Perched atop Castle Rock, the ancient volcanic plug that towers above the city of Edinburgh, sits the most besieged place in Britain.
Edinburgh Castle has served as a military fortress, royal residence, and prison of war, but today it stakes its claim as the most-visited paid tourist attraction in Scotland. The castle is on the must-see list for every tour group that travels through the…
They have been home to generations of royals who have carved their names in the history books and in 2019, their power to fascinate continues. A new survey has taken a look at the most popular regal residences in Europe and those belonging to the British royals take four of…
In the Western manuscripts collection held at the British Library are what are known as the Boyd Carpenter papers, Vol. V, Add MS 46721: 1884-1917. This remarkable collection of documents contain letters written in English from or on behalf of various crowned heads of Europe…
In the British Library five letters from Princess Alix of Hesse, later Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia (1872-1918) are preserved. Initially, I thought there were seven letters of hers at the British Library, but further research has enabled me to establish that these are instead, two postcards in Russian, to her only son, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich (1904-1918). These letters are…
Most royalty have some kind of monogram. Most royals also have a personal and a family coat of arms. The monograms are for more personal use than the coat of arms, and therefore, we do not see them so often. In Norway, the case is that the King’s monogram is used by…
The wedding cakes in Queen Victoria’s family were magnificent examples of edible ceremony. Once they reached the age of photography, they were faithfully recorded for posterity. These images still have the power to enchant today, even in long ago albums. Just looking at…
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor will be christened today and while there’s been plenty of chat about the decision not to release the names of his godparents, there are some rather more interesting aspects of royal baptisms to enjoy. From gowns that helped industry to the water that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will use to welcome him formally to the Church of England, this…
Picked as a royal bride by Queen Victoria herself, Princess Mary of Teck would find her way to the altar in the most unusual circumstances. For Mary ended up saying ‘I do’ to the second king in waiting selected as a husband for her. But her marriage proved to be…
A charming photograph taken by Mary Steen in the Queen’s Sitting Room at Windsor on 21 May 1895 shows an elderly Queen Victoria knitting or crocheting, sat with her youngest daughter, Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg, who dutifully reads the newspaper aloud to her…
Five decades earlier, the groom’s grandparents had seen their dreams of marrying in the Eternal City dashed. But as Prince Amadeo of Belgium and Elisabetta Rosboch wed on July 5th 2014, there were no such problems. The eldest grandchild of King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium enjoyed the fairytale wedding in Rome that they had always dreamed about.
Embed from Getty Images
Just like his…
