Queen Victoria acquired many pieces of
jewellery throughout her lifetime – both small, personal items and
grander, regal items associated with her role as Queen. One item,
about which there is an interesting background, is the miniature
crown that Victoria would wear and become associated with in her
later years. When Prince Albert died in 1861, Victoria began
wearing traditional black…
'My darling Auntie': Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna and Princess Louise
21st February 2019
Amongst the extensive collection of
letters left by Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, the sixth
daughter of Queen Victoria, are at least two from her niece,
Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna (1872-1918). Two of Alexandra’s
letters to her aunt were reproduced in the admirable…
A Week in Royal History: fashion, lost secrets and a right royal romance
16th February 2019
Royalty is never far from the news and
Britain’s rich regal history can offer up tales to thrill on even
the wettest Wednesday in February. The past seven days have seen a
slew of stories all about the past so here’s a round up of the week
just gone in royal…
Queen Victoria’s wedding dress is a
powerful symbol of what she would refer to in her journal as the
‘happiest day of my life’. Most probably, it represents more than
any other item of clothing or object, the Queen’s identity as a
royal bride. Certainly, she chose to wear it again in 1847, when
she was painted in her wedding attire by the fashionable
portraitist Franz Xaver Winterhalter…
The marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince
Albert is perhaps one of the most celebrated in royal history. Not
only were the couple young, rather good looking and desperately in
love, their union would become the bedrock of a new royal dynasty
that, in time, managed to weave…
The Duke of Kent was determined that his
unborn child – history’s Queen Victoria – should not be born
outside of Britain, to assure its right to succeed to the throne in
the British mind. As a true Hanoverian, he was the fourth son of
George III, the King who famously…
Six figure sum paid for Queen Victoria coin called 'most beautiful'
19th January 2019
It’s been dubbed one of the loveliest
coins ever minted and, almost two centuries after it was struck,
it’s making headlines again. A rare gold five pound coin, featuring
an idealised image of Queen Victoria in the early years of her
reign, has sold for a six-figure sum at a private auction. The
coin, minted in 1839, went for £204,000 when it was put under the
hammer by US firm…
This weekend, Olivia Colman is up for
Best Actress at the Golden Globes for her portrayal of Queen Anne
in ‘The Favourite’, the first time anyone has been nominated for
playing the last Stuart monarch. Anne, who ruled between 1702 and
1714, hasn’t found favour with…
Queen Victoria’s winter sledge became
synonymous with the Windsor Christmas, at least during the lifetime
of Prince Albert, who is rightly credited with popularising
Christmas traditions in England, including that of the Christmas
tree. The royal trees were decorated with…
It’s one of the most famous events in
royal history, and now the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince
Albert is being brought to life once more. A new TV programme,
presented by historian Lucy Worsley, will reconstruct the marriage
that began years of happiness for a young couple and changed the
idea of royal weddings forever. Every aspect of the celebrations,
represented at the time by…
