History

Queen Victoria's memorials to her dogs

By
17th June 2019
Queen Victoria’s love for her dogs was lavishly recorded in paint and sculpture and not least, in her sketches and words. Lord Melbourne, the Queen’s Prime Minister, once commented dryly: ‘You’ll be smothered with dogs‘. The Queen’s characteristic need to memorialise her friends and servants could also be why she wanted to create memorials to her dogs, for all these…
Read more
History

'For my darling Nicky': A gift for the Tsarevich

By
12th June 2019
On 29 May 1894, Tsarevich Nicholas of Russia wrote to his mother, Empress Marie Feodorovna, that he could see the sea from the room in which he was writing, in the imperial palace of Peterhof and that he had ‘such a longing for the yacht and want to fly there to join my betrothed’(Edward J. Bing, Letters of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Marie, 81). He planned to leave for England on 31st…
Read more
JordanRoyal Weddings

Royal Weddings: King Abdullah II and Queen Rania

By
10th June 2019
On10 June 1993, then-Prince Abdullah marriedRania al Yassin in a traditional Muslim ceremony in Amman. The 31-year-old Prince and his 22-year-old fiancé had only been dating for a few months, after meeting at a dinner party in August of 1992, when they became engaged in January 1993. Abdullah would tell People Magazine a few years later that “It was love at first sight.” What…
Read more
State & Ceremonial

Alfie Boe, Griff Rhys Jones & Olivia Colman among those named in The Queen's Birthday Honours

By
7th June 2019
Alfie Boe, Griff Rhys Jones and Bear Grylls are among the names who are being recognised in The Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2019. In a honours list which is dominated by ordinary people doing extraordinary things in their communities, there are relatively few famous faces receiving awards this year. Alfie Boe is one such name who receives an OBE for services to music and charity. Mr Boe…
Read more