As the only son of the Russian Empress Catherine the Great, Tsar Paul I succeeded his mother on her death in 1796. He would rule the Russian Empire for the next five years. Probably, he would had ruled the Russian Empire much longer than that. But Paul was murdered. And his death was planned by his own son – a fact first discovered by accident 50 years later.
Tsar Paul was a pure despot.
Royal History Mystery: George III's Secret Marriage?
30th April 2020
George III is rather well-known as a British monarch – The King who lost America, the father of a very large family, the one who went mad. When people think of him, it either tends to be as the devoted family man he was in his early life or his quiet madness in later…
The Windsor Brides of Westminster Abbey
29th April 2020
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…
The Chapel Royal, St James's Palace
29th April 2020
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 the monarch actually worshipped. The Chapel Royal is probably best remembered for the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince…
On This Day in 1940: King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav were almost killed in a bomb attack
28th April 2020
It has been 80 years since the German invasion of Norway. Hitler was looking for the Norwegian Royal Family, and for a while, he also tried to get the 3-year-old Prince Harald to rule the nation as a child king. The royal family managed to escape and lived in exile in the…
Royal Wedding Rewind: a romantic and reluctant queen
28th April 2020
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…
It has been 80 years since the German invasion of Norway. Hitler was looking for the Norwegian royal family, and for a while, he also tried to get the 3-year-old Prince Harald to rule the nation as a child king. The royal family managed to escape and lived in exile in the UK and the US for the next five years. The Royal Palace in Oslo was abandoned quickly; there was no time to take all the…
Edward II and the kiss that crushed his queen
25th April 2020
In February 1308, England welcomed its new queen to her realm for the first time. Isabella, consort to King Edward II, arrived with her husband at Dover after an elaborate wedding in her home country. Isabella expected adulation and respect. Instead, she watched as Edward…
#OTD 1611: Sweden’s 16-year-old Crown Prince went to war
24th April 2020
Gustavus Adolphus or better known as King Gustav II of Sweden was born in 1594. At the age of only 16, Gustav was a war-torn young Crown Prince who was eager to take over the Swedish throne. When Denmark-Norway stirred up a new war in 1610, it was only a question of when the…
The Royal Palace in Oslo is today a striking monument in the city centre of Oslo. When the castle was built, it was located outside the very centre of Oslo. The property that is today the residence of Norway’s monarch was for only 300 years ago nothing more than part of a forest.
Let us take
a look at the historical development of this property – from forest to castle.
The most…