Features

This poignant exhibition on Marie Antoinette is eye opening I'd put it on any royal history to do list for 2026

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1st January 2026
Marie Antoinette remains one of most popular, enigmatic and tragic queens in history and is currently in focus at the Victoria Albert Museum. Marie Antoinette Style is the first British exhibition on her and explores the life and legacy of the French queen. While many people focus on her imprisonment and death, Marie Antoinette Style tracks her throughout her life showing both the good and bad…
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History

Final countdown to re-opening of Notre-Dame

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14th November 2024
After a tragic fire in April 2019, Notre-Dame de Paris will finally be reopening to visitors. The Paris cathedral will be officially reopening to the public on 8 December 2024 after five years of intensive restoration work following a fire on 15 April 2019. There…
History

The Austrian Archduchess whose immunity led to her becoming a queen

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2nd November 2024
Marie Antoinette is one of the most talked about figures in history, known for centuries as the poster child for the excesses of the French court. But a disfiguring disease played a part in her marrying the heir to the French throne.  Archduchess Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna was born on 2 November 1755 to the Empress Maria Theresa and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. She was the youngest…
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Features

Marie Antoinette, last Queen of France?

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27th September 2023
Marie Antoinette’s whole life was lived in the spotlight and her story continues to fascinate. While other women later took on the role of Empress of the French, Marie Antoinette has a special place in the country’s royal history. Here, Royal Central looks at the…
FeaturesHistoryHistoryInterests

Diane de Poitiers - the older mistress as an unofficial adviser

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10th August 2021
There have been countless French royal mistresses throughout the centuries, but some are better known than others. Diane de Poitiers was brought back into the spotlight in teen drama Reign in 2013 but has largely been forgotten in favour of later mistresses. This sixteenth-century noblewoman was not only a loyal companion to the king but established in her own right.  Diane was born on 9…
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HistoryHistory

On This Day in 1643: Louis XIV takes over the throne in France

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14th May 2020
On this day, the 14 May 1643, Louis XIV took over the throne in France following the death of his father King Louis XIII. Louis XIV is often called the ‘King of the Sun’, and was born in 1638 as the eldest son of King Louis XIII and Anna of Austria. For as long as his father was incapable of ruling, the real power lay with Cardinal Mazarin. When the Cardinal died in 1661, Louis XIV…
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