Queen Victoria kept her journals from the
year 1832 up until around two weeks before her death in 1901. Her
voluminous correspondence is well known; indeed, it was averaged by
the author Giles St Aubyn that the Queen wrote up to some 2,500
words per day (Christopher Hibbert, Queen Victoria: A Personal
History, XV). Three volumes of her letters were edited by Arthur C.
Benson and Viscount Esher…
‘Islay [a pet dog] is still plagued by
him [Lord Melbourne] every evening—a thing which he much enjoys—and
constantly begs for the spectacles. I forgot to tell you that Karl
has given me a pretty little Rowley, who likewise lives in the
house. The multitude of dogs is…
Caught forever in a moment of time, they
are the tragic family whose terrible end in World War One still
appals and fascinates today. The children of the last Tsar of
Russia died alongside their parents in Yekaterinburg one hundred
years ago this summer. And yet Olga…
Royal weddings bring all kinds of
expectations and among them is one filled with sparkle and glitter.
For we all assume a royal bride will arrive for her marriage
wearing a tiara and when the wedding will result in them becoming a
consort or consort in waiting, the expectation is even higher.
However, some of the most high profile royal brides of recent times
have decided to ditch the diadem…
“For centuries the Tsars of Russia have
been waging wars simply for the lust of territory and for the glory
of Autocracy. The rulers of Russia have sown the wind and they are
now beginning to reap the whirlwind.” -Carl Joubert The story of
Russia’s last Tsar and his…
The personal jewellery of the last Tsarina, Alexandra Feodorovna
14th August 2018
The personal jewellery of the last
Tsarina of Russia, Alexandra Feodorovna (1872-1918) provides a
living, tangible timeline of her private life, quite apart from the
glittering jewels which she would have worn as a Romanov bride.
Inevitably though, the public life and the…
‘Never, never can I forget this brilliant
year… so full of marvellous kindness, loyalty & devotion of so many
millions which I really could hardly have expected’. (Quoted in
Christopher Hibbert, Queen Victoria, A Personal History, 379). With
these words, Queen Victoria made the final entry in her great
journal for the year 1887 – that of her Golden Jubilee. She had
written in her journal…
The visit of the future Tsar Nicholas II
to Queen Victoria in the summer of 1894 has a fabled quality; it
took place a mere two months after his engagement to Princess Alix
of Hesse in Coburg. This visit has a special poignancy when viewed
through later eyes; we know of…
Queen Victoria began her journal in 1832
at the age of thirteen and continued to keep it until old age, with
the last entry made just nine days before she died, constituting,
therefore, a remarkable royal record. She took her journal with her
wherever she went on her…
The Queen arrived at Balmoral Castle on
Monday to officially begin her summer holiday. Each year, Her
Majesty invites some specially chosen guests to spend a
few days with the monarch at her summer retreat. As the
92-year-old’s time at Balmoral is in a private capacity, no
official photos are released of her stay there, nor are details of
her guests made public. However, from previous years we…
