In 1938, 80 summers ago, twelve-year-old Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II) and her younger sister, Margaret, looked forward excitedly to their annual holiday in Scotland during August and September. Only the recent death of their beloved maternal grandmother, the Countess of Strathmore, would mar their visit to Glamis Castle, still occupied for part of the year by their grandfather, the…
Royal menageries became homes for the many animals that were given in previous centuries as political presents from their respective countries and thereby entered a life of exalted captivity, the nature of any zoo now being a controversial one.
The oldest baroque zoo was…
It was a quiet country house, described by several who knew it as ‘’little’’ and a ‘’pied a terre’, given as a wedding present to a royal couple who were expected to linger on the fringes of regal life. Yet on July 2nd 1903, it became the birthplace of one of…
The official announcement that King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands will make a state visit to the UK this autumn is confirmation of a long-awaited and hotly anticipated trip. The visit will run between October 23rd and 24th and will see the Dutch royals hosted at Buckingham Palace. Ahead of the visit, Royal Central looks back at past trips between the two nations.
One of the…
The life of Diana, Princess of Wales was never far removed from royalty even before she married into the House of Windsor. A member of the influential Spencer family, she counted King Edward III, King Henry VII and King Charles II among her ancestors while she’d been named…
The imperial palace of Schönbrunn in the western suburb of Hietzing on the outskirts of Vienna, was the summer residence of the former Habsburg dynasty. It stuns with its magnificence, but then this, of course, was part of its purpose and is the power of its architecture.
History’s royal Kates have taken part in some of the best-known stories in Britain’s regal history but while royal Katherines can be found in England as far back as the 13th century, it’s a name that has gone in and out of favour as a regal choice. A handful of kings and queens have used it for daughters and, sadly, some of them their princesses’ lives end far too early. …
Born a princess, daughter of a feted king and a much-admired queen, this royal Kate seemed destined for a crown of her own. But when civil war once more erupted in England, she found herself on the wrong side of royal favour and ended up a countess instead. This is the…
One of the earliest names that occurs in the life of the future Queen Victoria is that of ‘Siebold’; although the name vanishes almost on the first mention. But no single name should be rendered insignificant just because it only occurs once.
This is undoubtedly the case…
The Duke of York, Princess Anne and the Earl and Countess of Wessex will be moving out of Buckingham Palace shortly.
The East Wing, which houses the apartments of Prince Andrew and Prince Edward and his wife, will be undergoing renovations under the Buckingham Place repairs.
The three, as well as Princess Anne, also have private offices in the wing that is most visible to the public when watching…
