
FeaturesHistory

The women behind the Crown: Influential Queen Mothers - Cecily Neville

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8th October 2014
<![CDATA[Our journey of influential queen mothers continues with Cecily Neville, the mother of two King’s of England. Cecily was born in 1415 with royal lineage that linked her to John of Gaunt, King Henry IV and Edward III of England. By the age of nine she was betrothed to Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, whom she married five years later. Cecily’s journey to motherhood began in…
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