In the Royal Photograph Collection at
Windsor is an album which offers a uniquely personal insight into
Queen Victoria’s view of what she wanted to treasure in family
terms and what deserved special mention in a documentary way. This
is the splendid burgundy leather-bound album by Giroux, known as
the ‘Album of Important Occasions. 1837-1885’,may have been
produced later than when the…
Across the Quadrangle at Windsor Castle
is a room, clearly visible, jutting out in a pentagon shape amongst
the jigsaw of the Clarence, Queen’s, Augusta, York, and Lancaster
Towers and King George IV Gate. Part of the private apartments, it
was merely called what it…
With 2019 marking the 200th anniversary
of the birth of Queen Victoria, possibly the most symbolic objects
to commemorate this historic date, are the baby shoes thought to
have been owned by the Queen, which are preserved in the Royal
Collection and kept at the Museum of…
A velvet gown belonging to the
Danish-born wife of King Edward VII that has been part of a private
collection for more than 60 years has been donated to the Fashion
Museum Bath after having spent decades lingering in an attic.
Richly embellished with beads and sequins, the down was designed by
London dressmaker Barolet – as evidenced by the designer’s
signature black and gold tag sewn into the…
The Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace has
provided the setting for many historical events, most particularly
royal weddings and christenings, most recently that of HRH Prince
George of Cambridge in 2013; it is only ever open to the public for
religious services. To enter…
In Prince & Patron, the Summer Opening
Exhibition at Buckingham Palace, a bust of Prince Albert is
displayed, labelled simply as ‘William Theed (1804-91) Prince
Albert, 1862; marble.’ But it is no ordinary bust, nor is it just
one among other memorial busts…
An exquisite oil on panel painting by
Franz Xavier Winterhalter, that fashionable artist of European
court portraiture, is currently on display in Prince & Patron, the
Summer Opening Exhibition of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace,
showcasing some of the personal favourites of HRH The Prince of
Wales chosen from the Royal Collection and that of his private
collection, as well as by artists…
Philippe d’Auvergne’s life was that of a
great adventurer. In his life, he rose through the ranks of the
Royal Navy, saw service in the American Revolution, earned the
confidence of an ageing duke, led the defence of his homeland
against the barbarity of the…
It may have taken three years of hard
graft, but finally, George IV’s 1823 room has been reformed to
its former shining glory. The room was initially created at the
Royal Pavilion in Brighton when George IV was
crowned King, following his years as the Prince of…
‘Where is Pollie?’ (Lotte Hofmann-Kuhnt,
Briefe der Zarin Alexandra von Russland an ihre Jugendfreundin Toni
Becker-Bracht, 2009). Princess Alix of Hesse paused to add these
words, almost as an afterthought, to a letter to her close friend,
Toni Becker-Bracht, from Balmoral, on 27 September 1892. With these
words, Princess Alix most probably refers to her friend, Marion
Louisa…
