In a recent life of Queen Victoria, (A. N. Wilson, Victoria: A Life, 2014) I stumbled across an illustration of one of the famous group photographs taken behind the Palais Edinburg in Coburg, showing Queen Victoria surrounded by a whole host of contemporary royalty – mostly members of her own family through blood or marriage, including five of her children and numerous grandchildren –…
Aged sixteen, Princess Victoria made a pencil sketch of herself. Knowing the vividness of the watercolours that she made for her sketchbook and the skilled drawings she made during this time of other important figures in her youth, it is fascinating that she chose to apply…
Whilst researching for a forthcoming academic article on Louisa Louis, the devoted dresser to Princess Charlotte of Wales (1771-1838) who was deeply valued by Queen Victoria, I encountered the name of Mrs Brock. She belongs to that fascinating roll-call of characters that…
If you think royal baby mania is a new thing, think again. For centuries, the arrival of a regal bundle of joy has got plenty of people talking. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert kept the papers and the people happy for the best part of two decades as they went about building a family of nine princes and princesses. And one month saw them welcome more bundles of joy than any other – April.
The…
Two hundred years after her birth, Queen Victoria is taking over Buckingham Palace again. As part of the celebrations for the bicentenary of the birth of Britain’s second longest reigning monarch, the most famous royal residence of them all will host a special exhibition…
Some photos tell their own story and take their own place in history as a result. While we are inundated with images of royalty, some pictures stand out as a snapshot of a moment that has its own resonance. In this occasional series, Royal Central looks at some of the best…
The hit television show Victoria is back with a third series, with the first episode airing on Sunday, 24 March at 9pm on ITV. Jenna Coleman returns as a young Queen Victoria with Tom Hughes returning as Prince Albert, her husband. While the first two seasons have focused on the start of Victoria’s reign and the beginning of Victoria and Albert’s relationship, this series delves into…
The creator of hit historical royal drama, Victoria, Daisy Goodwin, has spoken out about the unfair double standards female monarchs are judged by in comparison with their male counterparts.
Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert had nine children. While their…
With the forthcoming exhibition of the Royal Collection George IV: Art & Spectacle set to open later this year, I want to take a brief look at the relationship between the future Queen Victoria and her paternal uncle, the Prince Regent, later George IV.
The Duke of Kent…
Queen Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent, died on 16 March 1861 at her residence of Frogmore House, in Windsor Great Park. Frogmore had been occupied by the Duchess since May 1841 when Queen Victoria asked her mother whether or not she would like to use Frogmore House and its grounds as a country retreat on the death of George III’s daughter, Princess Augusta. The Duchess accepted Clarence…
