They’ve claimed crowns, founded dynasties
and shaped royal history but much of it has been done against the
odds. For those born outside of royal marriage were often seen as
also rans until they stormed the castles their parents called home.
For centuries, royal families have relied on legitimate heirs. In
centuries past, when being born outside of wedlock was frowned on
and led to shaming…
As summer approaches, Queen Victoria is
the royal everyone is talking about. Even the descendant who
supplanted her as longest reigning monarch in British history has
been following in her famous footsteps in the past few days as the
woman who changed our concept of royalty…
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.
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 seven people, all of
whom are descendants of the present monarch, His Majesty King
Harald V. The succession is currently…
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…
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. Before then, women were
excluded from the line of succession, which we’ll see impacts the
line with the addition of two…
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…
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 with husband, Daniel, on July 14th 2019. And
that gives us a great excuse to take another look at her wedding
dress. For this…
