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…
