HistoryHistory

May Jewels: Queen Mary's Deal with a Duchess

The Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara is one of the most impressive pieces in The Queen’s tiara collection. It is one of her favourite tiaras and is frequently worn for different events. It is notable, not only for its sheer size and brilliance but for the fact that it can be worn with either 15 pearls or 15 emeralds hanging from the diamond circles. But how did it end up in the British Royal…
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HistoryHistoryPalaces & BuildingsSweden

Royal History Mystery: Who set fire to Sweden's Royal Palace?

On May 7 1697, a fire broke out and destroyed much of the old royal palace in Stockholm. The castle Tre Kronor, or Three Crowns in English, is now only a footnote in history with the present royal palace of Stockholm built above the ruins of the old middle-aged castle that burned down over 320 years ago. But why exactly did the castle burn to ashes so mysteriously and suddenly? Tre Kronor…
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FeaturesHistoryRoyal Weddings

The Windsor Brides of Westminster Abbey

It’s been a seat of royal tradition for centuries, a place of coronations, kings and queens. But for much of its ancient history, Westminster Abbey was far from a go to place for royal weddings. From the end of the 14th century until the beginning of the 20th, no regal marriages took place there at all. But the House of Windsor changed all that. For the last century, it’s been a…
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FeaturesHistory

The Chapel Royal, St James's Palace

The Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace first and foremost is the name of the Chapel Royal, that establishment of the Royal Household intended to meet the spiritual needs of the Sovereign; the secondary term refers to the building itself – a royal peculiar – in which…
Royal Weddings

Royal Wedding Rewind: a romantic and reluctant queen

The year 1923 saw the marital calendar was packed with princely nuptials. The springtime wedding of Albert, Duke of York had brought huge crowds to London, and there was an impressive turnout in the city that autumn when Lady Louise Mountbatten wed Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and began a path that would lead to a crown. This second royal wedding of 1923 was a happy ending for a…
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