“Oh! This was the happiest day of my
life!” With these words, Queen Victoria described her wedding day
in her diary – 10 February 1840, writing up the event for the day’s
entry from Windsor Castle. It marked the beginning of her marriage
to her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The opposite
date of this ecstatic exhortation of joy on behalf of the Queen was
unquestionably 14…
One of English history’s ‘forgotten’
queens, is actually one who was arguablyamong the most loved. This
was Mary II, the joint monarch – not queen consort of William III.
Forgiven by posterity for deposing her father, contemporary history
seems to have accepted…
“Dear old Sandringham, the place I love
better than anywhere else in the world…” were the words which King
George V used to describe the Norfolk retreat, beloved by four
generations of the British Royal Family since 1862; it was a
sentimentechoed by…
The foundation stone for No. 1 Royal
Crescent – the first of what would become the glorious Bath stone
symmetrical terrace of 30 houses in the city of Bath – was laid on
19 May 1767. The year 2017 will mark exactly 250 years since this
iconic symbol of Georgian architecture – largely unchanged – was
built to the designs of John Wood the Younger between…
The royal bedwas a symbol of power as
well as being a powerful symbol.Almost likea throne, it ultimately
stood forstatus and royal authority, providingthe background for
such ceremonies as the monarch’s ‘lever’ and…
The Grade II* listed mansion of Bentley
Priory in Stanmore, in the London Borough of Harrow, is best known
for the vital role it played during the Battle of Britain when the
building formed the setting for Headquarters Fighter Command. The
Priory remained an RAF base until…
At night, a historical attraction somehow
acquires an entirely different authenticambience, with the sense of
its past rendered more palpable by the feeling of exclusivity –
there is a sense of being a private guest at a bygone court.
Entering any residence at night emphasises this idea, something
which the sequence of a royal apartment’s series of…
When she was aged six, the young Princess
Elizabeth received a special present from the people of Wales. It
was a cottage of her very own. She came into possession of this
unique gift when her parents, the Duke and Duchess of York took
over the use of Royal Lodge in Windsor…
On 29 May 1926, the christening of the
future Queen Elizabeth II, took place. The baptismal service was
performed at the private chapel at Buckingham Palace and the
occasion of HM The Queen’s 91st birthday provides a pleasant
opportunity to revisit this important event.
For many, Frogmore’s associations are
chiefly with those of royal burial. The estate, located between
Windsor Great Park and Home Park, is indeed the setting for two
important royal mausoleums – the Royal Mausoleum of Queen Victoria
and Albert, the Prince Consort, together with that of the Queen’s
mother, Victoria Duchess of Kent – with the royal burial ground in
front of the Royal…
