King Henry VIII certainly took enough
mistresses in his day, but only one of the resulting children was
acknowledged: his beloved son, Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and
Somerset. He was born in June 1519, the son of Elizabeth “Bessie”
Blount and Henry VIII. Bessie Blount was a 17-year-old lady in
waiting to Catherine of Aragon, and she caught the eye of the king
whilst his wife was…
This summer, Royal Central is taking a
look at who is who in the lines of succession around the world.
Today we are looking at the line of succession to the Norwegian
throne. Compared to many monarchies, the Norwegian order of
succession is relatively short and counts only…
Hair works like a symbolic thread
throughout a person’s life history. For Queen Victoria, this was no
exception. Indeed, for a royal personage, hair plays a massive part
in ceremonial display and formal dressing as well as private
ritual. The role of royal hairdresser is…
Throughout history, many royals have died
in brutal and bizarre ways. Royals have been killed in attacks, by
illnesses and by accidents. In 1889, a tragic incident happened
that ended up with not one, but two dead royals. Still to this day,
the event has not been clarified, and there are still questions
about what really happened. Apparently, Crown Prince Rudolf of
Austria killed his lover…
Today we’re looking at the Luxembourgish
line of succession, which has seen some changes to its rules since
current Grand Duke Henri ascended to the throne. Luxembourg now
practices absolute primogeniture, which Grand Duke Henri
established in 2011 to apply to his heirs.
Heirs of Kaiser Wilhelm II launch bid to reclaim art and palace from German state
16th July 2019
Descendants of the last German Emperor
are locked in a legal battle with the German state to reclaim
thousands of valuable artworks and historical artefacts. They also
reportedly want to the right to live in one of their former
palaces. The claims are thought to be led by…
For Queen Victoria, the number fourteen
held a terrible power. This date, the ‘14th’, could seem to haunt
the Queen like the shadow of death. Much as she later tried to
reclaim it as a sacred date, she beheld it with an almost mystical
sense of dark fascination and dread. Her feelings for this day of
the month were well founded and can be traced back to the date of
the death of her beloved…
We’ve just had another royal silver
wedding anniversary although the couple involved is so discreet,
it’s perhaps not a surprise that it’s passed pretty much under the
radar. Lady Sarah Chatto, niece of the Queen, celebrated twenty
five years of marriage…
In Berlin, there is a missing queen. Her
burial place in the historic Hohenzollerngruft [Hohenzollern vault]
in Berlin Cathedral is disputed and may be lost. Elisabeth
Christine, Frederick II’s (‘the Great’) unloved queen was a victim
of historical banishment, in…
Today we’re looking at the history of the
Palace of Zarzuela, which is the home of King Felipe, his wife,
Queen Letizia, and their two daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta
Sofía; as well as King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía. Construction
began on Zarzuela Palace back in the 1600s, though the then-King
Felipe IV meant for it to function as a hunting lodge or country
palace instead of an…
